Savvy homeowners know that a penny here and a penny there adds up. That’s apparently the case for Facebook founder Mark …
mortgages
How to Buy a House
10 Ways to Improve Your Financial Health (Even If You Only Do One)
Want to Buy a Foreclosure? Here’s What You Need to Know
Foreclosures are up in 26 of the 50 largest metro areas in the country, according to a quarterly report released by foreclosure site RealtyTrac.com. At the top of the list is Pittsburgh, where foreclosures are up 49% from the …
For Thousands of Homeowners Behind on BofA Mortgages, Relief May Be in the Mail
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 …
Foreclosures Are at a 4-Year Low, But That’s Not Necessarily Good News
Foreclosure filings fell in March to their lowest level in four years, according to real estate data provider Realty Trac. For the first time since July 2007, the nationwide number of filings fell under 200,000 — a 4% drop from …
‘No Runaround’ Mortgage Rules Proposed by CFPB
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking aim at the mortgage industry again, this time focusing on making mortgage servicers provide customers with better and more transparent information about their home loans. The CFPB is unveiling a series of proposed rules for the industry, which it will formalize this summer and implement …
Full Real Estate Recovery Not Coming Until 2015
First, the good news: The real estate market has clawed its way back from the brink and is about a third of the way to a normal, pre-bubble market. The bad news: It’s going to take until the end of 2015 to get us the rest of the …
How You Can Fix the Housing Crisis—At Least in Your Own Home
You could wait for the government to fix the housing crisis, or you could simply wait for the housing market to rebound. In either case, though, you might be waiting a long time for anything to happen. Instead of just hoping for …
Plotting the Future of Fannie and Freddie
One of the many cans being kicked down Washington’s boulevards these days is the government conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, Congress and the Bush administration …
Credit Standards May Finally Be Loosening For Housing
It’s wild to think that a strawberry picker who earned $15,000 qualified for a $720,000 mortgage in 2005. But it’s just as ridiculous to think that a buyer with a credit score of 720 and who can put 20% down may not have …
