Media Center 

Estimate Your Price Range

Check your credit

• Why are credit scores so important in the home buying process?
• What are credit scores used for?
• What should you do if you have bad credit and want to buy a home?

Determine your monthly housing budget

• Why should I analyze my monthly budget when thinking about buying a home?
• What kind of costs, other than your mortgage, do you need to be prepared for?

Determine your down payment

• How much will I have to put down when buying a home?
• Why did the subprime fallout occur?
• Why is it better to put down a larger down payment?
• What do you think about putting down 0%—good idea or bad idea?
• Where do people go wrong when determining a comfortable down payment?

How much house can you afford?

• Should I find out what I can afford before I start shopping for a home?

Get the Best Loan

Choose a good lender

• Why do different lenders offer different rates?
• Should I call a lot of lenders to get the lowest interest rate and fees? What else should I consider?
• What about hidden fees at closing?
• Should I try to get a no cost loan?
• What's the difference between a lender and a broker? What is the benefit of using a broker?
• What advice and service should I expect a lender or broker to provide?
• How can I avoid getting ripped off by a loan officer or broker?
• How do I know if the fees I'm paying are reasonable?

Loan types

• What are the risks associated with a fixed interest rate? and a variable rate?
• How should I decide what type of loan is best for me?
• What is the difference between risk and risk tolerance?

Rate versus fee; understanding points

• What are points? What are fees? How do I decide if I should pay points?

Get pre-approved

• What is the pre-approval process?
• What is a pre-approval letter for, and what does it say?
• What is the difference between pre-approval and approval? What factors determine pre-approval?
• What should I do if a lender turns down my mortgage application?

Find a Top Realtor

Choose a good realtor

• How are realtors paid? Can I negotiate their fee?
• What's the difference is between a realtor, a broker and an agent?

• What's the difference between a seller's agent and a buyer's agent? Does it matter if my realtor is serving as both on a deal?
• What should I expect my agent to do for me? How can I make the best use of my agent?
• Does an agent have any (financial) incentive to do things that are not in my best interest?
• How much should I let my agent handle for me, and what should I take responsibility for myself?

Search for a home

• How much searching should I do on my own versus with my realtor?
• How quickly should I move if I see a home I like?
• Should I be looking at foreclosures? Why or why not?

Make an Offer

Know the market

• What information or measures should I look at to gauge market trends?
• How should I evaluate and compare neighborhoods?

Be a smart negotiator

• What's the secret to being a good negotiator?
• What can be negotiated beyond the price?
• What tactics can I expect from the seller and how do I counter them?
• Until what point can I, or the seller, back out of a deal?
• When is the deal final?

Close the Deal

Move to full approval

• What do I have to do to move from pre-approval to full approval?
• What does it mean to lock in?
• How do I decide when to lock in and for how long? Isn't it impossible to predict interest rates?
• What must I pay to lock in?
• What can go wrong when locking in and how can I avoid it?

Get an appraisal and inspection

• What is the purpose of an appraisal?
• Who orders an appraisal? Who must pay for it? Who has the right to see it?
• What's the difference between appraised value and market value?
• What should I do about issues on the inspection report?

Closing the deal!

• What happens at a closing?
• What is escrow? Why is it necessary?
• What problems can arise with escrow and how can I avoid them?
• What is title insurance?
• What is Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)?
• What problems are homebuyers commonly confronted with at closing?
• What must be done between signing the purchase contract and closing?
• What are the major steps in the mortgage process from application to closing?