November 3rd, 2006 in Lifehack, Money

102 Personal Finance Tips Your Professor Never Taught You

School do not teach you anything on personal finance. In usual ways, you have to learn it from the hard way, or look for a person who can give you some advices. Looks no further for some quick tips. The Blog Your Credit Advisor introduces 102 rules that can get your financial to the right track. It has categories on obviously basic tips, career and education, credit and loans, frugality, houseowning, insurance, investing, retirement, saving, and taxes. Especially homeowning section has some pretty good tips:

43. Upgrade your old bathrooms and kitchens. These are often selling points on a house. A modernized bathroom can provide over a 100% return, while a modernized kitchen can return about 90%.
44. Refinance your mortgage if you can cut at least one point. The costs of refinancing are considerable, so it should only be done if you can trim your interest rate by at least 1%.
45. Never spend more than 2 1/2 times your income on a home. Know what you can afford and what you cannot.
46. Put at least 20% down on a home. Making a down payment of less than 20% will usually result in a private mortgage insurance (PMI) fee being added. This is usually 0.5%, meaning it could cost you about $1,000 a year on a $200,000 principal.
47. Use a mortgage broker. The better your mortgage, the more you’ll save. Shop around.
48. Investigate different types of mortgages. There are dozens of mortgage options out there. Find the one that suits you best.
49. Buy a house that needs repairs. Buy for cheap and then add to the value with repairs. You’ll save money
50. Deal directly with the seller. Avoiding agents’ fees is a good thing. If you do decide to hire an agent, do your homework and get one who will be on the same page as you. You should be the one calling the shots.
51. Find out about homeowner taxes. Know what the property tax is in your area and be prepared to have enough to pay it.

102 Personal Finance Tips Your Professor Never Taught You – [Your Credit Advisor]

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Leon Ho

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    • Pravin Wagh says on November 3rd, 2006 at 10:14 am

      I think these are good rules of thumb, but not absolute laws. For example, real estate values in many large cities makes it impossible to stick to rule #45 about not spending more than 2.5X your income. And on rule #50 – it’s not always a good idea to deal directly with the seller. Having a third party involved with the dealings can help you get beyond awkward issues such as any demands that the buyer and seller want to make. Unless you have really good people skills and negotiation tactics, you could find yourself out of a deal.

    • Ja says on November 4th, 2006 at 6:09 pm

      While some of these rules are very helpful, they ignore variation by geographical market.

      2.5x your income? Not in the Denver metro area.
      Hardly anyone would be able to buy a condo, much less a house.
      And #49 doesn’t really apply either since everyone is already hunting for a deal. A house needing $30,000 in repairs may only sell for a few thousand less than one in better shape.

      The emphasis on research is correct. Research, research, research your market.
      As Nov. 2006 brand new homes are the best deals in Denver metro, since builders are offering huge incentives to move them.

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