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Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

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Who Pays for the Home Appraisal?

Mar 4, 2016 10:00:00 AM

When you buy a single-family home or condominium in Massachusetts your mortgage lender will want to know whether the home you are buying is worth the amount of money you have agreed to pay the seller.

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Mortgages 101, Real Estate Misc.

One Way Massachusetts Homebuyers Can Avoid PMI

Feb 28, 2016 7:11:25 PM

Homebuyers that have less than a 20 percent down payment when purchasing a home might have to pay monthly private mortgage insurance, or PMI. It also is referred to as just mortgage insurance, or MI. 

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Mortgages 101, Video

What is a Real Estate Appraisal?

Feb 25, 2016 7:03:34 AM

A real estate appraisal, sometimes referred to as a home appraisal, is an estimate of a property’s value. Property value is based on such factors as location, amenities, structural condition, square footage, number or bedrooms, number of bathrooms and recent sales of similar nearby properties.

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Mortgages 101, Real Estate Misc.

What is a Closing Disclosure?

Feb 20, 2016 10:11:45 AM

A Closing Disclosure is a five-page form that provides the final details about the mortgage loan you have selected. It includes the loan terms, your projected monthly payments, and how much you will pay in fees and other costs to get your mortgage (closing costs).

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Mortgages 101

Homebuyers Shouldn't Confuse the Note and Mortgage at Closing

Jan 23, 2016 7:30:00 PM

After the lender's real estate attorney, also known as the closing attorney, explains at closing to the homebuyer that by signing the "note" he or she is promising to pay the loan amount back, homebuyers are sometimes surprised when the attorney then presents the mortgage document to be signed.

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Mortgages 101

Massachusetts Real Estate Taxes Rise an Average 4 Percent in 2016

Jan 22, 2016 7:30:00 AM

Massachusetts homebuyers will not just be paying more for houses and interest on home loans in 2016. They'll be paying about 4 percent more for property taxes, according to an analysis by The Boston Globe of 328 of the state's 351 communities for which comparable data were available.  

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Topics: Real Estate Market, Home-buying Tips, Community Information

The Loan Estimate Gives Homebuyers a Tool to Compare Mortgage Products

Jan 21, 2016 6:20:45 AM

The new Truth-in-lending RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rules, which went into effect in October, came with some new real estate industry jargon, as well as a new tool for homebuyers to compare home loans offered by competing lenders. 

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Mortgages 101, Mortgage Rates & News

Should Homebuyers Worry About the New Closing Disclosure Rules?

Dec 27, 2015 7:00:00 AM

Not since Y2K have so many predicted such great disruption and chaos in our lives.

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Mortgages 101, Mortgage Rates & News, Real Estate Law

Half-priced HUD Homes Through Good Neighbor Next Door Program

Dec 10, 2015 8:40:03 AM

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently rolled out a new program designed to revitalize certain targeted geographic areas.  Through HUD’s Good Neighbor Next Door program, certain Massachusetts homebuyers can purchase a HUD-owned property for a 50 percent discount on the list price of the home.

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Topics: Foreclosure News, Home-buying Tips, Real Estate Misc.

What's the Difference Between an Appraisal and a Home Inspection?

Nov 18, 2015 8:23:39 AM

Although entirely different and unrelated parts of the home-buying process in Massachusetts, homebuyers sometimes confuse a home appraisal and a home inspection, and some would-be first-time homebuyers even think an inspection and appraisal are the same things.

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Real Estate Misc.

What is a Dual Agent in Real Estate?

Nov 16, 2015 8:48:58 PM

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island Allow Dual Agency

Dual Agency is when a real estate agent represents both the seller and the homebuyer in the same real estate transaction. In such a case, that real estate professional is known as a dual agent. 

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Condominium, Real Estate Misc., Real Estate Law

Will You Miss a Patriots Game For an Open House?

Nov 15, 2015 8:00:00 AM

Should Boston area listing agents schedule open houses the same time as a New England Patriots game?

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Topics: Home-buying Tips, Real Estate Misc.

   

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