Evaluating Home Purchase Prices

As the real estate market continues to be depressed and with the interest rate near record lows, it is a good time to think about home purchase for those that are renting. There are many ways to evaluate home prices and how low they need to be for them to be attractive. I recently read an article in “Smart Money” (December 2009 edition) that gives a good way to evaluate home prices....

Should you make extra payments to pay off your mortgage earlier?

Recently I read an article that claims paying off your mortgage with extra payments is a bad decision because it has no liquidity. In order to access your equity, the articles continues to say, you would need to apply and qualify for a mortgage, which would require closing costs. However, the author of that article fails to mention a few things. First of all, if you apply for a home equity loan,...