With mortgage interest rates so low, it’s a great time to refinance. This can be especially true if you have a jumbo mortgage loan: Bigger mortgage = bigger savings when you refinance. With the 30-year rates for jumbo mortgages averaging right around 5.3% to 5.5% and the 15-year refinance rate at less than 5%, you could really save – especially if you bought when jumbo mortgage rates were above 6%.

Difficulties Associated with Jumbo Mortgage Refinance

Not all lenders are prepared or willing to do these non-conforming loans.  A conforming loan is one that “conforms” – or adheres to – the underwriting guidelines set forth by government sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The conforming loan rate is $417,000 right now. Anything more than that is considered a jumbo mortgage and doesn’t have the same backing by a government sponsored enterprise. In some areas considered high-cost, though, you might not …

If you are in the market for a new home or car, color may end up playing a role in your decision. It tends to influence our attitudes towards a house (popular exterior paint colors here in the United States include white, beige and shades of gray) and is the reason why articles on “how to sell your home” typically address the best color choices to promote a sale.

A few recent reports also look at how color may also influence reactions –  from both neighbors and car thieves:

One Dutch study, as reported in the Huffington Post, suggests that thieves tend to avoid cars of a certain brushstroke for their poor resale value. The research determined that black, silver and gray cars were more likely to be stolen by car thieves than those painted lollipop shades of yellow, pink or red. In sum: a yellow car is probably …

The World Cup final definitely had its ups and downs for teams and fans, and as I watched the game I started to think how it’s possible to draw some analogies with buying a home. Having gone through that process myself lately, I think there are a few things we can all learn from Spain (the winner, for those of you who missed it). P.S. I know sports analogies can be goofy, but, oh well, here it is:

It won’t always be pretty – In little over 120 minutes of play, there were 14 fouls which warranted yellow cards (warnings) and 1 red card (a player is sent off the field for a blatant violation, leaving his team to play one man short) in the World Cup final. Not to mention countless missed opportunities and failed attempts. In today’s housing market, tighter lending requirements, competition with all-cash buyers, and the …