I’ve learned that most people prefer to learn by looking at something, versus just reading about it.  It makes it easier for us to understand the more complicated things.  Because of this, I created a visual graph to compare renting vs owning a home.

I tend to show my clients the long term benefits of owning vs renting, because most renters think short term.  I know I did when I was younger and renting.

Below is a link to a graph were you can visually compare renting vs owning, but you need to know the specifics of what I’m comparing.  Keep in mind, I used more conservative numbers, mostly because most of my clients are in Wisconsin, but in other parts of the country I know rent is much higher than what I’m using below.

Here are the specifics of what I’m using:

• I’m using a current rent payment of $1000.  On a conservative approach, I didn’t assume any future rent increases.
• I used a savings account balance of $10,000 that the renter has and the percent they are receiving in this account is 5%.
• The purchase price of the home is $200,000 and a 5% down payment with a conventional mortgage is $10,000.  Exactly what the renter has saved.
• I used the example of a FHA mortgage, because it has a lower down payment of 3.5%.

I want you to look at my most important tip that most renters don’t know when it comes to the long term benefits of owning vs renting.

Tip:  The rent graph (red) under “Net Worth In 15 Years” shows your what your current investment would be if you didn’t add anymore to the 10k savings, earning a 5% return.  I also set the property appreciation at 0%.  Most investors would agree to move your money to the one that pays you a higher return, even if it takes a bit longer.

Here is the link to the graphs.  http://mcedge.tv/16azqh

Also, the graphs under “Rent vs Principal Paid In 2 Years” is a realistic situation, because many renters will continue renting over the next couple of years.

I hope this helps bring light to renting vs owning, because I do receive lots of positive feedback that looking at graphs help renters understand the rent vs own answer in the long run.

Guest post by Melissa Rodgers. She is a financial writer. You can follow her on twitter @rogersmelissa42

When you need to sell house quick it is always advisable to work with cash buyers. And to make things faster you have to work with local cash buyers who are very much active in your locality. They can handle all the legal matters very easily as they have already purchased some properties in your area. And the entire thing can be quickened.

It is true that finding a buyer is difficult; if you try to sell the house in the open market through an agent, things can turn up to be very tough. Even if you hire an agent, it may take long for you to find a buyer. And when you are in hurry, waiting for 3 or 4 months does not make any sense. Many agents would make high promises but end up disappointing you.

As UK property market is stagnant, no one is buying homes. First time home buyers have fled from the scene; therefore agents cannot help you out find a buyer. And traditional home selling techniques such as listing the property with many agents, renovating the house etc. are not working as well.

Recent credit crunch has damaged the balance; there are more sellers in the market than buyers. As a result property price has slipped and sellers are unable to sell or get satisfactory price for their properties.

Sell your house quick to local cash buyers

The best solution is to work with the cash buyers in your neighborhood. Cash buyers are property investors; they purchase properties of any type and condition for quick cash. You can sell your house quick to them and get good price as well.

Reputed cash buyers would offer you a smooth property selling experience; they would tackle all the legal and financial issues and pay you close to market value for the property. No need to renovate the house, no need to pay any commission – you can simply sell off your house without any hassles and hitches.

Professional buyers usually send you proposal within few hours of contacting them; you can even quicken the process by working with local cash buyers. The cash home buyers who are very much active in your locality can offer you a faster service. So look for local cash buyers to sell property fast anywhere in UK.

These are great mortgage programs available for home buyers this year.  I keep up on the latest programs available and find things most bankers don’t realize are available.  These programs are available for all buyers, not just first time buyers.  If you have family, friends, or co-workers thinking about buying a home this year, it truly is a great time to buy.  Two main reasons:

1. Loads of cheap inventory that banks need to sell.  You have many homes to choose from.
2. Interest rates are still at historic lows.  We plan on seeing them this low through most of summer, because of the government actions to keep the rates low.

On top of that, here are the most popular programs lately, since most buyers are not looking to do a big down payment.

