The prospect of a mortgage and owing a huge sum over decades — whether you’re arranging or renewing financing on a home — can be daunting. And when you look at how much of your payments go toward the interest in the early years of your mortgage, that’s even more discouraging. Jared Ksenica, BMO’s regional vice-president for the GTA mortgage specialist sales force. Discuss with your adviser the length […]
Forget student loans. Insufficient income is the No. 1 hurdle keeping many people from buying a home. More than half of the participants in a survey by Bankrate.com cited inadequate income as a barrier to homeownership. The personal finance site polled 2,668 adults between Jan. 30 and Feb. 1. In fact, when […]
There are at least four major reasons that potential borrowers should avoid taking a reverse mortgage, according to economics professor Teresa Ghilarducci of The New School based in New York, N.Y. in a new column at Forbes. While admitting that reverse mortgages may work for some, she says that is […]
Your house isn’t a piggy bank, so don’t use your home equity to pay off credit card debts. Dear Liz: My ex-husband is a self-employed carpenter who just turned 64. He’s gotten a bit over his head with his credit cards. He tried for a home equity loan since he […]
