Financing
Building Contents Insurance: Make That List
When shopping for homeowners insurance you will insure the value of your home in addition to what is inside. The “inside” represents your building content or the personal items you bought including furniture, computer equipment, clothing, televisions and gadgets.
Home Refi With Money Back
If you are considering refinancing your mortgage, you likely have been paying attention to mortgage rates.
Cautions About Taking a Reverse Mortgage
When it comes to reverse mortgages, reading the contract’s fine print is important.
FHA Lending Changes to Affect Consumers
Consumers shopping for a mortgage will soon find that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is instituting several changes in a bid to manage and protect its own single-family insurance program.
How to Save for a Major Renovation Project
You’ve decided to take the plunge by undertaking a major home renovation project that you have been putting off. You don’t have your money in place just yet, but give it another six months — perhaps one year — and you should be able to tackle the project.
Single Family Rentals: Where the Deals Are
While many homeowners are still struggling to make monthly mortgage payments and to keep their heads afloat, some homeowners are looking around their neighborhoods and finding new home bargains that are just right for turning into a single family rental property.
What You Need to Know About Flood Insurance
Flood insurance is federally backed insurance or what you can only get through the National Flood Insurance Program. This program protects homeowners, but only if you opt for such coverage.
Home Insurance and Recording Your Valuable Inventory
Taking stock of your home inventory can save you money and avoid headaches should you ever need to file an insurance claim. The more detailed you are, the better — if you suffer total loss, you may need to prove ownership for items that were destroyed.
Why Getting a Second Mortgage is More Difficult
You have owned your home for several years and have seen it appreciate in value. After five or more years of mortgage payments, you’ve also seen your mortgage pay off amount drop.
What You Need to Know About Second Mortgages
Home loans can come in variety of offerings including primary or first mortgages and so-called second mortgages such as home equity loans and home equity of lines of credit. The term “second mortgage” is not commonly used, but it does accurately describe how such loans are handled.
What is a Mortgage Hardship Program?
If you are finding it difficult to make your mortgage payments, you may qualify for a mortgage hardship program from your lender.
Find a Good Balance Between Your Insurance Premiums and Your Home Mortgage
Owning a home may be the American Dream, but this dream does not come cheap. Between your mortgage payments, your insurance premiums, and all of your recurring bills, managing your bills and maintaining your home can get expensive if you do not know how to balance everything.
How to Shop for a Mortgage
The mortgage market is more complex than it was before the last recession hit, making it more difficult for consumers to obtain financing.
What Are My Mortgage Options?
If you are in the market for a home, your mortgage options go beyond the traditional 30-year mortgage. Fixed rate, variable interest rate and balloon mortgages are available today, with each one offering advantages and disadvantages that consumers should be aware of.
Your Homeowners Insurance Following a Natural Disaster
Maybe you dodged a bullet with the latest natural disaster. Or, perhaps, you had to file a claim and are still handling repairs.
How to Refinance Your Home
Homeowners enticed by historically low interest rates are considering refinancing their homes. This may be an option for you as well, especially if you took out a mortgage several years ago and are paying an interest rate that is at least one point higher than your current rate.
What You Need to Know About a Home Equity Line of Credit
A home equity line of credit or HELOC is a popular borrowing option for homeowners, but is handled differently than a home equity loan or HEL. With a HEL, you receive your money up front.
Refinancing Considerations for Homeowners
With mortgage rates still flirting with historic lows, refinancing now can help you avoid higher rates later on when inflation inevitably becomes a factor. Interest rates have been held artificially low thanks to fed action, but few analysts believe that they’ll stay this low for years, perhaps for just months to come.
Will Mortgage Providers Ease Lending Standards?
The U.S. housing market is certainly not stellar, but it apparently has put its very worst years behind it. The S&P/Case-Shiller home index rose by 2.2 percent in May, with all 20 of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas posting average housing price gains over April.
Mortgage Rates Fall As Do Refinancing Applications
CNBC real estate reporter Diana Olick had it right when she stated that the current refinancing trends “defies logic.”
