Your Home is Your Investment - Protect It!

• Limit your use of consumer credit cards. Avoid high cost purchases. Live within your means.
  
  
• Stay away from rent-to-own businesses and payday lenders. The fees are crippling, and the terms put you at a huge disadvantage. Consider all other options first.
  
  
• If you fall into debt, talk to a mortgage counselor before you apply for loan. Avoid adding credit card debt to your mortgage.
  
  
• Think twice about including a car payment in a mortgage refinance. Will you still be driving the car in 30 years? Do you want to make payments on your car over 30 years?
  
  
• Considering life insurance? Talk to a financial planner. Mortgage Life Insurance products pay your lender but your loved ones do not receive a penny. Is that what you want?
  
  
• Thinking about refinancing? Don't just look at your loan payments - look at the life of your loan. For example, refinancing with another 30-year mortgage may lower your monthly payment but it also means another 30 years of payments. Do you really want another 30 years of house payments? Perhaps a 15-year loan would best meet your needs.
  
  
• Choose your credit accounts wisely. Now that you have become a homeowner, you will be bombarded with credit offers. Always read the fine print. There is no free money - just clever advertising. Consider a credit card that is tied to your checking account. That way you cannot spend money you do not have.