How to Get Instant Homeowners Insurance Quotes Online

by Brandon Cornett

In this article, I'll explain the many virtues of getting instant home insurance quotes via the Web, and I'll also recommend some of my favorites websites for that purpose. It's a topic of great concern among home buyers, so I'll try to cover all of the bases here.

Did you know you must have proof of homeowners insurance before your mortgage lender will let you close on your new home? It's true. In fact, you'll need to bring a copy of your insurance policy to the escrow settlement / closing. But there's no need to worry if you haven't purchased a policy yet. You can get instant homeowners insurance quote online and have coverage within 48 hours. Here's how to go about it:

Getting Instant Quotes Online - Step by Step

The first thing you need to do is determine the amount of coverage you need. Typically, you would want enough insurance to cover the cost of rebuilding the home and replacing the belongings inside it. You also want to make sure that your homeowners policy will cover the full replacement of your belongings at current value, as opposed to their depreciated values.

Next, you can start gathering quotes from insurance providers. This allows you to compare the cost and coverage offered by several different companies, which is the key to finding the best deal. This is also where the Internet comes into play. These days, you can go online and get instant homeowners insurance quotes from several different companies at once.

By the way, when I say instant in this context, I'm talking about receiving an email within a couple of hours of filling out the website form. There is no such thing as a truly instant quote for home insurance, because in order to get an accurate quote a person has to review your coverage request. Still, this sure beats the heck out of calling ten different providers on the phone, or driving all over town to get quotes!

Finding Homeowners Insurance Online

Like I said, there are plenty of websites where you can get instant quotes from insurers. But there's one site I recommend above all others, and that's InsureMe.com. I like it because it lets you shop and compare multiple home insurance quotes for free.


You do not have to pay to use this service, nor does it put you under any kind of obligation. It's just a quick and easy way to get several quotes for homeowners coverage all at once, without leaving your house or spending time on the phone. They give you access to such big-name providers as Nationwide, Allstate and Farmers. Give it a try and see what you think. You've got nothing to lose since it's free, and you could get an instant homeowners insurance quote that meets all of your policy needs.

How Are Home Mortgage Rates Determined?

by Brandon Cornett

When you apply for a home mortgage loan, the lender will review many aspects of your financial history, and they will offer you an interest rate based on these and other factors. And this brings up one of the most common questions first-time home buyers have: How are home mortgage rates determined anyway?

I won't get too far into the weeds on this one, because there are some confusing things that take place on the "back end" of interest rates. Instead, I'll explain on the basic factors that mortgage lenders use to determine the rates they offer.

Interest rates are driven by the stock market and other financial activities. Many lenders will package up the home mortgage loans they sell, and then sell them as mortgage-backed securities through the stock market. So the interest rate that financial institutions charge each other will also influence the mortgage rate offered to you.

Your credit score is another big factor that determines the interest rate you are offered. If you have excellent credit, you'll probably qualify for the best mortgage rates a lender has to offer. On the other hand, if your credit is bad, they will charge you more interest.

When you see a lender's advertisement that brags about a certain rate they're offering, it will always be followed by an asterisk. Read into the fine print below the headline, and you'll find that is says something like "for well qualified borrowers only." This means that they will only give their best mortgage rates to certain borrowers, and that they reserve the right to determine what "well qualified" means.

Whether choose a fixed-rate mortgage or an adjustable-rate (ARM) loan also plays a role. With an ARM loan, the initial interest rate will normally be set below the rate on a traditional fixed-rate mortgage. But "initial" is the key word there, because the ARM loan will eventually reset or adjust to a different rate -- hence the term adjustable-rate mortgage.

How You Can Determine Your Rate

As far as mortgage rates go, there are certain things you can control and certain things you can't. Obviously, you have no control over the wheeling and dealing that takes place on Wall Street, or the "going rate" for certain mortgage-backed securities. But you do have control over your own financial practices, and this is where you can partially determine the mortgage rates that lenders offer you. This is where your credit score comes into the picture. Here are some tips for getting a better credit score before applying for a home loan.

This article answers one of the most frequently asked questions among first-time buyers. How are home mortgage rates determined by lender? I hope this clears things up for you, and I wish you all the best in your mortgage shopping.

About the Author: Brandon Cornett is the creator of the Home Buying Institute and several other consumer-education websites, including The Agent Network.

Submit a Real Estate Article to the Agent Network

If you've written a real estate article and would like to publish it online, you can have it published right here on The Agent Network. We accept articles on a wide variety of real estate topics, as long as they meet the guidelines listed below.

Why Submit an Article?

You get extra online exposure for your website and business. You get another link to your website (from the author's note), which helps improve your search engine ranking. Additionally, we only accept the best articles that are sent to us, so you by being published on the site you'll have another credential to set yourself apart.

