As much as possible, even when you are already in deficit on your monthly expenses, put away some amount into an emergency fund. With hard times worsening from week to week, you have to prepare for a future when your finances drop to near zero. Or, worse –if you or a member […]
Banks provide necessary services, but they are there for the money –your money. They are always cooking up new ways to charge you fees: miscellaneous fees, maintenance fees, online banking fees, excessive transaction fees, teller fees, etc.
Do not be taken in by offers of “no monthly fees” checking accounts. You can […]
No such thing as a free lunch, specially in bank services. You do a bank a favor by opening a checking account and letting them earn on your money through loans & mortgages, and it charges you a monthly fee (which, in some banks, can go over $10 per month).
On opening an account, you get […]
You don’t always have your checkbook with you and you don’t want to carry cash around. So, you use a debit card.
Remember, however, that every time you use your debit card you are charged a fee. The fees vary from institution to institution. Some charge less than a dollar, other charges much […]
You receive a check payment which you deposit in your bank account. Don’t assume that you can immediately withdraw or write a check against it.
Out-of-town or out-of-state checks take as much as a week before the amount is actually entered into your account for withdrawals or writing checks against. If you happen to […]
No such thing as a free lunch, specially in bank services. You do a bank a favor by opening a checking account and it charges a monthly fee (which, in some banks, can go over $10 per month).
If you maintain a small balance, the bank will try to seduce you to put in more […]
The New Housing Bill gives grants for the purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed and abandoned properties. The subprime tsunami not only has created financial disasters, but has also given rise to suburban blight. Abandoned houses are detriorating and giving many areas the look of a ghost town.
This feature of the New Housing Bill can […]
The New Housing Bill authorizes Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac to take on mortgages at higher amounts, from the present cap of $417 thousand to the higher level of $625 thousand. Ostensibly, this will enlarge the market for housing and hopefully pull the housing industry out of the doldrums.
The Bill also authorizes the Treasury […]
The New Housing Bill provides assistance to first-time homebuyers, making their purchases before 1 July 2009. The homebuyers get a tax credit of 10% of the house price, but not exceeding $7500.
The flies in the ointment are:
$7500 is not 10% of the house price in many places in the country
The tax credit has to […]
The New Housing Bill has a feature for those whose adjustable mortgages have been bumped up to a rate beyond their paying capability. The Bill gives the homeowner a way to climb out of the hole.
Lenders are encouraged to write down the mortgage by 10% of the property’s value. If the homeowner is […]
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