Homes Archives - Page 2 of 4

Category: Homes

holding a toy house and keys as someone signs a mortgage

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: When Your Mortgage Servicer Changes

Something I'd absolutely never heard about prior to buying a home was the idea that your mortgage might just randomly be sold to another company. Sure, I was familiar with the concept of companies selling off delinquent debt to collectors, but it never crossed my mind that lenders would elect to transfer their mortgages in good standing to another lender. Yet, that's exactly what happened to us within only a...
Repair Scrabble tiles with a model home and tools

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: A Warning on "Interest-Free" Home Repair Financing

The unfortunate fact about being a homeowner is that, at some point, you're going to have to pay to repair/replace some expensive items in your house. And while you should try to be as prepared for that as possible, in reality, there are times when an unexpected repair may mean needing to request financing. That way, you can pay off the purchase over time rather than shelling it all out...
a smart lock on a front door and a carbon monoxide detector

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: 5 Safety and Security Items We've Purchased for Our House

When you're a renter, there's a certain level of safety and security that your landlord is required to provide. So, when you become a homeowner, suddenly you're solely responsible for these important aspects of your life. And, of course, this also likely means spending more money to protect yourself. In our case, since moving in last year, we've made at least a few purchases related to keeping ourselves and our...
installing a water heater

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Our First Major Repair as Homeowners

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. This week, my wife and I placed a maintenance call, with the hope that it might be a small fix — but, of course, it turned out to be a worst-case scenario. The culprit causing harm to our wallets this time? Our water heater. The good news is that, through this process, we learned a few things that I think will help...
signing a lease and getting a house key

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Should You Break Your Lease to Buy?

In a perfect world, the transition from renting to buying would be seamless — you'd find a great house to buy, close the deal, and move right into your new place. Alas, it's rarely this easy. That's because many renters are on a lease, which may heavily impact their timing when buying a home and limit their options overall. This was definitely the case for us as we still had...
woman holding her hands to her temple thinking

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: Worst Time to Buy a House? There Are Always Exceptions

If you've been thinking about buying a house, looking at the news lately has likely disheartened you. As CNN reports, a recent Gallup poll found that 76% of Americans believe it's a bad time to buy — with only 21% saying it's a good time. There are several reasons for that sentiment, with the top two being the combination of high interest rates and high home prices. So, are you...
a hanging home ornament on a staircase

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: The Best Parts of Homeownership So Far

Being a homeowner certainly has some pros and cons. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I explored some of the downsides I've discovered since becoming a homeowner. With that, it's only fair that I also highlight some of the best aspects as well. Top 5 Things I'm Loving as a New Homeowner Being able to decorate Having lived in apartments for the past 20 years or so of my...
man holding a small model house

Lessons From a First-Time Home Buyer: The Worst Parts of Homeownership So Far

As you can probably imagine, making the jump from being a long-time apartment dweller to a first-time homeowner has been drastic. On the whole, the changes have been positive (which is why we chose to buy in the first place). But, of course, there are some downsides too — including some that I didn't really think about ahead of time. With that in mind, I wanted to share some of...
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Travelers with two Best Western Credit Cards

Best Western Debuts Two New Rewards Credit Cards

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

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card Launches Travel Contest

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

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

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...
Fioney Top 10 Must-Read Personal Finance Articles Septemeber 2024

Top 10 Personal Finance Articles of the Month — September 2024

Welcome to Fioney's look at the top 10 personal finance articles of the month. On the first Friday of each new month, we look back at some of our favorite posts published in the weeks prior and highlight them right here. This includes a mix of sites that have become staples of our lists as well as many first-timers. To start things off this month, we'll look at some articles...

2024 SoFi Checking and Savings Review

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. Lately it seems as though that theme has been 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...