Closing Costs: No Surprises

By Jane Hodges | Posted Jun 17th 2010 4:10PM 

Many homebuyers mistakenly arrive at closing unprepared for a laundry list of closing costs: major and minor fees that are a routine part of any home purchase. This can be because the lender increased fees on lender-controlled aspects of a transaction, or because a buyer chose a third party (appraiser, inspector, attorney, title company) that might charge higher prices than those estimated by the lender.

Fortunately, new rules and regulations provide more clarity on the closing costs that borrowers can expect to pay. As a rule of thumb, homebuyers can expect to pay closing costs equivalent to 3 percent to 5 percent of their loan amount, says Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, a Bethesda, Md.-based mortgage research firm.

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The Strangest And Most Unusual Homes On The Market

Jul. 13 2011 - 5:20 pm 

see photosRich Testa of RE/MAX Advance

Click for full photo gallery: In Pictures: 12 Strange And Unusual Homes For Sale

When Robert and Marguerite Antell told architect James Johnson they wanted to build a fun, artistic home, he handed the couple a coke bottle with a flowering sprig of Queen Anne’s lace.  “This is your new home,” he explained.  Forty years later the cream-colored pod that they built from his plans hit the market for $1.1 million in Pittsford, N.Y.

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Real estate bidding wars are back in parts of D.C. area

By Sandra Fleishman, Published: June 24

With all the bad news about the national housing market, it may come as a shock to eager Washington area home shoppers when they run into a bidding war. But that has been happening routinely in some popular neighborhoods, say real estate agents, especially when properties are priced slightly under the market and are in good condition or show strong promise for renovation.

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Europe's pain is US homeowners' gain

As mortgage rates drift lower, refinancing activity rises

By John W. Schoen Senior producer

msnbc.com

updated 7/20/2011 3:09:20 PM ET

The threat of a debt default by Greece and other European countries has created financial turmoil for investors, banks and government officials. It’s also provided a boon to U.S. homeowners.

Long-term mortgage rates have been drifting to their lowest levels of the year, sparking a new wave in mortgage refinancing activities, industry experts say.
The reason? Despite the anxiety over debt talk brinksmanship in Washington, investors have been flocking to dollar-based investments including U.S. Treasuries, because euro-based securities seeem riskier. Even as a potential U.S. default looms, the odds seem lower than a default in Europe. It’s like living in the nicest house in a bad neighborhood.

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A local designer gives a dated bi-level home a facelift in six months

View Photo Gallery —

By Terri Sapienza, Published: July 13

The morning Lauren Liess moved into her Herndon home, she took a sledgehammer to the basement to demolish the drop ceiling. Later that day, she and her husband ripped apart the kitchen.

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Secrets to getting a mortgage with so-so credit

By Les Christie July 5, 2011: 2:40 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Getting a mortgage can be tough these days -- even people with near-perfect credit have been rejected for loans. But for some lucky borrowers, things aren't as bad as the doom-and-gloom crowd says.

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Octagon house comes full circle

By Nancy McKeon, Published: July 8 | Updated: Thursday, July 7, 4:42 PM

As designer of Poplar Forest, one of the first octagonal houses in America, Thomas Jefferson probably would have liked Susan Cooper’s house in McLean.
Seen from the roadway, Cooper’s eight-sided house looks farm-friendly, or maybe nautical, like the lighthouse in St. Michaels, Md. — crisp white brick against the surrounding lawn, with a red standing-seam metal roof and a porch that encircles the house at ground level. A second octagonal level sits atop the first, set a few feet back from the edge of the roof below. Popping up in the middle of this confection is a windowed belvedere topped by a cupola, again echoing the eight-sided shape. An oversize glass-topped breezeway attaches the left side of the house to a two-car garage.

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