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 [...]
This reader stopped paying his mortgage when his loan was sold. It’s been a few years since he made a mortgage payment and apparently has little contact with the lender. Q: My mortgage was sold to a loan processor in 2011. I got a welcome letter saying my payment was $635 when it really should [...]
What happens to my property taxes when I pay off my mortgage? I am finally done paying off my mortgage, but I’m wondering if my property taxes will change. Will my real estate taxes change or will my property be reassessed after making my last mortgage payment? Q: I’m just about to pay off my [...]
My husband is going to take out a mortgage with my mother-in- law, put the house into a trust, name themselves as the trustees, and my husband and his siblings as the beneficiaries. Is taking out a mortgage with my mother-in- law a good idea? Q: My husband and I made on offer to my [...]
What's the largest vacation rental marketplace online today? How can you find a good mortgage broker or lender? Get answers to these questions by listening to this week’s Ilyce Glink Show. You can click the audio link below to listen to the full show, or download the podcast via iTunes. On this week’s show I talk to Carl [...]
You’ve may have read that you should prepay your mortgage early to save on your total interest payments. But if you have refinanced or purchased a home recently, you may be one of the millions of homeowners whose mortgage is at historic or near-historic low interest rates. Odds are possible that rates won’t be this [...]
“Spend less, save more.” It’s the third most popular new year’s resolution behind getting organized and losing weight, according to a Journal of Clinical Psychology study on resolutions. While I can’t help much with resolutions one and two (though it is helpful to apply the same principles to thinning your waistline as thinning your budget), the third one is [...]
It’s selling season and buyers are excited to take advantage of the incredible low interest rates out there. But before you start shopping for a mortgage, you should check your credit score. You need to know where your credit stands to be able to work towards the house of your dreams. FICO credit scores start at 300 [...]
When you’re shopping for a mortgage, it can be hard to decide what the best option is for you. Should you take the lower interest rate of an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), or is it better to lock in your rate for 30 years? The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) suggests seven things to keep [...]
