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Posted
Jul 31 2008, 03:02 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"JLP" at All Financial Matters bought a house he knew he could afford, even though he was told he could qualify for a much larger mortgage. He saved over the years to remodel the modest house into a dream home. Did we also mention that the homeowner bailout passed by Congress and signed by President Bush really ticks him off? He wrote, "As a responsible, taxpaying citizen of the United States of America, I find it offensive that our goverment is bending over backward to keep irresponsible people in houses they can't afford." His post, "Let people (and companies) fail," provoked a rebuttal from one of the homeowners hoping to keep her house with the government's help.
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Posted
Jul 10 2009, 05:45 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Among the many personal-finance debates, the 30-year versus 15-year mortgage is always high on the list. In one corner you have the interest savers who swear by the 15-year mortgage (think Dave Ramsey), and in the other corner you have the lower-payment folks who swear by the flexibility of a 30-year mortgage.
We're in our second home, and in both we financed with a 30-year mortgage, so we've preferred the lower payments over the potential interest savings. But the truth is that there is no one answer to the 30-year versus 15-year mortgage debate. What works best for one homeowner may not work best for another.
Let's take a look at a mortgage example so we can see some real numbers, and then we'll look at the factors one should consider when choosing a home loan.
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Posted
Dec 11 2008, 01:36 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Emily at Remodeling This Life writes about a financial concept that's very difficult for many people to grasp: You're not really saving money if you're not saving it. She explains: "You aren't saving money if you walk into a store and buy something you wouldn't have bought anyway but buy it because it was 75% off. You just spent money." Here's another example: You buy something you really need and got it for 50% off. You're not saving if you use that 50% off to treat yourself to something else. Why is this so hard to understand?
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Posted
Apr 14 2009, 11:51 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Madison at My Dollar Plan launched an ethical debate. She and her husband qualify on paper for a mortgage modification through the Making Homes Affordable program -- but they don't really need it.
Is it OK to take advantage of a program intended to help struggling homeowners when you can easily afford your monthly payment?
That's one of several questions about ethical personal-finance behavior that have surfaced online recently. Age-old dilemmas have been cloaked in modern terms. Here are a few that PF bloggers have addressed:
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Posted
Dec 12 2007, 01:02 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Who benefits from the mortgage bailout plan? Bankers and government, says The Baglady. And how about the subprime borrowers who will get to keep their homes under the plan? "These homeowners are just indentured servants to a gargantuan money-hungry force," Baglady writes. "Their rates will be frozen for five years, but they will have to keep on paying the price on an asset that has depreciated greatly" and spend just about all the money they make to do it.
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Posted
Sep 22 2009, 04:19 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Conventional wisdom would seem to dictate that someone with an excellent credit score is less likely to walk away from a mortgage than someone with poor credit.
That's not so, syndicated real estate columnist Kenneth Harney writes in a story The Washington Post headlined "Good credit scores, deadbeat choices." In fact, people with excellent credit scores are 50% more likely to "strategically default" on their mortgages -- intentionally walk away -- than are lower scoring borrowers, according to a study by credit bureau Experian and consulting firm Oliver Wyman.
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Posted
Aug 19 2009, 06:14 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Xin Lu at partner blog Wise Bread.
Rising home loan delinquencies and foreclosures have made con artists very busy.
These scammers use public records to find homeowners who are in trouble, and then use a variety of schemes to take their money and property in the name of helping them avoid foreclosure. If you have late payments on your home loan, it's likely you will be targeted.
The following are some warning signs that you are dealing with a possible scammer:
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Posted
Feb 11 2008, 04:49 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. During the 20 years I carried consumer debt, I made several attempts to change my habits. Every time I decided to lick the debt monster, I would follow the advice in the financial books: I'd arrange my debts in order, listing the one with the highest interest rate first. I'd pay extra on that bill for a couple of months, but then give up in frustration because I didn't seem to be making any progress. An extra $100 on a $12,000 balance doesn't make a dent. Eventually I read Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover." His debt snowball method changed my life. Ramsey writes: Personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. The Debt Snowball is designed the way it is because we are more concerned about modifying behavior than correct mathematics. ... Being a certified nerd, I always used to start with making the math work. I have learned the math does need to work, but sometimes motivation is more important than math. This is one of those times.
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Posted
Sep 17 2008, 10:57 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Ron Haynes at The Wisdom Journal is almost ready to bet the farm that you aren't doing everything you could to better manage your money. Doing our best to make every penny count could provide a greater sense of security as we collectively ride an economic roller coaster. So we took him up on the challenge and reviewed his "50 frugal things you aren't doing." He's right. We're not doing all we can.
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Posted
Sep 25 2009, 06:18 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Particularly for those looking to buy their first home, the big question is always: How much house can I afford based on my income? I can still remember when my wife and I tried to crunch the numbers when we bought our first home back in 1993. I was scared to death that we wouldn't be able to afford the mortgage payments. But we did, and as the months and years went by, our mortgage payments became more manageable.
If you're considering buying a home, it helps to have an idea of how much you can afford. It's very important to think of this question from two different perspectives.
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