The Battle of Top-Loader vs. Front-Loader

This is a big one! Let me start by saying that if you have back problems, you’ll definitely want a top-loader. ‘Nuff said. But if not, there are advantages to a front-loader. They use 40% less water, which is important if you have a really high water bill, you have a septic tank, or you are passionate about saving the planet. Front-loaders are also easier on your clothes, because they clean by tumbling rather than pulling your clothes through the machine. One more perk: if you don’t have a lot of space, you can stack a dryer on top of a front-loader, thus taking up half as much room.

Speeds are Sweet

Washing machines come with either one speed or two speeds. You may think one is sufficient, because in the end, everything gets clean. But think: do you really want to wash a pair of jeans with your $80 Victoria’s Secret purchase? Probably not. Stick with a washer with two speeds. You’ll be glad you did.

Perks, Please

While washers all basically do the same thing, you can get extra features that will make your life a little bit easier. Models are available that let you pour the soap down the center of the agitator, so that it all mixes evenly. This is great if you also use fabric softener or bleach. And some even come with an extra rinse cycle, for those who are sensitive to dyes and chemicals.

Size Matters

Washing machines come in different sizes, or capacities. Make sure to choose one that is compatible with the size of your family and the amount of laundry you do on a regular basis. The dryer needs to be twice the capacity to allow the clothes plenty of room to tumble and get dry in a reasonable amount of time. Just make sure you have plenty of room, because if you cram the clothes in and overstuff the machine, bad things will happen, I promise you that.

Let’s Make a Deal!

It’s a good plan to always purchase a washer and dryer together, because you will usually get a better deal on a pair. Good luck, and happy shopping (and washing!).

Have a great day, from MBNG Mortgage! Remember to stop by our website for loan applications and the latest interest rates!

1. Save for Tomorrow

It’s easy to get greedy, and want everything RIGHT NOW! Whether it’s a bicycle built for two, a new bedroom suite, or a really cool backyard playground for the kids, it’s important not to splurge all the time. Long-term investments, like an IRA, are often neglected because of these large purchases. Spend and save wisely; if you save $5000 per year, after 25 years you’ll have earned 500k. Nice.

2. Keep a Reverse Budget

Online banking is a way of life these days, and it sure does keep things more simple. You can arrange for an automatic draft out of your paycheck and have it transferred to savings. This will prevent you from spending it before it makes it to the savings account. In addition, see if your bank has a “Keep the Change” option (like Bank of America) which allows any excess change to go straight into your checking. Spare change really adds up! Many banks have a program like this; contact yours to see if it’s available.

3. Log Your Credit Cards

It’s easy to swipe your credit card every chance you get. Trust us, DON’T DO IT. When you do use your card, use your checkbook register to deduct the charges from your account. This will let you actually see the money going away, so you won’t spend yourself into a black hole. And it’s much easier to stick with cash!

4. Pay Next Month’s Bills

By paying your bills a month in advance, you won’t get caught shorthanded at the time they’re due. Write out checks for your recurring bills, like a mortgage payment, utilities, and so forth, and deduct them from your balance. You don’t have to send them in until they’re due, but deducting them in advance will keep you on the straight and narrow.

5. Plan for Splurges

Sit down with your significant other once a month and have a run-through of your financial situation. This is especially important if you have a joint account; if you both have a debit card and swipe all day long, and your finances are a little thin, it could get you in trouble. Those overdraft fees are no joke! Go over all of the purchases for the month, and discuss any future purchases that aren’t recurring. Maybe Cousin Susie is getting married and you need to buy a wedding gift, or your microwave is on the blink and it’s time to buy a new one. Plan for any extra purchases to keep things on the level.

Now that you’re settled into your new house, thanks to your friends here at MBNG Mortgage, it’s even more important to make sure everything is square with your finances. If you need additional assistance, please visit our website for plenty of information!

Give your home an energy audit

Take a few minutes to walk around the house and check for any gaps and cracks in walls. You’d be amazed at how much difference they can make in your electric bill. It’s estimated that you can save up to 20% by plugging in the cracks and holes. Remove your switch-plate covers to look for gaps. (Make sure to turn off your electricity at the breaker box first!) You can also purchase insulated covers for $3-4 at your local hardware store.