2011 Mortgage Programs For Buyers

• USDA Rural Housing - This program is one of only two true no down payment programs still available.  On top of no down payment, the buyer can roll the closing costs into the mortgage loan if the value of the home is a bit more than the accepted purchase price.
• Fannie Mae HomePath - This program just announced that Fannie Mae will pay 3.5% of the closing costs for the buyer if they buy a HomePath eligible home.  These are homes that Fannie Mae bought back and is looking to resell.  This credit offer is only good through June 30th, so don’t hesitate with this one.  You can find homes are HomePath eligible here.
• Single Premium MI (mortgage insurance) - This is a way to avoid the MI payment without having to put a 20% down payment.  A single premium MI is considered a closing cost, which can be paid by the seller in the offer to purchase contract.  By paying the MI as a single premium you will not have monthly MI as part of your mortgage payment.  Even if the seller doesn’t agree to pay for closing costs, you can pay this as a one time cost to avoid monthly MI.

There are many other programs available, but the ones above are very beneficial to most buyers.

Today, Fannie Mae announced they will pay a buyer’s closings costs if they buy a Home Path property.  A Home Path property is Fannie Mae’s inventory of homes for sale across the nation.

Here are the details of the closing cost credit:

• Buyers and/or selling agents (the agent representing the buyer) must request the incentive upon submission of initial offer in order to be eligible.
• The initial offer must be submitted on or after April 11, 2011 and close by June 30, 2011. If an initial offer was made prior to the effective date, the offer is not eligible for the incentive.
• The sale must close on or before June 30, 2011. No exceptions will be made to this deadline.
• Only buyers purchasing a HomePath property as their primary residence may receive up to 3.5% in closing cost assistance. Second homes and investment properties are excluded from the incentive.
• Buyer must sign the Owner Occupant Certification Rider to the Real Estate Purchase Addendum.
• If a buyer’s total closing costs are under 3.5%, the difference will not be available as a credit to the buyer.

Take a look at Home Path homes for sale.   Take advantage of this offer while it lasts!

Whether you are a first time home buyer or a repeat buyer, 2011 is a great year to buy a home. With so many foreclosures and short sales out there, it’s hard not to find a home priced less than it’s current market value.

Here are 3 important tips of advice for buying in 2011:

Get Pre-Approved First

All to often I receive a phone call from a customer that’s looking to get pre-approved for a mortgage, because they already put an offer into a home. Seriously? Even if you know you have great credit, tons of assets, etc. the lending world has basically turned upside down in the recent years. With changes happening almost monthly, mortgage guidelines are much different than the last time you bought a home or think that your good credit and lots of money will get you approved. Yes, those are great, but you will be surprised what changes have been made.

For example, if you are looking to buy a condo, many lenders require a 10% down payment. Even though with conventional mortgage loans you only have to put 5% down, the lenders set their own overlays on top of Fannie Mae guidelines. This is something most buyers don’t even know until they talk to their loan officer.

A pre-approval letter is expected by your realtor and the seller of the home.  They both know how much more difficult it is to get approved for a mortgage, so they expect this letter when you put an offer into a home.  Some realtors even require this before showing you homes.

Know Your Mortgage Options

There are tons of mortgage programs out their for bad credit, no down payment, small down payments, etc. Working with an experienced loan officer will put you in a great position in understanding what options are out there. There are even programs that don’t require PMI (private mortgage insurance) as part of your mortgage payment with less than 20% down. Typically, this can only be avoided if you put have a 20% down payment.

Take the time to ask about these programs and don’t be afraid to ask more questions if you don’t fully understand. Buying a home comes with lots of things to know and understand, especially if you need a mortgage loan.

Foreclosed Homes

There are so many foreclosed homes out there, it’s hard not to find a good deal.  What you need to be prepared for is the condition of the home.  Many foreclosed homes sell “as is”, which means the lender that is selling it will not repair anything, even if you ask.  You may find something small like old 70′s carpet with wall paper only your grandmother would pick out, but you may also find holes in walls, old roofs, basement problems, etc.  You need to be prepared when choosing a home that needs major repairs, because you will be limited on mortgage loans.  There are mortgage programs specifically for homes like this, so make sure your loan officer offers these types of programs, because lenders will not approved a mortgage with a home “as is” if there are major structural problems.

You can take a look at foreclosed homes for free for 7 days at www.RealtyTrac.com

Here are some other posts that will help you with buying a home:

How To Figure Out The Value Of A Home
How To Get A Good Price On A Home

2010 was a crazy year for anyone that that was looking to finance a new home loan.  The lenders guidelines seem to change every other month and the foreclosures or short sale homes buyers wanted, took months for an approval from the banks.  Above all of this, the real estate agents always complained about a common thing:

“This buyer I’m working with hasn’t been pre-approved yet.”

