Mortgages can be complicated beasts at times; rates can even change in the same day. Because of this, it’s critical that you understand how the whole mortgage process works, especially all of the different costs associated with a mortgage.

I asked Jim Woodworth, one of our mortgage specialist team captains, about the consequences of only looking for the absolute lowest rate. He explains that, “We often find that the lowest possible rate does not make the most sense for most people. The upfront costs need to be factored in to see which option works best in the short term and long term.”

Lots of Costs

Besides paying your mortgage principle – the amount you actually borrowed – and interest, you’ll have to pay taxes and insurance (escrow) along with closing costs. All of these costs will be different based on what type of mortgage you get, the mortgage amount and even who it’s through. Just because you’ve found a lender that offers a lower rate than the competition doesn’t mean that’s the best mortgage provider to go with. There’s more to a mortgage than the interest rate.

For example, when your mortgage servicer charges you a monthly payment, the assumption probably is that the amount you pay includes the interest accrued along with “extra” money to pay down the principle loan amount so that 10, 20 or 30 years from now, you’ll have paid off your mortgage completely.

Interest-Only Mortgages

Sometimes you can get what’s called an interest-only mortgage (a.k.a. exotic or subprime mortgage) where for the first few years you only pay the interest on the loan. This is a lot cheaper, but after the interest-only time is up, you’re going to have a much higher payment to make each month.

People may get an interest-only loan assuming/hoping they’ll get a raise, bonus or better job by the time the interest plus principle payments begin. This type of loan can pose a danger for two reasons.

Since you’re not paying on the principle, if your home’s value goes down by the time you do start paying on the principle, you may end up owing more than your home is worth. There’s also the chance that you don’t get that big promotion you were waiting on, and you’re left with a monthly payment that you can’t afford.

Negative Amortizing Loans

Another type of loan that has an artificially low payment is a negative amortizing loan. An amortizing loan is what you would think of as a “normal” loan. It has a monthly payment that is calculated to pay off the loan in a specified amount of time. A negative amortizing loan doesn’t include interest in the monthly payment so the loan actually gets bigger as you pay on it.

So, now you know, when looking at different rate and loan options, make sure you learn about all the fees associated with the mortgage so you’re getting the best mortgage, not just the best rate. If you’d like to learn more about the different aspects of a mortgage, check out our Know Your Mortgage series!

As always, please jump into the conversation with any thoughts, comments or questions you have.

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What’s Up on Wall Street?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 103.73 points (-0.68%) while the Nasdaq fell 29.50 points (-0.85%). Also, the S&P 500 dropped 15.91 points (-0.96%).

Current Rates

Here are some of today’s rates:

• 30-Year Fixed: 3.75% (3.934% APR)
• 15-Year Fixed: 2.75% (3.145% APR)
• 7-Year ARM: 2.50% (2.985% APR)

Visit our mortgage rates page to find out how much you can save with today’s rates, or use our mortgage calculator to find more rates and loan options.

Financial Links

Here are a few links to some of today’s financial articles. Be sure to leave a comment below if you know of any additional financial articles that are trending today.

Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Fall on China Manufacturing, Fed Speculation

MarketWatch

FHFA: March Home Prices Up 1.3%

CNNMoney

Jobless Claims Fall, Pointing to Better May

The post Global Recovery Remains Fragile – Market Update appeared first on .

The CDC says, “Using insect repellents containing DEET should not be harmful if label directions are followed and the product is used safely.” Despite this, DEET exposure over time could cause problems like skin or respiratory irritation. Plus, it’s still classified as a pesticide. The thought of putting a pesticide directly on my skin just doesn’t sit well with me.

Natural homemade insect repellents are a great alternative to chemical-based ones. Store bought natural repellents cost a pretty penny, but not to worry. You can easily and inexpensively make your own, and most of the ingredients might already be around your home. Let’s get started!

