Why You Should Start Planning To Purchase A Home If you’ve ever thought about buying a home, but decided that it was too big a financial gamble, think again. It’s possible you haven’t considered the risk of not buying a …

Five Great Reasons to Buy a Home today Read more »

Today’s historic low real estate prices in Raleigh North Carolina and the surrounding areas along with similarly low rates have made homeownership the best tool or hedge against inflation the average person can use to protect themselves from the imminent rising prices. If you have been waiting for the bottom, this loan officer is going on the record as saying THIS IS IT! Of course we will have no way of knowing that to be true until we look back six months from now and see that I was right, but by then it will be too late and you will have missed the best opportunity to have bought real estate in easily 30 or more years!

Remember, housing will likely be in a much better position in the second half of the year and at that time rates could be a bit higher. Now’s the time to take advantage of the combination of low rates and affordable housing.

Even if you use traditional credit very little, now you can build a good history by having your rent payments reported to the credit bureau.

three little known down payment grants for home buyers in Raleigh North Carolina

If you are a typical Raleigh family who lives in Wake County and is a first time home buyer with two children and a household income that is less than $62,500 you could qualify for assistance Down Payment Grant from the State of North Carolina of up to $8,000 to be used towards the purchase of a new home priced up to $220,000 or an existing home up to $210,000! Another little know down payment grant is available from the Federal Home Loan Savings Bank of Atlanta that will actually give you a five to one (5:1) matching program towards your down payment, points and closing costs!

Scam artists are nothing new, but there are plenty of reasons to predict there will even more of them due to tough economic times. While they tend to prey on the elderly, anyone who is not cautious and informed is a potential victim. Your best defense is a skeptical mind and knowing what to look out for when you hear that offer that’s “too good to refuse.” Here are some of the most popular, and costly, home improvement scams.

North Carolina homeowners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments due to job loss or temporary financial hardship. For qualified homeowners, the fund can provide an interest-free loan of up to $36,000 to pay your mortgage and other related expenses for up to 36 months.

According to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Justice, about 1.6 million households experience theft of existing accounts other than a credit card (such as a banking account), and 1.1 million households discover misuse of personal information (such as their social security number) annually. Here are some important tips for keeping your information safe and sound:

“Choice” has been the theme of Raleigh’s school system for the past few years. Families can choose between a healthy magnet program, a variety of charter schools, and traditional approaches at more than 99 elementary schools, 30 middle schools, and 23 high schools.