Tips for Buying a New Home

Written by Matt McWilliams


Buying a new home can be a daunting task, even for someone who has owned several homes. If you recently purchased your first home, you probably found that is hard to find good advice that is truly useful. You had to learn a lot on our own, but at least now you probably feel comfortable and knowledgeable aboutrepparttar whole process.

My wife and I recently purchased a new home in Tennessee. Here are some helpful hints we picked up alongrepparttar 135571 way:

1. Use all ofrepparttar 135572 online resources available. Almost every state and local government has a website where you can research real estate information. The data on home sales, taxes, and neighborhoods is invaluable when you are shopping for a home. We were able to find outrepparttar 135573 most recent sale prices inrepparttar 135574 neighborhood we selected, and we didn't have to rely on a real estate agent to getrepparttar 135575 data for us. Doingrepparttar 135576 research yourself will make you more knowledgeable aboutrepparttar 135577 market, which is key to making a good purchase.

2. Be realistic about how much you can spend. Try to buy a home in a price range that allows you to put down 20%. If you put down less than this, you will have to pay PMI (private mortgage insurance) to protectrepparttar 135578 lender in case you default onrepparttar 135579 loan. I know that 20% is a lot, but it's not unrealistic. You may not be able to do it on your first home, but hopefully you can on your second home. The profits fromrepparttar 135580 sale of my condo enabled my husband and me to have more than enough forrepparttar 135581 20% down payment on our home. But we didn't put it all down onrepparttar 135582 home - we saved some ofrepparttar 135583 profits forrepparttar 135584 unexpected expenses that come with buying a home. We suggest that you dorepparttar 135585 same.

3. Shop for a home inrepparttar 135586 winter, preferably aroundrepparttar 135587 holidays. Since most people just aren't interested in buying a home when they are trying to deal withrepparttar 135588 holidays, you can pretty much be one ofrepparttar 135589 few buyers out there. We bought our home right before Christmas, and it was definitely a buyers market. We had our pick of homes and were able to underbid onrepparttar 135590 asking price, even though we live in one ofrepparttar 135591 hottest real estate markets inrepparttar 135592 country.

Home Equity Loan vs. 401(K) Loan –Which should you choose?

Written by Charles Essmeier


You've finally decided to add that patio you've always wanted to your home. Now you can enjoy barbecue outdoors and get a little fresh air every now and again. But how are you going to pay for it? If you're like most people, you don't have cash for home repairs just lying aroundrepparttar house. You'll have to borrow. So where should you go to borrow? Mortgage rates are low these days, so a home equity loan would be pretty affordable, as would a home equity line of credit (HELOC) if you have a number of remodeling projects in mind.

Then it occurs to you -- "What about my 401(K) money? I can get good terms on a 401(K) loan and borrowrepparttar 135526 money from myself!" That seems like a good idea. You can borrowrepparttar 135527 money from yourself and pay yourself back with interest! What could be better than that?.

Onrepparttar 135528 surface, borrowing from your retirement savings may seem like a better idea than taking out a home equity loan. The terms are good either way, andrepparttar 135529 interest rates are probably comparable. So, why not borrow from your 401(K) account?.

There are several reasons why it may not be desirable to borrow from your retirement account:.

  • Most Americans fail to save enough for retirement, so borrowing from your retirement fund may leave you short later should you default. No one wants to be broke when they retire.


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