Interest Rate, APR, and When to Buy the Rate Down

I get asked a lot of questions about interest rates – why wouldn’t I?  I’m a loan officer.  The problem is that interest rates don’t tell the whole story, neither does APR.  I’ll attempt to sort out the issues and – BONUS – help you understand when it’s good to buy the rate down or, […]

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Things to Consider OTHER Than the Interest Rate When Getting a Mortgage

With a title like this, some readers may think I am trying to justify higher interest rates than my competitors.  The fact is, I have very competitive interest rates, I just think that if that’s all you focus on when getting a mortgage, you miss a lot of other things.  For instance, the timing of […]

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What is the Return on Investment on the Equity in Your Home?

What is the Return on Investment on the Equity in Your Home? Some people think it’s the rate of appreciation on real estate in their local area.  Other’s aren’t quite sure what to say because it seems like the answer should be obvious but if it is, why do I ask the question?  Because the […]

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Top 5 Reasons Why You Should NOT Refinance Your Mortgage

I was meeting with a client the other morning who needed to either refinance or sell her townhome to access some equity to pay off her sister.  If she decides to sell, she will buy another townhome closer to work, where as it will be pretty much business as usual if she refinances.  A situation […]

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Four Ways to Put Your Equity to Work: #4 – College Housing for Your Children

In this series we have talked about ways to put your dead equity to work for you.  All options require pulling out excess equity (typically equity over 20% of the home’s value).  The first option was to renovate / update – this allows your equity to build more equity by making your personal home worth […]

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The Impact of the New Tax Law on Real Estate Owners

Toward the end of 2017 congress approved a new tax bill that was signed into law and became effective as of January 1, 2018.  If you own real estate, there are several thinks you need to know so that you can make educated decisions regarding buying, selling, and holding real estate.  I’ll start of with […]

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