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Len Penzo dot Com

The offbeat personal finance blog for responsible people.

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Home Appraisal Impacts on Your Mortgage: Tips for Budgeting

By Sabado Domingo

Buying a home is thrilling. It's also a financial puzzle. One key piece? The home appraisal. It might not get as much attention as your credit score or interest rate. However, there are home appraisal impacts nevertheless, as they can make or break ...

Continue reading Home Appraisal Impacts on Your Mortgage: Tips for Budgeting

April 9, 2025

How Do I Get Prequalified for a Mortgage?

By Len Penzo

The difference between being prequalified or preapproved for a home loan can be a critical factor in determining whether or not you'll get the home of your dreams. In short, prequalified homebuyers are far less attractive to sellers than shoppers who ...

Continue reading How Do I Get Prequalified for a Mortgage?

April 3, 2025

How to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage

By Len Penzo

The difference between being prequalified or preapproved for a home loan can be a critical factor in determining whether or not you'll get the home of your dreams. In short, preapproved homebuyers are far more attractive to sellers than shoppers who ...

Continue reading How to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage

March 20, 2025

What Is a Subprime Mortgage?

By Len Penzo

What is a subprime mortgage? Well ... subprime mortgages are for homebuyers with poor or limited credit histories. Typically, this is anyone with a credit score under 620. They're also often the only type of loan available for people with good credit ...

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March 6, 2025

Is Mortgage Interest Tax Deductible?

By Len Penzo

Is mortgage interest tax deductible? The short answer is "yes!" Homeowners who choose to itemize can deduct interest from their income taxes on as much as $750,000 in mortgage debt and up to the same amount of home equity loan debt on a primary ...

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February 20, 2025

What Is a Mortgage Broker (and Is One Right for You)?

By Len Penzo

What is a mortgage broker? In short, a mortgage broker is an independent middleman who finds potential customers for mortgage lenders. The mortgage broker's job is to collect all of the loan documents from a prospective borrower; he then reviews and ...

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February 6, 2025

How to Get a Mortgage with Bad Credit

By Len Penzo

Are you searching for how to get a mortgage with bad credit? Well ... finding a mortgage when you have a bad credit score is not impossible. However, it usually requires the borrower to make a few concessions, such as paying a higher interest ...

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January 23, 2025

Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Early?

By Len Penzo

The decision to pay off the mortgage early is always a hotly debated topic. Unfortunately, the question of "should I pay off my mortgage early?" can't be answered easily because everybody's circumstances are different. In fact, there is no right ...

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January 9, 2025

How to Refinance a Mortgage In 7 Easy Steps

By Len Penzo

There is very little difference between getting a mortgage and refinancing it; in fact, the processes are virtually identical. If you've decided that refinancing is right for you, here is a brief overview explaining exactly how to refinance a ...

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December 26, 2024

How Does the Home Buying Process Work?

By Len Penzo

Purchasing a house can seem like a daunting task -- especially if you're doing it for the first time. Thankfully, the home buying process can be boiled down to a series of relatively simple steps: Make sure you're ready. Deciding to own a home is a ...

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December 12, 2024

Mortgage Refinancing Pros and Cons

By Len Penzo

There are both good and bad reasons why homeowners should - or should not - refinance their mortgage. With that in mind, let's discuss some of the biggest mortgage refinancing pros and cons. Here are a few of the most common reasons why mortgage ...

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November 28, 2024

What Is Mortgage Refinancing and Why Should I Consider It?

By Len Penzo

When you refinance your mortgage, you typically pay off the existing loan and create a new one. However, if you have a primary and secondary mortgage, you can refinance by consolidating both of them into a new loan too. So what is mortgage ...

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November 7, 2024

What’s the Lowest Mortgage Down Payment I Can Get Away With?

By Len Penzo

Many people mistakenly believe a 20% down payment is required for conventional home loans. However, the reality is that's only true for homebuyers who want to avoid private mortgage insurance charges. Read on to learn how to find the lowest mortgage ...

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October 31, 2024

Affordability: How to Find Your Maximum House Payment

By Len Penzo

When it comes to figuring out your maximum house payment, there are two basic methods for determining how much house you can reasonably afford: Calculate Your Budget Using a Debt-to-Loan Ratio Mortgage providers generally require your total debt to ...

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October 17, 2024

How to Get a Free Credit Score

By Len Penzo

Your credit score is a financial report card that tells lenders how risky it is to do business with you. Credit scores are especially important for homebuyers because a high score indicates that they are more likely to pay back a loan. And that means ...

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October 3, 2024

How Much Can I Afford to Borrow for a New Home?

By Len Penzo

One of the biggest questions for first-time homeowners is this: How much can I afford to borrow? Although there are exceptions to every rule, mortgage providers generally require your total debt to be no more than 36% of your pre-tax income. Your ...

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September 19, 2024

How Big Should a Mortgage Down Payment Be?

By Len Penzo

Although there are exceptions to every rule, mortgage providers generally require homebuyers to contribute a minimum down payment somewhere between 3.5% and 20% of the home's purchase price. So how big should a mortgage down payment be? Of course, ...

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September 5, 2024

What Is a VA Loan?

By Len Penzo

What is a VA loan? Well ... VA loans are government-backed mortgages that are insured by the Veteran's Administration. VA loans are available from qualified lenders to homebuyers who have served in the US military including: Soldiers and sailors ...

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August 22, 2024

What Is an FHA Loan?

By Len Penzo

An FHA loan is a government-backed mortgage that is insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Although anyone can apply for an FHA loan, they were designed to help people with lower incomes qualify for a mortgage. Because FHA loans protect ...

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August 8, 2024

Should I Get a Fixed-Rate Mortgage or an ARM?

By Len Penzo

One of the biggest decisions a homebuyer makes when purchasing a home is whether to get an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) or a fixed-rate mortgage. Of course, the big difference between the two types of home loans is the interest rate; unlike a ...

Continue reading Should I Get a Fixed-Rate Mortgage or an ARM?

July 25, 2024

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