Reasonably enough, Americans hate almost everything about the real estate recession. Underwater owners hate that they can neither sell nor refinance, distressed homeowners and consumer advocates hate robo-signing, and just about
…
Mortgages
Modern Retirement: Mortgage and Kids Still at Home
Boomers are reshaping retirement by doing it with a mortgage and adult kids at home. This isn't the way it's supposed to work.
Evidence of ‘Robo-Signing’ In Disputed Fannie and Freddie Mortgage Deals
Long before the banks started evicting delinquent homeowners, Wall Street, it appears, used robo-signers to ink mortgage deals that would eventually cost investors tens of billions of dollars and in part led to the financial crisis.
Top 10 Cities To Buy vs. Rent
Lessons of the Crash: 4 Homeowner Trends We Hope Will Continue
While buyers take the bulk of the heat for ballooning up home prices at the peak of the market, homeowners were not entirely innocent, either. During the sub-prime era, the owner/seller-side bad behavior included fatal missteps …
The Problem with Government Mortgage Refinancing Plans
Remember “Cash for Clunkers” — that stimulus program that got Americans to buy, by one estimate, 125,000 new cars? It cost $3 billion. Any guesses as to how much money is set aside for housing stimulus that remains unspent? …
15 Financial Moves to Make Right Now
Most of the best financial advice is timeless. It remains sound in good times and in bad. But this particular moment of economic and market turmoil has some unique characteristics, so Moneyland put together a handful of smart …
The Real Problem in the Latest Housing Stats
The National Association of Realtors released its July report on housing on Thursday. Considering it’s back-to-school time, let’s take a quiz: The most interesting statistic in the report is …
When is $11.4 Trillion in Debt an Improvement?
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report on Monday that shows America is chipping away at its collective debt — but slowly. According to the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, overall consumer debt was down by $50 billion at the end of June. If that seems like a lot, it’s not; in fact, it’s a measly 0.4 percent …
Best Wedding Gift Ever: A House Via the FHA Bridal Registry
Little-known HUD program allows couples, graduates and expectant parents to amass cash gifts from friends and family into a down payment on an FHA mortgage.
Are Cash Buyers Making Real Estate Less Risky?
One of the biggest risks to the housing market, many economists have been noting, is the virtual certainty that interest rates will rise, and probably sooner than most people think.
Farewell to ARMs: The Debt Debacle Should Convince Homeowners To Lock In Their Rates
The debt drama's potential to cause the first large rate hikes in several years should scare some borrowers off from increasingly popular adjustable rate mortgages – but will it?