After you’ve checked the switch-plate covers, inspect all of the junctures where walls meet windows and where walls meet floors and pipes. Any gaps that you find need to be filled with caulk. The keys to finding gaps and cracks are daylight entering where it shouldn’t be, or feeling any drafts. If you don’t trust yourself, you can call your local utility company and get an expert referral.

Insulate hot water pipes

By insulating the hot water pipes in your home, you can save a bundle on heating costs next winter. To insulate the pipes, you will fit them with foam jackets called sleeves. Know the pipe’s diameter, and take a trip to the local home improvement store. The sleeves are pre-slit, hollow-core, flexible foam insulation. Don’t worry about the cost; it’s inexpensive and definitely worth it.

Claim your insulation tax credit

That’s right, you can get back some of the money you’re spending on insulation. You can claim a tax credit for 30% of the cost of the materials, up to $1500. Cha-ching! If you’ve got the money to buy new windows, you can claim that, as well.

Clean your patio furniture

Head outside and give your patio furniture a thorough washing. We’re sure you’re getting lots of use out of your outdoor living area, so it’s important to keep it clean. Use this recipe for a soapy bleach solution to make your furniture sparkle: 2/3 cup trisodium phosphate (TSP: available at Lowe’s or Home Depot), 1/3 cup laundry soap powder, one quart of bleach and three quarts of warm water. Remove cushions before using; if you have cloth cushions or covers, toss them in the washing machine. Return them to their homes while they’re still damp to prevent shrinking. Use a rag and a soft-bristle brush to scrub dirt or bird droppings or crusted mustard off of your furniture (as long as it’s synthetic, metal or wood). If you’ve got wicker furniture, spray it with a garden hose, then protect it with paste wax, also available at your local hardware store.

Clean up concrete

If you have a power washer, it’s perfect for cleaning your concrete, like your driveway, sidewalks or pool area. If you’ve got stains that you want to get rid of, soak the area in one cup of TSP mixed with a gallon of hot water. Wear gloves and goggles! Let the solution sit on the dirty spot for about 30 minutes, then scrub with a brush. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Trim those trees

Do a walk around your home and check for any sagging limbs that may cause problems to your property, or someone else. You don’t want trees hanging over your roof, fence or gutters…or your neighbors. If you think, “Aw, that sounds like a lot of work,” remember this. Trees hanging over your home provide an easy route for squirrels, rats, and other critters to get close to your home, especially the attic. If you don’t feel like providing shelter to a family of raccoons, it’s best to trim them up. If you’ve got a tree that’s straddling a property line, please talk to your neighbor before cutting. It’s better to be safe than sorry, as some people can get very testy about their trees.

We here at MBNG Mortgage hope these tips are helpful. Remember, you can visit our website 24/7 to fill out private loan applications, see the latest interest rates, or to find a wealth of information about the mortgage process.

Fireworks are always the crowning glory of this particular celebration. And while it’s fun to set them off, and to watch them, make sure you practice proper precautions. Don’t let small children light fireworks by themselves. It may seem fun to let Junior hold the punk and light up some Black Cats, but it’s really not in his best interest. In addition, never leave children unattended with fireworks. Curiosity can be a dangerous thing!

Make sure you purchase fireworks from a reputable source, and only use legal fireworks. You always hear people refer to M80s or M100s and how super cool they are, but in truth they were banned in 1966 because of the vast amount of explosives they contain. Illegal fireworks usually look different because they will be unmarked. Just be smart!

Nothing is more all-American than the family dog at the holiday picnic, right? Wrong. Dogs tend to get fed a lot of scraps at large gatherings, which can really upset Rover’s tummy. It’s wise to leave your pup at home. Another thing that seems fun to us but not to our furry friends, are fireworks. The loud noises and bright lights tend to scare dogs and cats…a LOT! Keep your dog at home, in as quiet a room as you can find. He’d thank you for it, if he could.

