Free Home Evaluations
zillow.com - Curious about what your home is worth?  This is a great tool for getting a ball park figure of your home’s value.

Real Estate News in Your Area
realtytimes.com/socalmls-mcr - Is the market moving up or down?  Should I buy or sell?  Read all about it here.

What type of mortgage program is right for me?
mortgageguide101.com - Should I get a 5/1 ARM, 3/1 ARM, 30 Year Fixed or Should I Fix the ARM?  What is PMI?  Mortgageguide101 has all the answers.
bankrate.com - Another great resource for mortgage and home loan information.

What is escrow and why do I need it?
From the Escrow Institute of California, P.O. Box 5792, Orange, CA 92613-5792
(This pertains to California ONLY)
Very simply defined, an escrow is a deposit of funds, a deed or other instrument by one party for the delivery to another party upon completion of a particular condition or event. The California Escrow Law – Section 17003 of the Financial Code – provides the legal definition.
Whether you are the buyer, seller, lender or borrower, you want the assurance that no funds or property will change hands until ALL of the instructions in the transaction have been followed. The escrow holder has the obligation to safeguard the funds and/or documents while they are in the possession of the escrow holder, and to disburse funds and/or convey title only when all provisions of the escrow have been complied with.
Your real estate agent or mortgage personnel should be happy to further explain the function of escrow in depth to you.