[ad#Content 300x250] One of the ways that you can reduce the interest rate on your home mortgage loan is to pay points. A point is equal to 1% of the cost of your loan principal. If you get a mortgage for $180,000, each point is $1,800. You can usually get a reduction in your interest rate by up to 1/4 of a percent. (Some lenders will not offer such a discount, though.)...
If you are in the market for a home mortgage, you might be in luck. Mortgage rates appear to be going down – again. Indeed, Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is going for 3.25%. [ad#Content 300x250] But will mortgage rates fall even further? This is a question that many are asking. Not too long ago, it seemed as though mortgage rates...
Right now, interest rates are at record lows. This means that if you are going to borrow money, now is a good time to do it. (It is also a good time to pay down debt, since more of your payment will go to principal.) If you have been looking for a good time to make home improvements, this might be it, depending on your individual situation. Home equity loan rate and HELOC...
Everyone is down on real estates. Construction companies, analysts, and home sellers are all pessimistic about the outlook for the housing sector. They have good reason to be negative based on all of the information that keeps coming in. Many homeowners are still upside down, prices are dropping, and foreclosures are so. How can you invest based on these trends? It’s...
There’s an interesting new phenomena brewing where people enticed by low rates and home prices well off their recent highs are “doubling down” on housing, essentially betting the house if you will, on more house. This new group of people was profiled in the WSJ.com recently where some intriguing examples were culled out. “Some intrepid homeowners...
[ad#Left-Align Content Ad]We’ve been mulling over a move and it’s been a balance of fiscal restraint vs. getting the actual home we want in a more expensive school district that makes a move even worthwhile. There’s no sense in moving into a smaller home or having a yard we don’t enjoy, so to get the home we want in the area we’re targeting,...
It’s both amusing and frustrating to continue to see history repeat itself in that purported “experts” (who are often really acting out of pure self-interest) dole out advice which is both devoid of sound logic and rationale, but even worse, does not come to fruition. Because I refinanced last year and I’m constantly mulling over a future move,...
You’ve probably heard that we’re in a buyer’s market. Home prices are low, and mortgage rates are low. And, since the home buyer tax credit has expired, there is speculation that home prices could remain low (or head even lower) during the rest of the year. So, even those who think they missed the boat, might find that they didn’t. For many people,...