Buying a Foreclosed Home - BBB Offers Tips

==============
Begin press release
==============

BBB Offers Tips for Buying a Foreclosed Home

Home prices are falling all across the country, but foreclosures are on the increase. BBB offers tips when buying foreclosed homes.

Raleigh, NC, May 23, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Beverly Baskin, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Eastern North Carolina, announced today that home prices are falling all across the country, but foreclosures are on the increase. According to Realty.com, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, more than 1.2 million foreclosures were filed in 2006. Industry experts expect the number will continue to rise throughout the next year.

Losing a home to foreclosure can be devastating for any family. However, foreclosure property can provide a window of opportunity for those in the market for a house. The Better Business Bureau cautions home buyers who want to take this route to homeownership to do research and know the facts about purchasing foreclosed homes before venturing into this type of deal.

The BBB offers the following tips:
Know your options. Home buyers can purchase foreclosed properties through pre-foreclosure which allows you to purchase a house directly from the homeowner before it goes into bank foreclosure; at auctions where you will bid against other interested buyers; or properties that are Real Estate Owned, also known as REO.

Conduct a “title search.” This process can help you find out whether the property has a second mortgage or lien against it. If it does, you may be responsible for paying off the initial mortgage, any second mortgage loans and any liens on the property before you can take ownership.

Be aware that if you purchase the house in an auction, you may not be able to look inside the home or conduct a home inspection in advance of the sale. Properties sold at auctions are usually sold “as is.” This can create problems when trying to obtain a mortgage loan.

Obtain help if you need it. Find a real estate agent that is experienced in foreclosures and check them out online at www.bbb.org. The BBB offers free reliability reports on more than three million businesses.

Have your agent check nearby or comparable homes to see if the asking price for a foreclosed home is, in fact, a bargain.

Foreclosure laws vary from state to state so check the laws in your area by contacting your county clerk’s office.

About the BBB of Eastern North Carolina:
The Better Business Bureau of Eastern North Carolina is a 501 (c)(6) not-for-profit corporation serving 33 counties in Eastern North Carolina. The organization is funded primarily by membership dues from more than 3,000 local business and professional firms. The BBB promotes integrity, consumer confidence and business ethics through business self-regulation in the local marketplace. Services provided by the BBB include, reports on companies and charitable organizations, general monitoring of advertising in the marketplace, dispute resolution services, and consumer/business education programs. All services are provided at no cost to the public, with the occasional exception of mediation and arbitration. Visit www.bbb.org.

==============
End press release
==============

More tips on buying a foreclosed home.

FTC Offers Home Buying Advice

The Federal Trace Commission (FTC) has create a new resource for home buyers. It's an online guide to buying a home, choosing a real estate service and more. Press release follows:

Buying a Home: It’s a Big Deal

TC Offers Home Buyers Advice on Choosing Real Estate Services

Home buyers today have a wide variety of choices when it comes to real estate services. The Federal Trade Commission has tips for considering a real estate professional and using the Internet as a new source of information, and explains why new sales models for buying and selling a home mean more choices for consumers.

The new publication, “Buying a Home: It’s a Big Deal,” lists questions to ask when a consumer is considering a real estate professional. It prompts home buyers to determine who the agent works for, and the type of business relationship that they will have with the agent. It also says that consumers need to know whether their agent has made the required disclosures and whether their agent plans to show them homes listed by non-traditional brokers.

The publication also explains some of the new services available from real estate professionals. For example, some brokers might offer to list a home on the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for a fee, while they hand off other aspects of the sale to the seller. Other brokers might offer a menu of services from which the seller can choose. The publication notes that while some agents may be reluctant to deal with brokers who are using non-traditional sales models, these new sales models can reduce the cost of selling a home, which, in turn, can result in a lower purchase price.

The publication, online at http://www.ftc.gov/bc/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/zalt001.shtm, also explains the difference between brokers and agents, their role in home sales, and information about negotiating sales commissions.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Office of Public Affairs

202-326-2180

===================
Get more home buying tips
===================

New Article About Credit Reports

This article announcement is significant for two reasons. For one thing, it marks the 400th home buying article posted to the main website (and that doesn't even count the blog)! It's also significant because it talks about a topic near and dear to the hearts of home buyers ... credit reports.

