Tips for Making a Down-Payment
Determining the size of one’s down-payment is more complicated than it would seem. Historically, the prevailing wisdom regarding down-payments was the larger the better. During the inflating of the...
View ArticleMortgage Assumption: How it Works and Understanding its Pitfalls
If used properly, mortgage assumption can provide valuable benefits for both the buyer and the seller. If used improperly, however, they can be a bane for both parties, as well as illegal. Let’s start...
View ArticleShort Sale or Strategic Default: What’s the Best Choice?
You’re mortgage is underwater. What do you do? A few years ago, this would have been a fringe question for a fringe audience. Nowadays, though, 25% of all residential mortgages are underwater. In...
View ArticleHow Much Can you Borrow?
As the name of our website implies (and as the #1 Google ranking confirms), we are THE online source of mortgage calculators. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough space in this post to explore all 22 of...
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What You Need to Know about Option ARMs. Avoid Trouble in 2010.
You’re probably wondering why I would be devoting an entire blog post to Option ARMs. After all, with the bursting of the housing bubble and the tightening of lending standards, such mortgages are...
View ArticleThe Tax Consequences of Mortgage Debt Cancellation
In 2007, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act was passed and, believe it or not, the IRS is now doing everything it can to help Americans take advantage of the law to save money on their taxes. And...
View ArticleHow to Calculate the Size of your Down Payment? 20% is the Standard.
One of the aspects of mortgage lending that has changed the most in the wake of the housing bust is the down-payment. At the height of the boom, it looked like down-payments could soon become, well, if...
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Mortgage Rates Decline To Record Lows...Again. Will Rates Fall to 0%?
Why do I feel a sense of Deja Vu every time I write a post on this topic? Maybe because mortgage rates have been in a state of free-fall for the last year, and every week seems to offer the same story...
View ArticleMortgage Pre-Approval is Still Worth Getting. Understand the Difference...
The majority of home-buyers conduct their house-shopping before obtaining financing. After all, how can you obtain a loan for a property that you have not yet purchased?! What if I told you, however,...
View ArticleShop Around for a Mortgage
What a mundane and seemingly obvious piece of advice! And yet, according to the results of a recent survey by LendingTree.com, 40 percent of mortgage shoppers obtained just a single quote before...
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