6 housing trends in a still-shaky market
By Amanda Gengler, writer
April 1, 2010: 10:37 AM ET
(Money Magazine) -- The drama is nearly over. After a decade of extremes -- the ebullient highs of the real estate boom, then the devastating lows of the bust -- calmer forces are beginning to prevail in the housing market.
The big fall-off in home values, which has taken the median price ...
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Selling When Getting a Divorce
Protecting Credit During Divorce & Selling
Protect your credit when getting a divorce and selling a home.
Even the divorces and breakups that start out amicable can eventually turn sideways -- if not completely inside out -- despite well-intentioned efforts to remain civil. Regardless of who was wronged, who was innocent, how the blame ...
If you haven't looked into refinancing your mortgage under federal programs, you could be missing an opportunity to save money, keep your home and give the economy a little juice.
Federal mortgage refinance programs have given more than 2 million homeowners a better shot at holding on and the economy a much needed shot in the arm.
What's more, the year began with fixed interest rates hovering slightly ...
5 Questions to Help Choose a Loan or Line of Credit
Answers to your loan questions
The choice between a home equity loan or a line of credit is seldom black or white. But here are a couple of generalizations:
A home equity loan might be the best fit if you plan to use the money in a lump sum for a one-time occasion such as consolidating your credit card debt, replacing the roof, or paying for ...
This Month in Real Estate - December
The 5 Biggest Home Buying Obstacles
By Elizabeth Weintraub, About.com Guide
The biggest home buying obstacles generally involve the buyer and the property qualifying for a mortgage.
It's not always an easy process to buy a home. Many home buyers encounter obstacles, and it's not unusual to run into flying monkeys and wicked witches along that yellow brick road to home ownership. The ...
When there are a lot of homes for sale and it takes a long time to sell them – that's a "buyer's market." In most of the country, that's the current situation. If it is a buyer's market where you live and you're looking to buy a home, you are in a strong position to negotiate for lower prices and incentives.
The guidelines for buyers' incentives do vary from loan program to loan program, so ...
Imagine a busy lending office and a loan officer has just ordered a credit report. He hears the whir of the laser printer and he knows the pages of the credit report are going to start spitting out in just a second. There is a moment of tension in the air. He watches the pages stack up in the collection tray, but he waits to pick them up until all of the pages are finished printing. He waits because ...
The federal mortgage insurer's reserve fund has slipped below its mandated minimum. Now the FHA and some lawmakers want to raise up-front costs for borrowers.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Should it be more expensive to get a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration?
That is the question the House Financial Services Committee examined on Wednesday afternoon.
Currently, FHA loans ...
The early years saw a building fever and buying frenzy that had many Americans borrowing their way into homes they couldn’t really afford. But the excess loans and mountains of debt caught up, resulting in record-shattering foreclosures that will haunt many housing markets for years to come. Here’s a look back at the highs and lows of the last 10 years.
By Melinda Fulmer of MSN ...