Laura Schwartz is a licensed Realtor in VA and D.C. with McEnearney Associates in Vienna. You can follow Laura on Instagram at @LauraSchwartzRealtor or her Facebook page. Laura can be reached at 703-283-6120 or Laura@GuidingYourMove.com.
Let’s start with the obvious disclosure — I’m not a financial planner or a CPA, just a real estate agent with some well known tips to save money on your mortgage.
Lots of you have mortgage rates under 4%, which is amazing, but there are still ways to save even more money.
- Pay an extra $100 per payment. That might take YEARS off your 30 year loan and significantly reduce your overall interest cost on your loan. Pro tip: make sure you designate that it’s a payment towards your principal or they may just apply it towards interest which is not the goal here.
- If you have a loan with an interest rate under 5%, it’s unlikely you’ll ever need to refinance for a lower rate. However, for those of you who bought in 2022 or beyond — keep an eye on rates or reach out to your loan officer about when you should plan to refinance. There are usually costs associated with refinances, so make sure the expenses don’t outweigh the savings (it’s a cost analysis for how long you plan to stay in the house and how many months you’ll need to pay in order to recoup your closing costs). I know of a lender offering credit towards a future refi if you buy now, which will save you money down the road.
- If you put down less than 20% when you bought, you likely have mortgage insurance you’re paying monthly. Prices have continued to increase so you’ll want to pay attention to market value. You can get a new appraisal done and if the current value of your home has gone up enough, where your loan balance hits 80% of the value, you can ask your lender to get rid of your MI payment, otherwise they wait until you’ve paid enough to hit 78% of your loan value. Nobody will look out for your money like you.
If you want a market analysis on your home (general ballpark) to see if you can get out of your mortgage insurance, reach out. I offer a free assessment of value on your home and have a program that will aggregate your neighborhood sales for you to watch.
Just email me if you’d like to receive it (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually).
Recent Stories
Good Friday evening, Fairfax County. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar. 🕗 News recap The following articles were published earlier…
For this year’s Independent Bookstore Day, local bookworms will be encouraged to collect not just new literary titles, but also places to buy them. More than a dozen shops across…
The Oakton driver behind a 2022 crash that killed two teenagers has been sentenced to four years in prison. Earlier this week, 20-year-old Usman Shahid was convicted of two counts of…
RELAC Water Cooling will begin delivering air-conditioning services to residents and businesses in Reston’s Lake Anne area this weekend — ahead of its official launch date of May 22. The…
The Gillion Academy’s Home School Basketball Program begins Fall 2024 for 7th – 12th Grade student-athletes to complete their online academic studies in a supervised and focused setting while receiving elite training from our professional basketball trainers at The Gillion Basketball Academy, a state of the art training facility in Springfield, Va. We have developed over 200 college athletes and placed over 50 players in the NBA and pro leagues overseas and provide the same level of training for our student-athletes.
We will have a virtual Open House Zoom on May 6th at 7:30PM so please go to our website to learn more about us and to fill out an interest form and register for the event and learn about the top training facility in the DMV area.
Any questions please email our Director at philip.budwick@gil-lionbasketballacademy.com.
For many remote workers, a messy home is distracting.
You’re getting pulled into meetings, and your unread emails keep ticking up. But you can’t focus because pet hair tumbleweeds keep floating across the floor, your desk has a fine layer of dust and you keep your video off in meetings so no one sees the chaos behind you.
It’s no secret a dirty home is distracting and even adds stress to your life. And who has the energy to clean after work? That’s why it’s smart to enlist the help of professionals, like Well-Paid Maids.
Pedal with Petals Family Bike Ride
Join us on Saturday, May 11th and ride into spring during our Pedal with Petals Family Bike Ride. Back for its second year, Pedal with Petals is going to be bigger than ever. This year’s event will include both an
Encore Creativity for Older Adults at Capital One Hall
Encore Creativity for Older Adults is pleased to raise the curtain and welcome community members to its spring concert at Capital One Hall in Tysons, VA on May 4, 2024. The concert, which starts at 3 PM, will bring hundreds
