Purchase points

Purchases points are also called discount points or buy down points and this is the fee that you are willing to give up front so you can lower your interest rates. Each point represents 1% of your loan amount. Example, you have a $100,000 loan, one point will then be equal to $1,000. Purchase more points, the lower your interest rate.

Interest rate

When you get into a mortgage, you will have to deal with interest rates. This is the interest rate that will be charged to you by the lender for loaning you their money. This is a big factor on what your monthly payments will be. The higher your mortgage’s interest rate is, the higher your payment will be every month.

Fees

There are several fees that you need to deal with when you get a mortgage. These fees will be the cost to cover for underwriting the loan and processing it. The fees will also cover for appraisals, land survey, or checking the title of the home among other things.

Take for example, Henderson, one of the highly touted Las Vegas communities. Every piece of the city is finely tuned and carefully orchestrated. It is this precision and attention to detail that makes neighborhoods in Henderson good places in which to invest. Coupled with the fact that the city prides itself on small town values while at the same time employing forward-thinking ideals to attract new businesses, Henderson is the right mix of government, community and development – and Henderson offers great family-friendly real estate!

Another example of a lovely area in which to invest in Las Vegas real estate is Aliante in North Las Vegas. Like other luxury communities in the region, the large homes are not particularly expensive. One of the master builders for the project, Pardee Homes, offers multi- bedroom, multi-bathroom, two story, two thousand to four thousand square foot homes for mid to high $300,000s. Although the property taxes are a little higher here than the rest of Nevada, the investment is nonetheless, worthwhile, given the gated communities, gorgeous golf course, recreational parks,  nature trails, and fabulous architecture in Tuscan, Spanish or Italianate.

To the northwest of the valley, is situated Desert Shores, a distinctive community based around four man-made lakes. Lake front homes actually have docks which would be unheard of in the desert and to add to the recreational value of the properties, there is even fishing.

Since the area has long been sold out, the only way to invest in the homes is by resale. But this creates an excellent investment because when a property does become available it will be snatched up immediately.

One last region to highlight is Eldorado, an up and coming community which is seeing much growth and  development. As a result, many opportunities exist for the area that is part of what is now being referred to as the “Golden Triangle”.

Because all of these communities are self-contained with their own shopping malls, recreational facilities, golf courses, and parks, everyone has a vested interest in the community. This in turn makes an investment more solid since the end goal for all is to keep the area vibrant.

That being said, however, it is also expected that the coming year will open up as a buyer’s market yet again, which could be good news — but only if you are prepared to take advantage of the stimulus.

It may also be necessary to take advantage of any programs that offer assistance with down payments. These can be especially worthwhile to people who are becoming homeowners for the first time.

Well, lacking a crystal ball or the ability to otherwise see into the future, it is impossible to tell how much better things will be — or, indeed, if they will get better.

That may sound fatalistic but, trust, there is no reason to take on a pessimistic point of view. The fact of the matter is that whatever happens with the state of the housing industry, there are still things you can do to make buying and selling real estate both easier and potentially more successful.

In order to see if the houses you really like are actually being offered at a bargain, talk to a real estate agent in the area to see how the prices of other home compare.

You need to make sure that your credit report is in good order before you start the purchasing process, and you may need to prequalify for a mortgage.

You also need to see if the house has got any liens on it beforehand, because you as the buyer may be responsible for the cost.

Real estate magazines are a great resource, as are newspapers and newsletters. Of course, the most time efficient resource is the internet.

You can also do things the old fashioned way, and call on lenders to get a list of foreclosure properties which are real estate owned (also known as REO properties). There are many government agencies which may be able to help too, through advertising the sale of foreclosed homes. The Fannie Mae Foundation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development are just two of them.

You can ever look around in public records.

Typically, the lender involved in the property will want to get back as much of the original investment as possible — and as quickly as possible as well. The result is that the property will quite often be available at a very substantial discount.

Still, it is important to work with a real estate agent who is experienced in working with foreclosures. Besides, those selling these properties may not want to work with a buyer who is not represented by an agent. The lender has already gotten burned once, remember. Whether it is a bank or other lending company, you can rest assured it will not want that to happen again.

Before you begin this endeavor, it is vital that you understand what foreclosure really means. In short, it means that the former homeowner is no longer able to pay his or her mortgage, so the lender the homeowner use reclaims the house.

The legal steps used in this process are different in every state. It will be worth it to look into the process in your state.

This is a devastating, incredibly emotional experience.  Speaking from secondhand experience — it once happened to my parents while I still lived with them — you feel as if the bottom has dropped out of everything.

As a result, someone thinking about purchasing a foreclosed home can feel a tremendous amount of guilt — again, I am speaking from secondhand experience.

This is understandable — you are perchance purchasing someone else’s dream.  However, you did not make the former owners lose their home, and they do not think that you did.

In a market like this, sometimes a foreclosed home will be the only property within your price range.  You can get a beautiful home for an amazing deal — and in this series of posts, we will give you some helpful tips.

Singles tend to look for a lot of things when they want to find the best place to move. They consider the culture of their ultimate destination, the coolness factor, even the prevalence of online dating. The nightlife is an important factor, as is the cost of living on your own and the overall growth of jobs.

Bearing all of that in mind, a number of resources, such as Forbes, have put together lists of the best places for single people to live.

Topping that list is the San Francisco-Oakland area, which likely comes as no surprise. Within San Francisco proper itself, thirty four percent of the population is single, but the numbers are even greater when you continue the outer lying areas, such as Berkley and San Jose.