Grab Some Essential Oils

A few drops of essential oils are the foundation for most homemade insect repellents. Any of these will work well:

• Eucalyptus
• Lavender
• Lemon balm
• Citronella
• Rose geranium
• Cinnamon oil
• Peppermint
• Basil
• Clove
• Thyme

Find a Carrier Liquid

While you can apply a few drops of essential oils directly to your skin, adding it to some kind of liquid carrier helps the solution last longer. Plus, most of the carriers below also boost the bug-repelling power:

• Witch hazel
• Sunflower oil
• Apple cider
• Liquid soap
• Vegetable oil
• Mineral oil
• Lemon juice
• Tea tree oil
• Vodka
• Rubbing alcohol

Pick Some Herbs

To get the most out of your natural insect repellent, you can steep your mixture with some fresh herbs. You can also substitute them for many of the essential oils listed above. Here are a few herbs to add to your homemade insect repellent:

• Catnip
• Any variety of mint
• Thyme
• Basil
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Lavender
• Citronella
• Lemon grass

Mix Everything Together

Once you pick a carrier liquid, a few essential oils and an herb or two, you’re ready to create your concoction. There are a ton of difference recipes, but the one below is the easiest to make and remember:

• Mix one-part essential oils with about 15-parts carrier liquid.
• Pour solution into a saucepan and heat it up on the stove pot.
• Chop up select herbs and steep them in the warm solution for anywhere from a few minutes to overnight ­– the longer the better.
• Lastly, strain the mixture and put it into a spray bottle.

Don’t forget to also check out some of these mosquito-repellent plants that you can grow around your home. They’ll add an extra bug-repellent barrier.

There you have it – a totally DEET-free, natural insect repellent you can make at home. It’s simple and inexpensive, so why not give it a try this summer?

What do you think about homemade insect repellents? Share your thoughts with other Zing readers on the comments below!

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What Is a Balloon Mortgage?

A balloon mortgage is a “you got your chocolate in my peanut butter” merging of two types of mortgages. Balloon mortgages have a fixed rate, but they’re short-term loans like adjustable-rate mortgages, typically running for five, seven or 10 years. The rate the borrower has to pay is low like a fixed-rate loan, which makes it ideal for people who plan on moving after a relatively short run in their house. However, once the loan has reached its timely end, the entire remaining balance must be paid in full. The balloon part refers to the large size of the loan, so think hot air balloon size, not water balloon size.

The Rest of the Loan Is Paid in a Lump Sum with a Balloon Mortgage?

Exactly, but you might have other options. The borrower signs up for a balloon mortgage understanding that it will end with a payment on the remainder of the mortgage, however, there is potential to refinance the loan as well. Please note, not everyone is eligible for refinance at the end of a balloon mortgage so don’t think it’s a guarantee. If your credit and finances are solid, you just might get approved for it and this would be the first time your balloon mortgage rate would change.

The good thing about balloon mortgages is how plainly the pros and cons of it are presented: You can have low monthly payments at a fixed rate for a much shorter amount of time than you would with a regular fixed-rate loan. However, that balloon payment must be made at the end of the agreed term or you better hope you can refinance to pay the rest off. As always, check with your mortgage provider to see what their options are with balloon mortgages and if they even have them available; Quicken Loans no longer offers a balloon mortgage.

If you have any lingering questions on the topic, please ask below!

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These telemarketers are posing as a company offering a product similar to the one in the well known “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” commercial. Developed to foster the independence of aging men and women, medical alert systems provide a fast and easy way for seniors to receive immediate medical attention. Individuals that install the alert program wear a bracelet equipped with a button that, upon activation, signals the response center and if necessary, 911.

A representative of counterfeit medical companies with generic names such as “Medical Alert Systems” or “Senior Medical Labs” begins each call by inquiring about the best time to set up a medical alert-type system. After explaining that they never ordered any alarm system, confused victims are falsely informed that they were recommended by a family member or friend. Some are told that they were chosen by the government to receive this “grant.” Others are told that the alarm system has been fully paid for and installation would mean accepting an anonymous “gift” and only future payments will be due monthly.