What we found in my area (Milwaukee, WI) was that most buyers, especially first time home buyers, were looking at homes and contacting real estate agents before getting themselves pre-approved for a mortgage loan.  They were doing things backwards.

We come to realize, that almost all future home buyers start with looking online. When they start to look online first, buyers get this emotional trigger to want to see something they like, after looking at pictures.  So, first thing they see is the real estate agents phone number.

We have been seeing this more in Milwaukee than other areas of Wisconsin.  Perhaps, people in the city tend to go online and looks at home versus folks in the country.

So, the best advice I can give for the new year is for buyers to start with step #1, which is talk to your mortgage broker and get yourself pre-approved first.  Sellers and real estate agents know that lending has become hard to come by and they look for a pre-approval letter to filter out the serious buyers from the lookers.

How to Buy a House – Avoid Serious Mistakes and Learn How to Buy a House

By Gert Hough

You have to do a lot of research if you want to buy your dream home. You must educate yourself on the basic procedure of how to buy a house for you or your family. This article may be a good place to start.

You should first consider your reasons for buying a home. Why do you want to own a house? You may want to own your own dwelling place so you can have the freedom to decorate and arrange it the way you desire. You can decide which color you want your kitchen or bedroom to be. You can also change the garden or build a patio. The choice is yours to make.

Another good reason you might have is the fact that over time the value of a house generally increases. The specific value of a house may increase or decrease according to economic cycles. Yet it is a good investment for the future. You will be living under your own roof which will provide you with shelter, security, space and a fence against a conniving thief called inflation.

You can use the benefits of home ownership to save on your taxes. The interest on your mortgage may be tax deductible when you pay your tax return. If you are buying your first home, the property tax may be deducted from your tax payment. You will have to check with your country’s income tax service to be sure which tax deductions are applicable where you live.

Buying a house can be a complicated and stressful experience. It will help you a lot if you have a clear picture of what kind of a house you wish to own when it comes to location, price and design. You have to be reasonable and refrain from buying a house that you may not be able to afford in the future. You can enlist the help of a good real estate agent to help you find houses for sale that you might be interested in. An estate agent can also help you with the whole process of buying a home.

To start the buying process, you need to have the money to pay for a deposit on the house. You will need to pay a deposit of about 10 to 20 percent of the total value of the home you want to buy to the seller. Unless you are stinking rich, you will probably need to lend the rest of the money from a financial institution.

A possible choice might be to get a mortgage from a commercial banking institution. Keep in mind that commercial banks also provide other financial services and that they do not focus exclusively on mortgages. The best source for obtaining a mortgage might be to talk with a few mortgage brokers. They can offer a much wider range of mortgage services to you than an ordinary bank.

The ratio of your monthly income that you are able to spend on the home loan repayment is important. The maximum percentage of your income that you can spend on repaying the loan may be anywhere from 30% to 40%. Obviously, you cannot spend all your income on repaying the debt associated with buying a new home. You have other bills to pay as well.

When applying for a loan from a lender, make sure that you provide all the relevant information. Do not try to hide things, since this may create problems during the home buying process. There are many more things to learn about how to buy a house. Therefore, complete your research into the problems and possibilities of home ownership and try to avoid making serious mistakes.

Searching for news about Bank of America home loans? — Bank of America Home Loans

Looking for information about real estate lawyers? — Real Estate Lawyer

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gert_Hough
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By far, this no down payment mortgage loan has become very popular with first time home buyers this year.  Specifically, Wisconsin has many areas in which the property you are looking to purchase will be eligible for this program.  Wisconsin mainly consists of rural areas.

Here is a direct link to a map that shows the areas of Wisconsin that are eligible for a rural housing loan.
http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do?pageAction=sfp&NavKey=property@11

The rural housing loan does apply throughout the nation, but you have to find the site that pertain to your state.  Each state is going to have different areas that allow eligibility.

To learn more about the details of the Rural Housing Loan, go to no down payment mortgage loans in Wisconsin.

Since this blog has been around for almost 2 years now, many new readers may not be aware of some of the other helpful mortgage advice topics that have been shared in the past.  First time home buyers seem to be the type of buyers that are actively looking to buy a home this year, so much of this advice will be for the first time home buyer.  The more mortgage advice that can be absorbed the better. 

