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	<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Mortgages &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Mortgages &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>This Housing Upturn Looks Like the Real Thing</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/15/why-this-housing-upturn-looks-like-the-real-thing/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/15/why-this-housing-upturn-looks-like-the-real-thing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2013 09:45:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Sivy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic Indicators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreclosures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home-Equity Loans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79982</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ever since the recovery began in 2009, a weak housing market has held back the U.S. economy. The first rebound in home prices was lackluster and after only a year was followed by another dip. But the recent upturn in home prices looks like the real thing. One clear sign of a turning point: In March, homeownership hit a 17-year low, while the 12-month gain in home prices was the biggest in seven years. Those two extremes suggest that the market has hit bottom. The people who are least well financed have been squeezed out, while demand is growing among people who can afford to pay higher home prices. If that trend continues – and there are good reasons to believe it will – a substantial burden will be lifted from the U.S. economy. The great surprise since the recession ended has been the weakness of the economic rebound, which has been particularly clear in the housing market. After falling 31% from 2006 to 2009, home prices rose almost 5% over the following year. But that recovery faltered, and during the next 20 months prices fell to a new low. Then the current recovery began, and barring another recession, all the evidence indicates that it will be sustainable: In the first quarter, home prices were higher (compared with a year earlier) in 133 of 150 metropolitan areas, according to the National Association of Realtors. On a national basis, the median home price gained 11.3%, the biggest yearly gain since 2005. (MORE: The Housing Mirage) The glut of homes for sale has diminished, down almost 17% compared with the previous year. In addition, the number of foreclosures in April (including bank repossessions and scheduled auctions) was 23% lower than a year earlier. Mortgage applications were up 7% in the most recent week, helped by low mortgage rates. Refinancings, which typically improve homeowners’ finances, have been generally rising in recent months and reached their highest level since December. And a Fannie Mae survey of consumer expectations for housing found that a majority of those surveyed in<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79982&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate &amp; Homes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/600_ml_housing_03271.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Housing</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">michaelsivy</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Do We Have Another Financial Bubble On Our Hands? Or Three?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/12/19/do-we-have-another-financial-bubble-on-our-hands-or-three/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/12/19/do-we-have-another-financial-bubble-on-our-hands-or-three/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Sivy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Austerity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Banking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bonds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jobs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Municipal Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street & Markets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=64489</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[More than two years ago, economists started talking about a bubble in Treasury bonds that would eventually burst, just as the dot.com bubble and the housing bubble had. If that happens, the prices of long-term bonds could fall by 10% to 20%. So far, that bond bust hasn&#8217;t materialized. But one of the characteristics of bubbles is that they often go on longer than anyone expects. What is most troubling now is that the problem is spreading beyond Treasuries. Excessive borrowing and ultra-low interest rates are now distorting all the debt markets. As a result, there is no longer just one bubble – there are many. The details vary, but debt bubbles have two things in common. First, there is a big increase in borrowing often promoted by government policies and sometimes accompanied by a decline in lending standards. Second, there is a huge increase in the amount of money available that keeps interest rates low. Sometimes the cash comes from the government and sometimes it is provided by the banking sector, as it was during the housing bubble. The current debt market bubbles are largely the result of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s decision to pump huge amounts of money into the banking system. Because of the recession, interest rates would probably have fallen somewhat anyway. And because bond prices normally move in the opposite direction from rates, prices would have risen. But the Fed&#8217;s policies over the past couple of years have depressed interest rates and pushed up bond prices far more than normal. Only trouble is, the Fed can&#8217;t keep this up forever. Rapid money growth can be absorbed if the economy is slack. But once a recovery picks up speed, consumers start spending more exuberantly and businesses become more willing to invest. Excess cash then begins to encourage inflation unless the Fed turns around and drains money from the banking system. Interest rates are likely to rise either way, whether the Fed allows inflation or restrains money growth. (MORE: Why the Fiscal Cliff May Cost You $6,000 in<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=64489&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Economy &amp; Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/money-in-pockets.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/money-in-pockets.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/money-in-pockets.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Do We Have Another Financial Bubble On Our Hands?</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/b8875a12f713f52ecc28fe72efed7fd4?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">michaelsivy</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>House Flipping Is Hot Again</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/10/16/house-flipping-is-hot-again/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/10/16/house-flipping-is-hot-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreclosures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flipping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[foreclosures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[house flipping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgage rates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[underwater]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=45719</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Buying a home with the intention of reselling it at a profit in the near future made a lot of sense in 2005, when home values appreciated 20% nationwide. A couple of years later, as the real estate market collapsed and millions of owners found themselves underwater, house flipping didn&#8217;t seemed just risky, but stupid. Recently, however, with home prices on the rise and record low interest rates still in effect, this is a