SMMC News & Events Blog

This blog highlights news, events, and informative articles on personal finance from University of Illinois System's Student Money Management Center. Feel free to navigate to different categories with the list of topics on the right or search for a specific topic next to the view all link below.

Buying or Renting a Home, Part 2: How to Buy a Home

Ready to buy? In Part 2, Andrea and Kimber are joined again by Kari Beyer of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). They walk through the seven steps to homeownership, down payments and PMI, how mortgages and amortization work, who is on your home-buying team, making an offer, closing costs, reading your mortgage statement, and how to avoid scams.

You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Prior Related Episodes:

• Ep. 133: Buying or Renting a Home, Part 1
• Ep. 114: The Role of Loan Servicers
• Ep. 86: The Illinois Community Reinvestment Act
• Ep. 85: The Federal Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)
• Ep. 83: Lines of Injustice: What is Redlining?
• Ep. 64: Help for Renters
• Ep. 63: Help for Homeowners
• Ep. 37: Renting!
• Ep. 5: Understanding Credit

Relevant Get Savvy: Grow Your Green Stuff Webinars (YouTube)

• Buying vs. Renting a Home (May 2026)
• Mastering the Consumer Credit Game
• More details about the Get Savvy: Grow Your Green Stuff webinar series

Resources

• Student Money Management Center (SMMC) University Resources
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• HUD Homeownership Assistance in Illinois
• Illinois Housing Development Authority
• AnnualCreditReport.com: free credit reports
• IDFPR License Lookup
• NMLS Consumer Access

Other References

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (n.d.). Making the decision to rent or buy
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (n.d.-b). What is private mortgage insurance?
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (n.d.-c). Contact multiple lenders. 
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (n.d.-d). Key terms: Amortization. 
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (n.d.-e). Build a network of advisors. 
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (n.d.-f). Example periodic mortgage statement. 
• CFPB & FFIEC. (n.d.). Median total loan costs by quarter [HMDA Data Browser]. 
• Larrimer, A. (n.d.). Do you need a real estate attorney when buying or selling a house? Forbes Advisor. 
• Martin, E. (n.d.). Average down payment on a house by state. Bankrate.