*Refers to the latest 2 years of stltoday.com stories. Cancel anytime. Unsplash Buying real estate is an exciting journey, but you need to be responsible about the money involved. Perhaps one of the ...

Chris Jennings is formally a writer and editor with more than seven years of experience in the personal finance and mortgage space. He enjoys simplifying complex mortgage topics for first-time ...

Mortgage calculator apps can help you see the impact of different loan amounts, interest rates and payment terms in seconds. Whether you’re looking for a mortgage budget app to see what you can afford ...

Down payment: How much of your own cash you'll be bringing to the transaction. A down payment on a house may be as low as 3%, or even 0%, depending on the loan type. The calculator's default is 20%, ...

Kiah Treece is a former attorney, small business owner and personal finance coach with extensive experience in real estate and financing. Her focus is on demystifying debt to help consumers and ...

Aly J. Yale is a contributing writer for the Managing Your Money section for CBSNews.com, covering various personal finance topics, including investing, homebuying, loans and more. Vice President of ...

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See ...

To calculate your home's equity, subtract the balance on all debts secured by your home – including your primary mortgage and any secondary loans – from your property's current appraised value. The ...

Housing is the biggest expense most Americans face each month, often taking up a third of their budget. If your mortgage is too large a piece of the pie, there are numerous ways to lower housing costs ...