bet more investors are willing to take. According to the Washington Post, flipping homes is booming business yet again: The number of flips rose 25 percent during the first half of 2012 from the same period a year earlier, according to research firm RealtyTrac, and the gross profit on each property averaged $29,342. First off, note that that&#8217;s gross profit—not factoring in any other costs incurred by the flipper, including rehab expenses and fees for realtors, lawyers, and inspectors. What truly matters to a flipper is net profit, and it&#8217;s unclear what that average is. (MORE: 12 Things You Should Always Haggle Over) Profits are potentially higher in areas where homes cost more, but then again risk is higher as well. In Maryland and Virginia, where home prices tend to be higher than in most places around the country, the average gross profit for a flipped home has been about $55,000. (For RealtyTrac&#8217;s purposes, a flip is defined as a transaction in which a home is bought and resold within six months; the average time for flipping nationally is 106 days.) The hottest markets for flipping include Phoenix, Las Vegas, Miami, and Atlanta. What these areas have in common is that they all suffered enormously during the Great Recession&#8216;s real estate value collapse. Like most of the country, these spots have also been benefitting from steadily rising home prices, leading buyers to believe that the market has bottomed out and there&#8217;s money to be made—attracting more buyers in the process. Flipping for a profit is far, far easier in an environment in which home prices are<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=45719&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Foreclosures</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/foreclosures-real-estate-homes/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/108006202-e13503160409061.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/108006202-e13503160409061.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/108006202-e13503160409061.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Foreclosure on Door Mat</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Is the Stigma of Ditching Your Underwater Mortgage Fading?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/10/15/is-the-stigma-of-ditching-your-underwater-mortgage-fading/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/10/15/is-the-stigma-of-ditching-your-underwater-mortgage-fading/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:00:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martha C. White</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[default]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[housing bubble]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=45563</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A good five years after the subprime mortgage crisis and housing bubble collapse, more Americans are deciding that it’s okay to just walk away. In a new survey, roughly a third of respondents said it was socially acceptable to strategically default on a mortgage.  In a survey conducted by JZ Analytics for ID Analytics, 32% of more than 1,000 respondents said they “believe homeowners should be able to strategically default on their mortgages without any consequences.” Although the annual study hadn’t asked this question in previous years, other research about attitudes around strategic defaults indicate that this number is probably quite a bit higher than in the past. In a research paper published in 2011 titled “The Determinants of Attitudes towards Strategic Default on Mortgages,” researchers found that 82% of respondents in a series of surveys taken between 2008 and 2010 think it’s “morally wrong to engage in a strategic default.” In 2009, Georgetown University professor of business ethics George Brenkert told the Wall Street Journal that homeowners have a moral responsibility to remain committed to their mortgage. Today, there’s obviously still a social stigma to walking away from an underwater home, given that the other two-thirds of respondents didn’t find it acceptable. In addition to shame and guilt, people also have to face a sense of loss, since most of us are emotionally attached to our homes. There are practical considerations, too: the stress of being hounded by collectors, the knowledge that you’re torching your credit, and the possibility — depending on the state — of being sued by the lender to make up the shortfall. (MORE: The Best Times to Buy or Sell a House) There&#8217;s also community pressure to avoid foreclosure: Defaults hurt nearby property values. A 2010 study by the Cleveland Fed found &#8220;foreclosure-related sales have prices about 27 percent lower than comparable properties&#8230; each foreclosure lowered the selling price of other (nonforeclosure) properties within a radius of about 260 feet by nearly 1 percent.&#8221; Despite all this, attitudes have clearly changed. As the subprime meltdown mushroomed and letting<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=45563&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate Markets</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/real-estate-markets/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/85393814-e13281215178601.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Home for Sale</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">marthacwhite</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Risk is Back in Fashion</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/10/03/why-risk-is-back-in-fashion/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/10/03/why-risk-is-back-in-fashion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Oct 2012 12:00:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bonds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mutual Funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[federal reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[QE3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[quantitative easing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stimulus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=45263</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In one respect, at least, Ben Bernanke may be getting his way. When the Fed chief last month unleashed his latest round of stimulus, known as QE3, it was (among other things) a shot across the bow of investors who have been squirreling away assets in super-safe securities like short-term Treasuries, bank CDs, and money-market funds. These investments yield less than the rate of inflation, and with the third installment of his “quantitative easing” strategy, Bernanke all but guaranteed that things will stay that way until the economy is really moving again. But the point of QE3 wasn&#8217;t just to keep rates down and encourage home buying. It was also intended to frustrate holders of conservative, low-yielding assets, pushing them to seek higher returns in riskier investments and thereby fund job-generating business activity &#8212; and it seems to be working. (MORE: 4 Key Financial Moves After Landing a New Job) Frustrating savers shouldn&#8217;t be difficult. In fact, the job is largely done: In the second quarter, U.S. households earned $252 billion in interest payments, according to the Commerce Department. That&#8217;s down from an inflation-adjusted $355 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007. This is one result of falling yields and it is playing havoc with the finances of retirees. The Bernanke push is partly what’s behind impressive gains in the stock market the past few months, and now it seems as if home prices are getting a welcome bounce as well. After years of playing it safe, at least some folks have tired of paltry returns and are gaining the confidence to stick their necks out a bit. In a survey of affluent investors, Merrill Lynch recently found that far fewer describe themselves as conservative today. Just 30% say they are leaning toward low-risk investment options—down from 36% last year and 50% two years ago. The shift is most apparent among those with the longest time horizons. Among those 18 to 34 years old, 23% describe themselves as conservative, down from 52% two years ago. (MORE: 10 Questions for Gerhard Richter) There’s<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=45263&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Planning</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-planning/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/bernanke1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/bernanke1.