(This article was originally published on June 28th, 2010, and has been updated.) Recently I heard someone got a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for 2.5%. That is incredibly, disgustingly low, and makes me jealous, haha. Around two-thirds of Americans are homeowners, and many of them carry mortgages for much of their adult lives, if not all … Read more
If a 15-year mortgage is too aggressive and a 30-year mortgage isn’t aggressive enough, look into a 20-year mortgage to take advantage of the low mortgage rates … Last month I looked into refinancing the mortgage on our primary residence. We had bought the house in 2010, and our then-great rate on a 30-year fixed-rate … Read more
Lots of homeowners are behind on their mortgages. The recent melee began a few years ago, as the follow-up to a period of high house prices and the issuance of many back-loaded loans with questionable underwriting to people who had marginal means to repay. The percentage of mortgage holders in the US who are at … Read more
Generally, the shorter the term on a fixed-rate mortgage, the lower the interest rate on the mortgage. This is because there is less interest rate risk for the lender; the shorter the term, the less time there is for interest rates to turn against them (go up). The most common mortgage term lengths are 15 … Read more
Mortgage rates have been in-the-basement low for quite a while. After the financial crisis and subsequent bailout of large banks in 2008 and 2009, the banks are sitting on a lot of underwater mortgages and are reluctant to repeat that mistake. They’re not lending to just anyone anymore. The is contributing to the fall in … Read more
Housing is right up there with groceries as a major household budget item for many families — not just in the raw amount of money shelled out, but also in importance. Food and shelter and all that. Since housing involves a commitment (either a lease or a mortgage) there’s less flexibility in adjusting housing costs … Read more
This year has been a little tighter than usual for us financially for a number of reasons. Things aren’t at the point of desperation by any means, but we have had to answer some financial wake-up calls throughout the year. Not a full-out, kidney-stone-level emergency room visit, but more like acid indigestion. This appears in … Read more
Mortgage rates continue to go lower. Crazy low: 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at 3.61%, and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages at 2.83%. This places the rates squarely below 4% and 3%, respectively. Seriously: How low can they go? These rock-bottom mortgage rates are happening at a time of year during which sales are most brisk: springtime. Demand for … Read more