Home Financing Tips

Now that we’re settled in the New Year, you may have noticed that your credit score has taken a hit after some overly joyous holiday spending. You’re not the only one: A recent report from Marcus by Goldman Sachs says almost half of the U.S. (48 percent) carries a balance or goes into credit card debt over the holidays due to travel, entertaining, and gift costs. While this can make for an exciting holiday season, it usually leaves our wallets—and credit scores—hurting.

如果买房生活梦想,付你的mortgage off early could seem like a next-level fantasy. Just imagine what life would be like without forking over monthly mortgage payments. More money for investments! Retirement savings! Home upgrades! Silk bow ties for your dog! But is paying your mortgage off quicker than is required actually a smart financial move? While there’s no “one size fits all” answer, financial experts say it’s not always the wisest decision.

Some bad advice you receive is NBD, honestly. Those bangs your best friend swore would look great on you will eventually grow out after an awkward phase. And maybe one day Dad’s method of filling out a March Madness bracket based on team mascots will actually pay off. But then there’s some bad advice that qualifies as a VBD—yes, a very big deal because it concerns your financial well-being.

Hamilton and Burr. Kanye and Drake. Freshly brushed teeth and orange juice. These are pairs never to be mixed. And generally one would say that debt and homeownership are one of these mutually exclusive pairs—but that may be changing, says a new report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

A new year is a great time to set resolutions (obviously), and if you’ve resolved to graduate from rental life to owner life, you’re going to want to set some savings goals ASAP. A new study from Apartment List found that many millennials want to buy a home, but don’t see that happening in the next five years. What’s more: A large portion of the generation isn’t even saving for a down payment yet.

你有没有通过社会媒体和se滚动cretly wondered “How the heck are my peers affording that lifestyle?” Yeah, we don’t know how they are funding those Bora Bora vacations, either. But a recent report from Zillow gave us some pretty good intel on how people are actually affording down payments for homes in big cities. We’ll give you a hint: It has nothing to do with skipping avocado toast or cutting Netflix from the budget.

Contrary to popular opinion, millennials are buying homes. According to a study conducted by the team at LendingTree, an online loan marketplace, nearly one-fourth of all mortgage purchase requests made on their website between January and November of 2018 came consumers under the age of 35. And three American cities managed to rake in millennial buyers—making up almost one half of total new purchase requests.

Keeping your rental warm throughout the season can be a challenge when you're at the whim of your building's management.

You left school with a solid understanding of the Pythagorean theorem, and you could probably recite a row or two of the Periodic Table of Elements in your sleep. But one thing you likely didn’t pick up in class? A personal finance lesson centered on home buying and the importance of credit. Ready to go back to school and learn a few important home buying principles?

I'd managed to raise my credit score 30 points, and snagged a mortgage approval letter from my credit union. These experts agree with me.

当你购物,很容易找到福尔ts with the homes you tour. Why is the master bedroom Cookie Monster blue? Whoever designed the kitchen didn’t know a thing about cooking. Did vampires live here; there’s hardly any natural light?! Sure, most design flaws could be remedied with renovations.

由于社交媒体,我们现在可以把我们的星期五ends (both online and IRL) for just about anything. Whether you’re looking for travel recommendations or advice on your high school reunion outfit, connecting is easier than ever. Another thing you can ask your friends for? Cold hard cash. Crowdfunding platforms like Fundly and Kickstarter have made it simple to ask for financial assistance for everything from unexpected medical bills to start-up seed money.

High-five, you did it! You paid off your student loans. While it takes a lot of financial discipline to get that balance to $0, your credit score unfortunately won’t be celebrating alongside you. In fact, after you pay off your student loans, you’ll probably see a slight drop in your credit score. Go ahead and file that in the “No fair, what gives?” category along with the fact that your credit will take a hit if you buy a house.

你省吃俭用,保存,和吉尔(花更多的时间low than you’d care to divulge, and you’re ready to add “homeowner” to your list of accomplishments. Now, to choose the right mortgage for you. When it comes to fixed-rate loan programs, there are several options—from five to 50 years. But it’s the 30-year mortgage that’s been most popular among Americans for decades.

Ask anyone about Waco, Texas, and most likely they’ll ask “Isn’t that where Chip and Joanna are from?” Thanks to Gaineses, the stars of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper,” interest in this central Texas community has skyrocketed over the last few years. As a result, Waco, Texas has not only become a huge tourist destination, but it has also sparked the interest of potential home buyers.

A lot of credit-boosting tips we hear are, frankly, pretty darn obvious. Don’t go over your credit limit, don’t pay bills late, check your credit score—yeah, yeah we got it already! So, my ears perked up when Brentnie Daggett, a rental expert at Rentec Direct, a property management industry website, dished a credit-boosting tip that falls into the “Oooh! Interesting” category.