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Ben Bernanke</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Five Reasons It Could Be the Opportunity of a Lifetime to Buy a House</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/09/18/five-reasons-why-it-could-be-the-opportunity-of-a-lifetime-to-buy-a-house/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/09/18/five-reasons-why-it-could-be-the-opportunity-of-a-lifetime-to-buy-a-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:00:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Sivy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgage interest rate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=49415</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The oft-quoted investment advice to &#8220;buy when blood is running in the streets&#8221; is usually attributed to one of the members of the Rothschild banking family. The most plausible version of the story is that Baron Rothschild said it to a hesitant client in Paris shortly after France was defeated by Prussia in 1871. One important detail is that Rothschild was supposedly talking about buying real estate, an investment that would be around for a while – certainly long enough for the Paris property market to recover from deeply depressed wartime prices. The recent recession may not have been quite as dramatic as the Franco-Prussian War, but it still had a devastating effect on real estate, which lost a third of its value, on average. Economic trends, however, have begun to suggest that prices could rise substantially over the coming decade or longer. Most recently, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s decision to begin a third round of so-called quantitative easing (effectively printing money) has increased the odds of eventual inflation that would greatly boost the prices of tangible assets, especially houses. (MORE: Without Music, Apple Would Be Nothing) There’s no guarantee, of course, that home prices will escape another dip next year, especially if there’s a recession or any sort of economic slowdown. And it may take some time for real estate prices to recover fully. In addition, not everyone who might want to buy today will be able to get a mortgage. But for people who can afford to buy a home and expect to stay in it for at least a decade, there’s a compelling argument that the current housing market offers an exceptional opportunity. Consider these five factors: Buying a home right now is cheaper than renting. Both home prices and rents have risen a little bit from their post-recession lows, but rents are up more. Mortgage rates are at their lowest levels in more than half a century. And given current prices and tax benefits, owning a home is cheaper than renting in almost every major U.S.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=49415&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2012/09/18/five-reasons-why-it-could-be-the-opportunity-of-a-lifetime-to-buy-a-house/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>17</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/real-estate-economy-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/forsale.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/forsale.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/forsale.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Sale</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/b8875a12f713f52ecc28fe72efed7fd4?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">michaelsivy</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<item>
		<title>Why Isn&#8217;t There More Inflation?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/09/05/why-isnt-there-more-inflation/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/09/05/why-isnt-there-more-inflation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Sep 2012 12:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Sivy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=48487</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The economy of the past three years has puzzled experts and policy makers in all sorts of ways, but the greatest mystery has been the recent decline in the rate of inflation. That may not seem remarkable in a stagnant economy, except that all the major economic theories suggest that prices should now be rising at a fast clip. Like the dog that didn’t bark – which provided the crucial clue for Sherlock Holmes in the story Silver Blaze – the current absence of significant inflation provides a tipoff to what is really happening in today’s economy. On a very simple level, inflation occurs when there is more money in circulation than there are things to buy. A big Federal deficit can increase the money supply, because it means either that the government is spending more or that tax cuts are boosting individuals’ disposable income. Low interest rates can also expand the money in circulation because they signal that the Federal Reserve is making it easier and cheaper for banks to lend. And an even more potent way for the Fed to intervene is through so-called quantitative easing – i.e., buying government bonds and effectively creating additional money out of nothing. (MORE: Is the U.S. Headed for a Double-Dip Recession?) What’s most striking today is that all three of these factors are now at extremes that should be fanning the flames of inflation. Deficits of more than a trillion dollars a year are the highest in history. At close to zero, short-term interest rates are at their lowest level in more than 30 years. And the Fed’s monetary base has been expanding at an unprecedented rate. The remarkable thing is that none of this is translating into serious inflation. Over the past three years, some volatile prices, such as those for food and gasoline, have indeed gone up. But there still haven’t been sustained widespread price increases throughout the economy. Generally speaking, inflation becomes dangerous when it exceeds 3%. Last year, the rate did begin to pick up and reached a disturbing 3.9%<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=48487&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2012/09/05/why-isnt-there-more-inflation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Economy &amp; Policy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/b8875a12f713f52ecc28fe72efed7fd4?