Equity is built faster in your home when making biweekly mortgage payments.

Here is a recent post about comparing biweekly vs. regular mortgage payments and seeing the results, year after year.

Here is the original post:  Avoid PMI Faster With Biweekly Payments

You have probably heard about people making biweekly payments on their mortgage, but most don’t really understand the significant savings it can have.

Typically, biweekly mortgage payments are setup on an auto payment, where half of your mortgage payment is drafted every 14 days.  This equates to two extra half payments a year or one extra full payment a year.  In most cases, you will save tens of thousands of dollars in interest and reduce your term by 4 – 7 years.  Those are amazing benefits without having to refinance.

I have helped build a site that educates people about biweekly mortgage payments.  Here is the site:

www.biweeklypaymenteducation.com

It has a great biweekly calculator that shows exactly what the saving would be for your specific mortgage loan.  Also, details on how biweekly works, what experts have to say and a customer service that is available to help with any questions.

Take the time to educate yourself about the benefits of biweekly mortgage payments, so you can start to build equity faster in your home.

(photo provided by Flickr)

It’s last call for those who want to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay on the fence any longer. Per the tax credit’s conditions, buyers need to be under contract by April 30.

That’s a tight squeeze for buyers still considering their options. But there’s a deserving demographic that has a little more time to make a decision — our nation’s military men and women.

Active-duty service members who are serving outside of the U.S. on extended duty have an additional year to qualify for this tax credit. Qualified military members must be under contract on a purchase by April 30, 2011 and close on the deal by June 30, 2011.

 For all interested buyers, the tax credit has general requirements:

-The maximum purchase price of a home is $800,000.

-To be considered a first-time home buyer, you or your spouse cannot have owned a home in the last three years.

-Individuals with an annual income that meets or exceeds $125,000 are not eligible. Neither are married couples who file jointly and have an income greater than $250,000.

There’s also a tax credit opportunity for non first-timers. This $6,500 tax credit is for homeowners who have lived in their current residence for five out of the last eight years. All other requirements are the same as the $8,000 credit.

Military buyers can combine the tax credit with the significant financial benefits of a home loan guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA guidelines allow qualified borrowers to purchase with no money down and no private mortgage insurance, signature benefits only enhanced by the unique tax credit opportunities.

To learn more about the tax credit, check out this informative page at the IRS website.

After years of working in the real estate business, I’ve learned one of the most important things a buyer needs to know in order to get the best price on a home.  There is only one reason why people look to buy foreclosed homes, they think they will get a great deal for the home.  Just like anything you buy, say it’s a new car, new furniture, etc. there is one solid piece of information that is like gold when looking for the best deal.

The solid gold information you need to find when searching for a great price on a home, is knowing the seller’s current situation.

Once you know and understand that the seller is desperate to sell, you are at the greatest advantage when you start to negotiate.  An example would be a recent divorce or a spouse that passed away.  Both of these situations have lost half their household income and, usually, the one income remaining is not enough to support the mortgage payments, along with all their other bills.  Believe me, just about every mortgage application I take needs both incomes to approve.

A seller in either one of these situations usually wants to get rid of the home fast, because it helps them to move on from what trauma they just went through.  Price isn’t on their mind, time is more important at this point.

Remember, if you really want a good price from a seller in this situation, then you need to think business and don’t let your emotions take over.  It’s in our nature to feel bad when traumatic things happen to good people, but you just want to buy a good home at a good price.

This kind of mortgage advice can come in handy when looking to buy a home.

The home value is determined by similar homes that have recently sold in the area.

Here is an easy example:

The subject property, meaning the home you are looking at buying, is your standard 3 bedroom, colonial, with about 1500 square feet. Now, there are 2 other similar homes on the same block, both have 3 bedrooms, are colonial, and about 1500 square feet. One of the homes sold for $150,000 and the other sold for $160,000 just a few months ago. These two homes are called comparables.

These two comparable’s give you a good indication that the range in value of the subject property is $150,000 – $160,000.

Now, that was a basic example and in reality, comparables don’t come that cut and dry. Lenders today are getting tighter and tighter with their guidelines, when it comes to the appraised value. I am seeing most underwriters (underwriters are the people that decide whether your loan should be approved or denied) asking for recent home sales within the last 6 months. Going out as far as a year may not be acceptable, in some cases. If the property is located in an urban area, the comparables to use should be within 1 mile, or so.

Visit the nations #1 site for foreclosures and find homes for half the price.

There are many more factors that go into finding comparables, but the important factors that pull the most weight are these:

- Similar type of home. (compare a ranch style to a ranch style)

- Similar square footage. (don’t compare a home with much more than a couple of hundred square foot difference)

- Date of sale. (today’s lenders are looking for sales no older than 6 months and 3 months for really strong ones)

- Distance from the subject property. (try to stay within a mile, but if you have to go farther out that’s ok too)

First time home buyers will find this information very valuable, since most first time buyers don’t understand if they are making a good offer on a home or not.  It also helps to work with a local real estate agent to help with this.