Mortgage 101

By Charity Ohlund In recent years, a new player has emerged in the real estate market, creating an unforeseen challenge for first-time homebuyers - institutional buyers. These large corporations and investment firms are snapping up single-family homes at an unprecedented...

Even in the current rate environment, a cash-out refinance makes sense when you have debts to pay off. Check out this video to understand how doubling your interest rate can still save you thousands of dollars per year. This weekly...

By Charity Ohlund For more than a decade, I was a devoted ‘gym class’ exerciser. While I won’t name any specific gyms, you can take a pretty good guess as to where a JOCO mom might frequent. From sweat-drenched spin...

By Charity Ohlund I’ve previously discussed the benefits of making a “secret extra mortgage payment” by simply paying half of your monthly payment every two weeks. The biggest benefits of this strategy are paying less in interest and shortening the...

By Charity Ohlund, Fountain Mortgage Have you heard of the cool way to make an extra mortgage payment every year? No, not the one where you make a full extra payment at the end of the year. That’s not a...

A homeowner association (HOA) is typically a nonprofit corporation within a community of housing. Most HOAs exist in planned multi-unit community projects such as condominiums and townhomes or in newer developments filled with new construction. Membership is mandatory and...

By Charity Ohlund, VP of Sales & Marketing | Fountain Mortgage Let’s talk about saving for a home — without the overwhelm, shame spiral, or spreadsheets that make you want to fake your own disappearance. Whether you’re buying your first home...

by Charity Ohlund, VP of Sales & Marketing | Fountain Mortgage Buying your first home feels like joining a secret society. There’s a ton of excitement, a few initiation rites (inspections, appraisals, signing your name 847 times), and a lot of...

by Charity Ohlund, VP of Sales & Marketing | Fountain Mortgage When was the last time you thought about your home insurance? (If your answer is “when I bought my house and then never again,” congratulations — you’re perfectly normal.) But here’s...

by Charity Ohlund, VP of Sales & Marketing | Fountain Mortgage Buying a home is an exciting milestone. The paperwork is signed, the keys are yours, and the champagne is chilling. But once the moving truck pulls away and you're...

by Charity Ohlund, VP of Sales & Marketing | Fountain Mortgage If you’re saving for your first home right now, you already know: it’s a grind. Skipping dinners out. Declaring $5 lattes “the enemy.” Maybe even rediscovering your old college relationship...

By Mike Miles Here is a quick-hit list of the main reasons borrowers get denied home loans. Each of these is a talking point that probably deserves its own post, but today I'll just give you a quick rundown. Knowing...