Loan payment due? Seller bought and flipped home quickly, confusing lenders about whether a loan payment was due. Q: I purchased a home on June 30th. I was made aware in loan documents and by the closing agent that my loan would be sold to another lender. Also, I received a letter in the [...]
What might be hiding in the fine print of your mortgage documents? In this reader’s case, a prepayment penalty that they may not be able to get out of. Q: I recently took out a mortgage to purchase my first home. It’s a condo. I went with a non-traditional lender that offered a loan about [...]
Homeowner’s insurance coverage is designed to protect your finances if a catastrophe befalls your biggest asset. It can help you recover from unexpected—and expensive—damage to your home, and most lenders require you to purchase it before they will close on your loan. If you’ve been dropped by your homeowner’s insurance company, you may run the [...]
When it comes to homeowner’s insurance, some pet owners are finding theirs goes to the dogs these days. Some insurance carriers are refusing to insure homeowners who own certain breeds of dogs that have been deemed dangerous, such as the Pit bull dog, Rottweilers, and Chow Chows. Others may take the dogs on a case-by-case [...]
You’ve finally found the home you’ve been looking for and you’re ready to make an offer. But how you can you be sure that you’re getting a good deal? When you buy a home, every penny you can save on the purchase price will help you with closing costs, redecorating, and moving. The trick to [...]
If you own a house and have credit card debt, you may be considering using a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to pay off your credit card debt, and with a lower interest rate. When you take out a HELOC, you open up a revolving line of credit from your mortgage lender where your [...]
According to an August 2014 study conducted by Merrill Lynch, when it comes to homeowners, seniors tend to carry less mortgage debt, have more equity in their homes, and tend to have greater net worth .These trends make older Americans a favorable target for marketers of financial products and services, including reverse mortgages. These mortgages [...]
On this week’s WSB radio show Ilyce discussed the job market and advice for job-seekers with John Challenger from the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Then, find out what’s next in the housing market from Jed Kolko, chief economist for Trulia.com, vas well as Ilyce’s financial New Year’s resolutions for 2015. Where’s the job market [...]
Mortgage rates have found their way down to the lowest point of the year. Last week, they hit 4.10 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) and 3.23 percent for a 15-year. Last year at this time, they were 4.58 percent and 3.6 percent respectively, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. It’s [...]
