Financing | Buyer Resources | Jeff Lichtenstein Artboard 1? alert-icon? Artboard 1? ? ? delete-icon? edit-icon? email-icon hide-hover-icon? Artboard 1? login-icon-white Artboard 1? next-icon-left next-icon-right-left next-icon-left-ochre next-icon next-icon-right-grey next-icon-right-ochre plus-with-circle-iconP search-fw-icon? search-icon-ochre search-icon-white

Ask Questions

How Much Can I Afford?

Click here for our mortgage calculator

What is the difference between ‘Pre-Qualified’ and ‘Pre-Approved’?

If you are ‘pre-qualified’ you have determined with a loan officer what price you can afford based on the down payments, your debts, and the amount the mortgage company will approve for your mortgage. Being ‘pre-qualified’ is only a determination of your probable credit. If you are ‘pre-approved’, your credit, employment, and funds have been approved by a lender and makes any offer you make much more attractive to potential sellers.

What are closing costs?

Closing costs are accumulations of charges paid to different entities associated with the buying and selling of real estate. For buyers, they are usually 4-7% of the total sales price of a property. Some of the closings costs you might encounter are application fees, appraisal fee, county taxes, credit report, discount points, documentation fee, escrow fees, homeowners association fees, loan fees, mortgage insurance, origination fees, tax registration, and title insurance.

What is a point?

One point is equal to 1% of the new loan amount. Whenever government regulation, state usury laws, and/or competitive practices prohibit the lender from changing a rate of interest that would make a real estate loan competitive with other fields of investments, the lender must seek some method of increasing the yield for the investors. By charging ‘points’, the lender can bring the real estate loan up to those other investments.

What is earnest money?

When you make an offer, you will need to put up an earnest money deposit as a sign of good faith that you are seriously interested in buying a home. That deposit becomes a part of the purchase price and is held in a trust account until there is a full acceptance of the offer. Typically an earnest deposit is 5-10% of the offer.

What is title insurance?

Title insurance protects the named insured against loss of defects, liens, encumbrances, adverse claims, or other matters not shown or disclosed to the new owner that attach before date of policy.

First-Time Home Buyer?

Refer to this site for more information on tax credit for first-time home buyers.

 

Ask Questions

quotes

Dear Jeff: We write to you, to tell you how incredibly fortunate we were to have found Adam Bendeson and we just can’t say enough about...

Mr. & Mrs. Zaugg - PGA National

Read More >
quotes

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the support and guidance Christine Allsup provided to me and my husband David in finding a winter...

Christine & David Banti

Read More >
quotes

Hi Jeff, I am writing to let you know about the unbelievable effort and attentiveness Homaira Mangal gave us as our listing agent on the recent...

Patty & Jimmy Lamb - Tequesta Pines

Read More >

Home ECHOnomics...57 Guarantees When You List With Us

With our Home ECHOnomics Guarantee of 57 promises to make sure everything that is supposed to happen, happens, you'll have the best in your corner. So let the Joy, the Beauty, the Logic and the Power of Home ECHOnomics work for you.

https://www.echofineproperties.com/no-deposit-bonus-2023

Ask Questions

Schedule a Showing
We will do our best to accommodate your chosen time, and will confirm with you shortly.

 

Your Soulmate in Real Estate™

Looking for a Perfect Community to live?

Take our step by step quiz to find a best matching community for you*.

* Patent Pending