Waukegan, IL Homebuying Tips
- Settle all your debts and set aside some caution funds
- Find out how much a home you can afford
- Set aside down payment
- Save for closing costs
- Get a loan preapproval
- Find a home to buy
- Check the neighborhoods
- Conduct a home inspection
- Negotiate the price offered
- Get ready for closing
- Adjustable-Rate Mortgages: ARMs are attractive due to the low initial interest rate. The lender adjusts the rate, in the long run, to transfer the risk of increasing interest to you.
- FHA loans: You can get an FHA loan with a down payment as low as 3.5%, but you will end up paying a mortgage insurance premium for the life of the loan.
- VA loans: Veterans will buy a home with no down payment for VA loans. However, if the real estate market shifts, you will pay more than your home’s market value. A 15-year conventional loan with a 20% down payment is ideal because: The term creates a larger monthly payment, although you can settle your mortgage in half the 15-year term at a lower interest, and save in terms of interest.
- The fixed-rate guarantees the same interest rate charges throughout the loan and spares you the extra expenses resulting from increasing rates.
- A 30-year mortgage has a lower monthly payment, but you end up paying a lot more money in the long run.
- Appraisal
- Home inspection
- Credit report acquisition
- Homeowners insurance
- The attorney
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Waukegan (/wɔːˈkiːɡən/) is the largest city in and the county seat of Lake County, Illinois, United States. Situated approximately 35 miles (56 km) north of Downtown Chicago and 23 miles (37 km) northeast of O’Hare International Airport, it is an industrial suburb of Chicago and a principal city within the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population of Waukegan was 89,078 (estimated to have declined to 86,075 in 2019),[7][8] making it the ninth most populous city in Illinois. Waukegan is a predominantly working-class community, with a sizeable middle-class population.
The site of present-day Waukegan was recorded as Rivière du Vieux Fort (“Old Fort River”) and Wakaygagh on a 1778 map by Thomas Hutchins. By the 1820s, the French name had become “Small Fort River” in English, and the settlement was known as “Little Fort”. The name “Waukegance” and then “Waukegan” (meaning “little fort”; cf. Potawatomi wakaigin “fort” or “fortress”) was created by John H. Kinzie and Solomon Juneau, and the new name was adopted on March 31, 1849.[9][10]