| 151. | Mortgage Interest Can Take Some of the Sting Out of Federal Income Taxes
If you are like many homeowners, you can use your monthly mortgage payments to take some of the pain out of paying your federal income taxes because the interest you pay on your mortgage often is the single biggest tax deduction you have.The IRS lets all taxpayers take “a standard deduction,” or an amount everyone can deduct without showing any receipts or records, explains Gary Lambrix, a CPA in the Las Vegas offices of RSM McGladrey, a national business services and consulting firm...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, April 04, 2005 |
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| 152. | Use These Numbers to Decide How Big a Mortgage You Can Afford
There are houses you want, and there are houses you realistically can buy. How can you make sure you can afford the house you want? Look to the numbers that qualify you for a mortgage in the first place...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, March 28, 2005 |
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| 153. | Zero-Down Mortgages Help Police, Firefighters, Teachers, Healthcare Workers
Until now, veterans were about the only people who could get great deals on zero-down-payment mortgages. Others seeking zero-down loans normally had to pay higher interest rates and have squeaky-clean credit histories...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, March 21, 2005 |
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| 154. | Making Payments On Time During Bankruptcy May Save Your Home
Bankruptcy is a scary topic, especially if you are facing it. What makes it even scarier is that few people really know what to expect, what is involved, and what they will have left when it is over...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, March 14, 2005 |
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| 155. | Put Down Less Than 20 Percent? You'll Buy Mortgage Insurance
If you buy a house and make less than a 20-percent down payment, it will cost you extra money in the long run because most lenders will insist that you buy private Mortgage Insurance (MI) or its equivalent. For a conventional loan, the 20-percent down payment level is the mortgage industry's equivalent of the “Great Divide...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, March 07, 2005 |
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| 156. | Getting Pre-Approved For A Mortgage Is The Right Way To House Hunt
For house hunters, being “pre-qualified” for a mortgage may sound good, but getting “pre-approved” is far more impressive. It's like the difference between an actor telling someone he's auditioned for a role in a play and telling him or her he actually landed the part...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, February 28, 2005 |
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| 157. | Consider “Perplexity Factor,” Rates When Mortgage Shopping
If you consider the mortgage process frustrating, perplexing, and intimidating, welcome to the club. A consulting firm's annual “Perplexity Poll” has named mortgage applications as “The Most Difficult to Understand” forms most of us ever encounter...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, February 21, 2005 |
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| 158. | FHA Streamline Mortgage Refinancing Is Like Giving Yourself A Raise
For most of us, our mortgage payment is the single largest check we write each month. It can consume 25 percent, 30 percent or even 40 percent of our monthly incomes, so anything we can do to reduce it will have a major impact on our finances...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, February 14, 2005 |
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| 159. | Mortgage Lenders Can Sell Your Loan… But Your Home Is Still Your Home
You may think that getting a mortgage and signing the papers that spell out how much you'll pay your lender over the next 15 or 30 years is the start of a long-term relationship. Then you get a letter saying that your loan has been sold...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, February 07, 2005 |
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| 160. | Flood Insurance May Be A Mortgage Requirement, But How Much Is Enough?
When it's time to go house hunting, you get to pick where you want to live, choose a real estate agent, select a mortgage lender, and even negotiate the price of the house you finally settle on. But most people don't realize that while a lender may require you to buy flood insurance, you can shop around for a lender whose idea of a “reasonable” amount of flood insurance is closer to your own...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, January 31, 2005 |
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| 161. | It's Risky, But An ARM Can Get You A Bigger House
Most people turn to adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) because they carry lower interest rates, and that translates into lower monthly payments. Lower interest rates also may allow you to qualify for a bigger home loan, which means you can afford a bigger house...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, January 24, 2005 |
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| 162. | FHA Mortgage Limits Up 7.7 Percent in 2005
House prices continue to rise across the nation, so the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has increased the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan limits by nearly 8 percent to keep pace. Depending upon just where you live in the 48 contiguous states, the new HUD loan limits for single-family housing in 2005 range from $172,632 to $312,895...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, January 17, 2005 |
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| 163. | Overcoming The Hurdles Of Raising A Down Payment
For many first-time buyers, the biggest problem they face is coming up with a large chunk of money for the down payment. Compare to amassing thousands of dollars to buy that first home, finding a home is relatively easy...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, January 10, 2005 |
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| 164. | Mortgage Math 101: Why Most of Your Payments Go Toward Interest
Few things are guaranteed to make the average homebuyer's eyes glaze over faster than a discussion of mortgage amortization tables. But if you keep reading, not only will you be able to understand them, you'll also understand why your mortgage payments are set up the way they are...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, January 03, 2005 |
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| 165. | A Land Contract Can Be an Option
