Prepare for your meeting with your mortgage lender by showing up with these 10 question.

By Kayla Albert |  

Buying a home starts with finding the right mortgage lender. Here are the questions you should ask mortgage lenders, before you sign on with one.

Steering clear of homebuyer’s remorse requires more than just picking the right home in the right neighborhood. According to a 2016 survey by J.D. Power, 27% of new homeowners ultimately came to regret their choice of lender. One major reason for the dissatisfaction was overall poor customer experience, including lack of communication and unmet expectations. Another factor? Pressure from the lender to choose a particular product or loan. You can remove some of the…

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Important credit lessons your parents didn’t teach you

By Claire Murdough | May 17, 2017 2:22PM  

Listen up, kids: Paying interest is painful. Really, really painful.

Parental wisdom is easy to ignore until you’re left scratching your head over simple adult responsibilities like paying taxes and budgeting. (We all have to make our own mistakes, right?). But even if you were listening to your parents, there are some important credit tips they likely didn’t mention. When it comes to improving your score, heed these six credit lessons that we wish our parents had taught us.

6 Valuable Lessons To Improve Your Credit

  1. Paying interest is one tough chore

    Let’s be real: Making monthly credit card…

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Household Debt Reaches Recession-Level Highs

On Wednesday, the New York Federal Reserve released its Q1 report on household debt and credit. According to the report, total household debt totaled $12.73 trillion in Q1 2017. This means that household debt has finally surpassed its $12.68 trillion peak reached during the recession in 2008. This is a $149 billion quarterly increase.

“Almost nine years later, household debt has finally exceeded its 2008 peak but the debt and its borrowers look quite different today. This record debt level is neither a reason to celebrate nor a cause for alarm. But it does provide an opportune moment to consider debt performance,” said Donghoon Lee, Research Officer at the New York Fed. “While most delinquency flows have…

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Follow these budgeting tips, from couponing to changing your cellular plan, to cut household expenses without completely disrupting your daily life.

The key to saving money is knowing where to trim your budget.

Paying bills is never fun, but it’s even less exciting when monthly expenses leave you eating noodles for the last few days before every payday. But you don’t necessarily have to sacrifice the lifestyle you want to live in an apartment or home you love. In fact, eliminating unnecessary household expenses is easier than you think.

Whether you’re living those big-city dreams in a studio apartment in San Francisco, CA, or moving into a single family home in Austin, TX, read on to find out how to eliminate or reduce monthly…

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Discover Which Home Loan is Best for You


No Bad Options: Decide Among The Many Good Mortgage Products Available Today

There is no "right" answer to the question, "Which loan type is best?"

In fact, the best answer is, "it depends".

No two home buyers are alike, so the best loan program for one buyer is likely unsuitable -- or plain unavailable -- to another.

That's why today's home buyer is fortunate enough to have access to multiple programs. It's up to the buyer and his or her lending adviser to make the right call based on these and other questions:

  • Which loan has the lowest monthly payment?
  • What option requires the least amount upfront?
  • What will cost me less over time?
  • Which loan type is suitable for my credit score?
    • …

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