07 Dec
Posted by author as Credit and Debt, Mortgages
I was reading a couple of articles about paying your mortgage or rent payment with a credit card. There are some companies that are allowing you to use a credit card such as the American Express Blue Cash card to make mortgage payments. There is an enrollment fee of about $400 bucks, so [...]
06 Dec
Posted by author as Economy, Mortgages, Politics, Real Estate, Uncategorized
Today, Bush announced a plan to freeze introductory mortgage interest rates for those homeowners that bought variable interest rate mortgages in order to qualify for a house they could not afford with conventional home loans. With all of the “scares” from economists about a possible economic recession, the spike in foreclosures around the country, [...]
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28 Oct
Posted by author as Mortgages, Real Estate
The debate over paying off your mortgage early versus investing the extra money into the stock market is one that many financial “experts” argue back and forth over. I have made a few posts about this in the past, and it usually generates quite a few comments from you all.
Read this post [...]
Recently, I was speaking with a real estate agent, because I was curious about a very well-developed community in Orange Park, Florida. This community had it all. It had swimming pools, golf courses, tennis courts, swimming slides, an elementary school, and a nature park off of the St. Johns river. She immediately [...]
13 Sep
Posted by author as Budget Tips, Mortgages, Real Estate
A Money Crasher reader and personal friend of mine asked me a question about how her and her husband should plan to start a family while trying to save for a house. She wants to be a full-time mom once they start having kids, and he’ll be making about $60k in the next 3 [...]
12 Sep
Posted by author as Mortgages, Real Estate
USA Today has an article about homeowners who are paying more than 30% and more than 50% of their household income towards their mortgage. Here are the statistics from the Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University.
Homeowners with mortgages spending at least 30% of income on housing:
2000: 27%
2005: 35%
2007: [...]
20 Aug
Posted by author as Consumer News, Credit and Debt, Mortgages
If you’re still confused about what the Fed did last week to supposedly “buy the economy some time” from going into a recession, then check out this article from Kiplinger’s Online. Kiplinger’s does a good job of answering the most frequently asked questions that may be on your mind about what the Fed actually [...]
13 Aug
Posted by author as Mortgages, Real Estate
The Democrats are now diving into the discussion about cleaning up the mortgage industry and subprime lending. I’ve written quite a bit about the importance of avoiding the curse of being house poor. The rising foreclosure rate is due to two major factors. Mortgage lenders are loosely regulated and consumers made uneducated, [...]
26 Jun
Posted by author as Consumer News, Credit and Debt, Mortgages, Real Estate
Did you know that if you’re close to reaching your credit limits on some of your credit cards, the interest rate on a completely unrelated credit card can get jacked up? Or if you miss a payment on one credit card, your other credit cards can increase your interest rates?
For example, let’s say you [...]
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19 Jun
Posted by author as Consumer News, Credit and Debt, Mortgages, Real Estate
When it’s time to tap the equity in your home, you usually have two options: a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or a home equity installment loan (HEIL). Both will get you the money you want, but one may lower your credit scores, which will make everything you buy on credit more expensive…be careful.
So, [...]
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