The amount you pay on a home mortgage, between the time you buy the house and when you own it outright, is so much higher than the purchase price that the seller received when you bought it that compound interest alone cannot account for the difference. There are so many other fees, from mortgage insurance…

In the game of personal finance, the grand prize is to own a house with a paid-off mortgage. Therefore, in the game of creditworthiness, a home mortgage is a grand prize. The easiest way to get a mortgage with a monthly payment that the lender is sure you can afford is to place a sizable…

Walking away from homeownership and surrendering your house to the bank to avoid foreclosure is a heart-wrenching decision because there is no telling whether the financial stability you once enjoyed in your house will ever return. If at all possible, the best long-term solution is to buy time with your mortgage lender, hold onto your…

If you are feeling stuck financially, your feelings are completely understandable. Even if you work full-time, your income is barely enough to cover groceries, utilities, and rent.  It is easy to feel like the people who own their own houses, and therefore build equity with every mortgage payment, have it made while you are just treading…

Psychologists have long referred to people’s response to a fear-inducing stimulus as “fight or flight.” When the frightening stimulus is a notice of mortgage foreclosure, flight seems like the less futile response. If your choices are to abandon your home or dig in your heels and wait until the lender spends a tiny fraction of its immense…

Urban areas in California are among the most expensive places to live in the United States, but California also has a stronger social safety net than almost any other state. People in other states probably have it worse, but the government programs designed to protect Californians from financial catastrophe don’t feel like much relief. For one thing,…