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Category: Home Buying Tips

snowed in house
Home Buying Tips

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Surviving Our First Winter

by Kyle Burbank
One major difference between Springfield, Missouri and my previous city of residence (Glendale, California) is that, here, we have these things called "seasons." Furthermore, unlike a California winter where you might have to put on a sweater when it dips into the 40s, we do see snow, ice, and occasional sub-zero temperatures here in the Midwest. In turn, when we bought our home in whirlwind fashion, I knew we'd immediately...
woman starring at a model home
Home Buying Tips

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Prioritizing New Projects

by Kyle Burbank
So far in this series, I've gone through some of the expenses that come with buying and owning a home. However, in addition to some required costs, homeowners may also face self-imposed spending in the form of projects. Obviously, these can range in size and price based on the condition of your home when you bought the place. In our case, when we decided to buy, we knew there'd be...
real estate agent and a happy couple
Home Buying Tips

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Letting Professionals Do the Heavy Lifting

by Kyle Burbank
When buying our first home, I was afraid that I'd quickly feel as though I was in over my head. Thankfully, though, that didn't really happen. Then again, that's undoubtedly because we surrounded ourselves with professionals who were able to do a lot of the leg work for us as well as "hold our hands" during each step of the journey. Rather than dive into the pros and cons of...
piggy bank and a house
Home Buying Tips

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Mortgage Payments vs. Monthly Payment

by Kyle Burbank
Even if you've never owned a home, you're probably aware that there are several regular expenses you'll need to concern yourself with. Yet, something you might not realize is that what's often referred to as your "mortgage payment" typically encompasses more than your interest and principal. So what's the difference between a mortgage payment and your actual monthly payment? Let's take a quick look. What's the Difference Between a Mortgage...
Apple Card and iPhone
Home Buying Tips

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: How an Apple Card Can Affect Your Mortgage Application

by Kyle Burbank
Buying my first home was quite an experience. For the most part, it was a positive one — yet there were moments where I was completely dumbstruck and, to quote Will Ferell, felt like I was taking crazy pills. One such moment happened as we were looking to secure pre-approval for our mortgage. As I'll share in a future installment of this series, gaining approval while being self-employed includes lots...
scam new home buyer letters
Home Buying Tips

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: The Spam & Scams After Buying

by Kyle Burbank
In case you missed it, I recently kicked off a new "Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer" series here on Fioney. Although I will cover major topics and share my own experience with them throughout this series, I also want to highlight some aspects of buying a home that I had never heard of before and was shocked to discover. That's exactly what I have on tap today as I...
mortgage contract and keys
Home Buying Tips

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: The Story of How We Bought a House

by Kyle Burbank
In 2015, my wife and I moved to Springfield, Missouri. At the time, while we originally elected to rent an apartment, we figured we'd eventually be able to buy a house here thanks to the lower cost of living and easy-going housing market. Despite this, although we'd revisited the idea from time to time, it seemed that something was always standing in our way. Most recently, this included interest rates...
a row of townhomes
Home Buying Tips

How to Redeem Bilt Points Toward a Down Payment, Closing Costs

by Kyle Burbank
When I first reviewed the Bilt Mastercard, I noted that the platform boasted an option to redeem points toward the purchase of a home. At the time, I couldn't even find anywhere that stated the value of this option let alone how to actually do it. Thankfully, since then, Bilt has added features that emphasize this option. Yet, I've never actually heard from anyone who tried it. Well, as someone...
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Checking Account Review

2025 SoFi Checking and Savings Review

by Kyle Burbank
 Ever since I started taking an interest in the FinTech sector, one company whose name I’ve seen pop up over and over again is SoFi. That was later sent into overdrive as the company has not only become a household name thanks to its stadium naming rights deal but also because of the company’s continued product expansions. The most interesting development in my mind is SoFi’s acquisition of Golden Pacific...
Travelers with two Best Western Credit Cards
Credit Card News

Best Western Debuts Two New Rewards Credit Cards

by Kyle Burbank
After pausing applications for their previous rewards card, the hotel chain Best Western has unveiled a new pair of rewards credit cards with a new issuer. About the Best Western cards: Best Western is partnering with First Bank & Trust and Mercury Financial to introduce two new co-branded credit cards. First up is the no-annual-fee Best Western Rewards Visa Signature Card. With this card, customers can 4x points on Best...
Marriott Bonvoy card and a woman on vacation
Credit Card News

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card Launches Travel Contest

by Kyle Burbank
Chase and Marriott Bonoy have unveiled a special contest while continuing to offer its best-ever welcome bonus. About the welcome bonus and Bold Chat Court Contest: Marriott Bonvoy and Chase have launched a special opportunity called the Bold Chat Court contest. As part of this contest, 10 lucky travelers will be awarded 500,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (for a total of 5 million) as well as $5,000. For this contest, the...
Bilt and All Reward logos
Credit Card News

Bilt Adds 2 New Transfer Partners Including First 3:2 Transfer Rate

by Kyle Burbank
Bilt is once again expanding its travel transfer rewards program — and is even breaking the mold with one new partner. About the new additions to Bilt: This week, Bilt launched partnerships with two more travel brands: TAP Air Portugal and Accor. As a result, Bilt members will now be able to transfer their points to Miles&Go and ALL Reward, respectively. In total, Bilt now has 18 transfer partners including 13...
PayPal Debit Card app
Checking Account Review

PayPal Debit Card Review: Earn Stackable 5% Cash Back

by Kyle Burbank
In recent weeks, PayPal debuted an updated debit card product (perhaps you've seen the incessant Will Ferrell commercials for it during football games?). With the launch of this card, the company known for online payments is encouraging customers to pay with them anywhere. To encourage such behavior, the debit card allows cardholders to earn 5% cashback — although, as you can imagine, there are some important restrictions on that. So,...