In this article, you'll learn about the various parts of a credit report, how it affects your chances of mortgage loan approval, and more. Remember, your credit score directly affects the type of mortgage loan you qualify for, and the interest rate you'll pay on that loan. So your credit score is a critical part of the home buying process.

Your credit score is derived from information contained in your credit report, and that's what this article covers:

The Truth About Credit Reports

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Common Home-Buying Questions - New Article

How do I determine my home-buying price range? Do I need a real estate agent? How do I research the seller's asking price? Which type of mortgage loan should I choose? What happens at a real estate closing?

These are five of the most common home-buying questions I receive from readers of this website and blog. For the longest time, I used to answer these questions to the best of my ability ... on an individual basis.

After a while the light bulb finally went on. I've now compiled these common home-buying questions into an article, and you can read it below.

5 Common Home-Buying Questions

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Avoiding Mortgage Problems - New Article Posted

Buying a home means applying for a mortgage loan. For most of us, there's no way around this (unless we were to win the lottery). So when buying a home, it's important to educate yourself on all aspects of the mortgage application process.

Common mortgage problems should be one of your areas of study. We've posted a new article that explains some of the common reasons that home buyers get turned down for mortgage loans, or end up paying high interest rates on their loans.

We've also proposed a few solutions for each problem, so you can start to "think like a lender" about your credit, your debt, and other factors related to mortgage loan approval.

Read the article:
How to Avoid Common Mortgage Problems

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Avoiding the Bad Credit Blues - New Article Posted

So you've decided to buy a home. You begin house hunting, you find a home that you like, and you apply for a mortgage loan. The mortgage lender checks your credit score and -- EEK -- you have a bad credit score!

These are the bad credit blues, and they affect a lot of home buyers in this country. But they don't have to affect you. The key to avoiding the bad credit blues is to (A) find out where you fall on the credit "scale" and (B) start improving your credit if it happens to be low.

Sure, that's the simplified version of the strategy. But we also have an expanded, step-by-step version to help you as well (see link below). The important thing is not to delay. Everything about the credit-improvement process takes time. So if you follow the steps in the article below and find out that your credit score is lower than average, get yourself on the path to better credit ... and do it immediately.

Here's your step-by-step guide:
Home Buying Wisdom: Avoiding the Bad Credit Blues

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Real Estate Investing Tips

In a sense, everyone who buys a home is a real estate investor. You are, after all, investing your money in a piece of real estate. So you fit the definition of "real estate investor."

But there is another breed of real estate investor, and that's the person who buys multiple real estate properties for investment purposes -- often as a primary source of income. This is the true real estate investor.

And while most of the Home Buying Institute website caters to the home buyer, we have create a separate section for those interested in real estate investing:

Real Estate Investing Tips

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Real Estate Closing - New Article Posted

For the first-time home buyer, a real estate closing / settlement process can be a mysterious and intimidating process. After all, it signifies the transfer of home ownership from the seller to the buyer, and that's a major financial transaction.

There's also number of costs associated with a real estate closing, which can make it even scarier to those unfamiliar with the process.

But a real estate closing process doesn't have to be scary. In fact, once you understand the process (and have prepared accordingly), a real estate closing isn't scary at all. That's why we have provided a variety of articles to help you understand the closing process.

Here's the latest of those articles:
Real Estate Closing Costs Explained

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Home Buying Institute for Sale

Home Buying Institute for Sale - Large Real Estate Website With Strong Search Engine Performance

Mortgage and real estate companies in the U.S. will be interested to know that one of the Internet’s largest home buying websites is now for sale.

(iRealtyWire.Org) – Round Rock, TX - May 7, 2007 — HomeBuyingInstitute.com, one of the Internet’s largest libraries of home buying articles and advice, is now available for purchase. Brandon Cornett, the website’s owner, announced the sale today.

