Mortgage Rate News

It’s that time of year when start making plans and contemplating what we want to happen in the coming year. This is natural, since the changing of the year provides a large milestone that invites introspection. Many people make resolutions – setting goals that they hope to accomplish in the coming year. I am no different. I have a variety of New Year’s resolutions for my personal finance situation as well as my investments. And, of course, I have a few personal resolutions as well.

New Year’s resolutions for my home

Naturally, though, I also have New Year’s resolutions for my home. My husband and I bought it a little over a year ago, in September 2007. We have been make slow improvements to the home, but now we’re thinking that definite plans are in order so that we can reach our goals:

• Refinance to a new home mortgage loan. Right now, mortgage rates are rather low. In fact, rates are 1% below what they were when we bought the house. So we’re thinking that now would be a good time to save money with a new home mortgage loan. And, with the new interest rate, it is quite possible that we could get a shorter mortgage term: 15 years or 20 years. (A 20-year mortgage is more likely.)
• Put in a yard. We still do not have a yard. We’ve got a fence, but no grass or shrubbery (we do have some trees). We want to put in a sprinkler system, grass, a garden and plants. We figure that the whole thing will cost right around $5,000 (we will do some of the labor ourselves). So we will need to save up. We’ve sort of started. It would be nice to use a home equity loan to get the job done, but we haven’t been in our home long enough – and home values have fallen too much – for that that to be an option. But at least we’re not upside down on our home mortgage.

Just a couple of simple resolutions for the home, but I think it will have good results in the future, increasing the value of our home and helping us get more out of it in the long run.

Happy New Year!

Right now, home mortgage interest rates are at rather low levels. This is making refinancing a rather popular option right now. Indeed, as mortgage applications surge, it is refinancing that is the most popular reason for applying for a home mortgage loan. But if you are considering refinancing (as I am), consider mortgage term.

You don’t have to get a 30-year fixed mortgage

Most people, when they refinance, do so to a 30-year fixed mortgage. In combination with the lower home mortgage interest rates, the longer payment term can result in lower monthly mortgage payments. However, it is not necessary to get a 30-year fixed mortgage. You can get an even lower mortgage rate on 15-year fixed mortgage. And it doesn’t usually cost much more, reports Trees Full of Money:

The best part is your monthly payment will only increase slightly. At current interest rates, the monthly payment on a 15 year fixed rate mortgage for a $300,000 is roughly $2450. Stretching the mortgage out to 30 years will only reduce your monthly payment to about $2000 a month.

You don’t even have to do a 30-year fixed mortgage or a 15-year fixed mortgage. I am thinking about refinancing to 20-year mortgage. It would shorten my mortgage loan term, help me build home equity a little faster, and save me money in interest payments. I’d like to do a 15-year mortgage, but I think that it might be too much in light of the other personal finance New Year’s resolutions.

At any rate, if you are considering taking advantage of lower home mortgage rates to refinance your home, think about the mortgage term, and whether you can handle slightly higher payments. This can help you save money in the long run, as well as build home equity that might come in handy down the road — whether you are selling or whether you decide to get a line of credit.

When Christmas is over, many people begin to wonder how they can sell or exchange their gifts. And, as gift cards have become more popular, they are part of this speculation. Blueprint for Financial Prosperity offers some useful information on selling or trading your unwanted gift cards:

Selling you gift cards

First of all, when you sell your gift cards, you  may have to accept less than the face value of your card. You may have to discount it 10% to 50% — or more — in order to do the deal. But you still get the cash.

As one might expect, eBay is one of the places you can sell your gift card. You will have fees to pay, though. You can also sell gift cards on Craig’s List. However, you may have to do face-to-face transactions with Craig’s List. Blueprint also points out there is a site called Gift Card Rescue that allows you to sell gift cards.

And, of course, you can always sell direct to friends.

Trading in your gift card

You can also trade in your gift card for another gift card. It may be that you would prefer a card to a different retailer than the card that you have. Blueprint offers Card Avenue and Plastic Jungle as two sites that can facilitate gift card trades.

One of the nice things about doing a gift card trade is that you get a closer approximation of face value. A straight up trade, rather than selling, usually means that you get something much closer to the face value, since you aren’t trading for cash.

As always, though, it is a good idea to be careful to avoid scams, and to deal with sites and with people that can be trusted. As with many of these opportunities, selling or trading your gift cards can mean that you become a target for the unscrupulous. So be on your guard.