Mortgage Professor

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: The mortgage document deluge -- does TRID help?

  First of several parts The TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID), in development by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for several years, became effective… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Shifting control of appraisals to borrowers

Second of two parts In our current housing-finance system, appraisals are issued in the name of the lender to whom a prospective borrower has applied… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Shift control of appraisals to mortgage borrowers

First of two columns on consumer empowerment There are two ways to make the home-loan market much more efficient by empowering borrowers. The first is… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: 5 ways a reverse mortgage can ease retirement

The home-equity conversion mortgage (HECM) is an excellent tool for helping senior homeowners meet the financial challenges of retirement. They have to have some equity… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor / Questions about paying down the balance

    The phrase “weird trick” seems to have great sales appeal, judging from the frequency with which it appears in my in-box. I see… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor / Jack Guttentag, Ph.D.

For many borrowers, it is easier to accelerate the pay-down of a mortgage balance if the process of making extra payments is made routine. Then… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Managing your monthly payment

  This is the second of a series on questions about mortgage repayment. The first article looked at mortgage repayment as a type of investment…. Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Questions about loan repayment as investment

First in a series Questions from readers about why and how to pay off a mortgage early out-number those I receive on any other topic,… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

Mortgage Professor: Does down payment insurance make sense?

Investment in a home is often the largest investment a consumer will ever make, so any measures to reduce the risk deserve careful attention. The… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Explaining the down payment

First of two parts I set out recently to write about a new program of down payment (henceforth DP) insurance, but quickly realized that such… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Shopping for an annuity online

An investment in an annuity, possibly combined with a HECM reverse mortgage, can make a lot of sense to a retiree, as I noted in… Read more »

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The Mortgage Professor: Life annuities and reverse mortgages as tools for protecting retirees

My article last week discussed the longevity annuity as a tool for protecting retirees who are heavily dependent on a stock of financial assets against… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

Mortgage Professor: Retirees can avoid running out of funds

Retirees’ capacity to fund retirement comfortably has been declining. The population 65 and older is expected to rise to about 73 million in 2030. Meanwhile,… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: "The Big Short" comes up short on truth

“The Big Short” reinforces a widespread misperception about the financial crisis. This highly rated new movie is about a few sharp operators who saw the… Read more »

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THE MORTGAGE PROFESSOR: How much can you afford to pay for a house?

  Many wannabe house purchasers wonder whether they can afford the price quoted on the house they would like to buy. Or, if they have… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Selling a house to buy a house

Homeowners sell their homes and buy other homes for a variety of reasons, including a need to live closer to a place of employment, to… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Another look at lease-to-own house purchases

A lease-to-own house purchase (henceforth LTO) is a lease combined with an option to purchase the property within a specified period, usually three years or… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Quinn’s book has advice for making your money last

I don’t review many books but I felt impelled to report on “How to Make Your Money Last,” by Jane Bryant Quinn, because as I… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Beware the simple-interest mortgage

Q. I represent a couple facing the foreclosure of their home…My clients’ loan is currently being calculated as a daily simple interest loan which is… Read more »

Mortgage Professor 

The Mortgage Professor: Questions about down payment requirements

Second of 2 parts Q: Are there any substitutes for a down payment? A: In principle, any collateral acceptable to the lender could serve as… Read more »