Buying
Rent vs. Buy in 2026: A Complete Financial Framework
Most rent vs. buy comparisons reduce a 30-year decision to a single monthly payment. This guide walks through the full financial picture — amortization, opportunity cost, equity growth, and the assumptions that change everything.
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Mortgages
Understanding Your Amortization Schedule
In Year 1 of a 30-year mortgage at today's rates, 87% of your payment is interest. Understanding why — and how that ratio shifts — changes how you think about extra payments, refinancing, and equity.
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Mortgages
How Mortgage Rates Affect Buying Power
A 1-point move in mortgage rates shifts your maximum purchase price by roughly 10%. This guide shows the math, explains why rate-driven affordability swings are larger than most buyers expect, and how to plan around rate uncertainty.
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Mortgages
When Does Refinancing Actually Make Sense?
The "1% rule" is a shortcut, not a framework. This guide walks through the break-even calculation, the hidden cost of resetting your loan term, when a rate drop is large enough to act on, and the scenarios where you should skip the refinance entirely.
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Mortgages
How Extra Mortgage Payments Save Thousands
Adding $200/month to a $400,000 mortgage saves roughly $120,000 in interest and cuts six years off the loan. This guide explains why the math works, how lump sums compare to monthly extras, and when you're better off investing the difference.
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Market
The Mortgage Rate Lock-In Effect: Why Millions of Homeowners Won't Sell
About 60% of outstanding U.S. mortgages carry rates below 4%. This guide explains why that statistic is choking housing supply, keeping prices elevated, and what it means if you're a buyer — or a homeowner weighing a move.
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Market
Why Home Prices Have Outpaced Incomes Since 2012
U.S. median home prices have risen nearly 150% since 2012 while median household income grew roughly 60%. This guide traces the structural forces behind that divergence — and what it means for buyers today.
Coming soon
Market
The Fed Funds Rate vs. Mortgage Rates: Why They Don't Move Together
When the Federal Reserve cuts rates, mortgage rates often don't follow — because they're priced off the 10-year Treasury, not the Fed. This guide explains the mechanics, why the spread has been historically wide, and what actually moves the number on your Loan Estimate.
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