Don’t be fooled by the local number showing up on your phone; the masters behind this telemarketing scam have spoofed the caller identification system to appear local and sincere. If you receive one of these calls, you’ll likely hear, “Press 1 to schedule an installation date or press 5 to be removed from this list.” At that point, pressing 5 may seemingly get you off the hook, but doing so will actually just validate your phone number, in which case you can expect many similar calls in the near future. It’s best to simply hang up the phone.

These calls are predatory because they mask a hoax behind friendly voices and legitimate-sounding circumstances. If the call isn’t made by a real person, it is a robot accompanied by the sound of shuffling papers and background voices to make them seem live. While the phone number may be local, calls are being traced to cities all over the country as well as locations overseas. The company headquarters is said to be in upstate New York, but the given street address doesn’t exist. If you try to call the phone number back, it may say it is disconnected. If you happened to press 1 to schedule an installation date, you’ll receive a follow-up call asking for valuable details such as credit card numbers, bank account information, and social security number.

A national warning has been issued by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) that advises anyone who receives one of these calls to hang up immediately. The BBB implores that the public remember the importance of never giving out personal information over the phone and to remain skeptical of offers for free merchandise. The Federal Trade Commission urges all victims to file a complaint by calling 877-FTC-HELP.

If you are in need of a medical alert system, Connect America, a sister company of Quicken Loans, is available seven days a week to answer your questions and offer products and services that makes sense for you and on your terms.

The post Hold the Phone! Beware of Phony Medical Alert Companies appeared first on .

What Are Notaries and What Do they Do?

According to Merriam-Webster, a notary is “a public officer who certifies and attests to the authenticity of writing (e.g., deeds) and takes affidavits, depositions, and protests of negotiable instrument.” In layman’s terms, a notary is someone who is legally authorized to sign documents. Once the signing is complete, the notary will take the documents, place them in a UPS box along with the UPS label that we have provided for them and send them back to us to ensure that everything was signed properly before we shop them off to the county for recording. Without the notary’s stamp and signature, your documents aren’t considered valid, and your state won’t accept the documents once they are sent for recording. You would have to resign all the documentation again.

How We Select Our Notaries

Once you’ve completed the scheduling call and have secured your date and time, our sister company who handled all of the title work (Title Source) will reach out to one of their trusted vendors to find the person with the highest satisfaction rate in your area. In order to be considered for the position the potential notary must send in their W-9’s, a copy of their notaries commission (license), go through an extensive background check as well as send us their resume with three business referrals. Pretty thorough, right? Once the selection has been made, the notary will reach out to you to make an introduction before coming to your closing location.

Benefits of Notaries

Most notaries are mobile, which means although they don’t have an office where you can meet, they are able to travel and meet you almost wherever you want. As previously stated, most of our clients prefer to close in the comfort of their own home. However if you would like to meet at a coffee shop or a library, the notary will have no problem meeting you there. Another benefit of having a notary perform the closing is their ability to bring a witness should one be required to sign the mortgage. That’s right, depending on the state that you live in, you may be required to provide a witness and have them sign the mortgage. No worries, we’re able to help you with that. Once we schedule the closing, we’ll contact our notary team and have them assign a notary who will be able to bring a witness with them if needed. Just one less thing you have to worry about.

If you have any questions regarding notaries and their role in closing you home loan please let us know in the comment section below.

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A clinical psychologist with nearly 30 years of experience, Dr. Shapiro is ready to answer questions, offer advice and share strategies to help you alleviate the mental stresses of money management. Send your question to GoodCentsDr@gmail.com and it may be answered in an upcoming column! Read more at Quizzle!

One of the costs of being financially responsible is that you cannot buy “the best,” which presumably means you won’t enjoy your purchases as much as if you could spend big amounts of money—right? Actually, wrong, at least much of the time.

Wine Tasting, Anyone?

