Apartments Website Reviews

Apartments – The general accepted legal definition of an apartment is, it is a self-contained dwelling unit (meaning used primarily as residence) that occupies only part of a building within a multifamily structure, provided usually as rental housing. This was the term used prior to the advances in real estate practices today, where one can also buy and own the individual apartment unit itself. The word apartment came from the French “appartement” which was also derived from the Italian “appartamento”, meaning to separate. For a building to be considered as an apartment building, it must have as a minimum 3 such dwelling units; the units themselves must have their own individual bathrooms inside to be correctly considered as an apartment unit.

Site 1: http://my.countrywide.com

This is the site of the no. 1 U.S. home lender of choice. Countywide Financial offers a wide variety of home loans – such as home purchase loans, home refinancing loans, home equity loans, and even reverse mortgage home loans. This firm has been in the news of late because of its big exposure to the sub-prime mortgage market, wherein less qualified home buyers or borrowers were given loans far beyond their paying capacity. Since loans are granted primarily on the basis of a borrower’s paying capacity, Countrywide has been forced to raise additional capital from the equity markets and even seek help from the U.S. Federal Reserve to stave off bankruptcy from an avalanche of home foreclosures.

Site 2: http://www.mbaa.org

This is the official website of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. This is primarily an advocacy group for all those players involved in the real estate financing industry. One of its current thrusts is to stabilize the home finance industry, which is in turmoil because of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. This organization has over 3,000 members in the industry, such as mortgage companies, mortgage brokers (agents or scouts), commercial banks, thrift banks, insurance companies, and credit unions. Another thrust is the education of all borrowers on the intricacies of financing their home ownership dreams. The site also provides valuable news and informative articles to help out its members.

Site 3: http://www.homeloanlearningcenter.com

This is an affiliate site of http://www.mbaa.org, the sole and primary purpose of which is to educate future homeowners to be financially-literate and empower them to make some informed decisions. The site offers comprehensive information regarding the intricacies of home buying, from the first basic steps such as what documentary proofs are required to assess the loan application to the advantages of refinancing, till to the end of the whole process which hopefully will not happen – how to prevent home foreclosures. We know that foreclosures are sometimes unavoidable because of sudden death, divorce, job loss, or an unexpected illness. This site also offers tips on how to mitigate this painful process.