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">michaelsivy</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>New Frontier in Student Debt: It Stifles the Housing Recovery</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/09/04/new-frontier-in-student-debt-it-stifles-the-housing-recovery/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/09/04/new-frontier-in-student-debt-it-stifles-the-housing-recovery/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Borrowing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Educational Financing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[higher education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Student debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[student loans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=44307</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the start of another school year, the air is once again filled with angst over the high cost of college. But the discussion is shifting. It’s not just about runaway tuition inflation anymore, or even the individual hardship that excessive college loans create for graduates. Now we’re talking about how student debt is everyone’s problem because it is crushing the economy. Total student debt recently crossed the $1 trillion mark, more than Americans collectively owe on credit cards. New findings conclude that this debt is shutting young people out of the housing market, further depressing what is already the economy’s most troubled sector. According to Denied: The Impact of Student Debt on the Ability to Buy a House, a report from the youth advocacy group Young Invincibles: “As monthly student debt payments increase for college graduates, so does their struggle to qualify for a mortgage. Looking at a key factor in qualifying for a mortgage—the debt-to-income ratio—we find some disturbing results. … Home purchases create jobs and spur economic growth. Cutting out a cohort of graduates who previously participated in this market will add another drag to an economy only just emerging from the Great Recession.” (MORE: How to Save $2,500 a Year on Lunch) This drag was probably inevitable. Student debt held at graduation has jumped 46% since 2000; total debt held by the public has soared by 511% in that period. Fed Chief Ben Bernanke has said he does not believe student loans will foment another financial crisis, as mortgage debt did five years ago. But the student loan burden can’t help but forestall things like auto and home purchases. Starting salaries for college grads have not kept pace. A recent story in the Chicago Tribune illustrates the hardship: “Take Alex Brooks, a truck driver&#8217;s son who studied computer networking at ITT Technical Institute and graduated six years ago with an associate&#8217;s degree and almost $40,000 in debt. He&#8217;s now one of those underwater graduates, one who is either in a job that could be performed without<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=58416&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2012/09/04/new-frontier-in-student-debt-it-stifles-the-housing-recovery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Educational Financing</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/educational-financing/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/886843511.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/886843511.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/886843511.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Graduation</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d69b05e696e822e7e41ae630be72226a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>New Score Says You Have Better Credit, But Will It Get You a Mortgage?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/07/27/new-score-says-you-have-better-credit-but-will-it-get-you-a-mortgage/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/07/27/new-score-says-you-have-better-credit-but-will-it-get-you-a-mortgage/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:00:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martha C. White</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CoreLogic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[credit score]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FICO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[loans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=42582</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The recession and its aftermath, including stubbornly high unemployment, did a number on Americans&#8217; credit scores. The average person&#8217;s credit score is 655, according to Credit Karma. Unfortunately, the average credit score you&#8217;ll need to get a mortgage is 764, or 770 if you want to refinance. Into this gap, two companies have partnered to create a new credit score they say does a better job of measuring mortgage risk — and found that most of us have better credit than we thought. Over 70% of consumers scored higher with this new score, and 24% saw increases of more than 50 points. The big X factor is when — or if — lenders will flock to this new standard. The score is derived from a new credit scoring model developed by FICO score creator Fair Issac Co. and data company CoreLogic, who say it offers a more accurate assessment of borrowers&#8217; creditworthiness by using data not usually connected to credit scoring. The two companies announced the model several months ago, and the new score — which bears the somewhat unwieldy title of the FICO Mortgage Score Powered by CoreLogic — just made its debut. (MORE: Why the Housing Market Isn&#8217;t Recovering Faster) While prime and even subprime lending are back in full force in credit cards and auto financing, mortgage-lending standards remain tighter than normal. It makes sense that banks don&#8217;t want to get back into the bubble-era of giving out loans to anyone with a pulse, but the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, and many borrowers who would have qualified for prime rates five years ago are locked out entirely or can&#8217;t get the record-low rates currently being offered. Tim Grace, senior vice president of product management at CoreLogic, says the scoring formula looks at nontraditional metrics like rent payments, utilities and public records. When plans for this were initially announced, consumer advocates worried that this expansion of data collection would lead to borrowers being penalized and their scores dragged down. (MORE: Need a Mortgage? Better<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=58210&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2012/07/27/new-score-says-you-have-better-credit-but-will-it-get-you-a-mortgage/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate &amp; Homes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/9a5a9e4f28beb5afb59b1202632d219a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">marthacwhite</media:title>
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		<title>From Underwater to &#8216;Equity Poor&#8217;: Why the Housing Market Isn&#8217;t Recovering Faster</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/07/25/from-underwater-to-equity-poor-why-the-housing-market-isnt-recovering-faster/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/07/25/from-underwater-to-equity-poor-why-the-housing-market-isnt-recovering-faster/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jul 2012 12:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alison Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arizona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equity poor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negative equity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nevada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[underwater]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=42381</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Housing prices appear to have finally begun increasing, with gains posted for three months in a row according to the index put out by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. So why aren't more Americans buying houses?<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=58190&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2012/07/25/from-underwater-to-equity-poor-why-the-housing-market-isnt-recovering-faster/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate Markets</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/real-estate-markets/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/807198321-e13431525547181.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/807198321-e13431525547181.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/807198321-e13431525547181.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">For Sale Signs</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/63e86474dce0246f9a52049d15245238?