Mortgage Archives

Lifestyle Choices: Making the Decision to Buy a Second Home

To those who find it a challenge to manage their finances around one mortgage, the idea of buying a second home can seem like a stretch. There are good, workable ways to approach the idea of a second home. They call it the property ladder for a reason – once you have one home, moving to more properties becomes easier. Aiming to buy a second or third home shouldn’t even count as financially ambitious. Buying a Second Home If you’re like most middle-class families, you probably need to plan for and income of £50,000 a year once you retire. It can take a £1 million pension pot to make it happen. To most people, the property ladder is the only way … Read more

The Dangers of Short Selling Your Home Are Enormous and Long Lasting

by Hank Coleman

Selling your home with a short sale, which is selling it for less than you owe on your mortgage, not only takes a lot of time and energy, but it also as a lot of long-lasting consequences as well. There are many things that you should consider before going the route of selling your home for less than you owe on your mortgage. Here are a few reasons why short selling may not be a great idea for you. Short Selling Your Home Nukes Your Credit Score The only thing worse you can do to your credit score with respect to your home is having it foreclosed on. Selling your home with a short sale is almost as bad in … Read more

Why I Am Considering Refinancing My Mortgage

by Hank Coleman

When I was in the bank the other day, the teller was telling me about the new rates on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage and how I could save by refinancing my current loan. So, it got me thinking about my mortgage. So, I thought that I would consider refinancing my mortgage. Here are a few things to consider when looking at refinancing and what I look for when refinancing my mortgage. With interest rates on the rise, lock in a low, fixed rate with Figure’s Home Equity Loan Plus today. Refinancing a Mortgage My Current Interest Rate When my wife and I bought our home in December 2008, we received a 30 year fixed rate mortgage from our … Read more

Buying a Home with Private Mortgage Insurance and Pay PMI Off Early

by Hank Coleman

12 Things You Should Know Before Buying A House

If you are new to home buying, you will soon find out that most lending institutions require that loan applicants put 20% down when applying for a mortgage, or you will need private mortgage insurance. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, of course, as some financial institutions will accept applications even in this turbulent home buying market with 10% down. Go online first and contact a couple of brokers or several lenders through a service like LendingTree.com which will find you four mortgage loan offers. Buying a Home With Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) If you do not have the 20% down payment, then you will be required in almost every instance to buy private mortgage insurance which is also … Read more

Dave Ramsey’s Baby Step 6 – Pay Off Your Mortgage Early

by Hank Coleman

I wrote an overview of Dave Ramsey’s baby steps system from his book, The Total Money Makeover, and I have been dissecting each of his individual baby steps as well. Today, we’ll talk about baby step 6, paying off your mortgage early. The Total Money Makeover is a personal finance book that I highly recommend and one of the greatest personal finance books to read. Today, we will look at Baby Step 4 in more detail which is to invest 15% of your income for retirement. There are seven Dave Ramsey baby steps that you should follow in order that will lead you to financial peace. Dave Ramsey’s baby steps are… Baby Step 1 – $1,000 Emergency FundBaby Step 2 – Pay Off All Of Your Debt With … Read more

Things to Look For in a Toronto Mortgage Lender

by Guest Contributor

Finding a home that you want to buy is a long and drawn out process that has obvious rewards. A vital part of getting the price on the home that you want is finding the best mortgage lender in your area to deal with.

Generally, you will have a variety of different lenders to choose from, so you will need to put a lot of thought in to this decision. You need to sit down and figure out what you need from a mortgage lender and then go out and find a company that fits the criteria.

The following are a few of things that you need to look for when trying to choose the right mortgage lender.

What to Look For in a Mortgage Lender

Level of Experience

One of the first things that you need to look for in a mortgage lender is experience in the industry. You want to use a company who will tailor make the mortgage that you use instead of using a one size fits all type of program.