San Mateo Mortgage Blog

When it comes to closing costs in San Mateo County, deciding who pays what can be similar to a first date. Whether it is your initial contract submission or when the waitress places the bill on the table, your actions can drastically affect the outcome at the end of the night. You ultimately hav...

Paying points or not paying points, that is the question. I found an interesting article yesterday written by Barry Habib from the Mortgage Market Guide, Don't Pay Points, Please! who urges borrowers not to pay points. Instead, he suggests you invest the money, pay down other debt, or put the mo...

You have stomach pains, a fever, and you’re nauseous. You call the doctor to schedule an appointment. Your doctor says you need to rush to the emergency room because it sounds like you have appendicitis. You take his advice and quickly hurry off. At check-in, you describe your symptoms and out r...

My last blog was about all the benefits of using the FHA loan programs. I painted a pretty picture of the perfect loan program for the Bay Area borrower with little down payment and less than perfect credit scores. Like any loan program, there are some cons to consider before you decide that an ...

So let’s get this right, your credit’s not perfect, you don’t have 20% or even 10% to put down and you’re planning to buy a home in the Bay Area? Well Congratulations, you are the perfect borrower. Well, at least when it comes to FHA. As of Wednesday March 6th, 2008, the Bay Area can now take ad...

Adding to my last post, Mortgage Interest: A Friend to the Bay Area Home Owner, I came across two new tax breaks to help out homeowners in the Bay Area. First, Congress extended the mortgage insurance premium deduction for three more years. As you may know, mortgage insurance is sometimes requir...

I must first play by the rules and state that I am not a tax advisor, tax consultant or CPA. Hey, I don’t even think I am qualified to do my own taxes. But, it is that time of year to do our duty as citizens and begrudgingly pay what we owe or gladly collect our refund. In the dark shadows of th...