Tag: home

The average 30-year mortgage refinance rate is sitting around 6.8% as of early July 2026, per Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. That's not the "lowest since the 1950s" environment this page used to describe — those sub-4% rates are long gone, and most homeowners today are locked into a…

Thanks to recent announcements by the Federal Reserve around cutting back on buy back programs interest rates have been rising, with the forecast for even higher rates by year end. Based on the latest rates have been rising consistently of late with the 30-year fixed rate averaging over 4.1%. That's up from…

As is the case every year, I receive an escrow summary from my mortgage provider. An escrow is the funding account for the variable part of your mortgage payment that includes property taxes, home insurance and HOA fees in some cases. The escrow amount is added to the fixed principal…

Many of us dream about how it would feel to not have a monthly mortgage payment. Owning your home free and clear is the aspiration of numerous homeowners. But even without – in most cases – that hefty payment leaving your checkbook every 30 days, there are actually some reasons…

As mortgage rates continue to hover at 30 year lows, many people are wondering whether a 15-year or a 30-year mortgage term is a better option. After all, even though payments on the 15-year option would be higher, the lower interest rates on the shorter term loan are keeping payments,…

Mortgage lenders often attract homeowners seeking to lower their mortgage interest rate with some simple math, usually presented in one of two ways: 1) Comparing the nominal closing costs to the total savings from 30 years of a lower monthly payment, or 2) How few months it will take before…

Mortgage interest rates are at their lowest point in decades (about 4.5%) and the housing credit has been in effect for more than three years, yet the housing market is tepid at best, with foreclosures at record highs and government housing institutions having to put more distressed assets on their…

I have posted updates to a number of articles covering the spectrum of government stimulus funded tax credits and deductions. Here is a summary of the updates with a link to the detailed articles for more detailed information, qualification criteria and latest status. If you haven’t already, join 6000 plus…

Following my recent post on Tips for Selling your Home, I received a reader email asking me to clarify the tax consequences of selling their home and what the potential liability/capital gain implications would be. Based on what the IRS says, here are the key tax facts to keep in…

Biden $15,000 Home Buyer Credit? President Biden’s housing agenda includes a proposal for a $15,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. This is similar to the home credit provided over 10 years ago under President Obama (details below). The difference is that this credit is to help American's deal with home affordability vs the original…

Reverse mortgages are becoming an increasingly popular financing offering with our aging baby boomer population, looking for ways to unlock the value from their homes. Simply defined, reverse mortgages are a special type of home loan that lets a homeowner convert a portion of the equity in his or her…

Recently there has been a spate of minor burglaries in my apartment complex, which prompted my wife and I to consider getting an alarm system for our apartment. We looked into this via various on-line sites and calls to security companies in our local area and found that the costs…

We all want to get out from under our massive mortgage debt. So what is the best way to pay off the mortgage quicker – and not significantly impact your ability to retire? The answer is a variation on the good old “Pay every two weeks instead of once a…