An educational blog about home mortgages, financing, refinancing, mortgage rates, home loans, brokers and suggestions

Relationships come and go in our lives, some we keep and others leave our lives unnoticed.  There are professional relationships that require long-lasting work.  Relationships like accountants, bankers, and financial advisors require time and trust.  Unless you plan on becoming a real estate investor, your mortgage broker is not a relationship that you might keep [...]

Now you have a home…the stress begins. This is your little piece of paradise, but how are you going to protect it? Some would say, “Buy a gun!” That’s a thought…but I was thinking more along the lines of insurance. Many may remember Chris Rock’s rant about insurance, he said: “They [...]

This topic is almost silly to discuss considering that bad credit mortgages are partially responsible for the current economic situation…but I digress.  Prior to September 2008, lending institutions were allowed, some say pushed into, making loans to people who the banks knew could not afford the home they are attempting to purchase.  What happens when [...]

I am not going to tell you how to dress up your home to make it more eye appealing… there are plenty of TV shows to tell you these tips. I have heard horror stories from first-time-home-sellers take the check from selling the home and pay off the mortgage, then buy a new car [...]

In the area of estate planning there are some options.  If you are healthy enough and can either buy extra life insurance or increase your existing policy; increase it to at least what your home is valued at during the loan close process.  If you are not healthy, cannot afford more insurance, or simply cannot [...]

The major issues to consider with regard to reverse mortgages are taxes and government benefits.  All need to be considered when planning to apply for or accept a reverse mortgage.  To fully understand all aspects of reverse mortgages you need to speak with a tax professional, your accountant, or your financial advisor.  If you trust [...]

Continuing on with reverse mortgages, let’s take a look at some numbers. Because reverse mortgages can be a tad confusing, I have provided an example:
A 75-year-old woman owns a home valued at $250,000. She qualifies for a HECM credit line of $135,484 with a 7% interest rate. At closing, she withdraws only $67,742 of the [...]

I saw an advertisement the other night about reverse mortgages. Now, I had heard about these before but I was not well versed on what they are. When I found they were geared toward homeowners 62 years and older, my knee jerk reaction was they were stealing homes from older people. But after a little [...]

Mortgage rates are always changing, so it is important that you understand factors that can make them change day to day, especially if you sign up for a variable rate mortgage.  Below I will discuss the differences between fixed and variable rate mortgages, as well as factors that can cause changes in both.  
A fixed rate [...]

If you’ve gone to any real estate website looking for a home to purchase, you might have noticed a link that allows to “calculate your payments”.  How do these work?  Should I trust these calculators?  Ultimately, no matter how detailed the calculator is, they only provide you with ESTIMATES!   There are many different calculators [...]