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Since my husband and I locked in on a 15 year refi in January mortgage rates have risen dramatically. Rates at the credit union, where are our loan is being processed, rose from 4.75% to 5.65% in less than four weeks. According to bankrate.com rising fears of inflation are causing mortgage rates to skyrocket. With … Read more
I’ve become slightly addicted to checking out bankrate.com’s mortgage rate trend index each Thursday. Each week bankrate provides expert predictions on the rise or fall of mortgage rates. A few weeks ago my husband and I finally agreed that rates were low enough to refinance the mortgage. We knew that rates could fall further, but … Read more
It seems you may need an emergency fund after all. A HELOC, (home equity line of credit), may not be available to you in case of emergency. Countrywide Home Loans sent letters to at least 122,000 homeowners nationwide informing them they can no longer draw on their home-equity lines of credit. Many homeowners rely on … Read more
I know that a lot of people do not believe in paying off a mortgage early. I am not one of those people. Since the day we bought the house I have been dreaming of owning it outright. My father paid off his mortgage 7 years early. With his house paid off and a decent … Read more
As I mentioned last week my husband and I decided to take the plunge and refinance our home. We can’t be certain where rates will ultimately land, but between the low interest rate and the low closing costs we figured we might as well jump in. As part of the loan application process the lender … Read more
As I mentioned yesterday my husband and I decided to refinance our home. We considered waiting to see if rates would continue falling, but ultimately decided this was the right time for us. Of course it never hurts to find financial experts who agree with our decision. So I poked around the Internet and found … Read more
Torn over the idea of refinancing your home? My husband and I have been debating the issue for days. Should we wait for rates to drop even further or lock in on a low interest rate right now? Today my husband and I turned to the trusty Internet to find our answer. First, using online … Read more
To attain a large sum of money in a relatively short amount of time it is necessary to prepare, work hard, budget (even if you don’t create a formal spreadsheet), and restrain yourself from fruitlessly spending money. It also helps to be well educated and to pick a career that yields a high paycheck. But … Read more
Ultimately my husband and I might buy another rental property near the beach. With the real estate market in a semi-chaotic state we’re keeping our eyes peeled for bargains. The question is: how do we plan for a buying opportunity? The first issue: we have mortgages on both our primary residence and our rental home. … Read more
In the Sunday Real Estate section of the Washington Post Michael Rosenwald wrote an article called Was the Mortgage a Mistake. The article discusses Michael’s own decision to purchase a townhouse in Germantown, with an interest-only mortgage, at the peak of the housing market. In essence, just after his purchase the housing market cooled and … Read more