For a First Time Home Buyer, the process of buying a home and all of the steps involved can seem daunting at times. All the more reason why understanding the home buying process from start to finish, at least at a high level, enables you to be in the drivers seat and know where you …
Continue reading “First Time Home Buyer Series: Quick Overview of the Home Buying Process”
If you’re new or relatively inexperienced when it comes to using travel credit cards to help enable you to travel more – you’re in the right place! By planning your travel and expenses well in advance, it enables you to save hundreds to thousands of dollars. That difference might make all of the difference, and …
Continue reading “Smart Travel Series: Two main categories of travel related credit cards”
On a trip with Alaska airlines I booked one group of flights using miles, and another paying cash. The difference in dates was large enough that my value per mile differed significantly. In this post on “How to get the most value out of your miles or points,” I’ll give a specific example on how …
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In this post you will learn 5 tips on how to travel well using credit cards that provide a travel credit to reduce the cost of your next trip. I recently saved over $1,000 in real expense (hotel & flights) on our trip to Las Vegas using my Barclays Arrival Plus credit card. Read on …
In this post we will look at the key differences between lenders, both local and national, as well as how they make money. Learn the best option for your situation.When purchasing my first home, I contacted a number of local and national banks, as well as a mortgage broker. It was surprising how different groups …
Continue reading “First Time Home Buyer Series: Key Differences Between Lenders”
In the home buying process there are multiple key timelines to stay on top of to make sure that you get everything done on time. The 5 Key Timelines in the Home Buying Process described below will help position you to be successful and worry free in your first home purchase. The last thing that …
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My experience almost becoming homeless taught me a great deal about what we need to be aware of when buying a home and the importance of having a stable finances. In this post, I will share a bit of my story as well as observations of what made the Great Recession so difficult for many …
Continue reading “First Time Home Buyer Series: Overextending and How I (Almost) Became Homeless”
Similar to how a professional athlete trains for months and weeks in advance to get ready for a big game, so too in home buying there are many important pre-game things to do in order to be in the best “shape” to buy a home. Another reason that it is key to being properly prepared …
In a previous post, I dived into the market conditions that would help you understand whether now was the “right” time to buy or not. At the end of the day though, it all comes down to what your individual situation is, so let’s take a look at some of the key factors to consider …
A home is the single largest purchase most people make in their lives, often costing multiples of what they earn in a year. People who have owned their homes for many years often sell them for a higher price than they originally purchased, but is a home really an asset though? Let’s start with a …
Continue reading “First Time Home Buyer Series: Is My Home an Asset? A More Comprehensive Look”
