What is an Offset Mortgage?

An “offset mortgage” also known as an “all-in-one loan” is basically a 30-year home equity line of credit that includes a sweep-checking account where the deposits go directly to paying the principal balance. Homeowners can still access the funds they deposit (and their home equity) from the account, using it to pay their day-to-day bills, vacations, home improvements, whatever the credit line has available. It is essentially a “normal” checking account. [Read more…]

Refinancing to Cash Out your Ex-Spouse

If you’re a homeowner who is going through a divorce or a dissolution of domestic partnership, there are some things to know about using the equity from your home to “cash out” your ex-spouse.

When someone uses a refinance to take equity out of home to provide to ex-spouse, lenders will make an exception and treat the transaction as a “limited cash-out” refinance instead of “cash out” refinance. This provides slightly better pricing with the interest rate and may allow for a higher loan amount, if needed. [Read more…]

Could you survive one month without income?

With the government shutdown pushing over a month long, some federal employees are having to juggle another missed paycheck. Yesterday during an interview with CNBC, US Commerce Secretary Ross is quoted stating:

“So the 30 days of pay that some people will be out – there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t be able to get a loan against it and we’ve seen a number of ads from the financial institutions doing that… there really is not a good excuse why there really should be a liquidity crisis,” he said. “True the people might have to pay a little bit of interest.” [Read more…]

My Seattle Kitchen Remodel: Selecting Countertops

A few weeks ago, I shared that we’re remodeling our kitchen. Boy-oh-boy what a chore it is…we started the process months ago and are just starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. As I’m going through this first hand, I thought I’d share tidbits of things we’re learning along the way.  Today, I’ll share the story of our kitchen counters.

Let’s start by discussing what we had on our “old” kitchen (photo above). [Read more…]