One goal that my husband and I have is to own a house. This hasn’t been a spur of the moment decision. We’ve been planning it for awhile, and have been working together toward our goal one step at time.
The decision of whether or not to buy a condo, townhouse, or house can be overwhelming. [...]

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Remember back in February when I first talked about the $15,000 homebuyer tax credit? Well… It seems that Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA), the original sponsor of that bill, is back at it again.
In addition to increasing the maximum tax credit from $8,000 to $15,000 (with a max of 10% of the home’s purchase), Isakson’s proposal [...]

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In what is rapidly becoming an annual rite of passage, I just appealed our property tax assessment. For those that aren’t aware, I did this a year ago in response to an unreasonable jump in the “value” of our house following a renovation, and we got a quick reduction in our assessment.
This time around, the [...]

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About a month ago, we had a pretty lively discussion about whether or not you should pay off your mortgage early. A number of readers made great points on both sides of the debate. Since that time, I put together some thoughts on how to pay off your mortgage early for those that are interested [...]

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As a followup to last week’s post about finding the best mortgage rates, I just wanted to remind you that there is no such thing as a free lunch. I mention this because those of you that are in the market for a new mortgage are likely to be confronted by offers for a “no-cost” [...]

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As a followup to last week’s article on whether or not you should pay off your mortgage early, I thought I’d talk a bit about how to find the best mortgage rates. To date, we’ve bought two houses, sold one, and refinanced three times. Thus, we have a good bit of personal experience when it [...]

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Should you pay off your mortgage early? Or should you focus on investing with your spare cash? This is one of the most hotly debated topics in personal finance, with vocal proponents on both sides. Today, I thought I’d take a look at this issue from both angles and then share our approach with you.
Why [...]

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Over the past few years, I’ve thought a lot about buying investment property. In the long run, I’d love to build a portfolio of rental properties. We have not, however, had the time to make it happen. Given the recent history of housing market, perhaps this is a good thing.
Of course, those same housing [...]

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Remember when I talked about how the foreclosure crisis is much more localized than the mainstream media would have you believe? Well, check this out… According to a recent report in USA Today, 35 counties accounted for 50% of the foreclosures that occurred in 2008. Amazing how such a small cross-section of the county could [...]

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If you listen to media reports, you might think that there’s an astronomical foreclosure crisis affecting every neighborhood in America. But guess what? A recent study by University of Virginia researchers has revealed that 87% of the dollar losses stemming from foreclosure activity were concentrated in just four states: California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona.
Sure, you [...]

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