Every time I take on a new first time home buyer client, I take the time to educate them with the entire mortgage process.  This is a necessary, because the entire process of buying a home and financing it can be overwhelming.  If there isn’t someone to walk you through the entire process, then take the time to gather up all the mortgage advice posted here.

This year is now being considered one of the best years to buy a home, because of a large tax credit for first time home buyers, interest rates at record breaking lows, and home prices have dropped over the years.  These buyer benefits have helped many people decide that 2009 is a great year to buy a home.

I wanted to remind you of some of the other content on this site that could come in handy when looking to buy a home in 2009.  Use this mortgage advice to your advantage and you will be sure to find a great deal when buying a home this year.

Here are 3 posts worth your time to read:

What is a FHA mortgage loan? – This has become the most popular mortgage loan today.  A detailed look at what the FHA mortgage loan is.

Top 5 questions answered for first time home buyers. – Popular questions and answered that all first time home buyers should know!

Get your mortgage quote in writing. – Talks about what paperwork to look for when getting your mortgage quote in writing.

This question has been very popular among the people looking to refinance, since the mortgage rates continue to be at historic lows.  (I heard that someone locked in at 4.5% the other day…)

In all reality, there are two main things to consider when deciding on a 30 year mortgage versus a 15 year mortgage.

1.  The difference in monthly payment.

Consider the fact that the minimum payment on a 15 year mortgage will be higher than the 30 year mortgage.  If you are financially in a position to comfortably make the minimum payment on the 15 year, then we highly recommend the doing the 15 year mortgage.  Now, keep in mind the 30 year mortgage has a lower minimum payment.  If you are doing a standard conventional mortgage, it will not have a prepayment penalty for paying down or paying off the mortgage early.  So, it might be a good idea to go ahead with the 30 year and make larger payments when you can afford them, since there is no penalty for those extra payments or early payoff.

2.  The amount of interest you save over the life of the mortgage.

We are going to use this example to show some numbers: 
$200,000 mortgage at a 5.0% interest rate for both the 30 year and 15 year.

The total amount of interest you will pay over the life of a 30 year mortgage is $186,513.24
The total amount of interest you will pay over the life of a 15 year mortgage is $84,685.48

That’s a whopping $101,827.76 difference in interest you will pay!!

Ok, ok, I know what you are thinking and that’s “I probably won’t stay in this house for 30 or even 15 years”.  That’s ok, we’ve given an example of more real numbers.

The total amount of interest you will pay in the first 5 years of a 30 year mortgage is $48,076.13
The total amount of interest you will pay in the first 5 years of a 15 year mortgage is $44,009.37

That difference is $4,066.76.  Yes, just in the first five years of your mortgage you will save $4066.76, when you choose the 15 year mortgage versus the 30 year mortgage.  Again, if you can afford the 15 year mortgage payment, we highly recommend paying less interest over the life of the mortgage loan.

Here is something else to think about when deciding.  This is an example of how much more you will pay down your mortgage balance when deciding on the 3o year mortgage versus the 15 year mortgage.

Example:
You have a $150,000 loan amount and the interest rate is 5.0% on a 30 year mortgage. 

The principal and interest payment is $805.23.  Of that $805.23 payment, only $180.23 goes toward the principal balance of your mortgage loan.

Now, compare the same loan amount and interest rate on a 15 year mortgage.  The principal and interest payment is $1186.19.  Of that $1186.19 payment, $561.19 goes towards the principal balance of your mortgage loan.

In a full amortization schedule, the amount of your payment that goes towards principal increases each month.  For the sake of simple numbers, let’s assume the same amount of principal goes towards your balance each and every month.  Using the example of $150,000, the difference in the principal is $380.96.  ($561.19 – $180.23 = $380.96)  If you took $380.96 over the next year, that would equal $4571.52.  Over 5 years, that would be a whopping $22,857.60!!  Yes, that is how much you would reduce your mortgage balance over the next 5 years, using the example above.

We always recommend a 15 year mortgage, for another reason that you will pay down your mortgage balance faster.  Also, you usually get a lower interest rate on the 15 year mortgage versus the 30 year mortgage, so you will be paying less interest over the life of the mortgage as well.