Xin Lu's blog
Posted 1 day 3 hours ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Real Estate and Housing, Consumer Affairs
When the Obama administration first announced the details of the Making Home Affordable program in March, the guidelines for the refinance portion stated that the loan refinanced cannot be more than 105% of the value of the home. Now a new expansion of the program allows the loan to value ratio to be up to 125%. Will this help consumers or just worsen the situation?
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Posted 3 days 2 hours ago 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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Posted 4 days 2 hours ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Frugal Living, Lifestyle
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the personal savings rate in May 2009 was 6.9%. This a 15 year high and a far cry from the negative savings rates of just a few years ago. Although a part of the increase in savings comes from the large stimulus bills passed recently, most of the increase seems to come from changes in Americans' spending habits. So who benefits from a higher personal savings rate?
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Posted 1 week 3 days ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Frugal Living, Lifestyle, Investment
The Education of an American Dreamer: : How a Son of Greek Immigrants Learned His Way from a Nebraska Diner to Washington, Wall Street, and Beyond is the personal memoir of Peter G. Peterson, the cofounder of The Blackstone Group, and also the former U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Nixon. Mr. Peterson became a billionaire when Blackstone went public in 2007, and he consequently founded the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. This memoir is a fascinating and adventurous tale of life amongst the humble, rich, and powerful.
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Posted 2 weeks 16 hours ago by Xin Lu
Frugal Living, Taxes, Cars and Transportation
A few months ago I wrote about several car buying incentives that were floating around. This was before the bankruptcy of Chrysler and GM and there was a rumor going around that the government would push consumers into buying new cars with a trade in program. Now it is official that a "cash for clunkers" bill has passed by both the Senate and the House. This $1 billion program was attached to the $106 billion war spending bill and offers vouchers to consumers who trade in their gas guzzlers. Here are some details on the program.
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Posted 2 weeks 1 day ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Frugal Living, Lifestyle
A friend recently told me that someone she knows is so cheap that he would not let her use paper towels at his place. Yet at the same time he complains about not having enough money and lives in a very expensive apartment and drives a brand new car. I also know some similar folks who seem to be tightfisted about everything except for one or two big expenses in their lives. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but perhaps it is more efficient to save on that big expense instead of clawing onto paper towels.
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Posted 3 weeks 2 days ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Taxes, Real Estate and Housing, Consumer Affairs
As part of the Obama stimulus plan passed in January, first time home buyers in 2009 are entitled to a tax credit of up to $8000 that they do not have to repay. This tax credit was supposed to be given to the taxpayer after they file their 2009 taxes in 2010, but it seems that a new set of FHA guidelines is allowing many to take the money during closing. Here are some of the details.
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Posted 3 weeks 3 days ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Real Estate and Housing
Lately it seems that rent prices have been dropping in many areas of the country. Here in San Mateo some residential apartments are dropping prices as much as 20%. This seemed a bit unbelievable until I looked on Craigslist and found that a specific apartment my husband and I looked at around two years ago actually dropped its price by $300 a month from $1699 to $1399 a month. With our lease expiring soon, I wonder if we should move or try to negotiate a lower rent.
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Posted 4 weeks 2 days ago by Xin Lu
Frugal Living, Art and Leisure
Summer is coming up, and it is a great time to take a little break from work and relax. The recession may have put a damper on many people's vacation plans, but there is a way you could save a lot of money and still have a comfortable break. Here is the "secret" to the ultimate frugal vacation.
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Posted 5 weeks 1 hour ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Credit Cards, Consumer Affairs
This week my husband received an unsolicited Visa debit card from a firm called netSpend. It was certainly an odd experience to receive a card that looked official instead of a pre-approved credit application packet. This is my story of shock, anger, and finally disgust at the practices of this financial firm.
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Posted 6 weeks 2 days ago by Xin Lu
Credit Cards, Consumer Affairs
Today a new bill was passed by the U.S. Senate with the intent of restricting abusive practices in the credit card industry. A House bill was passed on May 12th and will be reconciled with the Senate version and President Obama hopes to sign it before Memorial Day. So what does this bill contain and what does it mean for consumers?
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Posted 6 weeks 6 days ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Shopping, Credit Cards
I am sure you have encountered a store or gas station that has a set of prices for cash customers and a set of prices for credit card customers. Usually the credit card customer has to pay a small surcharge. Under a new measure being considered in the U.S. Senate, retailers may be given the go ahead to give more discounts to cash paying customers. Would this encourage consumers to ditch the plastic?
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Posted 8 weeks 1 day ago 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 8 weeks 2 days ago by Xin Lu
Lifestyle, Taxes
I just read a very interesting article by an American expat named Russell Shorto in the Netherlands titled "Going Dutch - How I Learned to Love the European Welfare State". The author describes his shock at a 52% top income tax bracket and his eventual acceptance of the social benefits of living amongst the Dutch. Here are some highlights of his experience and my thoughts on the subject.
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Posted 9 weeks 1 day ago 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 10 weeks 6 hours ago 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 11 weeks 2 days ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Taxes, Credit Cards
Today is April 15th, also known as the dreaded Tax Day in America. Due to the recession many people may find that they do not have enough money in the bank to pay what they owe. Instead of marching in the various "tea parties" happening today, this is what you can do if you find that you do not have enough money to pay Uncle Sam.
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Posted 12 weeks 3 hours ago by Xin Lu
Making Extra Cash
When I started blogging I wrote an article about saving money in college. In this article I wrote that I made money by selling used books. Some people were curious as to how I could make money doing this, so here is a quick guide to how you can start your own used book business from the comfort of your home.
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Posted 12 weeks 1 day ago by Xin Lu
Making Extra Cash, Lifestyle
Lately many Californians have been heading to the rivers and streams to prospect for gold. The increase in people taking up this activity has some newspapers writing about "the new gold rush". Although very few people can make a living off of finding gold, it is a decent money making hobby since gold is worth around $900 an ounce currently. Here is how you can get in on the action.
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Posted 12 weeks 4 days ago by Xin Lu
Shopping, Consumer Affairs
Today I stumbled upon a site called Swoopo. It is touted as a new auction site that combines shopping with entertainment. I took a quick look and it seemed like many items were selling for very low prices. For example, an ounce of gold recently sold for only $187.96 when it is worth around $1000. How is this possible?
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