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">1alisonrogers</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>Mark Zuckerberg Has a Lower Mortgage Rate than You</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/07/16/mark-zuckerberg-has-a-lower-mortgage-rate-than-you/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/07/16/mark-zuckerberg-has-a-lower-mortgage-rate-than-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:16:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alison Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Zuckerberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgage rates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palo Alto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Refinance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[refinancing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=42183</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Savvy homeowners know that a penny here and a penny there adds up. That&#8217;s apparently the case for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who &#8212; despite a reported net worth in excess of $14 billion &#8212; just refinanced the mortgage on his Palo Alto, Calif., home. The rate he got, according to Bloomberg&#8217;s John Gittelsohn and Dakin Campbell, was 1.05% on an adjustable 30-year loan. (MORE: The Dumbest Way Ever to Get Your Credit Card Stolen) The duo notes that&#8217;s somewhat better than market, as average rates on 30-year mortgages that reset after one year are running at 2.69%. But you don&#8217;t get to be a preferred customer without having good financial habits. And since the new rates are a drop from his previous mortgage&#8217;s 1.75%, the 28-year-old billionaire&#8217;s savings on the $5.95 million loan are approximately $1,981 a month. Not bad, even for a guy who has at least $14 billion &#8212; roughly the GDP of Iceland. Put that in $100 bills, and it would weigh 153 tons. But hey, money-savvy people often care about the little things, right? And Zuckerberg is very down to earth. The house &#8212; which was purchased in the name of an LLC for $7 million last March &#8212; is a relatively unpretentious prairie-style five-bedroom set on a fifth of an acre with a modest saltwater pool. The well-groomed backyard was the setting for his wedding to longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan just two months ago. (MORE: Why Britain&#8217;s Banking Culture Needs Fixing) Priscilla, you may have married a keeper. Even if rates rise, the loan resets are capped at 9.95%, making the maximum payment for the home $51,995 a month. Financial observers speculate that the only reason Zuckerberg took a mortgage at all is that if the hoodie-sporting mogul can borrow at a mere 1.05%, he can invest the money in assets with a higher return. Assets, that is, that probably aren&#8217;t Facebook: the stock was down 22% from its May IPO price as of midday trading today. Well, we at Moneyland are here to help. May we suggest<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=58128&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2012/07/16/mark-zuckerberg-has-a-lower-mortgage-rate-than-you/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate &amp; Homes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/zuck1.png?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/zuck1.png?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/zuck1.png?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Mark Zuckerberg</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/63e86474dce0246f9a52049d15245238?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">1alisonrogers</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>How to Buy a House</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/06/08/how-to-buy-a-house/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/06/08/how-to-buy-a-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:45:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alison Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appraisal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Buying a Home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Closing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Final Walk-Through]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Inspection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[negotiating]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=40258</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You’ve found your dream house. Now what? These handy checklists will help you get through every step of the process—with less anxiety and expense.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=40258&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2012/06/08/how-to-buy-a-house/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate Markets</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/real-estate-markets/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/0_house1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/0_house1.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/0_house1.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">House</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/63e86474dce0246f9a52049d15245238?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">1alisonrogers</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>It&#8217;s Not Your Imagination: Rent Prices Really Have Been Rising</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/06/07/its-not-your-imagination-rent-prices-really-have-been-rising/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/06/07/its-not-your-imagination-rent-prices-really-have-been-rising/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:00:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[California Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Dream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arizona]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[california]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colony Capital]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[families]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[homeownership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment property]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landlord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nevada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rent prices]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[renting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[single-family home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trulia]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=40245</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks to cheap home prices and mortgage rates at historic lows, it&#8217;s easy to argue that now is the ideal time to buy a home. But many would-be buyers are worried the market hasn&#8217;t yet reached bottom, and years of plunging home values and foreclosures have scared some off—understandably so. There&#8217;s one thing we can be fairly certain about, though: Based on rising rents, right now is a terrific time to be a landlord. For months now, buying a home has theoretically been cheaper than renting. A study released in March showed that buying was less expensive than sending monthly checks to a landlord in 98 out of 100 major U.S. metropolitan real estate markets. And yet, demand for rentals has remained high—and rent prices reflect it. In the latest report from real estate site Trulia, while average home prices remain mostly flat, rents in May rose 6% compared to May 2011. Renters in some cities face monthly bills that are rising far more than average: Rents have increase more than 10% in San Francisco, Oakland, Miami, and Denver, and between 9% and 10% in Boston, Seattle, and Houston. Of the 25 largest U.S. markets, only one—overbuilt Las Vegas—experienced a decline in rent prices. (MORE: Why This May Be the Ideal Time to Buy Real Estate) If rents are soaring at a time when buying is already considered cheaper than renting in much of the country, why aren&#8217;t more people pulling the trigger and purchasing homes? As mentioned, many are probably freaked out by the convulsions of the real estate market in recent years. They also might not qualify for credit, or perhaps they just don&#8217;t want the stresses of homeownership—including upkeep and mortgage payments, being tied down to one property in one location, and of course, the unpredictability of the market and the economy as a whole. For all of these reasons and more, the prototypical American dream—the one revolving around homeownership—appears to be changing slightly. During the immediate aftermath of the housing market collapse, homeownership seemed like more<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=57886&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2012/06/07/its-not-your-imagination-rent-prices-really-have-been-rising/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate Markets</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/real-estate-markets/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/forrentsign1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/forrentsign1.