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.
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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 [...]

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 [...]

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: [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

The prepayment penalty clause in a mortgage is about the equivalent of stealing from your own mother. It’s one of the most horrible things on earth! The prepayment penalty became popular during the real estate boom when many people bought houses with subprime adjustable rate mortgages, and many lenders secretly added the prepayment [...]