In addition to the tips above, keep regular summer safety in mind. Make sure to lather up with sunscreen and bug spray, and if you’re out on the water, be sure to practice proper boating procedures. Have a happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Required courses. Looking to refresh your memory regarding the causes of World War I? Or perhaps you want to listen to Harold Bloom read The Best Poems of the English Language. Whatever class you’re thinking of taking, there’s an audio book covering the topic, from actual college lectures to best-selling non-fiction.

Get a degree in business. All of the best business titles come out instantly in audio books. Learn to make friends and influence people, give yourself a total money makeover, or start thinking like a billionaire-all before you get to the office in the morning.

Stay informed. One of the difficulties with radio is that it’s easy to miss your favorite show. With the advent of Podcasting, this will soon become a thing of the past. Podcasting enables listeners to download audio broadcasts, from select media outlets or individuals, and listen when it’s convenient. Rather like TiVo® for radio, you can even “subscribe” so that new content is automatically accessed. Another radio resource is www.audible.com. This site sells popular radio show content as well as daily audio versions of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. (An MP3 player is required.)

Aprende un nuevo idioma. Remember those old language tapes? Well, they still make those, and they’re better now. I promise. And what better place to work on that accent of yours than alone in the car? As for the people in the next car, the ones watching you talk to yourself, they can think what they want.

Enroll in comedy school. Since you’re the dean of admissions and you make the reading (or, rather “listening”) list for this degree, you can study what you want. Why not check out recordings by today’s top comedians? Margaret Cho, Bill Cosby, Richard Jenni-they all put out CDs and audiotapes. Maybe they’ll inspire you to work on your own routine.

Your commute isn’t getting any shorter, but at least now you can get smarter while you’re getting where you need to go. And the next time traffic is stopped dead on the freeway, look on the bright side: you can take notes.

I have an educational audio series which covers topics ranging from real estate investment strategies and an explanation of credit scoring to dispelling home equity myths. Please contact me to obtain a copy today!
]]> http://mbngmortgage.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/back-to-school-behind-the-wheel-a-commuters-education/feed/ 0 mbngmortgage Print http://mbngmortgage.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/more-for-your-mortgage/ http://mbngmortgage.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/more-for-your-mortgage/#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:55:45 +0000 mbngmortgage http://mbngmortgage.wordpress.com/?p=306 ]]> Buying a home is a whirlwind of excitement. If you’ve ever shopped for a home, you’ve probably spent hours combing the listings online, imagining how your couch would look against that wall, how your lawn furniture would look on that fantastic patio. You think it’s a great home in a perfect neighborhood; it’s got all of the features that you want. But then you think about that pesky mortgage payment, and your daydream comes to a screeching halt.

Never fear, we here at MBNG Mortgage have prepared a cheat sheet for all of you first-time buyers out there, just to make things a little easier to take. Learning about mortgages is a bit like eating an elephant: one bite at a time!

Plan Ahead

If you’re at the point where you’re ready to start looking for a home, it’s time to start thinking. First, visit our website here and fill out an online loan application. It’s important to know what your credit score looks like; getting a credit report and filling out the loan application will show you and potential credit hassles, as well as what kind of loan you will be able to get. Remember, even if you qualify for an expensive home, it’s always better to stay under that figure if you can. You’ll appreciate it later!

Think Short-Term

A recent trend in the market is 30 and 40-year mortgages. This will cause you to have never-ending interest payments. For example, a $100,000 loan at 7% interest paid off over 20 years will accrue $86,072 in interest. The same loan paid off over 30 years will incur $139,509. Wow…I could buy a whole other house for that! A shorter mortgage term will cause your payments to be a bit higher, but think about the interest and weigh it out.

Get Fixed

Interest rates are low right now, and a fixed-rate mortgage will keep your monthly payments the same for the life of the loan. Adjustable-rate mortgages generally have a lower rate at the beginning, but can rise after a few years, depending on the condition of the market. If you qualify for a fixed-rate loan, this is usually a wise choice.

Pay More Now

If you have less than 20% of the home’s purchase price at your disposal for a down payment, you are required to buy private mortgage insurance to protect the lender in case you mess up and can’t make your payments. What a cheerful thought, right? Best idea here is to save your money until you have 20% ready to go, and then buy a home.

