OurBroker Logo
Have A Real Estate Question?  Please Press Here.
savings : Mortgage Loans, Rates, Home Buying, Selling, Foreclosures

All Posts Tagged With: "savings"

post thumbnail

Caution: Refinancing with Low Mortgage Rates May Not Work

I got a letter from my mortgage lender offering to refinance my home. I could lower my rate, said the letter, and I might save money. Actually, both claims are correct but the bigger issue is whether refinancing is actually worthwhile. According to the letter my mortgage rate would drop from 4.63 percent to 4.46 [...]

30Jan2012 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

How Can We Slash Mortgage Insurance Costs?

Private mortgage insurance companies are the private-sector equivalent of the VA and FHA. Such insurance allows individuals to borrow with little down — but only if they pay a premium for such coverage. How It Works Some important points about private mortgage insurance (MI) include: MI companies are state regulated, not federally regulated. State regulation [...]

26Apr2010 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Should We Spend Our Way Out Of The Recession?

Oh gee, now here’s a problem…. The Wall Street Journal has a headline which reads, “Hard-Hit Families Finally Start Saving, Aggravating Nation’s Economic Woes.” According to the paper, rising savings rates are “a major reason the downturn may not soon end. Americans, fresh off a decades long buying spree, are finally saving more and spending [...]

6Jan2009 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac: Promised Interest Savings Disappear

It was just a few weeks ago when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized by the Federal government. To this day it is not clear why such a seizure was necessary given that the two companies had lost roughly $5 billion in the first half of the year — but had $95 billion in [...]

20Oct2008 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

How To Budget & Save In Hard Times

Go to any mall and you can see merchants offering discounts, mark-downs and promotions to get those customers through the door. If the malls in my area are any measure, retailing strategies pay off with arena-like crowds and lots of big spending. Given such enthusiastic consumption it seems almost unfair to mention the other side [...]

26Sep2008 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Is A Bi-Weekly Mortgage Good For Me?

Question: My lender has sent a letter offering to create a bi-weekly mortgage program. They would take payments directly from my checking account and as a result my loan would have $24,000 in additional equity after 10 years. If I hold onto the loan until it’s paid off I would save $70,000. This sounds pretty [...]

2Sep2008 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Can I Buy A House With Mattress Money?

Mattress money — cash not deposited in banks and other repositories — has long bothered lenders. They wonder where the money comes from, and if it was obtained illegally. Traditionally, lenders have refused to accept mattress money from home buyers. However, Freddie Mac has said that in some cases it would allow buyers to use [...]

30Aug2008 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

Can I Buy A Home With Money From A Tontine?

Question: I moved to this country from overseas about 10 years ago. Being new, I kept up affiliations with others from my country, and I made deposits in a community savings club. I now wish to buy a house with the money I saved. Will lenders decline my loan application because I do not have [...]

28Aug2008 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

What are the major tax benefits of homeownership?

In terms of federal taxes, you will generally be able to: ___Write off interest costs on acquisition financing with a principal balance of up to $1 million. __Write off interest costs on a second mortgage or home equity loan with a principal balance of up to $100,000. ___Write off property taxes on your personal residence. [...]

26Aug2008 | | 0 comments | Continued
post thumbnail

What’s a title insurance “re-issue” rate?

It sometimes happens that a property is sold or refinanced more than once within a five- or ten-year period. In such instances, if title insurance is obtained from the same firm, it’s often possible to get a re-issue (discount) rate. The discount can represent a significant savings, thus it is worthwhile to ask if such [...]

26Aug2008 | | 0 comments | Continued