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23 Common First-Time Homebuyer Questions: Your Questions Answered

Redfin

It covers a variety of fees like lender and title fees, property taxes, home inspection, and homeowners insurance, to name a few. Lower your debt-to-income ratio: Paying down existing debt can improve your financial profile, helping you qualify for lower interest rates. What are the closing costs?

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21 Essential Tips for First-Time Homebuyers

Redfin

Look into first-time homebuyer benefits Many programs are designed to make homeownership more accessible for first-time buyers by reducing upfront costs, lowering monthly payments, and helping with mortgage qualification. Common closing cost fees include: Application fee: Up to $500 Appraisal fees: $300-$500 Title insurance: 0.5%

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Can I Buy a House Before My Divorce Is Final? What to Know About Buying a Home While Getting Divorced

Redfin

In many states, a house purchased during the divorce process may still be considered marital property, even if only your name is on the title or mortgage. Get clear pre-approval: Make sure your mortgage pre-approval reflects your current debts, legal obligations, and post-divorce income so you know what you can truly afford.

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7 Things Sellers Need to Know About FHA Loans When Fielding Offers

HomeLight

As a seller, you’re usually not taking on additional risk by accepting an offer from a buyer pre-approved for an FHA loan than you would with a buyer pre-approved for a conventional loan. Dill shares that it’s only a myth that FHA-backed offers are by default weak offers: “They are strong and well-qualified buyers with steady income.

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Mastering Mortgage Basics: 10 Key Concepts Every Homebuyer Should Know

Redfin

Government-backed loans, such as FHA or VA loans, provide more flexible qualification criteria and specific benefits. How does the mortgage pre-approval process work? Mortgage pre-approval is a crucial step in the homebuying process. What are closing costs?

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Looking for a Mortgage Lender? Here Are 19 Questions to Ask Them Before You Commit

HomeLight

One of the first things you’ll want to know is just how much house you can afford , which is based on your income, credit score, debt-to-income ratio (DTI), and savings amount (including your down payment). I had some clients a few years ago that had trouble qualifying because they had a lot of debt.

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How to Buy a House in 15 Steps: The Ultimate Guide

Redfin

Debt-to-income ratio (DTI) Another major factor that a lender will consider when approving your mortgage loan is your debt-to-income ratio (DTI). DTI is calculated by dividing total monthly debts by gross monthly income. The number is then multiplied by 100 to get the final percentage.