Recent Articles
How to Choose Between Renting or Buying Your Next Home
Whether you’re a first-time home buyer in Ewa Beach or you’re moving into your next home within the area, you’ll always be faced with the following question: should you rent or buy? Renting seems like the no-nonsense answer, but changes in the market have contributed to steadily rising rental rates. However, mortgage rates are quite low right now—which gives many aspiring homeowners the chance to take out a home loan for a less expensive cost. Choosing to rent or buy a home will ultimately depend on your current situation and plans for the future, so by taking the time to assess your situation, you’ll have a better idea of how to proceed. Here are some things you may want to consider before finalizing your decision to continue to rent or buy a home:
Published on 04/23/2025
What to Consider When Buying a Home for Remote Workers
Many businesses worldwide have shifted all their operations to digital platforms and transitioned their teams to remote work, particularly during the global pandemic. If you have a similar work setup, your home should be more than just a place where you can relax and have fun. This must be a spot where you can work remotely in peace and comfort. Investing in a high-quality residential property is essential, especially if you’re a remote worker. Here are some factors you should consider when choosing the ideal housing situation to accommodate your remote career:
Published on 04/23/2025
Portfolio Loan: What It Is & How It Helps You Purchase a Home
There is nothing more fulfilling than finally owning your dream home, and when it comes to this, getting a mortgage is the most viable solution to help your efforts. Whether conventional or non-conventional loans (FHA, VA, or USDA), you can seek funding from a potential lender to finance your property. However, not all owners have the financial resources to keep up with the monthly contractual payments (MCPs) and pay off the loan when the term expires. This is where a portfolio loan option comes into the picture. In this article, we’ll share with you what a portfolio loan is and how it will help you buy your dream house:
Published on 04/23/2025
A Look Behind the Scenes of Home Prospecting
Every step of the homebuying process demands a balance between preparation and flexibility. As with any long-term decision, you’ll want to take each step as seriously as you did the preceding one. Prospecting is among the most exciting stages of homebuying—but you won’t want to tunnel-vision on structures that don’t quite justify the mortgage price or repairs that may end up costing you more than you can afford. Here are a few methods of streamlining the prospecting phase to the best of your ability.
Published on 04/23/2025
Why the Housing Market Isn't Crashing in 2025
Discover why the housing market isn’t crashing in 2025—and why now might still be a smart time to buy. Learn about market stability, lending trends, and how equity protects today’s homeowners.
Published on 04/23/2025
How Are Property Taxes Calculated? Here’s What Homebuyers Should Know
Learn how property taxes are calculated, what factors impact them (like land value and zoning potential), and how to budget smart as a homebuyer in 2025.
Published on 04/16/2025
Southern Housing Markets Offer New Opportunities for Homebuyers
Explore how southern U.S. cities like Miami and Memphis are becoming more accessible to homebuyers due to increased inventories and price reductions.?
Published on 04/09/2025
Townhomes: A Smart Solution for Today's First-Time Homebuyers
Discover why townhomes are becoming a popular choice for first-time homebuyers, offering affordability, low maintenance, and community amenities in today's housing market.
Published on 04/02/2025
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