http://www.mypocketchange.com ...turning pennies into dollars Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:26:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en If you are financing more than 80% of the value of a home, lenders require extra risk protection against the possibility of you defaulting. Usually this comes in the form of private mortgage insurance (PMI). Simply stated, PMI is a premium you must pay each month until you are financing ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/03/17/how-much-does-private-mortgage-insurance-pmi-cost/ If you wondered if I had crawled under a rock for the last couple weeks, then you were right! I've mentioned over the last month or so that I have been looking for a house to buy. And, my girl friend and I signed for one last week! We are ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/03/16/i-bought-a-house/ If you have a mortgage for more than 80% of the worth of your home then you probably already know what private mortgage insurance (PMI) is. In fact, if you opted for a borrower paid PMI loan, you have to pay it every month. Hopefully you also know that ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/02/27/is-private-mortgage-insurance-pmi-tax-deductible/ As part of my housing search, I have been bombarded with financing options. And just as soon as I decided I wanted a 30 year fixed mortgage, I was bombarded with yet another set of options: borrower paid PMI, lender paid PMI, or piggyback loan. Despite being independent of the ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/02/18/borrower-paid-pmi-lender-paid-pmi-piggyback-loans-oh-my/ Being a prospective home buyer, one of the first questions that crossed my mind was how to come up with a down payment. In the post housing bubble age of the Credit Crunch, it is extremely hard to get full financing or other exotic loans. Down payments are, ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/02/14/finding-money-for-a-down-payment-on-a-house/ How many articles have you read over the last six months that use the price to rent ratio (P/R ratio) to establish exactly how over priced the current housing market is? While I am firm believer that housing is currently over priced, I personally have found the predictions of expected ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/02/07/price-to-rent-ratios-can-be-a-bad-indicator-of-housing-markets/ Since I had chronicled my last car accident here, I figure I'll mention this latest one too that happened last December. The quick and dirty summary is that he made a left turn in front of me in a parking lot without either stopping or looking, coming from my right. ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/02/06/another-car-accident-but-my-cell-phone-geico-comes-through-for-me/ Conventional wisdom says that when the Feds cut rates, mortgages rates go down. However, it is also possible for mortgage rates to in fact increase! This is exactly what happened last week when the Feds provided a second significant rate cut in as many weeks. Why does this make ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/02/04/when-fed-rates-go-down-mortgage-rates-can-and-did-go-up/ One of my goals for the week was to get pre-qualified (pre-approved, pre-authorized) for a mortgage. I've read this is the bargaining chip you use to get realtors to take you seriously. Following the review and advise of my friend Jim, I decided to give Lending Tree a ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/01/30/lending-tree-when-banks-compete-you-win-but-when-they-dont-do-you-lose/ I went and checked out some open houses this last Sunday to try to get some perspective on the Baltimore housing market. I explored my current neighborhood -- a place called Locust Point (where Fort McHenry is... you know, War of 1812... France Scott Key... Star Spangled Banner??? ... http://www.mypocketchange.com/2008/01/29/housing-bubble-casualty-a-flipper-caught-in-the-crossfire/