Next week, President Obama will take his family to Hawaii for their annual Christmas vacation — if, that is, Congress passes an extension to the payroll tax holiday. A look at a few of the more notable Presidential vacation …
Mortgages
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 …
What the Government Could Still Do to Help Housing
Earlier this month, President Obama announced tweaks to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (or HARP), which was designed to help homeowners refinance underwater homes but so far had helped only 838,000 of the 5 million …
‘This Home is Occupied’: An Occupy Atlanta Protest Moves to a Foreclosed Home
Occupy Wall Street, an offshoot of which has roosted in almost every major U.S. city, generally sets up camp near the center of large metropolitan areas. Now it has occupied the front lawn of a small home in suburban Atlanta.
Delinquencies in Mortgages, Credit Cards Rise
As a nation, we’re collectively late with our payments again. For one, the rate of 60-day delinquencies among homeowners — basically two missed mortgage payments — rose in the September quarter, according to TransUnion. The jump from 5.82% to 5.88% is the first rise in the delinquency rate in two years.
After Walking Away from a Mortgage, No Regrets—Not Many Consequences Either
Two years ago, a national debate raged regarding strategic default: Was it wrong to walk away from one’s mortgage? Or, when a homeowner is underwater—owing more than the home was worth—is it a purely business situation in …
The Weird Connection Between Moving and Prosperity
The popular imagination tends to see migration to find work in a new city as an act of desperation. After all, what’s more frightening than leaving one’s friends, family and community behind to seek one’s fortune elsewhere, a …
Obama’s Housing Refinance Program: Underwhelming Policy, Expedient Politics
Did you know that you can’t be for fixing the housing market and not be for President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act? That was the underlying message of a conference call with two top Obama advisers on Monday morning, …
Credit Scores Down But Credit Card Debt Up
Numbers don’t lie, but sometimes they don’t tell the whole story. Credit score and product site CreditKarma.com compared the amount of credit card, mortgage and student loan debt in each state, along with each state’s average …
Suze Orman Offers 4 Tips on How to Save (and Spend) Your Money
“Are you afraid?” asked Suze Orman. “Are you afraid when it comes to your money? Well, you should be.” The lively personal finance expert and host of CNBC’s The Suze Orman Show appeared at Chicago Ideas Week (CIW) last night, …
Conforming Loan Limit Shrinks This Weekend — Will It Hurt the Already Beaten Down Market?
On Saturday, federally guaranteed loans — the limits on which were increased during the financial upheaval of 2008 to as high as $729,750 in some parts of the country — will be capped at $625,500. Homebuyers looking to …
Should You Switch to a 15-Year Mortgage?
As 30-year fixed mortgage rates have hit historical lows, there’s been one less-publicized corollary: 15-year fixed rates are low, too.