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/forrentsign1.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">For Rent</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Home Sales Jump as Number of Foreclosures Drops</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/05/22/real-estate-jumps-as-number-of-foreclosures-drops/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/05/22/real-estate-jumps-as-number-of-foreclosures-drops/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 May 2012 15:43:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alison Rogers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=39459</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[April housing numbers released by the National Association of Realtors were, wait for it &#8230; good. Spring is traditionally a busy season for home sales, but the real estate market has been in such a slump for the past couple of years that &#8220;ordinary&#8221; good news comes as something of a surprise. In the case of today&#8217;s data, existing home sales increased 3.4% from the month before, jumping to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.62 million. It&#8217;s even better news when you compare year-on-year numbers: the current pace of sales is a 10% pop from April 2011. (MORE: Why This May Be the Ideal Time to Buy Real Estate) Record-low mortgage-interest rates &#8212; just when it seems they can&#8217;t sink any lower, they do &#8212; are probably helping the cause. Rates on 30-year fixed-interest mortgages have been under 4% all spring. And those rates are dropping, which may continue to boost home sales. Fixed mortgages that run for 30 years are now available at 3.79%, the lowest rate since data tracking began in the 1950s, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, the median price of a home sold in April rose 10.1% from a year ago, to $177,400, according to NAR. That rise is probably driven by two factors: one is the aforementioned cheap financing, which allows buyers to afford to spend more on homes. The other is that there were fewer distressed sales in the market. Foreclosures and short sales &#8212; which typically trade at substantial discounts to non-distressed sales, and thus drag housing prices down &#8212; shrank from 37% to the market a year ago to 28% in April. There&#8217;s no reason that these trends wouldn&#8217;t continue in the short-term, so I think we could be looking at positive May numbers a month from now. However, whether the &#8220;foreclosure crisis&#8221; is over is an open question. It&#8217;s quite possible that banks have been forced to slow their processing of distressed sales, but that there are plenty of foreclosures out there waiting to hit the market in a new<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=57782&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate Markets</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/real-estate-markets/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/600_ml_housing_03271.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/600_ml_housing_03271.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/600_ml_housing_03271.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Housing</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/63e86474dce0246f9a52049d15245238?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">1alisonrogers</media:title>
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		<title>What President Obama Wants You To Tell Your Kids About Money &#8212; and When</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/05/22/what-president-obama-wants-you-to-tell-your-kids-about-money-and-when/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/05/22/what-president-obama-wants-you-to-tell-your-kids-about-money-and-when/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 May 2012 13:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dan Kadlec</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Borrowing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Budgeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mutual Funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Budgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Financial Literacy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[President Obama]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=39410</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The White House has put the final touches on a nifty new website offering guidelines on how parents can reinforce money lessons with their kids, starting as young as age three. It’s called Money As You Grow: 20 things kids need to know to live financially smart lives, and it’s an outgrowth of the money milestones project that I first reported in January. The website is interactive and easy to use. It divides broad, easy concepts into five age-appropriate groups: 3-5, 6-10, 11-13, 14-18, and 18-plus. Click on the age group and up pops four core lessons. Click on a lesson and up pops three to six activities that will reinforce the lesson. (MORE: U.S. Airlines &#8216;Only&#8217; Collected $3.36 Billion in Baggage Fees Last Year) For example, in the group aged 3-5 concept No. 1 is “you need money to buy things.” Suggested activities are teaching your child to identify coins, discussing how to value something that is free (like playing with a friend), and identifying items that cost money (like ice cream and clothes). These suggested activities are the newest part of the project, and while at first glance they may seem to lack depth they nevertheless give the website a welcome level of utility. Many parents don’t know where to start and this offers a guide. The lessons and activities get more involved as you rise through the age groups. At 6-10, you are teaching kids to comparison shop and earn interest with a savings account. Suggested activities include researching products online and letting your child keep the savings if they find the same thing for less; and opening a savings account and discussing the interest rate and federal deposit insurance. At 11-13, you are teaching about identity theft and the value of saving early in life. Suggested activities include talking about “free” online games and ringtones designed solely to get your credit card and Social Security numbers; and showing on a calculator the substantial difference between saving $100 a year for 30 years and saving for 50<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=39410&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Financial Education</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/planning/financial-education/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">dankadlec</media:title>
