Finding the Perfect Fit: How to Choose a Realtor for Your Metro Detroit Home Search
Whether you’re buying or selling a home in Michigan or Metropolitan Detroit, having an experienced Realtor by your side is crucial. With numerous Realtors available, finding the perfect fit for your unique needs can be challenging. To help you make the right decision, here are some essential questions to ask potential Realtors: How will you…
Read MoreThe Pre-Approval Advantage: Your Competitive Edge When Buying a Home in Metro Detroit
When it comes to securing a home loan in Michigan or Metropolitan Detroit, it’s essential to know the difference between pre-approval and pre-qualification. Each serves a distinct purpose in the home buying process, and understanding their nuances can help you make informed decisions. Pre-Qualification – The Initial Step At the outset, pre-qualification provides a non-committal…
Read MoreMortgages and Divorce
Should We Wait To Buy A House?
Rising mortgage rates have scared off many prospective home buyers, but as we’ll learn today, it may still be a good time to buy a home. Marc Edelstein of Ross Mortgage joins Paula and Jon as one of their very first guests. Yes, interest rates have risen, but home prices have fallen. Marc walks…
Read MoreVA Home Loan Refinance: The No-Appraisal, No-Income-Verification Option for Michigan Veterans
If you’re a veteran in Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, or any Michigan County, and you own a home using your VA home loan benefit. Does the stack of mail above look familiar? In some instances, local veterans have reported receiving 10-12 of these letters a week. So, what are they and why are you getting so…
Read MoreChoosing Your Mortgage: A Guide to FHA and Conventional Mortgage Insurance in Michigan
As I discussed last week, mortgage insurance is a necessary evil for many prospective home buyers, especially those who are first time home buyers. It is a tool which allows individuals to buy the home of their dreams even if their credit is less than perfect or their down payment is less than 20 percent. This insurance…
Read MoreDIVORCE LENDING SERIES – PART FIVE – TITLE VESTING
Title vesting is the manner in which ownership, aka title, is held on a property. Various states have various ways of holding title. For this posts purpose, we are going to concentrate on the State of Michigan. Here are the most common forms of title vesting in Michigan. Tenancy By The Entirety – Only a married…
Read MoreDIVORCE LENDING SERIES – PART THREE – VALUING THE MARITAL HOME IN DIVORCE
One of the first steps in working through real estate issues in a divorce, is to determine the value of the marital home. If you and your spouse are unable to agree on the current market value(s), there are several valuation methods that can be used. Tax Assessed Value The tax assessed value is not…
Read MoreDIVORCE LENDING SERIES – PART FOUR – MORTGAGE GUIDELINES THAT MATTER IN DIVORCE
For a Certified Divorce Lender, one of the most important, if not the most important goal, is ensuring our clients housing goals are met, post-decree. In order to do so, a Certified Divorce Lender must be educated in the mortgage guidelines impacted by divorce. There are several impacted, but the three most common are: Contingent Liability A jointly obligated debt in which the court…
Read MoreDIVORCE LENDING SERIES – PART ONE – TIMING OF FILING THE DIVORCE PETITION
The timing of filing a divorce petition with the court has a direct impact on mortgage financing. When a divorce petition is filed, most mortgage lenders will require either a temporary settlement agreement or final divorce settlement agreement, also known as the final decree of divorce, in order to complete and close a new mortgage application…
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