Home buying, selling and mortgage approval

Learn about important tax deductions and limitations that come with homeownership.

The straight-man answer is "Have enough income." Your question isn't specific enough to be able to answer in a very targeted way, but here are some items of note that may help. If you are looking at borrowing $1,000,000, you'll be putting at least 20 percent down toward the cost of the home (possibly 25 percent). So your home purchase price would be $1.25 million or more, and you'll need $200,000 to $250,000 in cash as a downpayment (and probably $20,000 more for closing costs and incidentals). To borrow $1,000,000, you'll likely need premium-level credit, as many lenders don't offer jumbos to borrowers with FICO scores of less than 760 (depending on where you are, you might find this to be FICO 740). Please know that lower credit scores bring increases in fees and/or interest rate.  How much income you'll need is a function of interest rate, property tax and insurance costs. At today's interest rates, given a working estimate for tax and insurance costs and using a 28 percent housing ratio as a basis for calculation (highly variable with the property and location), you'll need gross (pre-tax) income of perhaps $233,000 in order to qualify for that million dollar mortgage (probably more, depending on tax and insurance bills).

Get to know the importance and benefits of homebuyer education courses at HSH.com

Read more about HECM and also find information about eligibility criteria for reverse mortgage at HSH.com

Will HSH.com's comparison of home price trends in likely head-to-head matchups forecast the Super Bowl winner?

A house may seem to always be a financial asset, but that's not always the case. You need to consider all aspects and costs, and we outline and discuss those here.

Answers to questions such as "what do they look for in a home appraisal" and "how much does a house have to appraise for to get a mortgage" can impact your ability to get a loan.

Home buyers in their 30s and 40s need to consider college and retirement savings, schools, commutes, home prices, jumbo mortgages and more.

Essential steps to successful home buying. HSH.com boils down the daunting and confusing process of locating a home, securing a mortgage and buying a house you love into key essential steps.

Your decision to buy a home may be an emotional one - for the joy of owning your place - or financial, because you're tired of rent increases and want to build equity, preparation is essential for all buyers. It's especially important if you have little to no experience evaluating homes and mortgage loans or live in an area with heavy competition for the type of place you want to buy.
Find 7 tips to help you get started at HSH.com

Considering buying rental property and becoming a landlord? Here are eight cost factors you'll need to consider in the decision.

Our home value estimator tool will tell you how much is your home value changed since you owned it, based on how your overall market has performed.