15
May
By Jim Hasek
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Tips For Maximizing Your Home’s Appraised Value

A home appraisal is an independent opinion of your home's value, performed by a licensed home appraiser. Appraisals are part of the traditional home purchase process, and lenders require them for most refinances, too. Appraisers Are Trained Professionals First, they derive a base for your home's value based on the recent sales prices of homes that are comparable to yours in terms of bedrooms, bathrooms, style, and square footage. Then, accounting for features and amenities that make your home different, the appraiser applies "adjustments" to that base value. This methodology is called the "Sales Comparison" approach and the result is…
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14
May
By Jim Hasek
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Whatever You Do, Don’t Make These Common Mortgage Mistakes

Are you applying for a mortgage on your home? Keep in mind that a mortgage is a major financial decision and choosing one will have a significant impact on the rest of your life. Many people go into this decision without understanding all of the essential mortgage information they need to know, which means that they are likely to make poor choices that will result in paying much more than they need to. If you want to save yourself from throwing away your hard earned money, here are a few common mistakes to avoid: Trying To Bottom Out the Market…
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13
May
By Jim Hasek
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What Will Harp 3.0 Mean For Homeowners After 2014?

As economic influences affect the housing market in the United States, there has been the introduction and development of programs to assist with the downturn. During the 2009 economic crisis in the United States that resulted in home prices and values falling, a program named HARP was introduced to assist the many affected homeowners. Harp has since developed and a 3.0 version has been introduced. As a result, many homeowners are beginning to wonder: What will Harp 3.0 mean for homeowners after 2014? The Economic Crisis: Harp 1.0 In 2009 In 2009, HARP 1.0 was introduced. The program was designed…
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12
May
By Jim Hasek
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What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week – May 12, 2014

Results from a Federal Reserve survey of senior bank loan officers indicated that lenders have held the line on prime lending standards and have raised standards for sub-prime and non-traditional home loans. Survey respondents represented 74 U.S. banks and 23 foreign banks. Survey respondents also said that demand for mortgage loans was lower; this could be an unintentional result of tight credit standards for mortgage loans. Analysts said that tight credit requirements and less demand for home loans could mean more trouble for the housing industry. Home Prices Rise In March, But At Slower Rate The annual rate of increase…
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09
May
By Jim Hasek
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Vegetable Garden 101: Get The Kids Started On A Veggie Patch Project Today

Thinking about ways to engage your children in gardening and educational opportunities outside of the classroom? Creating your very own veggie patch with them is a great way to help them develop interest in the wonderful hobby of gardening! Growing a vegetable garden links together many concepts your children are learning about in school while teaching them the art of discipline, responsibility and delayed gratification. Here are some great tips on how to nurture this project with your children. Choose Pick-And Eat-Vegetables The joy of being able to eat the fruits of their labors straight out of the garden will…
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08
May
By Jim Hasek
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The Magic Number: Does Your Credit Score Need To Be Above 800 To Apply For A Mortgage?

Over the course of a lifetime, financial development can lead to some wonderful opportunities. A person's financial development and state of affairs is something that is particularly important when it comes to taking out a bank loan to further progress in life, and the largest loan most people will require is a mortgage for a home purchase. Since the process of getting approved for a mortgage is heavily dependent on credit history and that three-digit credit score that reflects reliability as a borrower, you should always put forth practices to keep that number healthy and growing. However, how much importance…
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