Category Archives: Buying a Home

What Makes Up a Credit Score?

The FICO score generally ranges from 300 to 850, and a higher score indicates a lower credit risk. FICO scores are calculated from many sources of information in your credit report, which is based on the importance of the following five categories for the general population:

Payment History – 35% – Were payments made on time? read more

Manufactured Home Financing

 by Teryn Bonime www.teryndowntheroad.com

Question: Where do I go to get a loan for the manufactured home I want to buy?

Mobile homes and manufactured homes take a higher interest rate because typically the land is not part of the sale-usually the land is leased. For this reason also the value of these types of homes does not appreciate as “stick” houses do. read more

How Do You Know if a Seller is getting a Reduced Commission Rate?

by Teryn Bonime www.teryndowntheroad.com

When a listing agent procures a buyer for his or her listing there is sometimes an agreement with the seller to pay a different commission. Often this is a reduced amount of commission (e.g., 7% to 6%).

The reason for this is because the listing agent would be representing both the seller and the buyer and would not split the commission with a buyer’s agent (i.e., the listing agent keeps the entire commission). read more

Submitting Offers to a Seller

by Teryn Bonime www.teryndowntheroad.com

Often, real estate agents simply send over their buyer’s offer via email with a quick note essentially stating “here you go.” The disadvantage to the seller is that he/she doesn’t get a chance to learn about who the buyers are and doesn’t get a chance to learn why the offer was written the way it was.  As a seller, wouldn’t it make sense to hear what the buyer’s agent has to say? Did you know as a seller it is your right to have the offer presented to you by the buyer’s agent? read more