Bella Mertz Many homeowners will long for the day when they’ll finally be mortgage-free. One way to try to move that day closer is to make overpayments on your mortgage. You can do this by paying off a sizable lump sum or by adding a little extra to your monthly payments when you can. Though it may … Read more
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our objective is to empower you to make confident financial decisions by giving you access to interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and unbiased content, and allowing you to conduct free research and information comparisons. Issuers that Bankrate has partnerships with include American Express, Bank of America, … Read more
If you’re ready to buy a home, Florida first-time homebuyer programs can jump-start your road to home ownership. These programs offer affordable mortgages, down payment assistance and other help to qualifying Sunshine State homebuyers. If you haven’t owned a home in the last three years, this doesn’t even have to be your first purchase. Here … Read more
Consumer credit reports contain a wealth of information about you and your financial relationships with lenders. Auto loans, credit cards, mortgages, student loans and other creditor relationships commonly appear on your credit reports. They are all similar in that you probably applied for credit with these lenders, and before they approved your application, they obtained … Read more
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and heres how we … Read more
If you’re prepared to refinance your current mortgage for a better one, be sure to consider your estimated closing costs. Knowing the entire cost of refinancing your mortgage will enable you to determine whether you’re actually receiving the best possible deal. Thinking of refinancing your mortgage? It’s a smart move for many homeowners, but it’s … Read more
A personal finance metric called the debt-to-income ratio (DTI) compares your total income to the amount of debt you have. It displays how much of your income is used to pay off debt and how much is left over for other purposes. DTI is a metric used by lenders, such as those who may offer … Read more
Find out more about the entire range of credit scores and what is a good credit score range to aim for if you’re curious about credit score ranges and where yours falls on the scale. [Duration – 1:35]. Your credit score is a three-digit figure that indicates your creditworthiness, or the likelihood that you will … Read more
Credit utilization is one of the primary factors that affect your credit score, as those who are knowledgeable about credit will recall. Specifically, credit utilization accounts for approximately 2030 percent of your ValueScore and 2030 percent of your FICO score, with available credit accounting for an extra 3 percent of your ValueScore. Based on this … Read more
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our objective is to empower you to make confident financial decisions by giving you access to interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and unbiased content, and allowing you to conduct free research and information comparisons. Issuers that Bankrate has partnerships with include American Express, Bank of America, … Read more