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Conventional wisdom is that you should pre-pay your mortgage — at the very least, you should break your monthly payment in half and pay it twice per month. Doing so can dramatically shorten the period of your loan and save you a bunch of money in the long haul. But as with all things, conventional…

Conventional wisdom is that you should pre-pay your mortgage — at the very least, you should break your monthly payment in half and pay it twice per month. Doing so can dramatically shorten the period of your loan and save you a bunch of money in the long haul. But as with all things, conventional…

There has been a lot of talk around the differences in buying patterns for Millennials — everything from not owning televisions, to living (much) longer with their parents, to not buying homes even when they do move out of the basement. Particularly over the last decade, the rabid increase in student-loan debt has been used…

Just as you’ve finished spring-cleaning and are preparing to enter prime BBQ season, one last thing is here to stress you and your family before you can relax for the summer: your children’s school exam season. Thankfully, we’re not just reaching exam time here in the U.S., but the U.K. is as well, and our…

A few months ago, this blog covered plans by U.S. lawmakers to try and push through some mortgage reform — clearly an uphill battle. According to MarketWatch, any such legislative overhauls may take a while — Congress appears to be in no hurry. However, just because congress isn’t acting doesn’t mean the government isn’t. Last…

There are countless areas in our lives where spending a little bit of money now can save us a great deal in the long run. This Mashable Article covers the basics, like buying a coffee machine instead of forking over $4 to Starbucks every day. But it also covers a lot of other ground, including…

Sorry to mix metaphors, but, “The sky is falling!” Actually, the real problem is, whether you’re making allusions to Chicken Little or Lost in Space, it’s very difficult for experts, never mind laymen, to differentiate from real vs. imagined crises in the complicated world of mortgage regulation. Today, the Financial Times reports that “Democrats raise…

U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the text of the discussion draft of “The Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015.” Key highlights from the draft include easing regulations for small banks (those under half-a-trillion dollars in assets), some changes to the Fed,…

Many first-time home-buyers may not have heard of home owners associations (HOAs), but they’re very common for a lot of properties. You’ll almost certainly see them if you’re purchasing a condominium or townhouse, but they’re also frequent in gated communities, and sometimes exist even in regular subdivisions. Investopedia covers nine things you need to understand about…

Everyone who’s ever purchased a home can remember how overwhelming the experience was the first time he or she did it. There is a lot of ground to cover, and the landscape is continually changing. Recent blog posts have covered some mortgage terminology, and some changes in the industry. Today, the Boston Globe provides some higher…