I noticed a piece on getting a home loan (mortgage) pop up on my news reader the other day. It was our good friends Mary Beth Breckenridge and Betty Lin-Fisher at the Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio. I have to mention to – what about their domain name! I mean who gets the domain name OHIO.COM? Should have bought that one up a long time ago when the web was green. So I’m digressing even sooner than usual.

Anyway, Betty and Mary Beth were talking about the time to buy a home and what kind of mortgage you want to be looking at entering in to, but the article was entitled, How Much Can You Afford? Pretty simple and straight forward question right? Maybe not. I’m surprised still at how much my wife and I spend when we really shouldn’t and I’m surprised to see how much other people spend when they shouldn’t.

I’m really interested to read, watch, and listen to the media and the financial pundits give advice these days, when no-one really knows what is going to happen in this wild economic ride we’re in. I’m very careful when it comes to giving out advice to anyone when it comes to money, and personal finance journalists need to be cautious as well. Remember Jim Kramer telling us how sorry he was when he got it all wrong. When you are advising people on their hard-earned dollars you better be careful or crazy. But for sure you better be thick-skinned.

So back to Akron Ohio’s Beacon Journal and the advice of Mary Beth and Betty. This is a quote from their piece:

The market is bloated with houses for sale. Many sellers, eager to move up and tired of waiting, are willing to negotiate. And while interest rates have risen lately, they’re still at enticing levels.

It could be the opportune time to become a homeowner if you’re ready. That’s a big if, because the fallout from the foreclosure crisis has brought stricter loan qualifications that make it harder to borrow money.

Only problem here is the interest rates. If someone gets themselves into a variable mortgage and the prime starts climbing like a monkey from a tiger, you’re in trouble. I’ve personally been in the position with a variable mortgage rate, and the prime went through the roof. I lost the house, and got a divorce to boot (needed the divorce though regardless of the debt).

Betty and Mary Beth are much smarter than Jim Kramer however – after opening with the quote above, they went on to lay out a very prudent course for deciding on what you can really afford for a mortgage payment. I wish I had read an informative article like this one before I graduated from high school and started into the world of personal finance.

This kind of commentary that Betty and Mary Beth write is the right way to do things. It may not be as flashy as some the “celebrities” and pundits, but it is prudent and sound. We need more people writing about personal financing like them. I will be keeping them on my feed reader going forward to bring you some comments on their work in Akron Ohio. I have feed readers tuned into anything and everything to do with personal financing in Ohio State.

Do you live in Ohio? Leave a comment please if you do. Just say hi.

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