Mortgage

June 1, 2016In real estate it’s all about location, which is why some cities are more profitable and have higher salaries for real estate agents than others. For the 2016 edition of our annual study we crunched the numbers to find the ten best cities to be a real estate agent. This is the 2016 edition of our annual… read more…

May 31, 2016Attracting a vibrant creative class has been a boon to many U.S. cities. While creatives are drawn to the cultural offerings of a city, they also tend to seek out affordable locales. For this year’s study of the best cities for creatives, we ranked cities based on the concentration of creatives in the population and… read more…

May 26, 2016Does it seem like everyone is moving to Portland? Well, a lot of people are – particularly young people. Thinking of joining the hordes moving to Portland? Here are 15 things you should know before you make the move.  1. There’s no sales tax. When you look at prices in Portland, what you see is… read more…

May 25, 2016Anyone who has ever worked a minimum-wage job knows how tough it can be to stretch those dollars. In some cities and states, the minimum wage goes further than in others, though. The places with the highest statutory minimum wage aren’t necessarily the places where the minimum wage goes furthest. We crunched the numbers to… read more…

May 24, 2016Enlisting the help of a mortgage broker can make the home buying process run more smoothly. Brokers connect buyers with lenders so they can secure the most favorable mortgage loan terms possible. While they have a financial incentive to help… read more…

May 24, 2016Though the U.S. doesn’t rank as the happiest country in the world (that honor goes to Denmark) Americans report high levels of life satisfaction. The U.S. ranked 13th in a recent World Happiness Report that looked at 156 countries. But how do individual counties within the U.S. stack up in the happiness stakes? Let’s take a… read more…

May 23, 2016Mortgages can cause a lot of headaches, but for many people they are the only route to a new home. For a select few, though, buying a home outright with cash might be possible. Regardless, having cash on hand to close any deal is often a must. A down payment will be the most difficult to… read more…

May 20, 2016When you’re buying a home, one of the things you have to factor into your budget are closing costs. Typically, homebuyers spend between 2% and 5% of the purchase price on these expenses. If you agree to finance your closing costs, you’ll pay less money up front. Before making that move, however, it’s best to… read more…

May 19, 2016If you can’t face another cold, snowy winter you might be tempted to move to San Diego. The city is famous for its livable climate and happy residents. Before you go embrace the Southern California lifestyle, here are 15 things you should… read more…

May 18, 2016With rents rising steadily across the country, in many cases renting is no longer an affordable alternative to homebuying. Recent data from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported that 21.3 million renters were cost burdened in 2014. In other words, 46% of U.S. renters spent more than 30% of their income on housing-related expenses… read more…

May 17, 2016Selling a home can be stressful and the closer you get to finishing the deal, the brighter the light at the end of the tunnel. If the buyer backs out suddenly, however, that’ll put a major wrinkle in your plans… read more…

May 17, 2016Big-city living comes with quite a few perks. Grocery stores and shopping centers are often in walking distance and there are usually plenty of restaurants, bars and activities close by. But when you live in a city with a high cost… read more…

May 11, 2016There are currently about 29.5 million teenagers in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau. That’s a lot of teenagers! In comparison, there are about 28.5 million U.S. residents over the age of 70. What do those teens do? Roughly one out of six of them work – about 4.6 million, according to the Bureau of… read more…

May 5, 2016If you’re a homeowner and you’ve begun the process of paying off your mortgage, you’re dealing with something called mortgage amortization. Amortization is the act of eliminating debt by making regular payments over time according to a set schedule. Having… read more…

May 5, 2016Want to live in a fitness-friendly city in a beautiful setting? You might want to consider Colorado Springs. Colorado’s second-largest city has a lot going for it and if you’re a nature-lover you’ll feel right at home. Residents also have access… read more…

May 4, 2016Homeowners who have enough equity in their homes can take on second mortgages. Getting a second mortgage can be beneficial to someone who might need to use the money to pay off outstanding debts or remodel their home. At the same time, it can also be a risky move. Before you start your application, we’ve got… read more…

May 3, 2016What does your dream house look like? For some, it must include a swimming pool. Others want a 10-car garage to fit their collection of Lamborghinis. Those who prefer the urban lifestyle might opt for a Manhattan penthouse with views of Central Park, while those who love the mountains might be more interested in a… read more…

April 28, 2016If you’re crazy about barbecue, live music and hot weather you may be weighing the pros and cons of moving to Austin. It’s an appealing city and the cost of living isn’t as high as it is in places like San Francisco and New York. Here are 19 things you should know before moving to… read more…

April 27, 2016The difference between the terms “lease” and “rent” depends partly on the context. For example, renting a car can be done for just a few days while you’re on vacation, whereas leasing a car involves making monthly payments for a period of months or years. However, when it comes to real estate and investing, leasing… read more…

April 27, 2016The middle class is shrinking. According to a 2015 analysis by Pew Research, for the first time in recent history less than half of American households are part of the middle class, with greater numbers of households moving into the upper and lower classes. Likewise, while middle-income Americans used to earn more than 60% of… read more…

April 26, 2016According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for workers with a Bachelor’s degree averaged just 2.8% in 2015. That is much lower than the overall rate of 4.3% and it means that for most college grads finding a job should not be difficult. That’s not to say that college grads have it… read more…

April 25, 2016Whether you can’t afford to buy a house right now or you prefer renting to buying, you probably don’t want to spend the majority of your paycheck on rent. Avoiding high rental rates can seem nearly impossible in cities where rent is rising faster than income. But if you live in a more affordable city where you… read more…

April 21, 2016Denver has been one of the country’s fastest-growing big cities in recent years and it’s easy to see why. Located along the Rocky Mountain Front Range, the Mile High City is surrounded by beautiful scenery and has direct access to… read more…

April 20, 2016Many of America’s largest cities are facing an affordable housing crisis. In particular, some cities on the West Coast and in the Northeast have seen skyrocketing rental rates and home prices in recent years, as the growing demand for urban housing has not been equally matched by increases in supply. While the supply side of… read more…

April 19, 2016In 2016 it’s hard to fall over in a U.S. city without hitting a coffee shop. Thanks in part to chains like Tully’s, Dunkin Donuts, Caribou Coffee and Starbucks, the amount of coffee shops across the U.S. seems to have grown exponentially in recent years. Starbucks, for example, increased from 165 stores in 1992 to… read more…