Buyer Closing Costs – The Basics
When you apply for a home loan, your lender should provide you with a good-faith estimate or loan estimate, [...]
Financial Fitness for First Time Home Buyers
Are you a would be "FTHB" or First Time Home Buyer, thinking of purchasing a home in the Charlottesville Area? [...]
Ten To-Do’s to Prepare for Home Ownership
Decide what you think you can afford. Generally, you can afford a home equal in value to between two and [...]
How Much Cash Do I Need to Buy a Home?
If you're thinking about buying a home, you have a lot of financial decisions to make. Your Lender and your [...]
The Benefits of Home Ownership
The decision to buy a home is one of the biggest, most important ones you'll make in your lifetime, both [...]
Mortgage Basics – A Quick Introduction
Brush up on these mortgage basics to help you determine the loan that will best suit your needs. Mortgage terms. [...]
About Credit Reports and Scores
When you are preparing to buy a home, or when you take out a personal, business or auto loan, or [...]
Understanding your FICO Score
If you are in the market to buy a home in Charlottesville (or anywhere) this Spring, you need to have [...]
Tips for Working with a Lender
Getting pre-qualified for financing is a critical part of the home buying process. Be prepared to discuss these critical questions [...]
Charlottesville Area Lenders
Working with a reliable local lender with expertise, experience and good communication skills will ease your home buying process tremendously. [...]
What to Know About the Appraisal Process
Once a home is under contract, the buyer's lender will send out an appraiser to make sure the purchase price is in [...]
Buyer Closing Documents to Hold Onto
On closing day, expect to sign a lot of documents and walk away with a big stack of papers and/or [...]
Tips for Saving on Homeowner’s Insurance
If you're moving the the Charlottesville area from another part of the country, you may find that the cost of [...]
Understanding Capital Gains in Real Estate
When you sell a stock, you owe taxes on your gain, meaning on the difference between what you paid for [...]
Checking Your Credit Reports
By federal law, each of the three major credit reporting agencies must provide your credit report to you once annually, [...]
What is “Appraised Value” in Home Buying?
Appraisals provide an objective opinion of value, but it’s not an exact science so appraisals may differ. For buying and [...]
1031 or “Like-Kind” Exchanges
A 1031 or "like-kind" exchange is a way for owners of business and investment real estate to sell property and [...]
Title Insurance – What and Why?
Title insurance is a policy that protects a buyer and/or a lender against errors or omissions or defects in the [...]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
If you're getting ready to buy a home and have been listening to or reading news recently, you might have [...]
Fair Lending – A Basic Primer
You have the right to fair lending. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a [...]
What is meant by “Truth in Lending”?
Your lender must meet certain obligations under the Truth-In-Lending Act. The Purpose of the Act is to “... promote the [...]
