Recent Articles
Why Waiting to Buy a Home Could Cost You
Waiting to buy a home in today’s market could cost you more in the long run. Learn why acting now—despite mortgage rates—might be the smartest move for future homeowners.
Published on 03/26/2025
What Veterans Must Learn About Using VA Loans - An Overview
VA loans are eligible only to military service members, with a few exceptions. It mainly functions as a federally backed loan that veterans use to purchase a home. With its competitive perks and benefits, from no down payments to limited closing costs, it seems like the best loan option available. However, it shouldn’t always be your first option, even if you qualify for it. For this reason, it’s necessary to understand your current financial situation and when you should utilize a VA loan to your advantage.
Published on 03/25/2025
What Homebuyers Need to Know About the Mortgage Approval Process
Even for those who have worked with mortgages before, the process of getting one approved can still be quite confusing. For those who have never gotten a mortgage, the difficulty can quickly drive them away from ever considering getting one! Despite that seeming difficulty, getting a mortgage is vital for various reasons. For some, it is a way to purchase more expensive homes than they would otherwise not afford. For others, it is a way to alleviate financial stress. Instead of trudging along blindly, it’s best to arm yourself with the knowledge to realize the truth: getting a mortgage is a piece of cake when you know the basics! Are you a first-time homebuyer but are having trouble with the mortgage approval process? If so, here is all that you need to know about the process to familiarize yourself with it:
Published on 03/25/2025
What You Need to Know About Getting a Mortgage in Hawaii
Are you planning to buy a dream home in Hawaii? Home shopping is indeed an exciting journey, especially when it’s on this beautiful island because there are many good places to live here. When you have finally found the house of your dreams, it will be time for you to apply for a mortgage. Although the entire process may have fewer exciting parts, a sure way to make it go as smoothly as possible is to know everything about it. Remember, knowledge is power!
Published on 03/25/2025
5 Ways to Get the Best Price Possible for Your New Home
A home is a major investment that involves a huge amount of your hard-earned money. As a first-time home buyer in Ewa Beach, looking for the right house for you can be overwhelming, especially with the many factors you have to consider. To make sure that your property is worth every penny, you must know your priorities, lifestyle, goals, credit, the value of a real estate in your area, and budget. Here are some ways to get the best price possible for your new home:
Published on 03/25/2025
How a Forbearance Request Can Help You Pay for Your Mortgage
One of the many worries during the COVID-19 pandemic is the necessity to pay mortgages. Since many businesses are adjusting to different company practices, it’s understandable that some people in the workforce are struggling with their employment situation. In response to this, the government created the CARES Act as federal legislation that mandates mortgage service providers to provide mortgage relief to homeowners. This prevents people from building up late fees and tells servicers to disregard reporting late payments to credit bureaus. Unfortunately, not all loan types fall under the CARES Act since it only applies to federal or GSE-backed mortgages. Therefore, homeowners need to research different ways to help them overcome the financial challenges of maintaining their mortgage. For example, requesting a forbearance can be a viable way to suspend your mortgage dues during emergencies.
Published on 03/25/2025
What You Need to Know When Refinancing a Jumbo Loan
Many people can get loans no higher than the limit set by Fannie and Freddie's guidelines, but some individuals may wish to get more than that. If you are one of those people, there is a solution you might want to consider: jumbo loans. Jumbo loans are loans that exceed this limit, which means you cannot find these loans under Fannie and Freddie. They also come with much higher risks, especially for the lender. For this reason, getting a jumbo loan and refinancing it can be a lot more challenging because lenders set much higher standards to reduce that risk. With that said, if you have taken out a jumbo loan to finance your home but now need to refinance it, here is what you need to know.
Published on 03/25/2025
The Most Important Saving Tips and Tricks for Your Dream Home
With enough hard work and patience, absolutely no dream is impossible. Even if your dream of a home on O’ahu seems far away, you can get closer to making it reality with the right mortgage broker and the right savings plan. The down payment on a standard home anywhere in the USA is about 5–20% of the purchase price, depending on your mortgage and finances. This puts the down payment at a rough average minimum of $39,000, according to many mortgage brokers. While this might seem like a large number, it is certainly something you can work towards.
