One of the popular ways to save money on mortgages is to use what is known as the biweekly mortgage payment plan. With the biweekly mortgage payment plan the borrower makes payments on his mortgage every two weeks, instead of once a month. The biweekly payment is one-half of the monthly payment. So, if you converted from a monthly plan to the biweekly plan and you had been paying $2,000 a month for your principal and interest, you would now be paying $1,000 every two weeks.

The latest numbers are now in and, guess what? The housing market continues to slow. Housing prices are once again down and housing starts have come to a halt. Is this the start of the housing market bubble burst we've all heard so much about? My answer: You bet!

Now, that Democrats have something to do with it, you bet the recent Bush tax cuts will be repealed.

A penny saved is a penny earned, and if you're like me, you would rather make money by doing very little than by making money by the sweat of your brow. There are a lot of people who could be saving over $100,000 just by making the right moves on their home mortgages. Take the case of a friend of mine who was complaining about being spammed in his e-mail, and having a mailbox full of junk mail, from mortgage companies trying to get him to refinance his house.

There's a new kind of mortgage, and it's taking the refinance world by storm. The promoters of this new kind of loan claim that you can pay it off in full in eight years without changing your budget at all! This sounds like it would be ideal for any homeowner. Let's take a look at this mortgage and see if we can figure out if it is really all its cracked up to be.

A friend of mine called to inform me he had gotten some great news in the mail. He received a letter from a lender in California informing him they would give him a $310,000 mortgage and his monthly payment would only be $999! "Think of the house I could buy," he told me excitedly! "I know I could qualify to make a monthly payment for twice as much and if I sell my house which has a $200,000 equity and we use it for a down payment, I could get a million dollar house! Wow! What am I waiting for?"

His figures were only slightly off.

The term, "distressed properties" has always seemed rather amusing to me. It makes me think of a property that is sad or somewhat out of sorts, even lonely. When you think about it, a property cannot really be distressed. A house can be rundown and in need of repair, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's distressed. I know a lot of people who live in run-down properties and they're happy as can be to be living there.

Saving a lot of money on a mortgage isn't all that complicated. Get a lower interest rate and save. Get a higher interest rate and pay more. So, shopping around for the best interest rate can be very beneficial to your bottom line.

Have you ever wondered where a point enters into the equation? Though it can be very confusing, don't overlook the number of points you pay on your mortgage.

You've decided to refinance or purchase that new home and now it's time to call a bank or mortgage company to apply for a mortgage. How do you know you'll be getting the mortgage that will be the right one for you? How do you know you're dealing with a good honest person? Asking these 10 questions will separate the wheat from the chaff in a hurry!

Question 1.

Someone told me he was saving lots of money because he switched his mortgage payment schedule to biweekly. He said it was a really great plan and that his mortgage would be paid, in full; several years ahead of his monthly payment schedule and that it would save him over $70,000!

I told him I thought it was a great deal and then asked him how much it cost to convert to the biweekly plan.

I was standing in line at the local doughnut shop waiting, like tens of other people, for a chance to order a coffee. I couldn't help but overhear a conversation in front of me about how terrible it was because these people in the doughnut shop who worked so hard, were actually making money. "It's because they have big money behind them," was some of the chatter I heard.