Many Americans may be unnecessarily talking themselves out of homeownership. Thirty-seven percent of non-homeowners say not having enough saved for a down payment is holding them back from homeownership, but 62% of Americans incorrectly believe you have to have at least 20% of a home’s purchase price to buy, according to NerdWallet’s 2020 Home Buyer Report….
On the highway to homeownership, coming up with a sufficient down payment continues to be one of the biggest roadblocks. In fact, many prospective home buyers, particularly first-timers, find it hard to overcome this challenge without the kindness of loved ones. Among recent home buyers age 28 and younger (who are more likely to be…
Even if you love your home, there’s a chance it isn’t in your ideal place to live. But the space between fantasizing about your dream location and actually moving there is potentially miles and thousands of dollars apart. Just over a quarter (26%) of Americans aren’t living in their ideal location type — whether that’s…
Constructed from aspirational Instagram feeds and reality TV, the dream home floats in the imagination like a castle in the sky but dissolves in the rain of hard numbers. Chasing the dream can lure buyers to overextend themselves financially. Or the high prices can lead first-time home buyers to delay a home purchase — and the opportunity…
The first half of 2019 surprised housing markets across the country: Mortgage rates fell. That’s the opposite of what the experts had predicted at the beginning of the year, and it’s welcome news for home buyers, sellers and homeowners. Millions of owners could benefit from refinancing at these unexpectedly lower rates. In other ways, housing…
A perfect home can be hard to find these days, especially if you’re a first-time home buyer on a budget. That could be why nearly 60% of home shoppers age 18-34, many of whom may be buying for the first time, say they’re open to a house that needs renovations, according to a 2019 survey…
Maximizing a home down payment can make sense: The bigger the down payment, the lower the monthly mortgage bill and the better the chance of building equity more quickly. But putting too much down could leave you without enough cash for home maintenance — or anything else. Pinpointing the right amount involves balancing the advantages…
It’s the lament of first-time homebuyers in just about every housing market: There aren’t enough entry-level homes available that are move-in ready. One solution is to broaden the search to fixer-uppers. With a renovation mortgage, you can get one home loan that combines the purchase price with the cost of improvements. Not enough affordable homes…
First-time home buyers might have a couple of things to cheer about in the final three months of 2018, even as mortgage rates are expected to continue their slow rise. Here are three housing and mortgage trends to keep an eye on from October through the end of the year: Higher rates: If mortgage rates rise…
Mortgages are safer now than they were 10 years ago. That’s the main effect the 2008-09 financial crisis has had on the mortgage market. The following loan types were popular during the housing boom in the early- to mid-2000s but are unavailable now to most borrowers: Low-doc mortgages allowed borrowers to get loans without documenting income…