We know there is lots of information to learn in the world of mortgages, but remember that we at MBNG Mortgage are here to help! Please don’t hesitate to give us a call, or visit our website for a wealth of information.

Compile these documents in one place

• One month’s worth of recent pay stubs from each earner
• Tax returns and W-2 forms from the past two years
• Three months’ worth of statements from your bank, 401(k), IRA, mutual funds and stocks
• Three months’ worth of student loan statements or past mortgage payments
• Letter of employment verification
• Letter from any financial gift givers

Be sure to:

• Brush up on your mortgage terminology
• Make an appointment with MBNG Mortgage
• Get a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) with terms and fees explained in detail
• Do some math
• Sign a mortgage agreement
• Send thank-you notes to anyone who helped you out for free

Different types of mortgages

15-year Fixed Rate

• Monthly payment: higher
• Interest rate: lower
• Rate changes: never
• Total interest: lower
• Best for: couples who can afford higher monthly payments, want to save money in the long run, and plan to stay in their home for a long time

30-year Fixed Rate

• Monthly payment: lower
• Interest rate: higher
• Rate changes: never
• Total interest: higher
• Best for: couples who prefer lower monthly payments, may need more time to pay for their dream house, and plan to stay for a long time

3/1 Adjustable Rate

• Monthly payment: lower for three years, then may change after that
• Interest rate: lower
• Rate changes: fixed for three years, then may change
• Total interest: depends on the current interest rates
• Best for: couples who prefer lower initial monthly payments, are confident that they can handle future market fluctuations and plan to move after a few years

5/1 Initial Interest Only Payment

• Monthly payment: much lower for five years, because only interest payments are required
• Interest rate: lower
• Rate changes: fixed for five years, then may change
• Total interest: depends on the interest rates
• Best for: couples who prefer very low initial monthly payments, are confident that they can handle much higher payments in the future, and plan to move after a few years

7-year Balloon

• Monthly payment: lower, then…the ENTIRE balance of the loan must be repaid or refinanced
• Interest rate: lower
• Rate change: fixed for seven years
• Total interest: depends on rates at the time the balance is due
• Best for: couples who plan on winning the lottery

Pay Option Adjustable Rate

• Monthly payment: four choices each month: very low minimum, low interest-only, or higher principal/interest options
• Interest rate: very low
• Rate changes: monthly
• Total interest: depends on current interest rates
• Best for: making minimum payments, can lead to a mortgage growing over time

If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call at 918-449-9838 and we’d be glad to give you a hand. We look forward to hearing from you!

Walk…or run!

Get out of your house for whatever reason. If you’ve got a dog, take it out around the neighborhood for daily walks. This is good exercise for you AND your pet. If you don’t have a dog, you don’t necessarily have to run out and get one. Just take yourself for a walk instead. Take a stroll with your husband, or your children. No matter how fast or slow you walk, it’s a great way to meet neighbors when they’re outside. Maybe they’ll stop to compliment you on your dog’s adorable sweater, or you can ask your neighbor how she gets her roses to bloom so brightly. Anything can be a conversation starter!

Join a gym

Maybe exercise isn’t your cup of tea, but it’s a great way to meet new people with similar interests. Shy? Not sure how to go about approaching a random stranger? Ask someone how to operate a particular piece of equipment, or compliment someone on his or her technique. Another idea is to sign up for a group fitness class. Grab a space next to someone that looks nice, and tell her you like her shoes. (I actually did this recently, and we had a very nice chat about Nike.com.) Not only can you make new friends, but you can also get into shape.

Volunteer

Check out your new city’s website to see what opportunities are available. Community service clubs are always a great way to meet people, network, and do some good deeds all at the same time. See if your town has an Optimist Club, Rotary Club, or another service club. Also try Big Brothers Big Sisters or Habitat for Humanity.

Have a Party

After you get to meet a few of your neighbors, invite everyone over for a cookout or cocktail hour. You can show off all of the hard work you’ve done by moving and decorating your new place, and your new neighbors will love to see it. (Because let’s face it, everyone is nosy about new neighbors!) And you can chat about things other than your dog and roses.