It’s hard to think of a product with a bigger price range than wine. You can buy a cheap bottle for a few bucks, but if you want the best, the prices go over $1,000, and of course there are bottles for every price in between. The wine industry is populated with connoisseurs who analyze flavors down to the molecular level and wax eloquent about bouquets, hints of cassis, subtle earthiness and so forth.

Wine connoisseurs undoubtedly know a lot, but regular people can’t taste what they’re talking about. Numerous experiments have consistently shown that, in blind taste tests, people cannot tell the difference between cheap and expensive wines. This can be shown in two ways: People cannot tell which wine is more expensive, and they do not like expensive wines more than cheap ones—except if they’re told which wine is more expensive.

That’s a big “if.” When people are told the true prices of wines, they consistently say the more expensive ones are better. But when people are told false prices, they do the same thing. Psychologically, when we believe something is expensive, we perceive it to be higher quality—even when it’s not.

The connoisseurs can be fooled, too. Frédéric Brochet, a researcher from Bordeaux, asked 57 experts to evaluate the contents of two bottles—which had the same wine poured into them, prior to the experiment. The bottles were different. One bore a prestigious label, and one an ordinary one. The experts described the supposedly expensive wine as “agreeable, woody, complex, balanced and rounded.” They said the the supposedly cheaper one was “weak, short, light, flat and faulty.”

It doesn’t seem worth it to pay real money for an illusion like this.

Will I Use All These Options?

A less spectacular but equally important way to waste money happens when we buy features that exist, and we can tell they are there, but the features don’t add anything of value to our experience of the product. In these cases, we have bought something real, but it doesn’t do us any good.

When marketing professors Debora Thompson, Rebecca Hamilton and Roland Rust offered consumers choices among digital devices (various types of video players, PDAs, etc.), most people selected the option with the most features. Also, when consumers had an opportunity to customize their devices, they chose an average of 20 out of a possible 25 features. In the product selection phase, people like lots of bells and whistles.

Things changed when the consumers took their purchases home and used them. Many people never figured out how to use most of the extras they had chosen. Others did learn how but got tired of most of the extras over time so that, after a while, most were using just the basic features of their devices. The professors coined the term “feature fatigue” to describe the usual fate of fancy options in our products.

Keep It Simple

Market research has found that we have different priorities when we buy products and when we use them. In the buying stage, people emphasize the capability of devices; we want things that can do as much as possible, because this makes us feel we have bought something great. The ownership stage, however, is all about the usability of products; the important thing is whether the device enables us to do what we want to do. Our priorities in these two stages are quite different, and sometimes the priorities are in conflict, because maximizing capability often requires so many complications that the product’s usability suffers.

And that’s before money is even brought into the equation! Frequently, our desire to have “the best” causes us to spend money we can’t afford on gizmos we won’t use. How many settings do you really need on that gas grill?

Everyone’s eyes get big when we’re in the buying mode, but once we bring the stuff home we want to get things done in the easiest, most convenient way possible, and the way to do that is to keep things simple. Putting ourselves in the mindset of a user while in the buying stage helps us make better decisions in two ways: We’ll acquire products that are easier to use, and we’ll save money for the priorities that matter.

Read more at Quizzle.com!

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In order to effectively tame your grass, it is essential to take proper care of your lawnmower. A few extra steps can go a long way to lengthening the life of your mower and achieving that ballpark-like lawn. Before doing any maintenance, be sure to disconnect the spark plug from the mower to ensure your own safety.

Replace the Gasoline

If you’re starting your mower for the first time this spring, be sure to empty the tank of any old gasoline and replace it with new fuel. Old gas loses octane and gains moisture, which can lead to gum buildup in the fuel lines.

Replace the Oil

Your oil level is essential to the health of your mower’s engine, so make sure there is enough clean oil to lubricate all the parts. If the oil is full of debris or dark in color, drain it and replace it with the proper oil (usually listed on the mower or manual).

