All Entries in the "Real Estate" Category

So You Want To Fire your Realtor? Rights, Penalties and Recourse Upon Termination

What are your rights with regards to Realtor representation agreements? Did you sign a buyer representation agreement? A seller representation agreement? If so, or if you’re considering it, this article is for you.
When we started the process of buying our home last year we went were forced to fire one and quickly find another.  But [...]

Chasing the Finish Line: Finally Closing On The Home In Jamaica

photo credit: pingnews.com
Some of you know that I am originally from Jamaica, for those that didn’t, well I am! How I ended up here in a America is a long story but the short of it is that my father died shortly after I came here to the States some years ago. [...]

Debunking the Myth That You Need 20% Down to Buy a Home

We all know conventional financial wisdom tells us we should put 20% down on a home, but I’ve always found it difficult to grasp hold of that theory especially now.
I moved to DC in 20003 when the real estate boom was in full swing. Houses were being bought and sold within a matter of [...]

House Lust and our Marriage

photo credit: Hamed Saber
I got it bad! Everyday I search real estate listings looking at McMansions. I know that we don’t plan to be here for very long, but, my husband wants to be in Upstate NY upon our next move. I on the other hand wouldn’t mind staying here in [...]

Sounds of Foreclosure: “Jingle Mail”

Picture this scenario, the mortgage company receives an envelope, what they believe will be this month’s mortgage payment, is actually the keys to the house instead. The homeowner has vacated the premises, sending in the keys as a sign of surrender, but this is really the awful sound of foreclosure. Imagine the [...]

Worst Hit Foreclosure Zipcodes: Are you on the list?

CNN’s article Foreclosures: 100 Worst Hit Zip Codes certainly got my attention. I continue to be amazed at the steady increase of foreclosures across the nation. I keep asking myself, didn’t anyone think this would all come back to bite them in the arse later? How do you take on a [...]

The Age of the Refi Renaissance

Over the weekend I came across this article in The Washington Post, Lower Rates, Coming Resets: An Opening For Refinancing which discusses the onslaught of refinances due to the adjustable rate mortgages that are about to reset.
Here are some of the more salient points in the article. Homeowners with ARMS should pay close attention:
[...]

American Dream Reloaded

I came across this article Dispelling The Myth That Home Ownership Is Your Best Investment over at Millionaire Mommy Next Door. Already, I can tell that this blog will be a favorite! She’s challenging some well established views about the road to wealth in America. One of those being that buying [...]

ACORN changes

I talked with our former ACORN representative today to get up to date information on how the housing crunch has affected their program. Prior to the recent sub prime issues ACORN had a pretty decent program, here are the details in a snapshot:

Now the program has been stripped to:

3% down
620 credit score (Wasn’t credit [...]

Let me upgrade you!

Lifestyle Upgrade: Making more money brings added expenses you didn’t previously consider.
When I moved to the DC metro area in 2003, I barely made enough to pay all of my bills, let alone shop a little or even go to a happy hour every now and again. I lived in a not so great [...]