By elathrop on June 11, 2008
Amortization schedules are important simply because they show you how each mortgage payment breaks down into its two parts, principal and interest. With this knowledge, you can adjust your payments to include future principal payments and that will save you from paying their corresponding interest payments. This means if a particular payment is split up [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on June 11, 2008
Generally speaking, we have no control over what interest rates will be. Government policy and the general state of the economy including the inflation rate will dictate the range of interest rates that will be available. Still, when we go for a mortgage there are things in our credit history that can determine whether we [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on May 21, 2008
Gasoline prices are at an all-time high in the United States today. Even though this price pales in comparison to the prices paid in some other countries around the world, it can no longer be reasonably argued that the price we pay at the pump today in the U.S. is a bargain. In recent times [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on May 21, 2008
Today’s economy is very dependent upon mortgage interest rates. Right now the interest rates are very low. This, of course, is good. Today, a 30-year mortgage can be obtained for about 6%, maybe less. At 6%, a $200,000 mortgage for 30 years would result in a monthly payment of $1,199.10. What would happen if mortgage [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on May 19, 2008
Probably the longest commitment we ever make in our lifetimes is the 30 years we commit to a mortgage. There isn’t too much we can count on having after 30 years, but unless we sell our houses or hit the lottery, we can be sure we will be paying off our mortgages for a long [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on May 14, 2008
It is normal for the economy to go through a period in time where defaults and delinquent payments are up following a real estate market boom. To listen to the news, you would think the terms foreclosure and loan defaults are brand new. This is not the case. After the hot real estate market of [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on May 7, 2008
The world of insurance is a complicated one. It sometimes seems impossible to know when a policy is a wise investment or a total rip-off. When it comes to insuring a mortgage with a mortgage payoff policy it gets very complicated because there are so many different policies around. Is it better to buy an [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on April 26, 2008
Ask anyone you see how the economy is doing and there is a good chance he or she will tell you it’s terrible! At this point in time, it is a fair assessment the economic conditions have softened, but the truth is we are a long way away from a lousy economy. A lousy economy [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on April 24, 2008
Going to college takes a bunch of money these days! Invariably, most students end up with an amount due after their graduation and this amount will be more than the original borrowed amount. This is due to the fact many student loan include a deferment period. After all, how affordable would a student loan be [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
By elathrop on April 9, 2008
Someone told me he was saving lots of money because he switched his mortgage payment schedule to biweekly. He said it was a really great plan and his mortgage would be paid, in full; several years ahead of his monthly payment schedule and it would save him over $70,000! I told him I thought it [...]
Posted in Develop Your Skill