Cornett began building the website at the end of 2005, with the goal of making it one of the largest home-buying resources on the Web. “We have worked hard to create a website that serves home buyers with quality information,” Cornett explained. “As a result, HBI has truly earned its place on the web, appearing in search engines alongside such home buying ‘heavies’ as HUD.gov and Money.CNN.com.”

The Ideal Buyer:
Cornett thinks the ideal buyer for this website would be a large mortgage or real estate company that operates nationwide in the U.S. “We get hundreds of visitors a day who read several pages of information before leaving the site,” Cornett said. “More than 90% of them are within the United States. These are research-minded folks, so a national real estate or mortgage company could really capitalize on this audience.”

Vision and Recommendations:
Home Buying Institute offers a wealth of information on all aspects of the home buying process — reviewing one’s credit score, choosing a real estate agent, house hunting, choosing a type of home loan, shopping for a mortgage online, preparing for settlement and more. Because of this focus and the “information-hungry” nature of the website’s visitors, Cornett feels the possibilities are endless:

“I get emails from people asking me home buying questions, and I don’t even ask for that kind of interaction. If a company continued the growth of this website, and implemented a series of lead-generation techniques, it could become a steady source of relevant leads. In the right hands, this website could become the ‘About.com of home buying information.’ That’s what I envision.”

Learn More:
Cornett has prepared a website profile that contains information on the website’s search engine performance, traffic statistics, history of growth, sale price and details, plus a variety of forward-thinking ideas and recommendations. To request a copy of this profile sheet, email editor[at]homebuyinginstitute.com

Renting vs. Buying a Home - New Article Posted

Should I rent a home, or go ahead and take the "plunge" into buying the home? This is a common home-buying question about potential buyers, and it's something we've blogged about before. But we still get the occasional question on this subject, so we've posted a new article to help you answer this question for yourself:

Renting vs. Buying a Home - How to Decide

In some cases, this is a fairly simple decision. For example, if your monthly mortgage on a home was equal to (or below) what you pay in rent -- and if you were going to stay in the same area for more than a year or so -- then it would make a lot of sense to buy a home instead of renting.

In other cases, the decision is not as simple. That's why we continue to offer advice on the subject of renting vs. buying a home.

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Credit Information for Home Buyers

Credit reports and credit scores are important topics for home buyers. After all, your credit score goes hand-in-hand with qualifying for a mortgage loan. And mortgage loans are usually an essential part of the home buying process. So, by extension, credit is critical to your home buying success.

Now we get to the pop quiz. Have you checked your credit report or credit score lately? Do you even know how to get a copy of your credit report? Did you know you actually have three credit reports?

If you didn't do well on this pop quiz, never fear. We have prepared some information that will help you answer questions like those listed above. More importantly, this credit score information will help you increase your awareness of your own financial situation, especially as it applies to buying a home.

Learn more in this new article:
How to Review Your Credit Report

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Your Home Buying Guide

Wouldn't it be great if you had your own personal home buying guide ... somebody who would follow you along through the home buying process and offer advice, without charging you anything?

Well that's what we built this website for, to serve as a free home-buying guide for anyone buying a home. Our key audience is the first-time buyer, because these folks obviously have the most to learn about the home buying process.

But in truth, anybody can come to this website and learn something new about buying a home. Our website offers a wide variety of information for people with all levels of real estate knowledge. In other words, it is a home buying guide for the people ... all of the people.

As a good starting point, you might want to peruse one of out "all-inclusive" tutorials that cover the entire home buying experience. This will give you a good overview of the process, and it will also help you identify the areas where you need to focus your research efforts, such as mortgages, credit, house hunting, etc.

We hope you enjoy using this home buying guide as much as we enjoy providing it. And if there's any information you think we should offer but do not, please let us know.

Happy home buying!

~Brandon

Another Real Estate Search Engine Makes Its Debut

I'm beginning to lose track of all the real estate search engines online these days. Thankfully, I know of a handy guide to real estate search engines. But just when I thought I had them all straight, there's a new real estate search engine making its debut ... brought to you by the folks at HouseValues.