Published on 03/25/2025
A New Homeowner's Guide to Purchasing the Right Home
Your career may be thriving, but the ultimate fulfillment of the American dream is to own a home. You may be ready to enter that phase of your life, where you’re ready to obtain the keys to your future house, space where you can safely call your haven. While the idea of finding a home may seem straightforward enough, understand that homeownership is a huge investment, one that requires careful planning and consideration. The goal is to find the right one and to do that, you need to follow certain steps to find the right location, home, price, just to ensure that your needs are met and the rest of the process unfolds smoothly. To help you with your journey as a soon-to-be homeowner, here are the steps you need to take to find the perfect home:
Published on 03/25/2025
A Useful Guide to Buying Your First House in Hawaii
Buying a house takes time. It involves coming up with a budget, determining the location you want, and looking at properties until you find the perfect home for you and your family. If you’re thinking of buying a house in Hawaii, it’s a big decision to make—yet it’s definitely a rewarding one! For first-time home buyers, it will be hard to navigate real estate without a broker's help because you’re going to need all the guidance and advice if you want to land a house. It’s hard to rush things and make a mistake, especially when it comes to major life decisions. If you want to find out some useful tips when it comes to buying a property in Hawaii, keep reading below.
Published on 03/25/2025
Falling Mortgage Rates Could Revitalize the Housing Market – What It Means for Buyers & Sellers
Mortgage rates have dropped to their lowest levels since December, making homeownership more affordable. Learn what this means for buyers and sellers in today’s market.
Published on 03/19/2025
Selling Your Home? What You Need to Know About Capital Gains Taxes
Learn how capital gains taxes work when selling your home and how to reduce what you owe. Consult a tax professional for personalized advice.
Published on 03/12/2025
Why Now Is the Time to Apply for a Mortgage
Mortgage demand is surging as rates drop. Don’t wait—now’s the time to apply and lock in your opportunity before competition heats up.
Published on 03/05/2025
Mortgage Rates Hit 4-Month Lows: What This Means for You
Mortgage rates have dropped to a 4-month low, creating new opportunities for homebuyers and homeowners looking to refinance. Learn how to take advantage of lower rates today.
Published on 02/26/2025
Home Sweet Home: 3 Tips for First-Time Home Buyers
Buying your first forever home is both an exciting and expensive process but getting lost in the thrill of the moment can increase your risk of falling into money pits in the real estate market. Purchasing a home is a complex ordeal for beginners and experienced homeowners alike, which is why taking the time to prepare for the biggest investment in your life is crucial. Rushing into a house without considering your budget and other factors can turn your dream home into a nightmare, which is why we’re here to give you a rundown on some basic tips to guide you through the homebuying journey. With that in mind, the tried-and-true tips below should help you get started in the right direction:
Published on 02/20/2025
5 Mistakes First-Time Home Buyers Need to Stop Doing
Buying a home is one of the biggest financial transactions that most people will ever make in their lifetimes. Unfortunately, because it is a complicated process, many first-time homebuyers make costly mistakes that have the potential of hounding them for a long time. Some people end up not buying properties at all due to problems in financing! Everybody who’s ever owned a home started out as first-time homebuyers as well! To make the process smoother, here are five common mistakes many first-timers do that you should avoid doing.
Published on 02/20/2025
5 Debunked Myths and Misconceptions About FHA Loans
Financing is always a complicated issue, wrought with many obstacles and challenges, but given the right understanding and sufficient information, you could quite easily improve your financial standing enough to purchase a home. FHA loans are just one of the things you can consider when thinking about your first home. There are many misconceptions as the complex nature of FHA loans, with these misconceptions often deterring the misinformed. That’s why this article will debunk some of these misconceptions so you can make better financial decisions about buying your new home.
Published on 02/20/2025
Buying Real Estate in Hawaii: 4 Tips You Should Know
Buying a property in Hawaii can be a challenge if you’re not familiar with the local real estate market. Because of this, many homebuyers turn to local real estate agents to represent them in scouting out potential property purchases. However, not all agents know the ins and outs of all the neighborhoods on every island, making it difficult to gauge whether a property is worth its value compared to others. As such, it’s also important that you acquaint yourself with the Hawaiian housing market so that you can make the best investment.
Published on 02/20/2025
The Fundamentals of an FHA Loan - What to Know
Whether you’re still figuring out whether an Ewa Beach FHA loan is most suitable for your needs or are ready to begin the process, knowing its implications can help inform your decisions. Helpful for buyers with limited savings or lower credit scores, an FHA loan may trump a conventional loan. If you’re still on the fence, we’ve compiled everything you need to know about this popular home-lending process.
Published on 02/20/2025
5 Crucial Tips to Know When Preparing for a Mortgage Application
Having a home of your own is the dream of many individuals, but it is not always an easy-to- reach goal for everyone. Most people need financial assistance to buy their ideal home—and that is where mortgage home loans become beneficial. If you are a first-time home buyer in the O’ahu area, we simplified everything you need to know when preparing to apply for a mortgage. Here are the top five things to keep in mind.
Published on 02/20/2025