How Your Tax Refund Can Move You Toward Homeownership This Year

Posted on March 2, 2020March 2, 2020 by RBrown32

If you’re looking to buy a home in 2020, have you thought about putting your tax refund toward a down payment? Homeownership may be one step closer than you think if you spend your dollars wisely this year. Based on data released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Americans can expect an estimated average refund of $2,962 when filing […]

Can’t find an affordable FHA-approved home? You have options.

Posted on February 22, 2020February 24, 2020 by RBrown32

Americans took out nearly $150 billion in loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration to buy homes in 2018. Nearly 83% of those FHA borrowers were first-time homebuyers, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It’s unsurprising that FHA loans are especially popular with first-time homebuyers, due to more lenient credit-score and debt-to-income […]

4 ways real estate can turbocharge your retirement income

Posted on February 2, 2020February 10, 2020 by RBrown32

If you are worried your nest egg will come up short, there are a range of real estate plays that could boost your retirement income and put you over the finish line. Here is an overview of the opportunities — and some of the risks — involved. It’s not unusual: An investor five or 10 years from […]

7 tips for picking a great real estate agent

Posted on September 5, 2019December 31, 2019 by RBrown32

Real-estate agents promote themselves with yard signs, online ads, direct-mail postcards and even sponsored public benches. So cutting through the advertising hype and finding the right agent can be tough. “We don’t have the information (about real-estate agents) that we have about other service professionals,” says Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. Still, […]

Don’t Believe These 6 Myths About Real Estate Agents

Posted on September 3, 2019January 6, 2020 by RBrown32

Buyers and sellers often enter the market with misconceptions about real estate agents – how they work, how the process works and what the agency relationship is all about. It’s helpful to point out, without getting too far into the weeds, that in any one real estate transaction, there are most likely two agents: one for […]

How to pick the best loan to pay for home renovations

Posted on August 25, 2018April 21, 2019 by RBrown32

Many people don’t realize there are renovation loans that can help pay for your housing upgrades.Whether you need a new roof or your kitchen is outdated, there is a mortgage that’s right for your fixer-upper. Here are your options and what you should know about each one.Government-backed loansOne of the best-known loans for home improvements, […]