How Should I Take Ownership of the Property I am Buying? Real property can be incredibly valuable and the question of how parties can take ownership of their property is important. The form of ownership taken -- the vesting of title -- will determine who...
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Estate planners often recommend Living Trusts as a viable option when contemplating the manner in which to hold title to real property. When a property is held in a Living Trust, title companies have particular requirements to facilitate the transaction. ...
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Title Insurance. It's a term we hear and see frequently - we see reference to it in the Sunday real estate section, in advertisements and in conversations with real estate brokers. If you've purchased a home before, you're probably familiar with the bene...
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When you apply for a mortgage loan, you expect your lender to pull a credit report and look at whether you've made your payments on time. What you may not expect is that they seem to be more interested in your FICO® score. "What's a FICO® score?" is a ...
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Buying or selling a home (or other piece of real property) usually involves the transfer of large sums of money. It is imperative that the transfer of these funds and related documents from one party to another be handled in a neutral, secure and knowledg...
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The average amount of a down payment on a property is 20% of the home's selling price, which is a decent amount of money. Borrowers can use a mortgage calculator to determine how much money they will need to save. They should choose a home price that is n...
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During the home buying process you will always be required to provide an earnest money deposit that signals serious intent to buy a property. Once a seller accepts your offer a third-party holds your earnest money deposit and the seller will then take the...
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The coronavirus pandemic that took over much of 2020 lead to some unexpected outcomes in the housing market. After a brief period of low activity in home sales, home buyer activity vastly outweighed available homes throughout much of the U.S. and Michigan...
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When buying a home, it is not enough to just come up with the money. With the exception of no asset verification loans, lenders want to verify where the money for your new home will be coming from. If you can document that the funds are coming from your p...
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Years ago, credit scoring had little to do with mortgage lending. When reviewing the credit worthiness of a borrower, an underwriter would make a subjective decision based on past payment history. Then things changed. Lenders studied the relationship be...
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