The Top 10 Things You Need to Know When Buying a Home

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Chief Marketing Officer Jessica

These ten useful tips are crucial to know when looking to purchase a home. Be sure to read on before you make the purchase! 1. Don’t buy if you can’t stay put.

If you can’t commit to remaining in one place for at least a few years, then owning is probably not for you, at least not yet. With the transaction costs of buying and selling a home, you may end up losing money if you sell any sooner – even in a rising market. When prices are falling, it’s an even worse proposition.

2. Start by shoring up your credit.

Since you most likely will need to get a mortgage to buy a house, you must make sure your credit history is as clean as possible. A few months before you start house hunting, get copies of your credit report. Make sure the facts are correct, and fix any problems you discover.

3. Aim for a home you can really afford.

The rule of thumb is that you can buy housing that runs about two-and-one-half times your annual salary. But you’ll do better to use one of many calculators available online to get a better handle on how your income, debts, and expenses affect what you can afford. Get started today by using some of our financial calculators, which will tell you how much home you can afford.

4. If you can’t put down the usual 20 percent, you may still qualify for a loan.

There are a variety of public and private lenders who, if you qualify, offer low rate mortgages that require a small down payment. In fact, First Financial is one of them! Check out our Mortgage resources, and then stop into any branch or give the Loan Department a call at 732.312.1500, Option 4.*

5. Buy in a district with good schools.

In most areas, this advice applies even if you don’t have school-age children. Reason: When it comes time to sell, you’ll learn that strong school districts are a top priority for many home buyers, thus helping to boost property values.

6. Get professional help.

Even though the Internet gives buyers unprecedented access to home listings, most new buyers (and many more experienced ones) are better off using a professional agent. Look for an exclusive buyer agent, if possible, who will have your interests at heart and can help you with strategies during the bidding process.

7. Choose carefully between points and rate.

When picking a mortgage, you usually have the option of paying additional points — a portion of what you pay at closing — in exchange for a lower rate. If you stay in the house for a long time — say three to five years or more — it’s usually a better deal to take the points. The lower rate will save you more in the long run.

8. Before house hunting, get pre-approved.

Getting pre-approved will save you the grief of looking at houses you can’t afford and put you in a better position to make a serious offer when you do find the right house. Not to be confused with pre-qualification, which is based on a cursory review of your finances, pre-approval from a lender is based on your actual income, debt, and credit history.

9. Do your homework before bidding.

Your opening bid should be based on the sales trend of similar homes in the neighborhood. So before making it, consider sales of similar homes in the last three months. If homes have recently sold at 5 percent less than the asking price, you should make a bid that’s about eight to 10 percent lower than what the seller is asking.

10. Hire a home inspector.

Sure, your lender will require a home appraisal anyway. But, you should hire your own home inspector, preferably an engineer with experience in doing home surveys in the area where you are buying. His or her job will be to point out potential problems that could require costly repairs down the road.

If you have any questions about the home buying process, feel free to ask us! We know it can be an intimidating process at times, and we’re here for you. To apply for a First Financial Mortgage – click here.* You might also want to subscribe to our Mortgage rate text message service, by texting “firstrate” to 866-956-9302. When our Mortgage rates change, you’ll be the first to know**

* A First Financial membership is required to obtain a mortgage and is open to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in Monmouth or Ocean Counties. Subject to credit approval. See Credit Union for details.

**Standard text messaging and data rates may apply.

Article Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/money101/lesson8/index.htm

Smishing – An ID Theft Scam

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Chief Marketing Officer Jessica

Have you been “smished” lately? Be on the alert for text messages with links — they could be an ID theft scam known as smishing.

Similar to phishing (which involves email), smishing uses cell phone text messages to deliver bait that’s intended to get you to divulge personal information. Smishing may involve winning a prize or a message that contains something that requires your immediate attention — the link tells you to “click here.” If you click on the infected link, it downloads malware that allows the bad guys to gain control of your device remotely. They can then use your phone from anywhere in the world to access your banking information, credit card data and the like.

What to do:
If you receive a text message that asks for sensitive information –

Do not reply to the message.
Do not click on any of the links that may be embedded in the message.
Contact your carrier’s privacy or fraud team. If their company name or brand is used in efforts to fraudulently obtain personal information, they may choose to pursue legal action.
Contact your financial institution to be sure your accounts have not been compromised.

Visit the FTC Identity Theft website to learn more about how to minimize damage from identity theft. If you believe that you have been a victim of a smishing scam, you can file an online complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s Report Fraud webpage. You can also call the FTC toll-free at 1.877.FTC.HELP (1.877.382.4357).

Bottom line: Avoid clicking!

Save someone from getting smished:
As technology provides new ways to expose and defend against familiar scams, clever con artists devise new ones. Please share this with loved ones and friends — smish be gone, pass this on!

If you notice any fraudulent activity on any of your First Financial accounts, contact us by calling 732.312.1500, emailing info@firstffcu.com or stopping into any one of our branches.

Article Sources: http://www.andersoncooper.com

How to Start a Business in the Current Economy

Posted on November 18, 2011 by M2 The Agency

We at First Financial want to help you achieve your dreams of owning your own business using safe and realistic steps to guide you. Over the coming weeks, our business experts will provide step-by-step advice on how to get started. We can’t promise it’ll be easy to get started—but we can promise that we’ll be here every step of the way to get you to your destination.

Step One: Form an intimate relationship with your industry

It’s important when starting your own business that you’ve experienced it at the employee level. When you take the time to involve yourself in the industry, you are able to determine if it will be something that suits you and this economy. The fewer surprises, the better. Plus the experience not only provides you with knowledge and preparation, but also with credibility, which can help you market your business and secure financing.

Tip: Want to open a business in which you have no industry experience? Don’t let that deter you! If it’s feasible, take a year to throw yourself into it. In the long-term, proverbial “big picture.” You’ll benefit from taking that extra year (or two!) to immerse and educate yourself in what the industry involves. Take notes along the way. Ask questions of your supervisors and coworkers. Create a journal of all that you do so you can use this information not only in starting your business, but in later years to assess how far you’ve come.

Step Two: Create a concept and research, research, research!

Just as you can never have too much experience, you can never do too much research. Use resources both on-line and locally to provide you with a well-rounded assessment of your industry in your area. Check out your potential competition—their websites, pricing, products and how they market themselves. Decide what you like and dislike about each of these categories, and even ask what your friends and family think about it! These can help you decide how you want your company to be conveyed, and how it can set you apart from the rest. Check out if there are any local groups that specialize in networking specifically for your potential industry. Check out Chambers of Commerce in local towns where you can also meet up with industry professionals. But don’t forget to hit the books as well! What kind of literature can you find on your business venture?

For Monmouth and Ocean Counties, not only do you have First Financial as a resource, but you also have SCORE, Monmouth Ocean Small Business Development Center (MOSBDC), and others. SCORE is a nonprofit association that provides advice and guidance to entrepreneurs. While they are a national association, they have a chapter here at the Jersey Shore. For more information on how they can help your business grow, go to www.score.org. MOSBDC is a national network of universities and colleges that advise small businesses. Locally, they have offices at Brookdale Community College and Ocean County College. Their website is www.mosbdc.com. These are only two examples of organizations that dedicate themselves to helping small business owners start and flourish.

Tip: Don’t overwhelm yourself! This sounds like a lot, so start off slow with 1 hour per day of research, and maybe 2-3 hours per week of networking and face-to-face research. (Just 10 hours per week to become more learned for your business path? Sounds like a deal!).