What is a Lender Credit?
Mortgage Q&A: “What is a lender credit?” Back before the mortgage crisis reared its ugly head, it was quite common for loan officers and mortgage brokers to get paid twice for originating a single loan. They could charge the borrower directly, via mortgage points, while also receiving compensation from the issuing mortgage lender, via . [...]
Happy Chinese New Year: Year of the Dragon
Chinese New Year is underway. In China, this is the most important of traditional holidays, and is actually called Spring Festival. Spring Festival coincides with the first solar term of the year, and so we see it as Chinese New Year. The traditional Chinese calendar is interesting, since it does not actually use continuously numbered [...]
Day 23: Improve Your Credit Score
A good credit score can improve your chances of getting a loan, renting a house, getting good insurance rates, and even landing a job. A good score also means youll qualify for better interest rates on your mortgage, potentially saving you thousands over the life of that loan. Earlier in the series we discussed reviewing [...]
Infusing Your Business With Platform Thinking
Marketing podcast with Phil Simon I’ve been talking about this idea of a business platform for some time now. The notion is that your business can be so much more than a group of products and services. T Read full article…
Five Fiscal New Years Resolutions for Families
New Years resolutions usually involve losing weight, quitting smoking, etc. Instead, this year use your resolutions to help put your financial house in order. Doing that won’t help you fit into that pair of skinny jeans or improve your breath, but it will fatten up your wallet and improve your financial outlook. Here are five [...]
Soon Just About Any Underwater Borrower Will Be Able to Refinance
The Federal Housing Finance Agency released details of a newly revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program today, with the main feature being a lack of a loan-to-value limit. Previously, the max LTV accepted under the program was 125 percent, meaning those in need of the most help were essentially out of luck. With this change, even [...]
10 of My Best Purchases
Splurges are often looked down upon in the personal finance world, but what about the purchases you make that make you money, save you money, or help you out in general in the long run? Here are 10 of my best purchases: MacBook: My MacBook is probably my best investment yet. Before I got it, [...]