A scary dream is called a nightmare, a frightening movie is called a horror flick, and a terrifying way to buy a home is often called a land contract. With a land contract you can have all of the obligations of a mortgage with virtually none of the guarantees, rights or protections that a standard mortgage provides...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, December 27, 2004 |
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| 166. | Pick the Right Mortgage to Avoid Winding Up House Poor
Owning a house is the American dream. For some people, however, it can become the American nightmare...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, December 20, 2004 |
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| 167. | 2005 Conforming Mortgage Limits Up 7.8%
Since you probably haven't finished your Christmas shopping yet -- or, if you're like me, haven't even started -- it's highly doubtful that you're thinking about what New Year's resolutions to make. Well, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac already have one in place that could be good for you if you're planning on buying a home in 2005...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, December 13, 2004 |
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| 168. | Ask Your Mortgage Lender Questions -- Lots and Lots of Questions
Having questions - lots and lots of questions - is a natural part of the mortgage process. Asking good questions will help guide you to the right loan and the right lender...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, November 29, 2004 |
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| 169. | Deconstruction Construction... And A Mortgage To Pay For It
Some people find a house and can't wait to move into it. Others find one and can't wait to tear it down...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, November 22, 2004 |
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| 170. | HomeStyle Renovation and 203(k) Mortgages Make "Fixer Uppers" Fixable
Two words that can be a real turn-on to some homebuyers—and a total turn-off to others—are "handyman's special," also known as a "fixer upper." What those words really mean is that after spending a lot of money to buy a house, you get to spend even more to fix it up...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, November 15, 2004 |
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| 171. | A Subprime Mortgage: A Good Solution to a Bad Credit Problem
There are a number of negative things you can say about subprime lending and subprime lenders… but there are a lot of positive things you can say about them, too. The most positive thing about a subprime mortgage is that it allows people who wouldn't qualify for a conventional mortgage to become homeownerss...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, November 09, 2004 |
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| 172. | Spouse Is Easier To Divorce Than A Mortgage
Many people think when their divorce decree is final their problems are over. But when it comes to the mortgage on the house that the two of you once shared, the problems could be just beginning...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, November 01, 2004 |
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| 173. | Buying a House with a Buddy? Get a Pre-Mortgage Agreement
You've probably heard about "pre-nuptial agreements," the contracts some people sign before getting married that spell out what happens if—and far too often when—the marriage falls apart. While few of us are in the sort of tax bracket that would make a pre-nuptial agreement necessary, if you plan to buy a house with someone other than a spouse, you might want to consider a pre-mortgage agreement...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, October 25, 2004 |
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| 174. | Home Equity Loans Can Be Good... As Long As You Understand Them
When mortgage rates were really low, like they were at the end of 2002 and the first half of 2003, homeowners tapped into their home equity using cash-out refinances, which offer the dual benefits of lower interest rates and cash. Now that rates have edged up, refis are down; but in turn there has been a sharp rise in home equity loans, which allow homeowners to draw equity out of the home without refinancing...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, December 06, 2004 |
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| 175. | Do No-Cost Mortgages Really Cost Nothing?
If you're like most people, when you go house hunting and find out what the loan to buy that home will actually cost, you probably wonder if you could somehow manage to get a no-cost mortgage. You can...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, October 18, 2004 |
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| 176. | MI, or MI Not…That Is The Question
Private Mortgage Insurance, usually referred to as MI, is an insurance policy millions of homeowners are required to pay if they put less than 20 percent down on their home purchase. Their mortgage holders demand it...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, October 04, 2004 |
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| 177. | The 40-Year Mortgage: A Good News, Bad News Loan
Most of us think of mortgages in terms of a 30-year commitment—or less. But now you can get a 40-year mortgage...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, September 28, 2004 |
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| 178. | FHA 203(h) Loans Help Disaster Victims Get Zero-Down Mortgages
So far this year, the president has declared 40 different national disasters--disasters that have severely damaged or completely destroyed tens of thousands of homes and apartments, leaving thousands of people homeless. Each of these presidential declarations, however, comes with a promise of help to rebuild shattered lives and homes...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, September 20, 2004 |
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| 179. | Balloon Mortgages Are Like ARMS... But They Can "Pop!"
One way to scare a child is to pop a balloon, even a brightly colored, pretty one. One way to scare a homeowner is to pop a balloon mortgage...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Monday, September 13, 2004 |
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| 180. | Insurance Policies that May Be Required to Get a Mortgage Loan
When applying for a mortgage loan, many consumers discover that there are several types of insurance that need to be purchased. Here are the answers to some of the more common questions that borrowers ask about insurance policies...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, September 07, 2004 |
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