==============
Begin Press Release
==============

Just in Time for the Spring Home Buying Season, HomePages.com Launches With National Coverage, a Brand-New Design & Innovative New Features

The Only National Real Estate Site to Combine Comprehensive MLS Home Listings, Aerial Maps and Comprehensive Neighborhood & Business Information for Home Buyers and Sellers

KIRKLAND, WA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- May 01, 2007 -- HouseValues, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLD) -- HomePages.com, the nation's most complete online home buying and selling site, announced major new enhancements for the home buying season.

Originally introduced 18 months ago as the first and only national home buying and selling service to combine comprehensive MLS listings in most major markets with aerial maps and in-depth neighborhood information on one Web site, HomePages.com now extends its leadership position with even more home buying, selling and mortgage information, larger photos of homes for sale, 100% aerial mapping coverage and a clean, easy-to-use design.

"HomePages.com is the one national real estate site that provides home buyers and sellers with everything they need -- from comprehensive MLS listings to aerial photos of every neighborhood in America, to recent home sale information and extensive neighborhood and business information -- all in one place," said Ian Morris, CEO of HouseValues, which operates HomePages.com. "We've made it easier for consumers nationwide to find precisely the information and tools they need throughout the home buying and selling process."

Morris said many of the enhancements came directly from consumer feedback and suggestions. New features include:

--  Access to more than 1.5 million MLS home listings in most of the
 nation's major real estate markets, with many new markets being added in
 the coming weeks
--  More and larger photos of homes
--  Fast and easy navigation between homes for sale, recently sold homes,
 neighborhood information, and integrated mapping tools
--  Aerial mapping from MSN Virtual Earth across 100 percent of the United
 States, including bird's-eye, 360-degree imagery in several major markets
--  Dozens of expert articles about every aspect of buying, selling,
 financing, and owning a home
--  Access to top real estate professionals, including innovative click-to-
 call technology that enables consumers to contact an agent directly via
 phone and get real time answers to all of their real estate questions
 

HomePages is available free and without registration to home buyers and sellers nationwide, at http://www.homepages.com.

About HomePages

HomePages™ (www.homepages.com) gives consumers a complete picture of where they want to live, making home buying and selling research easier and more engaging than ever before. HomePages is the only national real estate site to combine detailed neighborhood information (community demographics, crime stats, school details, parks and recreation, and local amenities and services) with searchable aerial imagery and integrated, comprehensive MLS home listings to help consumers make the best decision about buying or selling a home.

About HouseValues, Inc.

Founded in 1999, HouseValues, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLD) provides consumers and real estate professionals with the information and tools they need for success throughout the home buying and selling process. The company's flagship consumer products include HomePages.com™, a lifestyle and neighborhood-centric home buying and selling service; HouseValues.com®, a service that provides home sellers with market valuations of their current home; and JustListed.com™, a service that alerts home buyers as soon as new homes hit the market that meet their criteria. Learn more at www.housevaluesinc.com.

==============
End Press Release
==============

How Debt-to-Income Ratio Affects Mortgage Rate

There a new article on Inman News that does a good job explaining the affects of debt-to-income ratio on mortgage loan qualification and terms.

Specifically, the article is a Q&A session about a woman who obtained an adjustable rate mortgage and feels she is paying too much interest on the loan. Obviously, a borrower's credit score plays a role in the type of mortgage terms they qualify for. But in most cases an ARM loan means you pay less interest during the introductory period.

So why is this woman paying such a high interest rate on her ARM loan? That's the question examined in the article.

Read the article here

This scenario brings up an important point. You should never automatically assume you're getting the best interest rate from a mortgage lender. You should shop around, ask plenty of questions, and seek the independent advice of somebody who is (A) knowledgeable on the subject and (B) unbiased. The woman asking the question in this article felt that something wasn't quite right, so she asked for help from an unbiased professional. As a result, she may be well on the way to a better interest rate.

Happy home buying!

~Brandon