Klaus 's Blog

Should I refinance?The most common reason for refinancing is to save money. Saving money through refinancing can be achieved in two ways:By obtaining a lower interest rate that causes one's monthly mortgage payment to be reduced. By reducing the term of the loan, thus saving money over the life o...

Are You Buying a House or a Home? As you read and study about buying real estate, you will often find the words "house" and "home" used interchangeably. There is a huge difference between a house and a home.A house can be a place to eat, sleep, park your car, and put all your "stuff" (including o...

The "Home Wealth" Effect In America, the most common way to accumulate wealth is through home ownership. At the time of a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors, the "average" homeowner has $50,000 in "unrealized wealth" in their home. Those families with incomes over $75,000 av...

Buying a Home With a ViewHomes with a pleasant view of the horizon often sell at a premium above similar homes without the view. However, if a view is important to you, buy it mostly for your own pleasure and not as an investment. Though you may place a considerable dollar value on the view, futu...

What is Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)? PMI is normally required when you buy a home with less than 20 percent down. Mortgage insurance is a type of guarantee that helps protect lenders against the costs of foreclosure. This insurance protection is provided by private mortgage insurance compani...

What is a rate lock? You cannot close a mortgage loan without locking in an interest rate. There are four components to a rate lock: Loan program.Interest rate.Points.Length of the lock. The longer the length of the lock, the higher the points or the interest rate. This is because the longer the ...

Disclosures Although you have toured the property, looked at the walls and ceiling, turned on the faucets and played with the light switches, you have not lived in it. The seller has years of knowledge about his or her home and there may be some things you want to find out about as quickly as po...

A real estate appraisal is needed to determine the estimated market value of a house, condominium, commercial property, vacant land, etc. It is used to assist someone in making a decision. They may be considering purchasing, selling, insuring, or lending money on a house, condo, commercial prope...

To understand why mortgage rates change we must first ask the more general question, "Why do interest rates change?" It is important to realize that there is not one interest rate, but many interest rates. Prime rate: The rate offered to a bank's best customers.Treasury bill rates: Treasury bill...

What is an Annual Percentage Rate (APR)? The annual percentage rate (APR) is an interest rate that is different from the note rate. It is commonly used to compare loan programs from different lenders. The Federal Truth in Lending law requires mortgage companies to disclose the APR when they adver...