April Young Blackwell lives in Raleigh and is a Mortgage Broker at Blackwell Mortgage, and our personal broker who we got financing through for the recent purchase of our home here in Raleigh. April has years of experience in the financial industry, starting in commercial banking which enables her to serve the self-employed (like us), and has been a Mortgage Loan Originator since 2005.
In this episode, April shares fantastic insights and tips on all things related to financing the purchase of a home, from building and monitoring your credit, loan options available, how much deposit you need, how to figure out how much you can afford, steps to getting pre-approved, making offers, understanding due diligence money, and so much more!
Listen to the Podcast:
Video podcast:
What we talk about:
- How she got into the financial industry, and her experience
- Who she can help get financing for a home
- The difference between today’s market and the disaster of 2008
- Why new construction is now taking up to 8-9 months
- You have to be ready and willing to act quickly
- Looking for diamonds in the rough is a good strategy
- Why Raleigh is on all the top lists
- How to rebuild credit, use it responsibly, and monitor it.
- Quickest way to improve your credit score
- Understanding utilization of credit
- Good and bad lines of credit to have open
- Why only banking with local banks or credit unions can hurt your credit standing
- Where to get credit education and resources
- What loans are available for 1st time home buyers
- How much deposit you need to put down
- What is an FHA loan
- What is PMI, and how to avoid it
- Saving for a deposit vs. paying off bad debt
- Creative ways to make more money
- How to know how much you can afford
- Understanding Due Diligence (DD) money and how to play the game
- Why you need to get pre-approved (and what it means)
- Rules around Flips a buyer has to be aware of
- Checklist: steps to get ready to buy a home
- Number 1 mistake home-buyers make!
Are you looking to buy or sell a home and are in needed of a real estate agent in the Raleigh area? As a Licensed Realtor and referral agent, I can save you the time and stress searching and vetting, and connect you to my team of trusted Realtor partners. Read more here, or click the link below
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