*UPDATE: Though most of this information is still accurate and helpful, it should be noted that the HomePath program was discontinued in October 2014 (read more here). In addition to this post, check out our most recent post about tips and tricks for buying your first home in 2015! The 2013 first time home buyer needs to know options. The US housing market has been on a slow but steady recovery path in the recent past. For the last six months, home values and prices have been inching up in most metro housing markets. In some places, demand has outweighed supply leading to limited listings and intense bidding wars.

Want to be a First Time Home Buyer This Year? Get Started Now (The original title to this article referenced 2014. However, we've found that it's still quite popular ... so we've updated it!) New information for this year (and beyond)* UPDATE: In addition to the great information included in this post, read our updated list of tips and tricks for becoming a first time home owner in 2015! Education is a major part of the home buying experience. The more education first time home buyers dive into, the smoother the process typically goes. You intuitively know this. You're already thinking about next year, and wondering what it will take to buy a home in 2014.

If you're debating the pros and cons of a USDA loan, you're probably already familiar with this 100% financing mortgage option. You may already know some of the pros to this loan. Further on in this article you'll read some of the good and some of the not so good about this mortgage financing choice. Download our Rural Development Factsheet here and learn more.

For an official word on the disconinuation of Fannie Mae's HomePath financing and what it means for AmeriFirst Home Mortgage borrowers, please read this: HomePath Discontinued

Buying a home can be a long process. It can be especially taxing on someone with a disability, like a disabled military veteran. Military veterans sacrifice so much when they serve our country. When a veteran ends up with a disability from their service,

Think you're ready to buy a home in 2014? Do you know what step you're going to take first? Maybe you're ready to go house hunting in person, or search through listings online at websites like Homes.com or Zillow. Maybe you're saving every penny you can for a 20% down payment. Or maybe you're just winging it, figuring buying a house is really no big deal.

Here's a mortgage question we received recently: "We have been pre-qualified for a regular FHA loan but we'd like to get qualified for a 203K loan so that we can look at "fixers" that might be more in our budget. Can we do that?"