News and Updates in our home turf Grand Rapids, MI.
Michelle Huizinga is a hairdresser in West Michigan, but you won’t find her at a retail salon near a grocery store. Instead, Michelle, like many enterprising entrepreneurs, works from her own home. Through a room she renovated in her home, Michelle now sees her clients and her children with no travel time. “I started working… Read more »
If you’re seeking to refinance after October 1, 2017, you should know there are some changes coming from Freddie Mac regarding HARP. HARP, or the Home Affordable Refinance Program, is in the waning years of its existence, which is a good thing. How Freddie Mac is changing, in relation to HARP, could be a benefit… Read more »
If you’re facing foreclosure, you’re not alone. According to RealtyTrac, 1 in every 3,426 homes in Michigan are being foreclosed in 2017. Muskegon is the worst county for foreclosures in the state, with every 1 in 1,063 homes being foreclosed. What should you do when you’re facing foreclosure? Communicate with your lender Your first instinct… Read more »
Mortgage interest rates have been slowly increasing since they plummeted following the 2008 financial crisis. Twice this year already, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates, which, in turn, raises the rate at which banks loan out money for mortgages. But are they done raising rates this year, or could more hikes be on the… Read more »
While it can be useful to listen to the advice from others who have gotten a mortgage, you might have heard some wrong information. Or, at the very least, dated information. Here are 5 rules that no longer are true for getting a mortgage: 1. You need a 20% down payment. I recently spoke to… Read more »
If you have a Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan on your first home and are thinking about buying a second property, you can get more than one VA Loan without having to sell or refinance your current home. This is called VA Loan second-tier entitlement. The higher tier entitlement kicks in for purchases over $144,000 per… Read more »
Although it may not be as well known as the FHA, one of the most popular ways to get a zero down-payment mortgage is the USDA Guaranteed Loan. This loan is specific to rural areas. So if you are looking for a home with wide-open spaces in the country, you may want to consider this… Read more »
Three years after the Civil War ended, Memorial Day was established to honor our veterans on the last Monday of May every year. But that’s not the only thing the US Government has done for veterans. Started in 1944, the VA Loan program makes the burden of getting a mortgage easier for qualifying veterans and surviving… Read more »
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