What Is the Smartest Way to Pay Off a Debt?

By RONDA KAYSEN MAY 27, 2017 Q. My wife took out a $30,000 personal loan from a colleague whom she would like to pay back now. To get the funds, we could either refinance the mortgage on our co-op in Jackson Heights, Queens, or take out a home equity line of credit. Given the current mortgage rates, which would be the wiser option? A. Many homeowners look to the equity in their homes to pay for things like home improvements or college tuition, or to pay off credit card debt. You can tap that equity by refinancing your mortgage or opening a home equity line of ...

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Five Things to Know About Your Credit Report

One of the biggest issues facing homebuyers today are problems with their credit scores. Unlike in the past, the available loan products and interest rates will vary significantly with a person’s credit score. Below are 5 Do’s and Don’ts to make sure that your credit score is as high as it can be: 1. DO-Make your mortgage on time and in no event later than the 30th day of the month. Even one 30 day late mortgage in a year can drop your credit score by 40-50 points and make you ineligible for certain mortgage products. If something has to be paid late, make it ...

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It is Possible to Buy a Home Now with Less than Perfect Credit and a Small Down Payment!

There’s a general feeling in the market that in order to get a mortgage now, a person has to have a credit score over 700 credit score; a very high income and a large down payment.  This can be difficult since the economy is still recovering so that high paying jobs are hard to come by. Also, due to the high cost of living, it is hard to save a lot of money in order to buy a house. But none of that is necessary.  So long as you have a job and a little money saved or available to use from some source, you can buy a home! For example, on a Fannie Mae or a ...

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“Don’t Buy a Home As an Investment” A Faulty Logic and Fuzzy Math

While I was reading the Sunday paper I came across this article from The Wall Street Journal and got intrigued by the title. Don’t Buy a Home as an Investment: After Costs, It Typically Doesn’t Yield Much. Think of It as a Place to Live. I always enjoy the Wall Street Journal’s columns and generally agree with them. However, in this column listed above, the author came to his conclusion first and then tried to justify it. He neglected to include several important factors and then he discounted his extraordinary return on his Manhattan apartment for no apparent ...

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So You Want to Buy a House in 2015 (or Refinance)?

If you are looking at the mild, dry weather this winter and the low interest rates and thinking "We should look into buying a house this year," then this is for you. Likewise, if you have an interest rate above 4.25%; want to change from a 30 year fixed to a 15 year; have PMI on your loan but an increased house value; have an FHA loan with PMI of 1.35%; or want to convert an ARM to a fixed, this is for you too. But, in order to get a new loan, there are a few things that you should know.  Though some of them are "self-evident" and would appear to the untrained eye to ...

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Mortgage Checklist Documents

A lot of people have been asking lately what documents they need to provide in order to get approved for a mortgage to buy a house. With this video, we'll go over the documents that you need to provide the lender to make the mortgage application easier for you and the lender. They fall within basically three different categories. Watch this video and learn about the requirements and documentations you need to prepare to get a mortgage for that home purchase.  

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If it’s spring, it must be the housebuying season, right?

I know that the calendar says it is spring.  I also know that Easter and Passover are coming weekend. Though, like many others, I just don't know where the spring weather is!  For those of us in the residential housing game, which each year feels more and more like a Game of Thrones, the spring weather is very important. For sellers and buyers alike, there is a big psychological boost when warm weather finally arrives.  Like the Israelites roaming the desert, the homebuyers are looking for a sign from above that it is time to enter the Promised Land (of ...

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