By Gilbert Bennett You found the house. Maybe it's on the water in Tampa Bay, maybe it's a custom build in Avila, and the number attached to it has seven figures before the decimal. Then your bank...
By Eric Yoder You finally find a house in Tampa worth touring, and then the listing agent asks a question you weren't ready for: Are you pre-approved? If your stomach dropped a little, you are in...
By Gilbert Bennett You're scrolling listings in Tampa Bay and one line stops you cold: assumable VA loan, 2.75%. After years of watching rates sit well above that, it reads like a typo. It isn't....
If you used your VA loan to buy your first home in the Tampa Bay area, you may be wondering whether that benefit is gone for good. The good news is that it usually isn't. You can use your VA home...
The down payment for first-time home buyers in Florida is the wall a lot of buyers hit first. That is the exact problem Florida's Hometown Heroes Program seeks to solve by offering down payment and...
By Sam Wax Finding out your mortgage broker retired can feel unsettling, especially if they helped you buy your first home in Tampa and you figured they'd be your go-to for years. Maybe you were...
By Eric Yoder If you earn your living as a 1099 contractor, freelancer, or small business owner in the Tampa Bay area, you've probably heard that getting a mortgage is tougher for you than for...
By Sam Wax and Steven Hochak Buying a two-to-four-unit property in the Tampa Bay area can feel like a bigger leap than buying a single-family home. Here's the good news: financing multi-family...
By Gilbert Bennett Splitting a purchase into four easy payments feels harmless. You could be in line to buy furniture, or on a food delivery app in the checkout page, and a buy now, pay later option...
By Sam Wax Most buyers walk into their home-buying process focused on one number: the monthly mortgage payment. That's the number on the listing calculator, the number your lender quotes, the number...
By Sam Wax Wondering whether your credit score is the only thing standing between you and a home in Tampa? For decades, every conventional mortgage in the country used the same model: Classic FICO....
By Eric Yoder Moving to Tampa has been a hot-button topic for a while. It makes sense: Beautiful beaches, weather, no state income tax, and an ever-improving job market make this city a great next...