Archive for the Real Estate Category

5 Financial Steps to Buy a House

Categories: Real Estate

Homes are the single-most significant purchase consumers make. Your knowledge and skill in making an excellent house purchase decision will contribute to helping you reach your other financial goals. This primer contains financial planning information to help prepare you for the buying process. This preparation phase is perhaps the most important phase of the home… Read More »

What To Do If Facing a Possible Foreclosure

The recession officially started December 2007 and ended June of 2009, however many homeowners struggled to stay current on their mortgage before that time, and still do now. Those in the financial industry have been learning how to help people either avoid or survive foreclosure of their home, while at the same time the whole process evolved…. Read More »

How to Drop Expensive PMI from Mortgage

Categories: Real Estate

PQVZCCWKQENX Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is expensive insurance that protects the lender if you foreclose, not you but you have to pay for it. It is required if you put less than 20% down when you purchase a new home, unless you can prove that your total equity is equal to or exceeds 20% (22%… Read More »

Homeowner Who Foreclosed, Other Personal Finance Headlines

Interesting articles worth checking out: Homeowners qualifying for new mortgage after short sale. Auto purchasing and the various fine print costly add-ons. Estate planning: Naming a trustee for your trust, and living wills. Roth IRA escape hatch, for those that already converted, but now regret it. Buyers are Back After Foreclosure. They didn’t have to… Read More »

Real Estate Rebounding?

Is the rumor true, is the real estate market rebounding? There are early indications that after years of depreciating values, prices in some areas are holding and are trickling up a bit. New homes being built are also on the incline. The inventories of houses for sale are the lowest in several years, increasing the sales rates… Read More »

Home Mortgage Good News

I’ve talked to several people who have been having difficulty staying current on their mortgage, some just over the past year, and others that have been struggling for several years that have qualified for help recently, and they are able to stay in their homes.  Some have even been turned down for loan modifications and short-sales… Read More »

Wrongful Foreclosure Compensation Deadline Approaching

If you’re one of the millions of people who’ve faced losing your home through a wrongful foreclosure, you might get help, but you must act quickly. Homes that were foreclosed on in 2009 and 2010 should find out about the free Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) process. The IFR process is by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency… Read More »

Lender Reduced Interest Rate to 1% for Veteran

I just spoke to a good friend and veteran in Columbus Ohio that has a mortgage with JP Morgan Chase for 30 years at just over 6%. Chase lowered their interest rate to 1% for 3 years, which made their monthly payment drop by about $400. They were told that this was a special program… Read More »

When to Pay off Your Mortgage

There is quite a bit of miss-information when it comes to whether someone should pay-off their mortgage. On one hand it is wise to have as a goal to someday have a mortgage free home, especially as one enters the retirement years, and minimizing of cash flow and simplification are goals. Many people wonder if… Read More »

Renting Prosperity

Categories: Real Estate

A few days ago the Wall Street Journal had a very interesting and thought provoking article “Renting Prosperity.” This fascinating article may interest you if you: Are renting and considering buying Used to own a home, but are renting now Wonder about the effect of the housing crisis on people’s buying and renting trends