By David John Marotta and Beth Anderson Nedelisky
Before reverse mortgages, pensioners wishing to tap into home equity were presented with two options: either sell the house or get a home equity loan. But since their humble beginnings in the late ’80s, reverse mortgages provided seniors with an additional tool for accessing home equity. The going […]

By Cortni Marrazzo
The process of buying a home and securing a mortgage can be very confusing if you don’t know what you are doing. That’s why it’s always important to do your homework. Obviously researching the mortgage process and the terms is very helpful, but perhaps the most important research you can do […]

By Cortni Marrazzo
When my husband and I were in the market for our first home, we were excited to take advantage of some of the first time home buyer programs we had heard so much about. After all, we were in fact first time home buyers and this would be the only time we’d […]

By Cortni Marrazzo
I understand the argument behind the advice of putting at least a 20% down payment on a house purchase. No one wants to pay private mortgage insurance and the idea of getting two different loans to avoid it isn’t that great either. I imagine if you are a previous […]

By David John Marotta
In 1985, an MIT professor won the Nobel Prize for a simple technique that squirrels have known intuitively from birth — you have to “squirrel” away some nuts during times of plenty so you can survive during times of scarcity. Economist Franco Modigliani won his Nobel Prize for modeling how humans manage […]

Loans and credit cards provide great consumer benefits, but as with any form of borrowed money, you’ve got to be careful about how you manage credit. Here are tips for saving money on credit products - in your basic financial affairs, when shopping for new credit, and when using loans and credit cards.
1. Pay your […]

There is often confusion with bi-weekly mortgage plans. Many people hear about them for the first time and assume that all they have to do is pay their mortgage 2 times a month and they will get these incredible savings. The key, however, is in the subtle difference between paying twice a month and paying […]

By Teri Newton
I keep reading general financial advice and disagreeing as it applies to me. Obviously, every one has a unique financial situation. Overall, it is better to get financial advice tailored toward your own situation. But over and over I notice that financial advice does not really apply to my case simply because I […]

When you make financial decisions, there are times when you’d like to have others take a look at the decisions you have made and give their honest opinion on whether or not they think you’re on the right track. That is exactly what the writer of this email was looking for:
I earn approximately $77k and […]

When you come into some extra money and have debts to pay off, it can sometimes be confusing which ones you should tackle first. I often receive emails like this one asking for advice on which debts should be paid off first:
I’m currently $70,000.00 in debt with credit cards. I also have a mortgage […]

By Amy L. Fontinelle
If you’re a potential first time homebuyer, you may be confused about those mysterious closing costs — the expense that means that when you think you’ve finally saved up enough for a down payment, you really haven’t. Closing costs can add 2% to 5% to the purchase price of your home, which […]

By Teri Newton
If you own a home, you have probably heard of an impound account, sometimes referred to as an escrow account. So what is an impound account anyway, and is it a good idea?
An impound account is an account that is set up so that you pay your mortgage company a monthly amount, which […]

There is yet another shady deal going around with mortgage loans these days. If you receive an offer from a lender or mortgage broker under a “Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Program” endorsed by the Federal Reserve Board, raise that red flag right away. First and foremost, the Federal Reserve does not endorse or sponsor any […]