Once you graduate college, you’re handed a diploma and—most likely—a mountain of debt. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a job where you make enough to pay off your student loans and then, maybe, move on to the next big investment of your life homeownership. Unfortunately, according to a study by Credit Sesame, the state in which you live may affect your ability to pay your student loans.

We know, everyone already harps on millennials. So, we hate to give bashers any more ammo, but… millennial credit scores aren’t great. They’re not good, either. They’re actually just “fair,” according to data from Experian, a consumer credit reporting agency. Experian’s credit system ranges from 300 (eek!) to 850 (wow!), and millennials, on average, are stuck in the “fair” category, which is a score between 580 and 669.

The countdown to buying your first home is innately defined by one thing: the balance in your savings account. Unlike car loans and the too-expensive shoes you put on your charge card, you can’t exactly buy a home with zero money down, so most people who have their sights set on homeownership begin by saving for a (sizeable) down payment.

Don't want to spend a ton of money? There are more than enough small-scale kitchen repairs and replacements that can increase a home's overall value

If you’re a fan of NBC’s wildly popular drama, “This Is Us,” you probably know a thing or two about the Pearson family. Have you ever wondered about the beautiful (but doomed) home the family lives in? While the house is located in Pittsburgh on the show, it’s actually filmed at a home in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles—the place where Rebecca and Jack road-tripped to early on in their relationship, ironically enough.

Will they or won’t they? Several times this year, the Federal Reserve System raised the benchmark interest rate and seemed gung-ho to do it again by the end of the year. If you’re about to get a new mortgage, these interest rate hikes will directly affect you, meaning you’ll pay more over time for that new house. And if you’re not in the market for a new mortgage, federal interest rate hikes will still hit you, albeit indirectly.

The last time you got a raise, did you potentially daydream of moving to some far-off amazing place? Well, your options may be limited, because that amazing locale might come with a super high price tag—especially if you want to live abroad. The Economist recently updated their list of most expensive cities in the world, and surprisingly, pricey American cities didn’t even crack the list this year.

Maxing out credit cards, falling behind on bills, going into foreclosure—these are all known villains that will slay your credit score. But did you know that buying a house will also most likely cause your credit score to drop? That’s right; after you’ve demonstrated utmost financial responsibility by establishing a solid credit score and saving for a down payment, taking out a mortgage will ding your score.

Beloved family sitcom “Full House” ended back in 1995, but thanks to reruns and a spinoff that debuted on Netflix in 2016, fans continue to be enamored with the Tanner family. Almost as iconic as the show’s characters is the beautiful San Francisco home they lived in.

Certain areas of the country, like Seattle, Washington, and Denver, Colorado, are notorious for their influx of young folk—be it for their tech-hubs, Instagram-worthy walls, or to-die for food. But when it comes to putting down roots, where are younger people buying homes? A new report from LendingTree ranked America’s metropolitan areas by average age of homeowner, and not surprisingly, (with one exception) the coolest millennial cities didn’t fare too well.

A debt forgiveness program for student borrowers sounded promising: Work in a public service sector for 10 years while making on-time loan repayments. Then—after a decade of working as, say, a nurse, police officer, teacher, social worker, first responder, or in some other public sector service job—have your remaining student loan balance erased.

You need a little creativity to make ends meet these days. With wages stagnating and housing prices skyrocketing, people are looking for ways to cut expenses and boost their income. And that’s especially true for anyone trying to save for a down payment on a house. This was all top of mind several years ago when Sam (my now-husband, then-boyfriend) and I decided to move in together.

I asked some experts about the smart way to buy a house with partner—both financially and emotionally—if you're not married. Here's what they said.

Buying a home is a huge financial decision, and, if you’re about to do so, your life advisory panel (family, friends, that opinionated co-worker…) is probably eager to weigh in. While well-intentioned, not all mortgage advice is good.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon will soon announce that their long-awaited HQ2—home to 50,000 new jobs—will be built in not one, but two metro areas: Crystal City, Virginia—in the D.C. metro area; and Long Island City (LIC), Queens—in New York City. As a New Yorker (albeit a Brooklynite), this news wasn’t super exciting. I know by now that a new hot tech headquarters means more people and higher rent prices.

For those that don't know much about VA loans, you'll be surprised at how much it has affected the way many Americans live—even today.

The 800-and-up credit score club is an elite one: 20.7 percent of Americans have reached this upper echelon of credit worthiness, according to the latest data from FICO, a widely-used credit score rating system. But, finance experts explain that you don’t actually need to have a score in the 800 range to qualify for the best mortgage rates. In fact, the score you should really aspire for is… drumroll, please: 760!

