There may come a time in your life when you just can’t hold on to your house anymore. The economy is bad, and it’s questionable whether it will recover any time soon. You basically have two options open to you: short selling and foreclosure. Before you act, make sure you understand what you’re getting into with either option. Short Selling Short selling refers to the practice of selling your home and collecting proceeds that fall…
We’re all pulling for the housing market to recover. Most of us want to live the American dream, and part of that dream is having a piece of land and a home of your own. As much as we’d like to be optimistic about the prospects of the housing market, it’s more important than ever to be realistic. Like it or not, the reality is that the housing market isn’t going to recover anytime soon.…
Home sweet home – buying a home is a dream for everybody and you are no different. If you still stay in a rented house, you must think about having your own home. Buy your own home and make your dream true. Why should you buy a home? First of all, buying a home is the wisest investment of your life. Staying in a rented house denotes that you are spending hundreds of dollars every…
If you need to talk to a banking customer service representative please call the two phone numbers below. They are the two main customer phone numbers for Bank of America. If you’re looking for the home loan line, please scroll down. Customer Service Phone Number: 1.800.432.1000 Talk to a Human Quickly: Say “Talk to an associate” – I had to say it 3 Times, Say it Until You Reach these Options: Say or Press the…
I’ve been meaning to refinance our home for a long time. However, we’ve held off because we weren’t sure where we’d end up, what with my husband finishing school. He’s teaching for two local universities right now, and there is a good chance that we will, in fact, be here for a while. Which means that I am very interested in refinancing our loan. Especially now that the national average for a 30-year mortgage has…
When it comes to buying a house, you need to consider your own personal finance situation. During the housing bubble, and during the loose lending standards that helped fuel it, many people fell prey to the idea of getting “more house for the mortgage.” Because of “creative financing” techniques like interest-only loans and adjustable rate mortgages with ridiculously low teaser rates, many people thought they could afford bigger homes. Of course, it soon became apparent…
Last Friday evening, S&P downgraded the U.S. credit rating. This marks the first time that the U.S. has seen its sterling rating tarnished. Since then, the stock market has been quite volatile, with investors being taken on a wild ride. However, the stock market isn’t the only thing that might be affected by the credit downgrade. Mortgage rates might soon be affected. If Treasuries Rise, Mortgage Rates May Rise, Too One of the possible effects…
As you look for a home, shopping around and getting documents together for pre-approval, it is easy to lose sight of some of the costs involved with home ownership. There are costs associated with getting the mortgage, and then there are on-going costs that you have to be prepared to pay. While you are looking at how much home you can afford, and wondering if you are adhering to the 30% rule, don’t forget about…
When you are ready to buy a home, you need to figure out how much you can borrow. Many sellers like to see that you have already been considered by a lender, and that you have been approved for an amount that will allow you to buy the home. Part of the process to qualify for a mortgage can include a pre-qualification or a pre-approval. Both of these actions can help you when it comes…
One of the the things I’ve learned about personal finances is that there is a big difference between what you can do and what you should do. When my husband and I were shopping for a home, we were approved for more than twice what we ended up paying for our mortgage. According to the mortgage lender, our credit situation, and our income, qualified us for a home — and a loan — twice as…
One of the biggest questions people ask about finances is what the 30% rule means for housing. Does it mean net or gross income? Is it just the mortgage plus interest, or does it include other expenses? You might get several different answers. The most generous answer, of course, is that you can “afford” to pay 30% of your gross income on mortgage and interest payments. While you might feel good about this plan, it…
One of the most common concerns for many consumers is whether or not they can afford a mortgage. Figuring out whether or not you can afford a mortgage should be more about simply figuring out what your mortgage payment should be. You should also realize that once you buy a home, there are other costs involved. Better Safe Than Sorry Many personal finance experts will tell you to keep your mortgage payment to 1/3 of…
[ad#Content 300×250]Everywhere you look, interest rates are low, low, low. Indeed, interest rates are so low that it is tempting to do any number of things that involve borrowing money. With car loan rates rather low, it is tempting to buy a new car — or even refinance your current auto loan. You might also find that the dropping mortgage rates provide an incentive to refinance the house (if you don’t plan to buy a…
[ad#Content 300×250]One of the ways that you can reduce the interest rate on your home mortgage loan is to pay points. A point is equal to 1% of the cost of your loan principal. If you get a mortgage for $180,000, each point is $1,800. You can usually get a reduction in your interest rate by up to 1/4 of a percent. (Some lenders will not offer such a discount, though.) So if you pay…
If you are in the market for a home mortgage, you might be in luck. Mortgage rates appear to be going down – again. Indeed, Freddie Mac reports that the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage is going for 3.25%. [ad#Content 300×250] But will mortgage rates fall even further? This is a question that many are asking. Not too long ago, it seemed as though mortgage rates hovering around 5% would be the bottom, and that…
Right now, interest rates are at record lows. This means that if you are going to borrow money, now is a good time to do it. (It is also a good time to pay down debt, since more of your payment will go to principal.) If you have been looking for a good time to make home improvements, this might be it, depending on your individual situation. Home equity loan rate and HELOC rates are…
San Francisco is home to nearly 810,000 residents, and the outlying greater “Bay Area” is home to millions. In San Francisco home equity loans (HELOC) depend on two primary aspects; amount of the loan and your credit score. To understand the sample rates below, it assumes that the “Maximum Loan to the Value (Maximum Percentage of the Home’s Value that can be lent)” is 80%. Sample Home Equity Loan Rates: Bank of America can offer a…
A cash-in refinance is the polar opposite of what we saw consumers doing during the prior decade when they were using their houses like piggy-banks while the mortgage bubble inflated. At that time, each time a homeowner executed a refinance, they could take cash out of their house (positive equity), and just keep upping their loan amount and paying it down at the new lower rate. We know how that turned out. However, more recently,…
Everyone is down on real estates. Construction companies, analysts, and home sellers are all pessimistic about the outlook for the housing sector. They have good reason to be negative based on all of the information that keeps coming in. Many homeowners are still upside down, prices are dropping, and foreclosures are so. How can you invest based on these trends? It’s time to be a contrarian and start buying real estate. That’s right! This is…
There’s an interesting new phenomena brewing where people enticed by low rates and home prices well off their recent highs are “doubling down” on housing, essentially betting the house if you will, on more house. This new group of people was profiled in the WSJ.com recently where some intriguing examples were culled out. “Some intrepid homeowners are intentionally taking a loss on their current house—and writing a big check to retire their old mortgage—in order…