Good luck with meeting new friends and getting settled into your new home. MBNG Mortgage is here to help you every step of the way!

Today’s MBNG Mortgage guest blog is brought to you by Marilyn Lewis of MSN Real Estate.

Coming up with a big pile of cash to buy a home may seem daunting, especially if it’s your first. Here’s expert advice on the many ways you might be able to make it happen, along with 4 dead-end options to avoid.

If you’re hoping to buy a home to take advantage of cheaper prices and low mortgage interest rates, your first question may be: “Where do I find money for a down payment grants ?”

Below is a list of workable ideas and those to avoid. We gathered expert advice from Bill Banfield, director of capital markets for Quicken Loans; Jeffrey J. Belonger, manager with Infinity Home Mortgage Co. in Cherry Hill, N.J.; and EJ Hawkins, counselor with ClearPoint, a national nonprofit credit counseling service.

First, a few tips:

• Check with your bank or mortgage broker that the source of your down payment is approved in your loan’s rules.
• Ask real-estate agents about state and local housing incentives, grants and loans and what local lenders offer.
• Some down-payment ideas are safer than others; a few have toxic consequences to your taxes or retirement savings. Study your options carefully and review your plan with a certified public accountant or a nonprofit housing counselor approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (find one here or call 1-800-569-4287).
• Keep a paper trail of every move so you can document, for your lender or the tax man, each income source, asset sale and transaction.
• Be wary of mortgage fraud. The scam you’re most likely to encounter is when a mortgage professional suggests inflating the price of a house in order to kick back cash to you for closing costs. It sounds tempting, but you’d be getting fleeced by overpaying for the house and you could face jail time if you participate. Report crooked players to your state attorney general’s office.

Here is a list of ideas for scraping together your down payment.

Low-risk sources of cash
1. Pull from savings: The time-honored way to fund a home purchase is to set aside money each month. Use an automatic electronic transfer through your bank or credit union. Choose an account that that earns the most interest possible while letting you access the money.

2. Liquidate miscellaneous assets: Sell your nice car, buy a beater and apply the difference to your down payment. Sell your boat, motorcycle, collectibles or other assets. Use your tax refund. Call in money that people owe you.

3. Sell stock options: If stock options are part of your compensation, selling them might earn you cash. Contact your human-resources department to learn the rules.

4. Sell taxable investments: Sell stocks, mutual funds, bonds and other taxable investments before touching money held in tax-deferred retirement accounts, such as 401(k) s and IRAs, which require you to pay significant penalties when you sell.

5. Cash in a life-insurance policy: So-called permanent life insurance policies (not “term” policies but “universal” or “variable universal life” or “whole life” policies) grow in value as you pay into them. When enough value has accumulated, you can take cash out or borrow against them. Talk with your insurance agent to learn your options.

Caution: If you no longer need the insurance, this could be a nice source of ready cash. But first-time homebuyers usually are young, have children and need the protection of insurance; withdrawing money from a policy could reduce or eliminate your death benefit, leaving your family in financial trouble if you die. You also can lose coverage if you borrow against the policy but don’t pay it back. Ask your insurance agent to outline the pros and cons. Call your state’s insurance commissioner’s office if you have questions.

Friends, family and employers
6. Use a gift: Some mortgages – loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, for example – let you apply gifts from immediate family members toward your down payment. You’ll need a “gift letter” from the person who gave you the money, verifying that it doesn’t have to be repaid. Be prepared for the lender to ask for copies of checks or wire transfers.

7. Try your employer: Some corporations, universities and local and state governments have programs to provide employees with down-payment assistance. Check with your human-resources department. For example, in South Dakota, 19 employers participate in a state-sponsored Employer Mortgage Assistance Program that lets employees take out a 2% interest rate second mortgage for $600 to $6,000 to cover closing costs and down payment. Each year, the city of Baltimore and state of Maryland contribute as much as $6,000 to 100 city employees (.PDF file) to help them buy homes within the city. These programs are meant to help keep valued employees in their jobs and closer to work.

