home buying

Are the new home appraisal rules good for consumers?

Posted June 30, 2009 - 13:34 by Xin Lu

Personal Finance, Real Estate and Housing, Consumer Affairs

On May 1st a new set of home appraisal rules called the Home Valuation Code of Conduct was put into effect by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to distance realtors and mortgage brokers from appraisers. This was put in place because during the housing bubble appraisal fraud was rampant and some appraisers felt pressured by realtors and brokers to hit the desired numbers. How is this affecting consumers?

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Personal Finance Lessons from Online Adventure Game (RuneScape)

Posted October 5, 2007 - 09:54 by Julie Rains

Personal Finance

woman playing runescape

A friend shared with me some strategies he’s learned for playing RuneScape. It's set in the medieval times, and involves creating a character, building skill levels, acquiring assets, and completing quests. There can be quite a bit of interaction among players: some are friendly and helpful; others, dangerous and dishonest. Can these strategies be applied to personal finance? Let’s see.

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