This post over at Basically Money (now a member of the new family of Stack Exchange sites) asks whether to refinance a mortgage. Here’s the question: I have a 5-year ARM at 4.5% APR. I can renew the rate at 3.25%. However, the cost of is going to be $800. The current loan value is … Read more
(This information is given courtesy of Accrued Interest. Be sure to check them out, and if you like what you’ve read, subscribe to their feed!) Since Congress created the VA Loan program in 1944, more than 18 million people used it to help purchase a home. Expressly designed for honorably discharged veterans and active-duty personnel, … Read more
Free Money Finance regularly posts questions that are e-mailed to him by his readers, with the intent of having other readers offer advice. Recently a reader asked about refinancing a mortgage that is currently under water (meaning that more is owed than the house is currently worth). Here’s the skinny: $225,000 is owed against a … Read more
The rates on 30-year, fixed rate mortgages hit historic lows this past week — 4.57% according to Freddie Mac’s data collection. These low rates may provide a rare opportunity for saving a substantial amount of money through mortgage refinancing. The essence of mortgage refinancing is just paying off a current mortgage with a new mortgage, … Read more
Doing things yourself, especially home repairs, can be a big money saver. The main reason it can be a big money-saver, of course, is because you’re putting your own labor into the job rather than paying someone else to do it for you. I didn’t say that it’s definitely a big money-saver. A home repair … Read more
The standard Settlement Statement, the HUD-1, just got a makeover this December. The extra page is an extra burden on lenders to get the Good Faith Estimate right the first time. Last week at the closing for our new house, we got a small bonus courtesy of the new requirements. The expenses are broken down … Read more
Makes me wonder: If I were to ask a New Yorker about the real estate collapse, they might tell me, “Real estate what?” Tough Money Love commented on Zaarath and Christopher Prokop’s postage-stamp real estate purchase: a 175-square-foot “microstudio” apartment, secured for the cool price of $150,000 plus a $700+/month maintenance fee. He didn’t really … Read more
It’s no secret that there are federal tax credits available for many people who are looking to buy a home. Both first-time and non-first-time homebuyers now can play the game. The people who are among most aware of the credits, of course, are people wanting to sell a home. It’s not difficult at all to … Read more