Home Equity & Senior Housing
Bob Carlson’s ideas and strategies for managing home equity and choice of housing to maintain a budget
Found 126 Articles.
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Where To Retire In Style
The image of the ideal retirement that is ingrained in the imagination of most Americans includes a home in a sun-drenched retirement community. Reality often doesn’t match the ideal. Some studies show that 25% or more of those who retire to Florida leave within five years. I’ve met retirees who admit to choosing the wrong […]
Is Real Estate The Latest Bubble?
Is housing next? One of the few bright spots through the bear market, recession, and war on terrorism is the housing market. New home construction and sale prices of existing homes continue to surge. As home prices rise, people can refinance their mortgages, take some equity in cash, and spend that cash. Many people now […]
The New World Of Mortgages
Mortgage rates still hover near their lowest levels in decades. That keeps refinancing near the top of many lists-of-things-to-think-about. If you are one of the millions thinking of refinancing a mortgage, you should know that the rules of the mortgage market changed in the last few years. Until recently, refinancing didn’t make sense unless current […]
Is It Time To Buy A Second Home?
A second home appeals to many people these days. Part of the appeal is status. It is a sign of financial success. I’ve seen polls indicating that a second home is the ultimate sign of success to a majority of people. Another reason is that a second home traditionally has been a good investment. Most […]
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Get Cash From Your Home with a Reverse Mortgage, And Stay Put
Home equity is the most valuable asset of many older Americans. Even after the big bull market, Americans real estate holdings (primarily through their homes) are more valuable than their stocks. But that real estate wealth doesn’t help pay bills. You can sell a small part of a stock portfolio to pay medical bills or […]
How to Avoid the Key Retirement Housing Mistakes
Retirement patterns in the U.S. are changing. That’s because many are finding that the traditional move to warmer climes isn’t for them. The “boomerang” or the “bounce-back” is becoming common for those who move to Florida or Arizona. Retirees have many more location options than they used to. Retiree-oriented developments are being built all over, […]
Hot New Retirement Locations
Older Americans might be becoming “half backs” instead of “snowbirds.” A snowbird, as you probably know, is someone who lives most of the year in a cold weather area but spends a few winter months in a warm weather state. Usually the retiree treks from a midwest or northeastern state to Florida. But many older […]
Should you buy or rent your winter home?
Winter is coming, and the thoughts of many retirees turn to warmer climates. The next thought for those who plan to spend part of the year at a second home is whether it makes sense to buy or rent that refuge. Not many years ago that was an easy decision. Real estate almost always appreciated […]
