5 Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early
April 25, 2013
Next to achieving a fully funded self-directed retirement account, paying off your mortgage early is probably the Holy Grail of personal finance success. As well it should be – once you’ve paid off your mortgage, your monthly living expenses take a dramatic drop. That opens up the opportunity to save even more money than you […]
4 Things You Can Learn from Your Mortgage Statement
March 21, 2013
Most of us, when we buy homes, use mortgages to make the purchase. However, it’s easy to lose track of how your mortgage payment breaks down, and what you’re really paying unless you look at your mortgage statement. Here are some things you can learn from your mortgage statement: 1. How Much of Your Payment Goes […]
Example Letter to a Mortgage Company Requesting a Loan Modification
November 2, 2012
If continuing to pay on your mortgage has become a hardship, as it has for millions of homeowners, you have some choices. You can of course let the property go into foreclosure, or you can apply for a loan modification from your lender that will make your monthly payments fit better in your current budget. […]
What is a Good Credit Score for Buying a House?
October 26, 2012
Getting a mortgage today is still difficult. Guidelines are tight, and credit scores matter more than ever. Before applying for a mortgage, there are a few things you need to know about credit scores. Acceptable Mortgage Credit Ranges Believe it or not, there’s no single (or simple) answer here! The credit score range varies depending […]
My 2 Biggest Money Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them
October 10, 2012
One of my goals in life is to avoid making significant money mistakes that set me back financially. However, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes that have cost me dearly. Here are some of the biggest financial mistakes I’ve made, and how you can avoid them. Learn from my mistakes so you don’t have […]
FHA Loans 101
September 12, 2011
An FHA loan is one of the tools available if you want to buy a home but don’t have much money for a down payment. I actually bought my home with the help of a FHA loan. However, it is important to consider the pros and cons of a FHA loan before jumping in. What […]
What To Do If You Can’t Pay Your Mortgage
May 2, 2011
Owning a home is a great thing… until you find yourself in a financial place where you can’t pay the mortgage loan. With the housing bubble going bust and the ensuing financial crisis the inability to pay a mortgage has gone from being a rare occurrence to, sadly, something quite common. Millions of Americans have […]
30 Year Mortgage vs 15 Year Mortgage
April 29, 2011
“Would you like a fifteen year or a thirty year mortgage”? You are sitting in a tiny chair with an anxious mortgage broker staring back at you, visibly impatient and waiting for an answer. For you it’s a major decision, but to the broker your just another customer in a long day at work. So, […]
How to Use a Mortgage Calculator to Compare Home Loans
April 26, 2011
A mortgage calculator can be a great way to screen the home loans available to you online. The nice thing about a good mortgage calculator is that it lets you quickly compare loans and gives you a snapshot of the costs you’ll have to pay. Mortgage rates are pretty low these days but not all […]
Mortgage Protection Insurance Basics
September 2, 2010
When we first bought our home we received a ton of advertisements for mortgage protection insurance in our mailbox within the first week. They kept on coming at least one or two letters per week offering mortgage protection insurance, mortgage protection plans, and mortgage cancellation insurance for the first six months of owning our home. […]