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		<title>For Thousands of Homeowners Behind on BofA Mortgages, Relief May Be in the Mail</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/05/09/behind-on-your-bank-of-america-mortgage-relief-may-be-in-the-mail/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/05/09/behind-on-your-bank-of-america-mortgage-relief-may-be-in-the-mail/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 May 2012 10:45:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martha C. White</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bank of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[loan modification]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgage meltdown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgage Settlement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[robosigning]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=38758</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bank of America announced it has begun mailing letters to the first wave of up to 200,000 homeowners who are eligible for mortgage principal reductions, part of a settlement the bank worked out with the federal government and 49 state attorneys general. In a statement, the bank says homeowners who qualify will see an average monthly savings of 30%, once both principal and interest deductions are taken into account. BofA began a trial modification program back in March that included around 5,000 homeowners and delivered a collective $700 million in savings, according to the bank. (MORE: The ‘Free Rent’ Approach: When Homeowners Just Stop Paying their Mortgages) The average principal reduction for homeowners who complete modifications under this expanded program will be $150,000, according to bank spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens. That&#8217;s some serious relief. Mortgage modifications in which the principal is reduced have been very rare; more common variations involve extending the term of the loan and/or lowering the interest rate to give the homeowner some relief on their monthly payments. Bank of America&#8217;s program extends only to homeowners whose loan is held by BofA or an investor that has agreed to participate, and it doesn&#8217;t include Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA-backed loans. There are three other criteria: The homeowners must be underwater; that is, owe more than the property is currently worth. They must have been at least 60 days delinquent on payments as of January 31 of this year. Their combined monthly payment, including insurance, taxes and any homeowner association fees, along with mortgage principal and interest, must total more than 25% of their gross household income. For the reductions to be permanent, homeowners have to make three on-time payments after their modifications are completed. (MORE: Who Qualifies for the $26 Billion Foreclosure Settlement?) It&#8217;s unclear whether the principal reductions will affect homeowners&#8217; credit scores. &#8220;There is no published direction on how to report principal reduction under the DOJ agreement at present,&#8221; says FICO spokesman Anthony Sprauve. &#8220;So, if the lender reports with standard loan modification reporting codes, there<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=57683&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate &amp; Homes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/bofa21.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/bofa21.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">Bank of America</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/9a5a9e4f28beb5afb59b1202632d219a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">marthacwhite</media:title>
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		<title>Market for Investment and Vacation Homes Has Been Booming</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/04/02/market-for-investment-and-vacation-homes-has-been-booming/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/04/02/market-for-investment-and-vacation-homes-has-been-booming/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:15:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AirBnB]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cash]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cash sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HomeExchange]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investment home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landlord]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[renters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vacation home]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=36364</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Buyers snatched up houses as investment properties and second homes at an especially fast clip last year. The number of homes purchased for investment purposes rose a whopping 65% in 2011, from 749,000 to 1.23 million properties—which was more than one-fourth of all homes sold last year. For the most part, the real estate market isn&#8217;t pretty, and hasn&#8217;t been in quite some time. Housing prices have fallen to 2003 levels, and recent signs indicate it&#8217;s unlikely that a full recovery will arrive before 2015. If there&#8217;s one bright spot in the market, it&#8217;s the sharp rise in investors realizing that, what with prices so low, it&#8217;s a terrific time to buy. The most recent report from the National Association of Realtors indicates that vacation home sales rose by 7% last year, while investment-home sales soared by 65%. (MORE: An Early Spring for Housing Too?) An unusually high percentage of both groups (49% of investment buyers, 42% of those purchasing vacation homes) paid cash for their homes, indicating that the buyers tended to be fairly well off and sellers often wanted to unload their properties in quick-and-painless fashion, with no mortgages or banks involved: NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said investors with cash took advantage of market conditions in 2011. “During the past year investors have been swooping into the market to take advantage of bargain home prices,” he said. “Rising rental income easily beat cash sitting in banks as an added inducement. In addition, 41 percent of investment buyers purchased more than one property.” While investment home sales grew from 17% of the market in 2010 to 27% last year, 2011 was a slow year for traditional sales in which the purchaser planned on using the home as a primary residence. At 2.78 million sales, such transactions still represented the majority of home purchases—61%—but in 2010, 73% of home purchases were of the owner-occupied variety. (MORE: Learning to Love the Housing Bailout) One reason that investors are jumping on homes is that rents have soared in the U.S. A<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=36364&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Reverse Mortgage</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/reverse-mortgage-real-estate-homes/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/beachhouses1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/beachhouses1.jpg?w=240" />
