You may have heard the phrase going into escrow many times without really understanding what it’s referring to. The escrow process can vary from state to state in some of its finer details, but overall it is a relatively straightforward series of events that must be completed before a property changes hands from seller to buyer.
Here we attempt to answer the most common questions about the escrow process in general. As always, if you have questions about your specific transaction, it’s best to...
While you may have been ready to buy a home during the 2020 spring market, the uncertainties caused by the pandemic may have put a damper on your plans. At this point, you may be uncertain about your post-COVID-19 real estate goals and unsure whether the opportunity to work from home will inspire you to move to another market or another type of home.
If you’re looking to get ready for a home purchase a few months down the road, this plan will help ensure you’ve covered all your bases. From fina...
No matter what you’re saving for, having some extra breathing room in your budget is important. Whether you’re putting money away for a down payment or a new car—or looking to build an emergency fund that can get you out of a financial jam—we could all use a little extra cash in our pocket.
While saving a chunk of change can seem daunting if you’re just getting started, setting money aside can make life easier. Here are some simple ways to get some extra money for whatever your savings goal is:
Whether you want to save for retirement, your children’s college education, a house purchase or a dream vacation, you’ll need dedication and time. For many people, the temptation to spend money on things they want or need now, or the belief that saving a large sum of money is too difficult or impossible, keeps them from reaching their goals. Automatically transferring funds to separate accounts for long-term priorities can make saving easier.
Why Saving Automatically WorksMany people find that...
Everybody wants to save money to buy a house, take a vacation or be able to retire comfortably. If you have limited income, those goals can seem out of reach. It can be hard to save money if you don’t have much coming in, but there are ways that you can trim your spending and be able to set some money aside for the future.
Cut Expenses
For most families, housing is the biggest monthly expense. If you own a house, consider refinancing your mortgage to lower your monthly payments. That will exten...
If you’re buried by credit card debt, a negotiated debt settlement with your creditor may be worth checking into. Negotiated debt settlement is a general term for discharging debt in a way that appeals to the credit card holder and the card’s issuer.
It’s best to negotiate from a position of strength by not having submitted late payments or having missed them, which can cause a credit score to fall. If that happens, cardholders will likely have a harder time getting concessions in a negotiated...
If you’ve recently moved into a new home, you might decide to change out the carpets in the house either to expose the wood flooring underneath or to add in a newer rug or carpet design.
The challenge is, once you start ripping out the carpet, you’ll notice glue marks that are stuck due to years of working to keep the carpet in place. These problematic remnants are often more challenging to get rid of than the actual carpet itself.
Thankfully, some elbow grease combined with the following basic...
