photo credit: mhofstrand

If you’re getting into trouble with your home mortgage repayments, you might be interested to know what kind of compromises lenders are prepared to make to find a way to keep your loan viable and avoid selling your house. Apparently, foreclosing on a loan can cost the lending authority around $50,000, so there’s often a real incentive for them to find a way to get the borrower paying back the loan on a regular basis. Plus, with house prices falling in some areas, the lender will be trying even harder to work out a loan rather than foreclose, because they may not fully recoup their money if they sell the property. (more…)

credit: nalilo

There have been a few scary stories going round recently about borrowers with excellent credit ratings who have still ended up struggling to pay for their homes or even defaulting on the mortgages. It just goes to show that you have to make sure you’re incredibly well-informed, even if you think you’re financially under control. (more…)

credit: jdj150

In even more depressing news for the United States housing market, experts believe that it will become incresingly more difficult to get a traditional mortgage, even for those with a good credit record.

(more…)

credit: Dan_H

If you’re steadily paying off your mortgage, you often don’t think about changing anything about the loan you have – you just keep paying, month after month, looking forward to the day in twenty years when the house will be yours. But there are some situations when it can be really advantageous to refinance your mortgage.

(more…)

credit: crownjewel82

For first home buyers, looking for the house you want to buy can be very exciting and also quite daunting. But to keep yourself on track and avoid getting into too much debt, here are four questions to ask yourself before you begin house-hunting: (more…)

credit: Kanou HirokiIt seems like most finance news is bad news lately, and unfortunately this is no different: In February 2008, the national foreclosure went up 60%, compared to foreclosures in February 2007.
(more…)

It seems like an odd concept: you spend most of your life paying off your mortgage so that you own your home. Then, when you retire, you can do the exact opposite - take a reverse mortgage and have the bank pay you instead.

(more…)