Good news! Lenda recently expanded to The Lone Star State and The Centennial State -- that’s Texas and Colorado in case you’re not a state nickname expert.

You are finally ready to purchase a home – congrats! You know the down payment is important. Did you also know that your credit score is just as critical, and perhaps even more so? If you have an average or poor credit score you’ll probably pay more – or you might not qualify at all.

My inspiration for this story came from a recent experience buying a home that was so horrible I felt compelled to write about it. (Lenda is not yet licensed in my home state, so I had to go through an internet lender that I’m sure you’ve heard of, but will remain unnamed.)

Ready to buy a home but also own your own business? Applying for a mortgage always has its complications, but if you’re a small business owner, the burden could be even trickier.

A mortgage “closing” is a very exciting time because it’s the last step in the home-buying process and means you’re one step closer to moving into your new house. What isn’t so exciting, however, is the paperwork involved and having to get some of those documents notarized at closing.

In an effort to streamline this problem and get documents notarized quickly at closing, Lenda has teamed up with electronic notary service Notarize, to offer the first-ever completely digital mortgage experience from start to finish. Yup, that’s right, the days of shuffling papers to your local notary are over and you can safely and securely get your documents notarized online.

If you own a home it's a great idea to stay informed about mortgage refinance rates. It's hard to predict which way the interest rate market will move, so getting a regular upate on home refinancing rates will allow you to take advantage of money saving opportunities as they come up.