In an effort to fight inflation, the Federal Reserve increased its target for the Federal Funds Rate, the rate that banks offer each other on overnight reserve loans, six times in 2022. The target rate rose from almost 0% at the beginning of the year to over 3.25% by the end of the year. This… Continue reading Should You Wait for Mortgage Rates to Go Down Before You Buy a Home?

The Federal Reserve recently cut interest rates to nearly zero in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Yet this strategy may not affect mortgage interest rates, even though it’s aim is to boost the economy. In fact, mortgage rates have crept up in the last few weeks.

When mortgage rates fall, it’s possible as a first-time home buyer to qualify for a bigger mortgage and more expensive house. But what if you have poor credit? Can you buy a house with bad credit today? Or should you work to improve your credit first?

You don’t have to wait out the remaining term of your mortgage to pay it off.

Instead, you can make accelerated payments on an occasional or regular basis, which could save you big money in interest charges overall. But your best option may not be to prepay your mortgage. Understand the pros and cons; then learn how to crunch the numbers.

Lack of experience is an inherent problem for first-time home buyers, but some sound investment thinking can help you overcome that problem.

When you’re a homeowner, burglars aren’t the only crooks you should be concerned about infiltrating your property. An even bigger theft is home title fraud. This occurs when a bad actor alters ownership of your property title or deed by putting their name on it. And it can cost you plenty — both in terms of dollars, the time it takes to resolve it, and damage to your credit.