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			<media:title type="html">beachhouses</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Housing Math: Buying Is Now Cheaper Than Renting 98% of the Time</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/03/21/housing-math-buying-is-now-cheaper-than-renting-98-of-the-time/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/03/21/housing-math-buying-is-now-cheaper-than-renting-98-of-the-time/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:28:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Borrowing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cleveland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Detroit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Honolulu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[manhattan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[San Francisco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trulia]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=35705</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As the cost of renting rises and home values keep dropping, it gets easier and easier to figure out whether it&#8217;s smarter to buy or rent. A new study indicates that in 98 out of 100 U.S. housing markets, buying is the more affordable option. According to data from the real estate site Trulia, the only metropolitan areas where it still makes more financial sense to rent rather than buy are San Francisco and Honolulu. Last summer, by comparison, buying was deemed more affordable than renting in three-quarters of the top 100 markets. The areas where buying is much, much cheaper than renting tend to be older, down-on-their luck cities such as Detroit and Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio, according to CNN Money. The Detroit Free Press rounded up several former renters who are now paying much less each month on mortgages than they used to fork over to landlords. One retiree in the greater Detroit area, for instance, swapped his 2BR, 900-square-foot, $1,100-a-month apartment for a 4BR, 2,500-square-foot home with a $950 monthly mortgage payment. (MORE: Being 30 and Living With Your Parents Isn&#8217;t Lame &#8212; It&#8217;s Awesome) There&#8217;s a reason why buying can be dramatically less expensive in these cities, though: “Buying is much cheaper than renting in slow-growing places with high vacancy rates and land to spare like Detroit and Cleveland, where prices are unlikely to improve much in the future,” said Trulia’s chief economist Jed Kolko. The rule of thumb is that if buying is 15 or more times more expensive than renting, then it&#8217;s smarter to rent. Overall in Detroit, it&#8217;s just 3.7 times more expensive to buy than rent—and in certain situations like the one mentioned above, it&#8217;s flat-out cheaper just to buy. (MORE: Learning to Love the Housing Bailout) In San Francisco, by contrast, it&#8217;s 17 times pricier to buy than rent, so the advice for renters is to keep on renting. It may be surprising that Manhattan isn&#8217;t on the rent side of this equation. It should be, actually. Trulia estimates that the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=57366&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate Markets</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/real-estate-markets/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/200554203-004-e13323450438671.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/200554203-004-e13323450438671.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/200554203-004-e13323450438671.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">House for sale</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Could Your Property Taxes Actually Be Getting Cheaper?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/03/14/could-your-property-taxes-actually-be-getting-cheaper/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/03/14/could-your-property-taxes-actually-be-getting-cheaper/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:00:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate Markets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[great depression]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[great recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[property taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=35133</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Five years after the market first began to stumble, property taxes seem to be declining in parts of the country.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=57306&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Taxes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/taxes-economy-policy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/silicon1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Silicon Valley</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Mortgage-Skipping Masters: Couple Lives in $1.29 Million Home Without Making Payments for 5 Years</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2012/03/05/mortgage-skipping-masters-couple-lives-in-1-29-million-home-without-making-payments-for-5-years/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2012/03/05/mortgage-skipping-masters-couple-lives-in-1-29-million-home-without-making-payments-for-5-years/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:32:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Foreclosures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mortgages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate & Homes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bankruptcy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[D.C.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Janet Ritter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[judicial states]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keith Ritter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maryland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[strategic default]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Virginia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[washington]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneyland.time.com/?p=34552</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Guess what happens when you stop paying the mortgage? For quite some time, the answer is: Nothing much. In many states, while the foreclosure process drags on for years, homeowners who have stopped paying their bills can live in the property in a situation that amounts to &#8220;free rent,&#8221; as it&#8217;s been called. One couple in Maryland may be the masters of this approach: For five years, they&#8217;ve lived in a five-bedroom, 4,900-square-foot home originally purchased for $1.29 million, and they&#8217;ve never paid a single mortgage payment on the property. Over the weekend, the Washington Post broke the story of Keith and Janet Ritter, who have managed to live for five years in a mansion overlooking the Potomac River in Fort Washington, Maryland, a ritzy suburb of Washington, D.C., without paying the mortgage, and without being kicked out. How is this possible? Part of the explanation is that the home is located in Maryland. According to a Bloomberg story, 24 states are known as &#8220;judicial states,&#8221; where courts must approve before delinquent homeowners are foreclosed upon. All the paperwork makes the process occur slowly—and over the last few years, as the number of delinquencies and foreclosures has soared, the process has taken place at an especially snail-like pace. (MORE: How You Can Fix the Housing Crisis &#8212; At Least in Your Own Home) Maryland, as you might guess, is just such a &#8220;judicial state.&#8221; Neighboring Virginia, on the other hand, is not. The WP notes the dramatic time difference for foreclosures in the two otherwise similar states: It now takes on average 634 days to complete a foreclosure in Maryland, compared with 132 days in Virginia. During the pre-recession housing boom, the Ritters became mini real estate moguls. Janet is a real estate agent, and Keith—who was previously sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud related to older real estate dealings—pulled in a six-figure income by investing in properties and collecting rent as a landlord. Five years ago, they purchased their $1.29 million home with almost no<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=57244&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Real Estate &amp; Homes</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/real-estate-homes/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/89846681-e13208480745261.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Foreclosure</media:title>
		</media:content>

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