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Maybe youre buying your first home in Alabama, or perhaps youre relocating to Alabama from another state. Either way, its important that you educate yourself on Alabama home loans before shopping for a home and mortgage. This article explains what youll need to know before buying a home in Alabama:

The average price of a home in Alabama in October of 2005 was $147,678, and homes in Alabama appreciate at one-half of the rate of the average national home appreciation. The rate of job growth in Alabama is equal to the national average. However, income levels in many parts of Alabama are too low to purchase a median-priced home with a conventional loan.

Alabama is a non-community property state. This means that married persons do not have to include their spouses income and liabilities on their mortgage if they choose not too. Home buyers can simply leave their spouses name off of their application. Additionally, Alabama has a Fair Housing Act that prohibits housing providers from declining housing to anyone based on their race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.

If youre buying a home in the state of Alabama, you qualify for both federal and state FHA and VA loans. First-time home buyers qualify for Alabama FHA loans with below-market interest rates, and, depending on their income, may also qualify for down payment assistance. Additionally, Alabamas Step-Up program offers down-payment assistance to home buyers with moderate incomes.

Access Alabama is a state program that makes mortgages more affordable for both disabled residents and residents with a disabled person in their care. Through this program, Alabama residents with disabilities can get technical assistance with the home-buying process and assistance with down payment and closing costs.

Alabama also offers Mortgage Credit Certificates to first time home buyers. Mortgage Credit Certificates help first time home buyers manage the costs of purchasing their first home by reducing the amount of federal income tax that theyre required to pay.

Copyright 2006 Tracey Anderson

A mortgage is often the biggest commitment a person undertakes, and one should take time to consider all of the legal and financial details before diving head-first into such an agreement. Your mortgage broker, banker, or real estate agent can often be a good source of information about these details; if there is still confusion, you may even wish to engage a solicitor to review your contract, watch out for unusual or potentially harmful clauses, and explain the details to you. Always take time to read the contract, and seek out third-party advice if you do not understand it. An unscrupulous lender, broker, real estate agent or seller may attempt to pressure you into signing an agreement without reading it, or worse, yet, signing a blank form for them to fill in later. Avoid succumbing to this pressure, and always understand what you are signing before you have signed it. If you are being pressured to sign a contract immediately without a thorough reading, then the best thing to do is walk away.

Once you’ve found a house and arranged for the mortgage, the legal process of transferring ownership between parties, known as conveyance, is very specific and complicated. Your mortgage broker, lender, or real estate agent may be familiar with the process, and may be able to give you advice on the matter. However, the process itself must be done by a solicitor or registered conveyancer. Alternately, a homeowner can choose to do the process individually using a do-it-yourself kit. Conveyance naturally comes with a conveyance duty which must be paid to the state, although in some states, you may be able to qualify for an exemption if you are a first-time home buyer.

The property title itself, which in most cases is called a Torrens title, establishes proof of ownership. Old System titles are more complicated, and require the buyer to show clear title for every previous owner.

The issue of survivorship must also be addressed. Typically in the case of a husband and wife, the home is held in joint tenancy, so that if one spouse passes on, the other will retain the right to the property. If a home is held in tenants-in-common, however, each tenant’s share of the home is separate, and in the case of death would become part of the deceased’s estate. Under common law, if no other arrangement is specified, joint tenancy is assumed.

Before buying a home, legal hassles can be avoided by executing a thorough inspection. You can choose to inspect the home yourself, or hire a licensed inspector. Either way, you will be able to gain knowledge about any existing conditions of the home that you can use in your negotiations. Having knowledge of the home’s condition and any flaws or defects ahead of time will put you in a better legal position, since it may be difficult to recoup any costs for undetected flaws after the transaction has already been finalized.