North Atlanta First Time Homebuyers Tips

North Atlanta First Time Homebuyers Tips

North Atlanta First Time Homebuyers Tips by
The Mary Ellen Vanaken Team of Keller Williams Realty
http://www.mevhomes.com
678.929.6529

Are you ready to make the big move and purchase your first home? 

Before you take the plunge consider these North Atlanta First Time Homebuyers Tips:

1. Check the selling prices of homes in the area where you desire to live. 
2. Determine how much you can afford. Use this mortgage calculator to determine what your monthly payment would be.
3. Find out what your total monthly housing cost would be, including taxes and homeowners insurance.
4. Consider how much you will pay in closing costs. Closing costs include origination fees charged by the lender, title and settlement fees, taxes and prepaid items such as homeowners insurance or homeowners association fees.
5. Look at your current budget and determine how much of a house will fit into it. Fannie Mae recommends that buyers spend no more than 28% of their income on housing costs. Any thing past 30% and you may risk becoming house poor.
6. Talk to us about the real-estate climate. Do you wonder if prices will continue falling or do you think your area has hit bottom or will rise soon?
7. Last thing to consider. While buying a house is a great way to build wealth, maintaining your home can also be labor-intensive and expensive. When unexpected costs for new appliances, roof repairs and plumbing problems arise, these costs can drain your bank account.

Let us show you more North Atlanta First Time Homebuyers Tips BEFORE you start looking at properties. Get your FREE information here.  

Our team specializes in Luxury Real Estate in the North Fulton and Forsyth County areas of Georgia.  But we are also experienced with first time home buyers. If you are looking to buy in the communities of North Atlanta (Alpharetta, Cumming, Roswell, Johns Creek, Duluth and Milton) please contact our team today at 678.929.6529 or visit our website at www.mevhomes.com today.

North Atlanta First Time Homebuyers Tips
 

Slashing Off Your Monthly Mortgage Installments - Smart Moves To Take

Slashing Off Your Monthly Mortgage Installments - Smart Moves To Take

The Mary Ellen Vanaken Team of Keller Williams Realty 678-665-2887

When you take out a home mortgage loan, you actually commit to the lender to make decades of payments to repay the entire loan amount with the interest rates and the insurance and taxes. The industry term which is used to describe the payments is PITI or the principal, the interest payments, the taxes and the insurance. According to the thumb rule, the PITI shouldn't exceed 28% of your monthly income but there are many who are struggling with their monthly mortgage payments as they find it to be too high in accordance with what they make in a month. Are there any ways in which you can lower the monthly mortgage payments and ease off the burden of making sky-high payments towards your mortgage loan? You may read on the concerns of this article to check out the ways in which you can lower the mortgage loan installments.

1. Add a single extra payment every year: Is it possible to make a single extra payment every year? The experts suggest that this is perhaps the best way in which you can save your dollars on your mortgage payments. When you save enough money and live a life within your means to make some extra payments, these will automatically be applied towards the principal amount and not towards the interest rate. By this added payment, not only the will the remaining outstanding principal balance drop, you won’t even have to pay the interest rate every month on the principal for the rest of the term of the loan.

2. Eliminate your PMI: When you don’t pay down exactly 20% of the term of the loan, you qualify for paying the PMIs or the Private Mortgage Insurance payments. Did you know that you could easily petition your lender to eliminate this insurance payments as soon as the loan balance falls below 80% of the appraised value of the home? This will only happen when the value of your home has gone up or you've taken some steps to repay your principal amount. Although you may require a new appraisal, but it can certainly help you save a portion of your dollars.

3. Get a loan with a longer repayment term: If you’re someone who is saddled with the hefty monthly payments with a 15 year or 20 year term mortgage loan, why don’t you get yourself a 30 year term mortgage loan to cut down the installments? Yes, of course the interest rates may rise due to this, but the good news is that you will still have the chance to choose making additional payments whenever you have extra funds at your disposal. The extra payments can help reduce the principal balance of the loan without obligating you to make larger monthly payments.
   
   
4. Refinance the mortgage loan: Last but not the least, you can refinance your mortgage loan during a time when the mortgage interest rates are pretty lower than what you are paying. It is possible to alter the terms and conditions of your mortgage loan through a refinance. You can lower the interest rate, extend the repayment term of the loan, alter the kind of loan (change it from an ARM to a fixed rate mortgage) in order to lower the monthly payments. Just make sure you calculate the mortgage payments so as to save enough dollars.

Therefore, when you feel that the hefty mortgage payments are like a burden on your shoulders, you can take the above mentioned steps. You may even take help of a professional who will help you locate the best loan in the market and advise you about the steps that you might need to take.

This article has been contributed by Sam Stokdale - Mortgagefit

Slashing Off Your Monthly Mortgage Installments - Smart Moves To Take