Types of Articles We Accept

We will consider any original article that is related to real estate in some way. This includes articles about buying a home, selling a home, getting a mortgage loan, etc. We only accept original articles that are not published elsewhere at the time you submit it (though you're free to publish it wherever you want after submitting it to The Agent Network).

Summary of article guidelines:

• We only accept articles from real estate agents.
• We accept original articles that are not currently published online.
• We will link to your website within the author's note on your article.
• All articles are screened for quality and originality before being published.

How to Submit Your Work

Please email your real estate article within the body of the email. Please do not send attachments such as Word documents. To reduce the chance of computer viruses, we do not open attachments sent from unknown sources. So please copy and paste your article into the body of an email and send it to info@theagentnet.com.

Common Questions When Buying a House

by Brandon Cornett

What's an ARM loan? Do I need a home inspection? How much should I offer? Do I need to use a real estate agent? These are just a few of the common questions people ask when buying a house for the first time. In truth, home buyers usually have dozens of questions on how the process the works, and it's easy to understand why.

So in this article, I've compiled a list of some of the most frequently asked questions when buying a house, along with my responses to each question.

1. How do I start the process?

Before you contact a real estate agent, apply for a home loan, or start the house-hunting process, you need to get your financial house in order. For starters, set up a home buying budget to see how much you can afford to spend on a mortgage payment each month. There are plenty of mortgage calculators online you can use for this purpose.

I also recommend getting copies of your credit reports from all three reporting bureaus, and reviewing those reports for errors. If you find mistakes, you need to dispute them through the website of the company that produced the report (Experian, TransUnion or Equifax). Such errors can lower your credit score, which could make it harder to get qualified for a home loan.

Third, you should start saving your cash. This will help toward your down payment, closing costs, and other expenses associated with the home buying process. The more you can save, the better. That's why I've put this tip at the top of the list. Now let's move on to some other common questions when buying a house for the first time.

2. Do I need a real estate agent?

This is really up to you. I usually refrain from telling people that they do or don't need an agent. Instead, I'll tell you what a real estate agent would do for you, and you can then decide if you're comfortable doing those things by yourself.

An agent will help you with four parts of the process. He or she will help you (A) find a house that meets your needs, (B) evaluate the home and the asking price, (C) make an offer on the home, and (D) negotiate with the sellers if it comes to that. Another benefit to having an agent is that you can get answers to all of your questions when buying a house, from someone who has been through the process many times.

If you're buying for the first time, or in a new city you're not familiar with, it's probably a good idea to have professional help. Likewise, if you have doubts about your ability to perform the four tasks mentioned above, you might want to hire a real estate agent.

3. What type of mortgage loan should I use?

I'll give you my own personal views on the subject. If you think you'll be staying in the home for a good while (longer than five years), it's best to choose a fixed-rate mortgage loan. This will keep your interest rate the same over the entire life of the loan. If you're only going to be in the home for a few years, and you're fairly certain of this, then you might want to choose an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) loan to save money.

What you want to avoid is using an ARM loan when you're going to stay in the home and keep the mortgage for many years. This means you'll either have to refinance before the ARM resets, or face the uncertainty of a rising interest rate. Adjustable mortgages were a key factor that led to the housing crisis that wrecked our economy in 2008 - 2009. So you should learn everything you can about the different loan types, and choose accordingly.

4. How do I find a home?

If you've decided to use a real estate agent, he or she will assist you with the house hunting process. Most agents have access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which is basically a big database with property listings. When a home is listed for sale by a selling agent, it gets entered into the MLS. So this system is one of the easiest ways to find homes for sale.

In the past, the MLS used to be one of the only places to go for this kind of information. But not anymore. Today, there are dozens of real estate search engines you can use to find homes for sale in your area. Here's a review of popular search engines you might want to check out.

You can also find houses for sale the "old fashioned" way, by looking in your local newspaper and by driving through neighborhoods. In most cities, the weekend edition of the newspaper will have an expanded real estate section with a lot of property listings.

5. How do I evaluate the seller's asking price?

This is another common question people have when buying a house, and with good reason. After all, nobody wants to overpay for a home. It's important to understand than an asking price is exactly that -- it's what the seller is asking for the home. But that doesn't mean it's a realistic price. In fact, it's pretty common for sellers to overprice their homes due to the emotional value they place on it.

So the question becomes, how can you validate the price before making an offer? Once again, this is a key area where a real estate agent can help you. The key concept here is "comps," which is short for comparable sales. A real estate agent will pull a list of recent sales in the area, with an eye out for comparable homes similar to the one you're looking at. This will help validate the seller's asking price.

There are also a number of websites online that offer home value estimates, which is another way to get a feel for the average selling price in an area. But unlike a full property appraisal, these websites do not factor in the upgrades to a home, the way a full appraisal would. So they're not as accurate as a home appraiser's evaluation. Still, they might be useful to you. Here's a review of five popular home value websites you might want to read.

