“But I thought it doesn’t expire until December 1,” you say. “It’s only August!” Granted, the deadline is still over three months away, but the experts are cautioning borrowers that the homebuying process can be a lengthy and complicated one:

Although the end of November might seem a long way off, Diane Dilzell, president of the New Jersey Assn. of Realtors, rightly points out that it takes weeks, if not months, to manage the logistics involved in a real estate transaction. It’s also important to realize that any of a number of things can go haywire along the way.

Read the rest of this entry »

Freemoneyfinance.com has a very informative and enlightening post that details the author’s experience when he almost bought a house — the deal never went through. The post reveals how the author locked in on the lowest possible rate, negotiated his closing costs, and received a discount on his homeowner’s insurance:

We got a very low mortgage rate by pitting two different lenders against each other (one a bank and one a mortgage broker). I knew both guys and was upfront with them throughout our process that we would 1. give them both an option to bid on the mortgage and 2. select the lowest bidder. I went back and forth a couple times — with them lowering rates (initially) then closing costs and other criteria (like them escrowing for taxes — something I didn’t want) — before one cried “uncle.”

Read the rest of this entry »