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 …
Foreclosures
Housing Recovery at Last? Evidence Mounts
While experts continue to warn that housing has not yet hit bottom, a slew of indicators suggest otherwise. The latest is a stellar quarterly earnings report from Home Depot, which is benefitting from hopeful owners sprucing up …
Who Qualifies for the $26 Billion Foreclosure Settlement?
It took over a year for lawmakers and state AGs to agree to the terms of the $26 billion foreclosure settlement announced this week, and it could take up to another three years for eligible homeowners to see a share of that …
Crowd Favorite on American Idol Calls Tent ‘Home’
On the most recent season debut of American Idol, viewers watched as a 24-year-old from Tennessee named Amy Brumfield won a golden ticket to Hollywood. Besides her soulful rendition of an Alicia Keys song, what made Brumfield …
Fixing the Housing Market: What to Expect from Obama’s SOTU Speech
What’s President Obama’s plan for getting the housing market back on track? Look for proposals—but not necessarily solutions—in tonight’s State of the Union address.
Does the Decrease in Defaults Mean Homeowners Are Getting Their Financial Houses In Order?
The social stigma of going into foreclosure seems to have decreased in the last few years as almost three-quarters of U.S. households found themselves underwater with their mortgages, and “walking away” from a home became …
The Real Estate Market that Defies the Trends
The real estate market continues to flatline throughout most of the country. But in Washington, D.C., housing prices are up a smidgen (0.3%) from the previous month. More importantly, year-over-year prices have risen by 1.3%, a …
5 Events that Really Mattered for Housing in 2011 – and Beyond
Government, the mortgage industry and forces of nature all shook the housing market in 2011. They had both an immediate impact and slow-burning effects, setting the stage for a bumpy 2012 with more foreclosures, political battles …
Real Estate Crash Hit Lower-Priced Homes The Hardest
When the housing bubble popped — in 2006, 2007, or 2008, depending on where you were — chances are that the value of your home took a nose dive. But who got hit worse, the top of the market or the bottom?
‘Snoopy House’ Saved From Foreclosure
When Jim Jordan suffered through a foreclosure, it wasn’t just about the family house. The Costa Mesa, Calif. ranch house that he grew up in (but no longer lived in) was host to a gigantic Christmas display. Sure, there was Santa on the roof with reindeer — but there was also an array of Charles Schultz “Peanuts” characters that drew …
Please, Stop Saying That Lending Standards Are Tight
The continued sluggishness of the residential real estate market is maddening and, very likely, holding back other sectors of the economy. We’d all like to find a solution, of course. But in our frustration, it seems, we have a …
Fewer Foreclosures Near Top Public Schools
A new analysis of foreclosures shows that the expression “safe as houses” could be expanded to “safe as houses in a really great school district.”
