Whitney Watson's (whitneywatson) Blog

My first car was a 1979 hunter green Volvo (circa 1998).  I loved it!  Sure, I had to keep one foot on the gas and one on the brake at stop lights so that it wouldn’t cut off because it idled so low, but it had a brand new paint job and a cassette player which was all that mattered to me at the t...

Have you been thinking about purchasing an investment property and becoming a landlord?  Getting a mortgage loan for a non-owner occupied property (NOO) is a lot different from purchasing an owner occupied property.  Here’s a brief overview of the main differences to help you get started in the d...

College was a blast and valuable (for the most part); however, if there’s one thing I wish I could have graduated without, it would be my student loan debt.  I didn’t graduate with a very large debt, and, thankfully, it should be paid off very soon, but it’s still a monthly deduction from my bank...

Did you know that your credit score is one of the factors that will determine what interest rate you end up with on your mortgage loan? A low score can also keep you from qualifying for a mortgage loan or delay your home pre-approval until you can raise your score. That is why it is important to ...

It’s finally warming up in Richmond VA! Aren’t you glad? I couldn’t be happier. If you’re looking for some fun things to do with the kids to celebrate Easter in RVA, I’ve put together a list of events for you below: Last year I took Darby to the Easter Egg Hunt at Tuckahoe Planation and it was a ...

If you’ve started the house hunting process, the first question your real estate agent probably asked you is if you are paying cash or if you require financing for your purchase. If you require financing, your agent’s next question is always ”Are you pre-approved?” A pre-approval tells your agent...

Are you thinking about jumping in to the Richmond VA real estate market, or any other real estate market? Have you been squirreling away money for the past few months or even years to meet minimum down payment requirements? Not sure if you have enough yet? The question about minimum down payment ...

Has one of your clients been asked by his or her lender to write a letter of explanation or LOX?  This underwriter requirment is very common in the world of home financing today, and I find that it has a tendency to stump some borrowers and stall the loan process. Reasons for a Letter of Explanat...

If you have applied to be pre-approved for a mortgage loan but were a few points shy of the minimum credit score, don’t despair yet. Some mortgage lenders have at their disposal the rapid rescore. Instead of waiting 3-4 months for your score to make its way to where it needs to be, you can get th...