NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
Cash or Mortgage? Navigating Home Equity and Title Agency Shopping
12 Dec 2024
Learn how to think about major homebuying decisions like shopping for title agencies, managing home equity, and when to buy a house with cash. How do you choose the right title agency for your home purchase? Should you buy a house outright with your savings or take on a mortgage? Hosts Sean Pyles and Sara Rathner discuss the pros and cons of these key housing decisions to help you make smarter choices. They’re joined by housing Nerd Kate Wood to demystify title agencies, offering tips on what they do, how much they cost, and why most buyers don’t shop around for them. Then, they discuss the risks and benefits of tapping into home equity or using savings to buy a house outright. They explore strategies for weighing mortgage options, the importance of maintaining an emergency fund, and balancing emotional and financial goals when purchasing a home. In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: how to choose a title agency, title agency costs, home buying tips, home equity pros and cons, buy a house with cash, 30-year vs 15-year mortgage, home buying process, choosing a mortgage lender, title insurance explained, cash-out refinance risks, second mortgage benefits, HELOC vs home equity loan, using savings to buy a house, renting vs buying a home, home maintenance costs, decision fatigue home buying, choosing a home inspector, refinancing a mortgage, landlord responsibilities, real estate investment risks, rental property tips, financial planning for homeowners, managing multiple mortgages, budgeting for home repairs, lender requirements for second homes, emergency fund for homeowners, homeownership costs, advantages of 30-year mortgages, housing market advice, personal finance for homeowners, home loan options, home equity risks, leveraging home equity, and financial planning for buying a house. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. I'm Sean Piles. Today we are reaching into the special Smart Money archival box. It's acid-free and lined in gold. Just kidding. Our archives exist in digital only. And we wouldn't waste our hard-earned and well-saved money on gold lining anyway, right? If you are a loyal listener, you would know that we would never do that.
But this month, we are bringing you some of the highlights from 2024, some of our favorite listener conversations and favorite coverage for a special series that is the best of Smart Money. Today, we're looking back at the issue of housing.
High prices and high interest rates have kept a lot of folks on the sidelines this year, but we followed all the trends and provided a ton of advice on how to navigate the market. So here's a review of what we all learned and need to know about housing as we head into 2025.
Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds. I'm Sean Piles.
And I'm Sarah Raffner. If you have a money question for the nerds, call or text us on the nerd hotline at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-NERD. Or email us at podcast at nerdwallet.com.
Follow us wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like what you hear, please leave us a review and tell a friend. This episode, we are taking on a few of your housing-related questions in a lightning round. And we have housing nerd, Kate Wood, joining us for this nerdy journey. Kate, welcome back to Smart Money.
Thank you so much for having me back. All right, let's get into the first question. This one comes from Mark who sent us an email. Here it is. When buying a house, we carefully selected a realtor, then carefully selected a bank to originate the mortgage.
Then when the realtor draws up the offer paperwork, suddenly there's a new company in the mix and the company that will handle escrow and the title transfer.
The paperwork will tell you that you don't have to use the title agency the realtor is recommending, but when you're getting ready to sign the paperwork, it's too late to step back and see if the title agency is a good one and if what they're charging is reasonable and competitive.
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