One of the biggest pulls to tiny house living is the freedom from financial burdens. But what you don’t expect is the high upfront cost from limited financing options, the small pool of remote employment opportunities, and exorbitant travel and parking costs. After living on the road in an RV with my family for a year, I’ve learned that no matter how snazzy your home is, tiny living is frugal living—and budgeting is so important.

Budgeting can be pretty hard—especially on a measly income. And some places, it’s nearly impossible to live a full life on your income alone—so you’re likely to slip into debt to pay the bills. Though it’s not ideal, for many it’s just the way it is. But in other places, it’s much, much easier—like in San Jose, California.

Congrats, America, your credit score has gone up. At last count, the average credit score in the United States was 704, an all-time high, according to FICO, a credit scoring company. If you’re below that score, though, don’t freak out: The average credit score incrementally goes up with age, which makes sense as credit history is one of the big factors layered into your score. Suffice to say, there’s a difference of 88 points between young adults and those aged 60 and up.

As the millennial job market becomes mobile, many twenty- and thirty-somethings are looking outside the big cities for places to settle down. If you haven’t been keeping score like I am, the Midwest is proving itself to be an increasingly attractive option with up-and-coming cities that offer millennials the lifestyle they’re searching for—and the price they want to pay.

It’s funny how buying a home became known as “The American Dream,” because for decades, it wasn’t a dream at all. Just a few generations ago (basically: your grandparents), buying a house in your 20’s was just reality. I love this story from Relative Realty about a couple of real first-time buyers in Toronto—Ron and Joan, both “in their early 20’s”—achieving The American Canadian Dream.

These days, actually using the phone to call people has pretty much fallen by the wayside. But here’s ample reason to pick up the phone: By making a few simple calls—and asking the right questions—you could save hundreds on your household bills. And the best part about living in 2018? You can actually pay someone to do it for you. According to U.S. News & World Report, there are several services that will lobby with your providers for better rates.

当你想到回家升级,可以拯救你money over time, are you imagining hefty investments like solar-powered roofs and native landscaping? Those projects certainly are the green goddesses in eco-friendly renovations. But, when it comes to upgrades, there are several smaller features that, over time, can pay for themselves, too—and they’re a lot easier to incorporate into your home. What we’re getting at?

If you’re on the hunt to buy a home, chances are you’ve been saving up for that down payment for quite some time—and while you may think you can get away with putting down 10 to 15 percent for your first home, in some states that might not be competitive enough. According to a new study performed by online loan marketplace LendingTree, prospective buyers in five American states can expect to plunk down more than the standard 20 percent.

It’s no surprise college grads make more money than those with just a high school diploma. To get specific, a college degree can boost your lifetime earning potential by $1 million. But what often gets lost in this 101 discussion about college degrees and earning potential is the fact there’s a wealth gap—and it’s a huge one—between those who have student loans and those who don’t.

If you were planning on winning the lottery and buying yourself a totally elaborate multi-million dollar mansion… all I can say is I’m sorry. (In full disclosure, I did win… $2.) But the time you spent swimming through listings and the feelings you felt for that perfect mansion don’t have to go to waste, right? Is it really so far-fetched that you could one day afford to live there?

You pay your rent on time every month, keep your savings account padded with at least a few hundred bucks, and don’t overdraw your checking account. While these are all responsible money management habits, they haven’t actually been helping you build your credit–but that could change soon.

So—you’re searching for an apartment on Craigslist. You click on “housing” and enter your search criteria: min bedrooms, max price, X miles from your zip code of choice, only show ads with pictures—GO! Aaaaaand you’ve already made a huge mistake. Not only did I do an annual housing hunt every five years while living in Brooklyn (I’m now in L.A.), I also worked as a real estate agent in Brooklyn for two years. I know the deal.

When my husband and I decided to move from Denver to Indianapolis to buy a house, we knew the process would be humbling. The only things we knew about the home-buying process came from watching HGTV or talking to friends and family who had done it before. We decided to jump into it with an open mind and a cautious approach. The first major decision we faced was deciding which type of mortgage was best for us: Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or conventional.

When I was a kid, I used to dream of busting out of my hometown. I’d pine for shows in the mid-2000s that featured gorgeous locales like cities in California, or chic ones like New York City. I was convinced that once I made my big move, it’d be permanent: There would be no turning back to come home again. But while my husband finished up with the Army, I found myself needing to house hunt, find a job, and see about putting down roots.

Andrea Kaplan-Chambers and her husband have owned their Austin, Texas, home for a year now, but the path there wasn’t easy. The couple were both freelancers when they were applying for mortgages, (Kaplan-Chambers worked as a contract programmer and her husband owned a small sound design business) something they didn’t know was going to be as big of a problem as it ended up being.