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• Selling your existing home while buying a new one

  Posted Aug 18 2008, 12:14 AM by Ryan MacClanathan
  Filed under: housing, banking, Get Rich Slowly
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  My wife and I had been in our first house for 10 years when our dream home fell in our laps one day. Until then, we had no plans to move. We were completely unprepared to sell our existing home while buying a new one. Eventually we made it happen, but we violated a number of home-buying best practices as we scrambled to make our dream a reality.

  We were particularly worried about how to time things financially. We couldn't afford to carry two mortgages -- how would we possibly make ends meet? Ultimately, we were saved by the rise of the housing bubble and a friendly banker. Our home sold in one day, and we were able to close on that sale soon after closing on the new house. Meanwhile, a home-equity loan floated us the cash we needed to get by.   Read More...

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• Mortgage prepayment plan: Own your home in half the time

  Posted Feb 25 2008, 04:58 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: investing, housing, saving, Get Rich Slowly
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  Because I recently eliminated all of my nonmortgage debt, I have a significant positive cash flow. The $1,000 per month I was putting toward debt can now be used for investing. I'm making maximum contributions to my Roth IRA, of course, but that still leaves several hundred dollars each month available for other purposes. This has forced me to re-evaluate my financial goals.

  For the past year, my wife and I have discussed making accelerated payments on our mortgage. I've written about this choice several times at Get Rich Slowly, and it seems clear that mathematically it makes more sense to invest the money. However, it's also clear that eliminating a mortgage offers a tremendous psychological boost. I've never heard anyone say they regret owning their home outright.

  I've researched a variety of mortgage-acceleration schemes:   Read More...

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