My Mind on Mortgages

For many people saving for a rainy day is hard enough as it is.  Add on top of that all the other financial objectives a person is typically concerned with (i.e. retirement, college savings, paying down debt) saving for a down payment on a home can be difficult.  Because of this I often have clients [...]

Has all the gloomy headlines got you down?  I know it’s been tough to wake up each morning and hear that another bank is laying off employees, another auto-maker is in dire straights, another country is in need of a bailout.  There’s no question that the news can drag you down.
However, in any economic environment [...]

Although many home-buyers do not realize it every home they buy has been bought with 100% financing.  How can that be you may ask?  The last home I bought I put 20% down.
It may be true that you took an 80% mortgage and used your own funds for a 20% down payment but what you [...]

In Todd Ballenger’s book “Borrow Smart Retire Rich” he trademarks the term ‘EPR’ which stands for Effective Percentage Rate.
This concept it important in making decisions regarding how much a homeowner should borrow.  Here is a simple explanation:
1) First, it’s important to understand that most homeowner’s are able to deduct the interest that they pay on [...]

As I’ve told many people the stars are currently aligned for first-time home-buyers.  Grant it, there is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety amongst US workers right now and if the potential for job loss is high it would NOT be a good plan to buy a home.
However, for those who feel secure in their [...]

Do you know what your “acquisition indebtedness” (AKA “home acquisition debt”) is?  You probably do know and don’t even know it.  Your acquisition indebtedness is simply the amount of mortgage you took out to buy your home.
For example, if I buy a home for $300,000 and take out a loan for $240,000 at the time [...]

The following model is the basis for successful long-term financial management.  In our view, the following four pillars represent, in order of importance, the key to incorporating financial responsibility into a person’s life.  It is our goal to introduce and educate our clients on how the decisions they make surrounding the house that they buy [...]

Brent Arends wrote this interesting article for WSJ.com money last week.  In his article he took a very objective approach to measuring the cost and investment value of owning a second home. 
Among his comments that I found useful was his commentary on how costs associated with owning a second property typically exceed the owner’s original [...]