Amy’s Latest Articles
With each mortgage payment or housing market uptick, your home equity grows. Homeowners who used a cash-out refinance in the first three months of 2024 took out an average of $100,000 in equity, according to ICE Mortgage Techno...
Selling your first home can feel overwhelming, especially in today’s fast-moving market. In early June, the average home was on the market for only 22 days, the National Association of REALTORS® reported. Being prepared in adva...
A monthly mortgage payment can feel unbearable when your financial situation changes, a circumstance many homeowners grapple with. Almost 4% of homeowners with mortgages were delinquent in the first quarter of 2024, according t...
Investing in real estate may not be as passive of an investment as it’s often portrayed, and not every investment makes money: roughly 9 in 10 residential real estate investors have lost money on an investment, according to Cle...
Best for: Highly-qualified borrowers seeking specialized loansIf you don’t have a high credit score and minimal debt, you’re unlikely to qualify for a mortgage with PNC Bank. Its underwriting criteria are the strictest of the 1...
If you think you have to delay buying a house because you need a down payment of 20%, think again. The median down payment for first-time homebuyers in 2023 was just 8%, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. That’...
The mortgage interest tax deduction was originally intended as a business deduction since its introduction in 1913. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, few Americans had home mortgages; most loans were taken out for business exp...
If the value of your home is significantly higher than your mortgage balance, you may be able to use the difference between the two — your home equity — to fund major expenses, such as home renovations. A home equity line...
According to ICE Mortgage Monitor, the average mortgage holder has about $193,000 in tappable equity in their home, but if you’re looking to access yours, you might be wondering what’s the best option. Home equity loans and hom...
The median U.S. home costs around $430,000, according to research by Redfin, so if you only need to borrow $200,000 to buy a home, you’ll be the envy of many. Still, a $200,000 mortgage payment is no small commitment. The loan ...