@TheAccountingDr.com

A popular question that many ask themselves is "why can't I get a mortgage?" This questions also ties directly into last weeks post. So, if you haven't read it already, please check it out:  Rent or Buy? That is the question! This is a great question when oftentimes we believe that we are pretty well off and could probably afford a mortgage payment more easily than we can rent! However, a bank is required in the process of a mortgage and it's usually very long-term (i.e. 15 year or 30 year loan to buy a house). This requires some good faith on the part of the bank in lending this money. A friend ask me this past week if I could help explain why he and his girlfriend could not get a mortgage. He began my telling me that she had better credit than he did and she had a really good credit score of almost 700... huh? Really good?!?! Well, let's start there... if you have a credit score under 700, I would not personally consider that to be really good. However, it...

I get questions often from readers about finances and how best to control debt. So, I thought I would start a series based on these questions. Today, the specific question I will address is: Should I rent or buy? There are a few things that one should consider when struggling with the question of whether to rent an apartment/townhouse/condo or buy a house/townhouse/condo. 1) Do you have enough to pay 20% down on a purchase? This has become even more important over the last several years as mortgage insurance is now permanent throughout the life of a mortgage if you do not initially put 20% down or refinance at some point throughout the loan. With interest rates at record lows right now, and these rates are likely only to go up, you probably will not want to refinance if you purchase at one of these record low interest rates. If you do not have enough to put 20% down on a purchase, it is the best option to rent until you are able to amass enough to put 20% down on a purchase. This...