Thinking of selling your house on your own? Real estate listings have migrated to the Internet, where interested buyers can find your house in a single click. Could selling it be more difficult than selling an antique through an online auction site? Is the money you’d save on paying a real estate commission worth the [...]
Do your dreams include a vacation home of your own in your favorite resort? Are you daydreaming about a place where you can vacation on your family’s terms and create memories that your children will always remember? This could be the perfect time to turn that dream into reality. Resort areas were hit hard by [...]
If you are looking to buy a home, you may have heard your real estate agent mention the home warranty as a selling point. Contrary to the name, home warranties don’t cover the actual structure of the house. Instead, a home warranty will help defray the costs if a major component in the house fails. [...]
After you’ve decided on which plan might work best for you, it’s time to shop for and compare insurance plans to ensure you find the health insurance policy that fits your needs. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, also called Obamacare) requires everyone, except those in very specific circumstances, to purchase health insurance. [...]
It’s a dilemma many homeowners face: I want to put more money toward my house so I will pay less interest in the long term, but I also want to keep cash on hand in case an emergency crops up and I need it in the short term. The all-in-one mortgage or “accelerator mortgage” is [...]
As a first-time homebuyer, you’ll hear a lot of advice telling you to shop around for a mortgage. Ideally, this doesn’t just mean contacting a bank or two. It also means talking with different types of lenders and brokers. But, frankly, it can be hard to tell the difference between these options—particularly between a mortgage [...]
A recent issue of Quill, the Society of Professional Journalists’ national magazine, featured articles that explained the benefits of taking on side projects—something many people consider doing in order to make some extra cash. In addition to having fun, the journalists who wrote the pieces honed their skills, made some extra money, and increased their [...]
Getting turned down for a mortgage can be disappointing and leave a person wondering what to do next. And while it may feel like an isolated, personal experience, it’s actually more common than you might think. According to the Federal Reserve, in 2013, approximately 14.5 percent of applications for home mortgages were denied, down from [...]
Ready to make more money this year? Earning extra cash doesn’t have to be a chore, as long as you’ve got a plan and the right resources. Whether you’re looking to pay off a debt faster, save more for retirement or plan for a nice vacation later in the year, boosting your income could be [...]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is kicking off 2015 with Tax Identity Theft Awareness week, January 26 to 30. The purpose of this week is to educate people about identity theft—which could be anyone with a Social Security number (SSN). More than 1.6 million people were affected by tax identity theft in 2013. The IRS [...]
