Rae Beck
Finance Writer at Freelance
Deputy Editor Investing and Retirement at Forbes Advisor
Articles
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1 month ago |
gmtoday.com | Rae Beck
Owning a home comes with plenty of ongoing costs that many buyers don’t fully anticipate: property taxes, insurance premiums, regular maintenance and more. In fact, according to Bankrate’s Hidden Costs of Homeownership Study, the average cost of owning and maintaining a single-family home in the U.S. is upwards of $18,000 a year. And owning the house isn’t the only thing that comes with hidden costs — even selling your house can cost you serious money.
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Jan 22, 2025 |
businessandamerica.com | Rae Beck
Deciding when to lock your mortgage rate may be one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. If you don’t lock and interest rates rise, you could end up paying thousands of dollars more over the life of your loan. If you do lock and interest rates fall, you could miss out on major savings. You might want to lock your rate if you’re trying to close quickly, especially if the housing market is competitive. You can always refinance down the road if mortgage rates drop significantly.
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Jan 21, 2025 |
businessandamerica.com | Rae Beck
After months of searching and having several offers rejected, you’re finally under contract. Congrats! But how long will you have to wait until you can close on the sale? The average time to closing for all mortgage types is around 43 days, according to the most recent data from Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprise that buys mortgages.
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Jan 19, 2025 |
businessandamerica.com | Rae Beck
You’ve paid off your mortgage, congratulations! But now you have a massive home repair project and not enough ready cash to cover it. Fortunately, you can still take out a home equity loan on your paid-off home, and if you use the funds to improve your home, the interest will be tax deductible. That said, a home equity line of credit might be a better option if you’re unsure how much money you need. Yes, you can take out a home equity loan on a home with no mortgage.
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Jan 19, 2025 |
businessandamerica.com | Rae Beck
Investment properties can be a great way to build passive income and diversify your investment portfolio, but breaking into real estate investing takes a large chunk of change. If you don’t have cash lying around and don’t want to wait until you’ve saved it, you might be interested in using a home equity loan to purchase investment property. While you can use the loan for this purpose, the interest isn’t tax deductible and you risk losing your home if you fail to make payments.
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