Homeowner’s insurance coverage is designed to protect your finances if a catastrophe befalls your biggest asset. It can help you recover from unexpected—and expensive—damage to your home, and most lenders require you to purchase it before they will close on your loan. If you’ve been dropped by your homeowner’s insurance company, you may run the [...]
A few weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005, I received a call from an elderly woman who was confused about her insurance policy. She said that she had paid a significant sum of money for homeowner’s insurance coverage to a person who claimed to be an insurance agent. This supposed agent insisted the [...]
The Fed was right about some of its stimulus policies, basically. A new study shows that the Federal Reserve's bond-buying stimulus program, which has kept mortgage rates artificially low for the past four years, had a measurable, positive impact on American households and the economy. Of course, it didn't work in the exact way the [...]
Home closing costs can be a huge headache, but if buyers and sellers know about how much they should expect to pay it’s much easier to plan ahead. There are many types of closing costs, and not all of them apply to every deal. Fees may be higher or lower depending on the particular home [...]
Mortgage lenders recommend spending between 28 and 36 percent of your gross monthly income on debt payments. While this is considered to be perfectly affordable, it’s stunning that one-third of the homes for sale right now are unaffordable by historical standards. More than half the homes on the market in seven major American metros are [...]
After years of drowning with underwater mortgages, American homeowners are starting to swim toward the shallow end as the housing market recovers. Rising home values and increased home equity are spelling relief for many people. Here are four signs that the housing market is recovering: 1. Unemployment is falling. In order to have a strong [...]
When you think of your house in terms of what needs to be insured, it’s easy to think only of the physical structure outside. However, your homeowners insurance policy doesn’t just cover the cost of rebuilding your home; it also covers the value of the items inside. But filing a claim can get dicey if [...]
Always check your homeowners association fees and amenities before buying a home. Be sure there are no additional homeowners association fees or dues you have to pay before using common elements, like a community swimming pool, spa or workout facility. Do homeowners association fees provide access to a swimming pool and spa - but we [...]
Top 2011 New Year's resolutions to clean up your personal finances. Clean up your personal finances is a top New Year's resolution in 2011. Clean up your personal finances New Year's resolutions include repairing credit history, check credit scores and buying investment property. Your top New Year's resolution should be to clean up your personal finances. Start off the New Year with a 2011 New Year's resolution to clean up your finances.
New investment income tax won't hit most homeowners. The Obama health care bill contains a new investment income tax but it won't hit most homeowners. Homeowner's with investment income over $250,000 will be hit with a new investment income tax. Investment income includes investment profit from a home sale, but the investment income tax won't hit most homeowners. Homeowners hit by the new investment income tax must have investment income over $250,000, so the investment income tax won't hit most homeowners.