6. How do I apply for a mortgage loan?

This is another frequently asked question when buying a home for the first time. Applying for a loan is pretty straightforward. But getting approved for the loan is another thing entirely. To get started, you would simply submit an application with one or more mortgage lenders. You won't know the interest rate they're willing to offer until you submit an application. After that, the lender will review your credit score, debt-to-income ratio and other factors in order to approve (or deny) your application, and to offer you an interest rate.

Some people mistakenly think they will automatically qualify for the best rates being advertised by the lender. But this is not the case. A lender will only give their best interest rates to the best qualified customers (i.e., those borrowers who have excellent credit). So in order to calculate the full cost of a loan, including the interest, you'll need to submit your paperwork and get pre-qualified by the lender.

If you'll be buying a house in the near future, it's a good idea to start rounding up your financial paperwork. This includes your pay stubs and W2's for the last couple of years, financial statements, etc. These are the first things a lender will ask for when you apply.

Once you have these things rounded up, I recommend applying online for a mortgage loan. It saves you a lot of time and allows you to compare offers from multiple lenders. Use the "Mortgage Quotes" box at the top of this website to get started.

What questions do you have?

If you have questions about buying a house that aren't answered above, feel free to email them to us. We do not provide specific one-on-one financial advice, but we can answer your question here on the blog for the benefit of all readers.

About the Author: Brandon Cornett is the creator of the Home Buying Institute and several other consumer-education websites, including The Agent Network.

How to Get a Better Credit Score Quickly

by Brandon Cornett

A good credit score is the first step to getting a mortgage loan. It's not the only thing lenders will look at, but it is one of the most important criteria for qualification. So if your score is low, you need to get a better credit score before applying for a home loan. This will make it easier to get approved for the loan, and it will also help you qualify for a better interest rate on the mortgage.

Step 1 - Get Your Current Credit Score

This step is for those of you who have not yet received your credit scores from all three of the reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). If you've already done this, then proceed to the next step. Otherwise, use the white box at the top of this blog to request your scores from all three of the reporting agencies. After all, you might find that you don't even need a better credit score, and that it's already in the excellent range. But you won't know until you receive it.

You can learn more about requesting your credit score online in this article:
www.cornettcommunications.com/credit-score.php

Step 2 - Get Copies of Your Free Credit Reports

If you use the Credit.com link at the top of this blog to request your credit scores, you'll get your credit reports at the same time. Yes, they are two different things. You can also get free copies of your reports through AnnualCreditReport.com (which is the only website endorsed by the FTC, by the way).

Step 3 - Correct Any Errors On Your Reports

I wish I could say that the credit reporting agencies rarely make mistakes, and that the majority of the reports they produce are error-free. But this is simply not the case. In fact, some studies have found that the majority of consumer credit reports have one or more mistakes in them. So in order to get a better credit score, you must start by checking your reports for errors, and fixing those errors if necessary. The Home Buying Institute has a good tutorial that explains how to fix errors on your credit reports.

Step 4 - Reduce Your Credit Card Balances

Credit utilization is one of the top-three factors that determine your score. This is a percentage that indicates how much of your current credit limit you are using. For example, if your credit card balance is only 10% of your available limit, then you have a fairly low utilization ratio. This is a good thing, because it shows you're using your credit responsibly. On other hand, if you're using 95% of your credit limit (nearly maxed out), it will have a negative impact on your score. So reducing your balances is one of the things you can do to get a better credit score quickly.

Step 5 - Pay All of Your Bills on Time

You've heard this one before, I know. But there's a good reason this piece of advice is repeated so often. The reason is this. Your account history (how you pay your bills) accounts for 35% of your overall credit score, which is more than any other single factor. So if you have a history of missed payments, you can earn a better credit score by paying on time from here on out.

Step 6 - Avoid Credit Repair Companies

You've probably seen advertisements online for the so-called credit repair services. Let me offer the following advice on this subject. You should avoid these companies entirely. Most of them are scams, and they cannot do anything that you can't do for yourself (and for free). Not convinced? Try this. Do a Google search for the phrases "credit repair companies" and skim through the first two pages of results. You'll see all kinds of information about credit repair scams, ripoff advisories, government sting operations and more.

Better Credit Quickly - Items #4 and #5

Steps #4 and #5 above are the fastest ways to improve your score. When you do these two things in tandem -- reducing your credit card balances and paying your bills on time -- you'll see noticeable improvements in no time at all.

Some people make this more complicated than it really is. Credit repair companies in particular will tell you that it requires special skills and knowledge. But this is simply not the case. Getting a better credit score is one of the most straightforward topics within the realm of personal finance. And I've just given you the six steps needed for success.

About the Author: Brandon Cornett is the creator of the Home Buying Institute and several other consumer-education websites, including The Agent Network.