Posted May 7, 2009 - 12:50 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Deals, Real Estate and Housing
Amidst the financial crisis, many home builders around the country have run out of financing. Last week a bank decided to completely level 16 completed and partially built homes in Victorville, California because the builder defaulted on the project. While this is unfortunate, some bargain hunters were able to pick up some extremely cheap construction materials and home fixtures.
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Posted April 29, 2009 - 16:48 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Real Estate and Housing
The United States government launched the "Hope for Homeowners" program back in October, 2008, and so far only one loan has received final approval to refinance under this program. This week the Obama administration took another step to expand incentives to banks and borrowers to modify mortgages. This time, the plan targets second mortgages and it is called the Second Lien Program.
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Posted April 24, 2009 - 09:28 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Real Estate and Housing, Consumer Affairs
The Obama administration announced a foreclosure prevention and mortgage reduction program about two months ago, and as of April less than 1000 loans have been refinanced under the program. One of the reasons that this program is getting a slow start may be that banks are hesistant to work with struggling homeowners who are still making their payments. A recent Los Angeles Times article profiled a family who tried to negotiate with their servicer to no avail, and once they missed a payment the servicer opened negotiations. So if you were a struggling home owner should you skip a mortgage payment just to get a bank attention?
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Posted April 23, 2009 - 12:40 by Paul Michael
Real Estate and Housing, Investment, Consumer Affairs
I’ve seen several houses in my area go into foreclosure over the last 12 months. The economy and over-inflated housing prices, coupled with predatory lenders and some very bad decision-making, have turned something that was once quite rare into a full-blown epidemic. But some places are having it worse than others; much worse. Do you live in one of those unfortunate towns? You're about to find out.
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Posted April 9, 2009 - 18:37 by Nora Dunn
Making Extra Cash, Art and Leisure, Real Estate and Housing, Consumer Affairs
Many people have put their vacation on hold with the current economic downturn, or are searching for alternative ways to travel on the cheap. Other people yet are looking to earn some extra income on the side to help pay the bills. iStopOver is a solution for both of these groups. And they are offering a special promotion just for Wise Bread readers.
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Posted March 26, 2009 - 10:44 by Elizabeth Sanberg
Real Estate and Housing
I started out the home buying process by scouring the internet for information and hitting up the local library. I read 8 or 9 books and countless blogs and websites and still couldn't fully understand the home buying process. After all of this information hunting I concluded: there is too much to know about the ins and outs of buying a house to learn it all yourself. Thus, I learned the most important home buying tip: learn to trust.
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Posted March 26, 2009 - 07:39 by Philip Brewer
Real Estate and Housing, Investment
I've recently heard from several people who want to buy a house and are thinking that now may be the time. In particular, they're worried that waiting might cause them to "miss the bottom" and lose the chance to get a great house cheap. In housing (unlike, for example, the stock market) you don't need to worry about that.
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Posted March 24, 2009 - 17:27 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Taxes, Real Estate and Housing, Investment
This week the United States Treasury announced the Legacy Loans Program. The program is meant to be a partnership between the government and private investors to clear "toxic" assets off the books of banks. Some large financial firms have expressed that they may set up mutual funds to buy these assets. Could you possibly profit by buying these funds as an individual investor?
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Posted March 6, 2009 - 13:44 by Tisha Tolar
Real Estate and Housing
Drive down one of the many residential streets in the nation and it is likely you will find one with multiple listings. It may look like a lot of possibilities if you are in the market for buying a home but if you are a homeowner on the other side of the fence, it can be frustrating to see so many signs in your own neighborhood.
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Posted March 4, 2009 - 13:17 by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Real Estate and Housing, Consumer Affairs
Today the Obama administration officially released the final details of the mortgage plan that was announced a few weeks ago. Here is a quick summary on what is in the plan and how homeowners can find out if they are eligible for a new loan.
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