Spark Plugs

Since you’ve already taken out the spark plug, you might as well replace it. This inexpensive part should be replaced once per year.

Air Filter

The engine in your mower requires clean air, so a dirty or clogged air filter will prevent your mower from operating properly. Replace the filter once per season to ensure clean air for the engine.

Clean the Underside of the Mower

With the spark plug disconnected, take a paint scraper and wire brush and get rid of any old grass lodged in the mower. Use a hose or power washer to get rid of what’s left. Clear out the mower’s discharge chute as well.

Blade

Last but not least, make sure your blade is sharpened once or twice per year, depending on the frequency of use. The blade should be balanced and sharp, to ensure a crisp, even cut. Mower repair shops and many hardware stores offer blade sharpening services if you are wary of doing it yourself.

These simple tips can help ensure that your mower is capable of cutting down acres of grass, and ensuring your home is the envy of the block.  Do you have any lawnmower care tips of your own? If so, leave us a comment below!

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Do you know all of your options when it comes to roofing materials? If not, don’t fret! Here’s a quick rundown of the six most common roofing materials along with their pros and cons.

Shingles

This is probably the most common roof type we see today. Asphalt and fiberglass shingles are the most commonly used materials for roofing. The benefits of shingles include the fact that they’re affordable and they come in a variety of brands and colors. The cons included are shingles aren’t always the most eco-friendly and some types don’t have a long lifespan.

Concrete

Although this is a material that is more rarely used, it’s sometimes seen on contemporary-styled homes. Concrete shingles, light-weight tiles and panels can all be made from cement products. The biggest benefits of a concrete roof are durability, low maintenance and their resistance to rotting and weathering. A drawback is the high cost of concrete and the limited selections available.

Tile

Tile is more commonly used in the southwest and on Spanish-influenced designs. The best thing about tile is it comes with nearly a lifetime warranty. It’s also fire, rot and insect resistant. The single biggest con is the heavy weight of the tiles. It’s also made from clay so it can easily be broken. Tile is also the priciest of all roofing options.

Wood

Since wood is abundant, it’s an eco-friendly roofing option. Wood is available in a variety of widths, colors and thicknesses. Although it’s preferred because it looks natural, it also is susceptible to mold, rot and insect infestation. It also must be treated with a fire retardant.

Metal

Metal roofing materials were more common back in the olden days, but their popularity is coming back. Metal roofing is available in tin, aluminum, steel and copper. On the upside, metal roofs are light-weight, have a long lifespan and are practically maintenance-free. On the downside, they can be expensive and difficult to install.

Slate

Slate roofs are not very common and are made of shingle-like slivers of rock. The benefits include good fire protection, a very long lifespan and low maintenance. The disadvantages include the fact that slate is a very heavy material, can be easily broken and can be expensive.

When you’re designing your roof, your top considerations should include: cost, maintenance, durability and who is installing it. The installation of the roof is as important as the roof type you select. Be sure to use an experienced contractor (get references) and gain a clear understanding of their installation process. You’ll probably “hit the roof” when you look at the final bill, but as long as it looks great, that’s what matters, right?

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What’s Up on Wall Street?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 67.61 points (0.44%) while the Nasdaq jumped 9.32 points (0.27%). Also, the S&P 500 rose 6.23 points (0.37%).

Current Rates

Here are some of today’s rates:

• 30-Year Fixed: 3.625% (3.808% APR)
• 15-Year Fixed: 2.625% (3.00% APR)
• 7-Year ARM: 2.50% (2.965% APR)

Visit our mortgage rates page to find out how much you can save with today’s rates, or use our mortgage calculator to find more rates and loan options.

Financial Links

Here are a few links to some of today’s financial articles. Be sure to leave a comment below if you know of any additional financial articles that are trending today.

CNNMoney

Stocks: Looking to Bernanke

Reuters

Existing Home Sales Highest in Almost Three-and-a-Half Years

HousingWire

Number of Americans in Foreclosures Plummets: LPS

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