8. Enlist a partner: A co-owner can help by sharing costs, including the down payment, and by signing on to be responsible for repaying the loan if you can’t quite qualify for a mortgage. A lender can explain the details.

Investigate government programs
9. State grants and loans are a potentially useful but constantly changing pool of down-payment money distributed through local and state agencies. Usually, these require a government-insured FHA mortgage. Funds are usually claimed quickly and programs expire or change frequently. Act early to be considered, or add your name to a waiting list. Find programs near you using HUD’s state listings: Click your state’s name, then click “assistance programs.”

Caution: Don’t get roped into paying for “help” to obtain government and loans. Scammers and middlemen offer to guide you or qualify you for a fee, but you’ll get safer, cheaper advice from a HUD-qualified housing counselor.

Negotiate – with everybody
If you can save or even eliminate closing costs – which run roughly $5,000 to $8,000, depending on where you live – you can free up precious cash for your down payment . Although a seller can’t fund your down payment, the law lets buyers accept help with closing costs. Using an FHA loan, you can accept up to 6% of your home’s purchase price toward your closing costs, although the FHA plans to drop that to 3% later this summer. Conventional loans limit the help you can accept to 3% of the price if your down payment is 10% or less; it’s 6% with a down payment of more than 10%. Your seller, lender or real-estate agent can help with closing costs. These parties occasionally will kick in to help a cash-poor buyer get a deal done. Here’s how:

10. Your lender: Buyers occasionally persuade lenders to forgo part of their “origination” fee and contribute it toward the closing costs , Hawkins says. The lender gets a smaller fee but the deal still puts money in the lender’s pocket. Another option: The lender might be willing to sell you a higher interest rate in exchange for helping you. In this case, the lender rolls the closing costs into your interest rate and you pay them as part of your monthly mortgage payment instead of as an upfront chunk of cash.

Caution: Depending on how long you keep the home, paying a higher interest rate than necessary could, over a loan’s lifetime, cost more than the down-payment help is worth. Find a nonprofit housing counselor to help you calculate if this is worthwhile.

11. Your seller (including builders): Buyers have a lot of leverage with sellers today, at least in some parts of the country. (“The Mortgage Professor,” Jack Guttentag, explains seller gifts here.)

• Ask your real-estate agent to help you search for sellers who are offering to cover closing costs.
• Propose that the seller help with closing costs when you’re negotiating price.
• Sellers sometimes will sweeten the deal by purchasing discount “points” that lower your interest rate, letting you use more of your cash for the down payment. Each point costs 1% of the loan amount and can be used to reduce your rate by 0.125 to 0.25 percentage points. (If your mortgage was for $150,000, the seller might buy one point, for $1,500, potentially lowering your interest rate from 5.25% to 5%.) This would lower your monthly payment from $828 to $805.

Caution: Pushing a seller too hard to lower the price and make other concessions could ruin the deal. Be prepared for the seller to ask for a higher purchase price in exchange. Then the question is: Will the appraiser find the home worth the higher price?

12. Seller financing: Infrequently, a seller may be willing to act as your banker. It might be possible to strike a no- or low-down-payment deal with a seller who owns the home free and clear. But if the seller has a mortgage, you’ll need to qualify for a loan just as you would with a bank, including a down payment.

13. Your real-estate agent: Agents don’t like to admit it, but occasionally some will give up a portion of their several-thousand-dollar commission to keep a sale from falling through. Approach this conversation with tact and care.

14. Your new employer: Your leverage with an employer is never better than when you are first signing on. Depending on the company and how badly your skills are needed, you might be able to negotiate a contribution toward your down payment as part of your benefits package, as a signing bonus or in place of a relocation allowance.

Tap your retirement savings
Yes, you can cash out retirement accounts. But don’t do it. The ground lost in saving for retirement isn’t worth it. Also, the Internal Revenue Service penalties for removing cash from a tax-protected account before you retire are steep.

However, here are two less expensive (but still ill-advised) ways to leverage your retirement savings:

15. Tap your IRA. There’s an exception to penalties on withdrawals from retirement accounts that lets first-time homebuyers withdraw up to $10,000 from an IRA to use as a down payment on a home purchase.

