Tag Archives: smart money

A Homebuyer’s Guide to Decoding Mortgage Acronyms

Part of Homebuying 101

The first time you buy a home, you’ll probably run across a fair number of mortgage-industry terms that you haven’t encountered before. If you find yourself stumbling a bit on terms you don’t know or acronyms you don’t understand, you’re…

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Get HomeReady: An Affordable Mortgage Program You Might Have Missed

It’s not easy being a homebuyer in today’s market. If low inventory and high home prices weren’t enough, once record-low mortgage rates have risen to levels not seen since 2008. It’s enough to inspire anyone to consider all sorts of...

Buying a Home as a Freelancer

Part of Homebuying 101

More than 57 million Americans earned at least some of their income freelancing last year, including 47% of Millennial workers. If you’re one of the millions of workers who won’t be getting a W-2 from a traditional employer next year,…

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Get HomeReady: An Affordable Mortgage Program You Might Have Missed

It’s not easy being a homebuyer in today’s market. If low inventory and high home prices weren’t enough, once record-low mortgage rates have risen to levels not seen since 2008. It’s enough to inspire anyone to consider all sorts of...

8 Ways for New Homeowners to Prepare for Natural Disasters

Part of Home Improvement

Being prepared for emergencies and natural disasters is important for everyone, of course. Fires, floods, and other natural disasters can happen anytime and impact entire communities. As a homeowner, your emergency preparedness to-do list is a bit different than it…

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7 Common Home Decorating Mistakes New Homeowners Can Make

DecorAid shares tips on what to buy now, and what to add later. You’ve saved. You’ve methodically shopped around. Now you’re ready to move into the right home for your needs. But one question remains: how do you begin decorating...

Decluttering Before Your Next Move

Part of Selling

The secret to a low-stress moving day? Decluttering your home—and your life!—before you move. Think about it: the less stuff you have to move, the less trouble it’ll be to move it. The good news? You don’t need to commit…

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What Does “Pending” Mean on a House?

When you find your dream home online or have your eye on a house in your neighborhood, you might also see a “sale pending” sign on it. But what does pending mean on a house? Does it mean that the...

Here’s What a Cash-Out Refi Could Mean For You

Part of Homebuying 101

Homeowners can refinance their mortgages at any time of year, of course. But for a variety of reasons, many homeowners looking for a cash-out refinancing of their existing mortgage do so in the spring. There’s a reason cash-out refinancing peaks…

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Get HomeReady: An Affordable Mortgage Program You Might Have Missed

It’s not easy being a homebuyer in today’s market. If low inventory and high home prices weren’t enough, once record-low mortgage rates have risen to levels not seen since 2008. It’s enough to inspire anyone to consider all sorts of...

3 Steps For Buying Your First Home in a Competitive Market

Part of Homebuying 101

The refrain has been the same now for several years: In most American towns and cities, there are more would-be homebuyers than there are homes on the market. And the competition for homes feels especially fierce as the millennial demographic…

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Get HomeReady: An Affordable Mortgage Program You Might Have Missed

It’s not easy being a homebuyer in today’s market. If low inventory and high home prices weren’t enough, once record-low mortgage rates have risen to levels not seen since 2008. It’s enough to inspire anyone to consider all sorts of...

Saving for Your Down Payment? Here’s Where to Stash Your Money

Part of Money Matters

For many would-be homeowners, the biggest hurdle on the path to homeownership isn’t the expense of a potential mortgage. It’s the difficulty of saving for a down payment. For the non-savers among us, it can be tempting to assume that…

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The Morty Report: What the rate hike means for mortgages

Some mortgage rates crept above 6% this week, as the market reacted to higher-than-expected inflation data and sought to price in anticipated rate hikes coming out of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

Getting Pre-Approved for a Mortgage Will Save You Hassle and Heartache

Part of our Pre-Approval Series

You wouldn’t go to the grocery store without bringing your wallet. And for major purchases like home appliances or furniture, you’d make sure you had enough money (or credit) to cover the cost of that new dishwasher or sofa before…

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Get HomeReady: An Affordable Mortgage Program You Might Have Missed

It’s not easy being a homebuyer in today’s market. If low inventory and high home prices weren’t enough, once record-low mortgage rates have risen to levels not seen since 2008. It’s enough to inspire anyone to consider all sorts of...

Understanding Real Estate as an Investment

Part of Money Matters

The house-flipping shows on t.v. make it look simple.  First, you find a home in need of a little love for a bargain price. Then, you buy it, fix it up, and sell the place quickly for a tidy profit….

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The Morty Report: What the rate hike means for mortgages

Some mortgage rates crept above 6% this week, as the market reacted to higher-than-expected inflation data and sought to price in anticipated rate hikes coming out of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting.