Thinking of buying a home this fall? You may want to close prior to October 1 or November 7, depending on who your lender is. According to Banker & Tradesman: As of Oct. 1 for new mortgages delivered to Fannie Mae, and Nov. 7 for loans delivered to Freddie Mac, baseline “adverse market” fees will [...]

Would you like to buy a home in Boston for under $250,000? If by “Boston” you mean in the “downtown” Boston neighborhoods*, you don’t have many options. There are 23 listings in the local MLS right now for less than $250,000. Eight of them are parking spaces. Details on the rest? 70806588 Beacon Hill 1 [...]

Most real estate agents work with both buyers and sellers. Buyers looking for homes and sellers wanting to sell their homes. Bottom-line, the agent only gets paid if the deal closes. Standing between the agent and the closing is the home inspector. It’s been my experience that a lot of real estate agents fear home [...]

Sometimes, it’s just not the right time to buy a home. For example, if you have an uncertain future ahead of you, say, if you’re a student (unless you’re willing to potentially become a landlord, when you graduate). The Globe analyzes the lives of a young couple to determine if it makes financial sense to [...]

Are you considering the purchase of a condo or single-family home? At the same time that home prices in Boston have stagnated or dropped slightly, mortgage loan rates have been going up. They are now near their year-high level. What to do? From the Times: … Celia Chen, director of housing economics at Economy.com, did [...]

Good news if you’re buying a home in Boston and Massachusetts. According to a study released by Bankrate.com, closing costs in Massachusetts have dropped when compared to other states. Massachusetts falls from 12 to 21 out of the 50 states analyzed. The typical homebuyer will pay $3,130 in closing costs, this year. The Bankrate.com closing [...]

Rescue Bill Announcement Update Within the Economic Recovery Act HR 3221 signed into law, there is a tax credit up to $7,500 for first-time homebuyers purchasing homes between 4/9/2008-7/1/2009. What is the definition of a first-time homebuyer? The law definition is a buyer who has not owned a principle residence during the a 3 year [...]

Here is a guest post from David Silverman, mortgage broker and Senior Vice President of Sherwood Mortgage Group. Sherwood Mortgage has been in business since 1981. They have several local branches, including one at 437 Columbus Ave, in Boston’s South End neighborhood. Mortgage loans remain available for those with strong credit Starting in 2002, when [...]

You can still find a loan if you’re looking to buy a home. From Realtor.org: Just because low- and no-down-payment conventional loans are hard to come by doesn’t mean home buyers with little cash can’t get a deal. Two lesser-known federally-sponsored mortgage programs are still available for home buyers with steady jobs, but no savings. [...]

Yeah, the following post on the Redfin blog is biased in favor of using a real estate agent when you sell, but it doesn’t mean it’s not true what they say. It’s about selling your home without an agent, as well as buying a home, directly from the owner. I used to think that “for [...]