Search results for mortgage
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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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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
Aug 05 2009, 07:27 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from "vh" at Funny about Money.
Over at I've Paid For This Twice Already, "paidtwice" invites her readers to think about the relative importance of paying off debt or building savings. Which should be a person's top priority? It is, as she points out, not a clear-cut decision.
Some people say that there's "good debt" (such as home and student loans, owed on property or training that eventually returns more than you pay -- supposedly) and "bad debt" (everything else, especially credit cards). I personally would argue that there's only debt, and debt is slavery. Debt forces you to stay in the traces until you pay it off or until you die, whichever comes first. Over at Debt Kid, "Jessica W" describes experiencing the same revelation.
Freedom from debt is freedom to live as you choose. Period. If working brings you personal fulfillment, you can do it -- and a debt-free worker is one who has a great deal more disposable income (to say nothing of more options) than one who labors under the lender's lash. If you want to retire or devote your energy to low-paid but altruistic work, debt freedom will make either of those choices possible.
I've used savings -- in direct contradiction of advice from money advisers -- to pay off debt and never once regretted it. Here's why:
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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
Jun 05 2009, 06:24 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
You've probably heard of "good" debt and "bad" debt. Good debt is when we borrow to buy something that generally goes up in value, like a home. Bad debt is when we borrow for anything else, like a car, a boat, a meal, a dress, a cruise, a wedding and so on.
Many teach that good debt is fine, while bad debt is not. The theory goes that good debt makes us wealthy as the value of our purchased assets goes up, while bad debt makes us poor as we struggle to pay debts for which we have little to show. In fact, it's a philosophy I've followed my entire adult life.
And it's flawed.
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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
Mar 19 2009, 10:43 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you're confused about whether one of the new federal Making Home Affordable programs, designed to help 9 million homeowners, can come to your rescue, you'll find easy answers at a Web site that debuted today -- MakingHomeAffordable.gov.
The site is a combination of cool tools and well-written and well-organized information, including audio and video, about how the programs work.
It includes a quick method to determine if you're eligible for Home Affordable Refinancing or Home Affordable Modification. You can find a HUD-approved mortgage counselor (who will help you for free), calculate how much your new mortgage payment would be if you qualify for loan modification, and lots more.
Trust us: It's a breeze to use.
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Posted
Mar 11 2009, 06:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Last week President Obama announced the details of his Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. The housing program has two key features: the Making Home Affordable Refinance Program, and the Making Home Affordable Modification Program. Both are designed to help homeowners stay in their homes, either by refinancing or restructuring their current mortgage. And the modification program also has a feature that can result in reducing your mortgage by $5,000 over five years.
Before we look at each program, it is important to note that they are implemented through banks and mortgage companies. There is no special application to fill out and submit to HUD or some other government entity.
For the refinance program, any mortgage broker or bank can tell you if you qualify and also process your refinance application through the program. For the modification program, your existing mortgage company can tell you if you qualify and process your application.
With that, let's look at each program.
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Posted
Mar 03 2009, 01:29 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Banks didn't exactly ride to the rescue of homebuyers who used those hinky subprime mortgages to get more house than they could afford.
But now one major bank says it's reaching out to help a new type of struggling homeowner -- folks who, through no fault of their own, were recently laid off and can't pay their bills.
Bailout recipient Citigroup says it can help thousands of those people with its new Homeowner Unemployment Assist program, The Associated Press reports.
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