Are you ready to take the plunge and buy a home? Homeownership is a big commitment, so it's important to do your due diligence and make sure you're as prepared as possible for the home buying process. Here are three important steps that you should take to ensure you're ready to buy a home.

1. Analyze Your Financial Situation

The process of buying a home isn’t typically a snap impulse purchase. There are a lot of steps to buying a house that have to be made months or even years in advance, especially if saving up for a down payment is involved.

Take a look at your current financial status starting with the ‘why’ behind your decision to look into buying a home. Some people prefer to spend their money on a mortgage payment that costs just as…

What Is a Mortgage?

By, Brian Skewes

A mortgage is a type of loan intended to finance the purchase of a property, such as a home. It may also be used to refinance an existing home loan. The property involved serves as the collateral to secure the loan. If the borrower defaults or fails to fulfill payments, the lender can foreclose and take ownership of the property.

The debt acquired through a mortgage is lowered through monthly payments in a process known as amortization. These payments cover both the principal amount borrowed and the interest rate imposed by the lenders.

Once the mortgage has been fully paid off, the borrower retains full rights and ownership of the property.

How Mortgages Work

A mortgage is an excellent choice for…

In order to compete in the present real estate bidding wars caused by a lack of available properties, many buyers are forgoing the traditional practice of conducting a thorough property inspection. However, a home inspection is still a crucial part of the home-buying and home-selling processes. Most real estate loses value as time passes. Expert property inspections look at the finer details of a structure and may turn up unexpected issues. Sellers can and should take precautions to reduce the likelihood of unwelcome discoveries once the inspection is complete. If you know the basics of how to prepare for a home inspection in California, you might breeze through the process and get the most money out of your home.

Don't put any barriers in the way…