One of the great benefits of home ownership is the ability to take tax deductions unavailable to those who are renting. And that’s not just limited to your interest payment — you can often get great tax benefits from home improvements. But in order to do so, you need to understand the difference between what…

Primary Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is a payment with which most new homeowners must contend. Generally, you have to pay PMI if your equity (i.e., your down-payment on a new purchase) is below a certain threshold. For many people, that can be worth it, because in exchange for a nominal increase in monthly payment (the PMI),…

Primary Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is a payment with which most new homeowners must contend. Generally, you have to pay PMI if your equity (i.e., your down-payment on a new purchase) is below a certain threshold. For many people, that can be worth it, because in exchange for a nominal increase in monthly payment (the PMI),…

One of the great things that humans can do is make predictions. The quality of those predictions is an entirely different matter. Nevertheless, it’s fun to think about where we’ll be in 10, 20, or 100 years — and for the shorter periods, it can be fun to see which predictions come true and which…

Based on the success of yesterday’s post, we see there’s a strong interest in getting up to speed on mortgage terminology. Main St. provides this handy guide covering 10 terms that you should learn if you’re thinking about buying a house. They cover the basics of everything from the relationship between Freddie Mac and Ginnie…

Based on the success of yesterday’s post, we see there’s a strong interest in getting up to speed on mortgage terminology. Main St. provides this handy guide covering 10 terms that you should learn if you’re thinking about buying a house. They cover the basics of everything from the relationship between Freddie Mac and Ginnie…

Sometimes mortgage and real-estate professionals get so caught up in things that we forget that you, our customer, may not be an expert at all of the industry lingo. This article by The Motley Fool does a great job of explaining the high-level differences between the two major types of mortgages available today. Not only…

If you’re like me, you probably don’t clean your windows until you notice that they’re incredibly dirty. And maybe not even then. Did you know it’s recommended to clean them twice per year? According to This Old House, we amateur window washers hate it because the way we’re doing it is too much work —…

Requirements for mortgages today make getting the money you need for a home a lot harder than before the housing crash. However, it’s also quite a bit harder to get a mortgage than before the housing boom in the early 2000s (boom or bubble, your choice). Some researchers claim that more than 4 million mortgage…

Winters, Springs, Summers and Falls all team up to put a beating on your deck. And now that summer is approaching, you are probably getting your first real look at the condition of your deck for the upcoming BBQ season. Get your deck in shape with a good cleaning, staining and sealing that will last…