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Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Early or Invest The Extra Cash?

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Many of us dream about how it would feel to not have a monthly mortgage payment. Owning your home free and clear is the aspiration of numerous homeowners. But even without – in most cases – that hefty payment leaving your checkbook every 30 days, there are actually some reasons not to pay off your [...]

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15 Year Versus 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages – How to Determine Which is the Better Option

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As mortgage rates continue to hover at 30 year lows, many people are wondering whether a 15-year or a 30-year mortgage term is a better option. After all, even though payments on the 15-year option would be higher, the lower interest rates on the shorter term loan are keeping payments, in many cases, at very [...]

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Updates: Claiming Home Buyer Credit Extension, Small Business Loans and Tax Breaks Plus $250 SSI Payment

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I wanted to provide a few updates on some of the more popular topics on this site given recent developments. You can click on the topic header to get more details. Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension (again) and Claiming It : One of the most popular topics on this site, the many articles I have [...]

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Refinancing Myth: Looking Beyond the Monthly Payment and Calculating the True Cost of Your Refinance

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Mortgage lenders often attract homeowners seeking to lower their mortgage interest rate with some simple math, usually presented in one of two ways: 1) Comparing the nominal closing costs to the total savings from 30 years of a lower monthly payment, or 2) How few months it will take before you break even with your [...]

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Solving the Housing Foreclosure Crisis by Cutting Mortgage Principal Balances – Big Mistake

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Mortgage interest rates are at their lowest point in decades (about 4.5%) and the housing credit has been in effect for more than three years, yet the housing market is tepid at best, with foreclosures at record highs and government housing institutions having to put more distressed assets on their books. This has spurred rumors [...]

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Housing Market Predictions and Forecast For Home Prices in 2011 and 2012

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[September 2011 update] The American housing market is still in the doldrums according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index which showed that U.S. home prices are down a record 5.9% from the corresponding quarter last year (2010). But there is some good news in that home prices are up 3.6% from last quarter. The [...]

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Alternative Home Loan Modifications Outpacing Government HAMP Mortgage Relief Program in Helping Homeowners

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In a sign that private enterprise is still much more efficient than government run programs, USA today published a story confirming that private servicers’ alternative home loan modifications are outpacing government sponsored HAMP mortgage modifications. Despite the attention given to the federal government’s $50 billion Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which was designed to lower [...]

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Updates on 2010 Government Tax Credits – Home Buyer Credit Filing Extension, $250 SSI and Medicare Gap Payments, Teacher Credits and Unemployment Insurance

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I have posted updates to a number of articles covering the spectrum of government stimulus funded tax credits and deductions. Here is a summary of the updates with a link to the detailed articles for more detailed information, qualification criteria and latest status. If you haven’t already, join 6000 plus subscribers to get the latest [...]

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Will the Homebuyer Credit be Extended Again Past April 2010? Plus an Update on the $250 SSI Payment

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[Update June 2010] : See this article for the latest news on the September 2010 Filing Extension for the New and Existing Home Buyer Tax Credit ________________________   With the deadline looming for the current home buyer credit that expires in April 2010 (with closing by June 30th 2010), many readers have asked if there is [...]

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Taxes and Gains I Can Exclude When Selling My Home

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Following my recent post on Tips for Selling your Home, I received a reader email asking me to clarify the tax consequences of selling their home and what the potential liability/capital gain implications would be. Based on what the IRS says, here are the key tax facts to keep in mind around figuring your gains. [...]

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Claiming The $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension Approved and Expanded with $6,500 For Existing Home Owners

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[April 2011] See an update to this post here and claiming it in your 2010-2011 tax returns ____________ [Update July 2010] Approved! First-time home buyers now have until Sept. 30 2010 to close on their home purchases and qualify for the $8,000/$6500 tax credit under a new extension bill passed by Congress and signed into [...]

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Saving Money on Your Home Electric Bill with a Power Monitor

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After moving into my new house from a relatively small apartment, the one thing I noticed (and expected) was a large jump in my utility bills. Since my home AC and heating system were electric, I expected my energy bill to be two to three times larger than the one I was used to getting. [...]

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