Caution:

• Remember to declare the income on your taxes (you were excused from paying tax on it when you put it into the IRA, remember?)
• Be sure to chat with your accountant before doing this.

16. Borrow from your 401(k): Most companies let employees borrow from the balance of their 401(k) accounts. Rules vary but, generally, you can extract as much as half of the vested amount in the account, up to $50,000. As you repay it, the money, including the interest, goes back into your 401(k). The plan administrator at your workplace can outline the specifics, including how long you’re given to repay the loan.

Caution:

• As long as you repay the loan, you won’t be taxed on the money until you withdraw it in retirement; unlike a mortgage loan, the interest you pay on this loan is not tax-deductible.
• As with the IRA withdrawal, this is considered a bad idea (financial writer Liz Pulliam Weston calls it one of “The 3 worst money moves you can make“) because it sets back your retirement progress.
• If you leave the employer for any reason before repaying the loan, you’ll have to repay the entire thing at once. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Dead-end options to avoid
You may have heard from friends and family about other strategies. Chances are, changing rules or interest rates have made them less effective. Don’t waste much, if any, time pursuing these:

1. Peer-to-peer lending: Websites such as Prosper.com and Lending Club essentially create a marketplace for people to directly lend and borrow money. The idea is that the lenders reap interest, borrowers get cash and the site collects fees. But Prosper, for one, has not funded one down-payment loan in the last year. CEO Chris Larsen speculates that’s because piling a down-payment loan on top of a mortgage is unwise and unlikely to attract Prosper lenders.

2. The American Dream Downpayment Act was a federal program of grants up to $10,000 to first-time buyers, but no longer is offered.

3. Private nonprofit gift programs: Until late 2008, a special category of seller-funded nonprofit programs was able to channel up to 6% of the purchase price of a sale as a “gift.” Federal law now prohibits seller-funded down-payment assistance, which means that programs run by AmeriDream, the Nehemiah Program, GAP, Homes for All and RealtyAmerica have all been closed.

4. Section 8 homeownership vouchers: Low-income buyers may be able to get help through this federal program, but you and the property must meet the qualifications. “The unfortunate part of the program is that there are too many variables involved,” Hawkins says. “In all my (10) years in real-estate and financial counseling, I’ve only seen it used one time.”

High-Class Headboard

Maybe your bed doesn’t have a headboard, or maybe you are tired of the way it looks. Never fear, you can make your own with just some simple canvases purchased at your local art supply store. Paint them whatever colors you choose and arrange them over the bed for a space-saving, modern alternative to a traditional headboard.

Swanky Scraps

During your move to the new place, you’ve probably experimented with some different wallpaper ideas, or maybe you removed wallpaper that you didn’t particularly care for. Either way, you’ve got some scraps. Frame the scraps in your favorite frames for a sweet, stylish look.

Chic Chalkboard

Got a wall that you want to do something special with, just not sure what? A funky, yet practical idea is chalkboard paint, which is available at most home improvement stores, like Home Depot. It also makes a great spot for to-do lists for the family, or you can post the nightly menu on it, if you’re a great planner!

Smart Art

Love art, but can’t quite afford it? That’s okay; just gather a few of your favorite photographs (wedding, vacation or high school reunion are great ideas!) and put them in monochromatic frames in a stylish formation. This gives an affordable, yet glamorous look for your best snapshots.

Cool Canvas

Have you found some fabulous fabric, yet you’re hopeless at sewing? Grab a blank stretcher canvas frame from your local hobby store, and stretch the fabric over the canvas. Secure in the back with staples (use a staple gun; it’ s much easier!) and voila! One-of-a-kind, inexpensive art is ready to be hung on your wall.

Magnificent Magnets

If you’re anything like me, you have good intentions of being incredibly organized, but it doesn’t always work out according to plan. Similar to the chalkboard paint, you can also purchase magnetic paint, which transforms any blank wall into your very own “refrigerator door”! Google this item to find local retailers in your area.

There are tons of different inexpensive projects you can do to make your new home look chic and stylish without breaking the bank. We at MBNG Mortgage hope that these will give your decorating a creative jolt.