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Archive for the ‘Home Ownership’ Category

Is Real Estate a Good Investment Today?

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , on December 12, 2011 | 2 Comments »

With market volatility and real estate prices where they are today, many are wondering, “Should I invest in real estate?” Real estate can add dimension and diversification to a portfolio. It can provide an asset that should grow with inflation as the costs of materials increase; it can also provide an income stream that also [...]

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Can You Refinance Your Underwater Mortgage?

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , , on November 1, 2011 | 6 Comments »

On October 24th President Obama announced a new plan to help borrowers refinance their existing mortgages to new loans with lower interest rates and cheaper monthly payments. The plan is an expansion of the current program called HARP, The Home Affordable Refinance Program initiated in 2009 to let homeowners refinance their mortgages to lower rates. [...]

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Should I Sell Stocks to Pay Off the Mortgage?

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , on June 27, 2011 | 2 Comments »

When stock markets are choppy, this is a question that often arises. With the market acting like a see-saw, investors are wondering: Why do I have money invested and earning ‘nothing’ when I pay 4% interest for my mortgage? On its face, this seems like a reasonable question. But there is more to it than [...]

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The Mortgage Payoff Question

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2011 | 3 Comments »

Part 2 of 2 In my last blog post, we discussed that there is a tendency for advice in the area of mortgage planning to fall into one of two camps. The first is to pay down the debt rapidly and completely eliminate it from your life, especially before you retire. The second is to [...]

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Rental Payments May Help Boost Your Credit Score

Posted in Credit/Debt, Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2011 | 3 Comments »

Last month, I talked about my new chosen lifestyle of renting vs. owning my home. My new life as a renter includes learning that you might want to always opt for the top floor (if you can) – sometimes even the smallest person can make a surprising amount of noise. Nevertheless, I am enjoying my [...]

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How Much House Can I REALLY Afford?

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Post financial crisis people are really questioning how much house they can really afford. Before 2008, loose lending standards caused many homebuyers to buy much more house than they could truly afford. Now lenders are so tight that if you are not a cookie cutter loan applicant you may struggle to get a loan. So [...]

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The Mortgage Payoff Question

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2011 | 5 Comments »

Part 1 of 2 In my last post, I discussed that the use of debt can make sense for certain situations in life, but I have never had a debt-free client tell me they regret being debt-free. Many folks attempt to paint financial situations as completely black and white, largely based on their own personal [...]

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A New American Dream

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , , , , , on April 5, 2011 | 3 Comments »

My traditional cherry grandfather clock now sits on a concrete floor against a brick wall. No it’s not in storage – it sits in my new home. Earlier this year, I sold my townhouse and have spent the last month moving into my new home; a 2-bedroom loft apartment with half the space I had [...]

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Taking Your Temperature

Posted in Credit/Debt, Home Ownership, Values, tagged , , , , , on August 16, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Well the last couple of weeks have been interesting in the Baker household. One of the more interesting occurrences happened on a recent Friday afternoon. If you are familiar with Atlanta at all you can easily imagine what the interstates look like on Friday afternoon. So there I am cruising along Highway 78 on the [...]

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To Pay or Not to Pay

Posted in Home Ownership, tagged , , , on June 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Recently Ted and Tina met with me to discuss their dilemma about continuing to paying their monthly mortgage. Like many others, their home value had decreased significantly over the past few years from the financial meltdown that has occurred, particularly in the housing market. Today, the value of their home is about $222,000 and the [...]

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