•Refinance Opportunities: Prior to any rate increase, consumers will have 60 days to refinance the loan.
Trade groups find fault with the regulations because they will prevent risky borrows from receiving credit:
When Will Casey Serin Pay For Embodying The Worst Of The Housing Bubble Burst?
By May 15, 2007
Casey-Serin is 24, but he’s already $170,000 in debt, thanks to a bevy of hare-brained schemes that helped him buy 8 homes in 8 months in 4 states with no money down, looking to do the ol’ “fix n’ flip.” None of them sold, and now he’s strapped to the nines.
Rent While The Renting Is Good?
By April 11, 2007
According to the New York Times, if you’re renting you’re smart.
Over the next five years, which is about the average amount of time recent buyers have remained in their homes, prices in the Los Angeles area would have to rise more than 5 percent a year for a typical buyer there to do better than a renter. The same is true in Phoenix, Las Vegas, the New York region, Northern California and South Florida. In the Boston and Washington areas, the break-even point is about 4 percent.
Check With The Postmaster Before You Install A Mailbox, Or Else
By April 1, 2007
John Conway paid $1,300 for a lamppost and matching mailbox, but the Thiensville, WI postmaster refuses to provide service because the mailbox is on the wrong side of the street. The disputed mailbox is part of a new housing development located twenty minutes north of Milwaukee.
“I’m sort of the guy who set the pace here,” Conway said, pointing out that he and his wife are the first residents of Concord Creek. “I’m cemented in.”
The Conway’s concrete stance has the post office in a tizzy. They have refused to answer the Conway’s phone calls, and a local paper quoted one postal supervisor threatening to mark the Conway’s mail “return to sender.” A killjoy postal spokeswoman later retracted the statement, adding “We don’t do that.”
And The Most Affordable Housing Market Is…
By February 23, 2007
This is good news for all you home consumers.
So You’re Tryin To Sell/Refi Your Co-Op And You Misplaced Your Lease
By January 12, 2007
Losing your co-op documents can really suck if you’re trying to refi or sell your apartment. Unlike home and condos, there is no filing of deeds with the municipal clerk. So what happens when you lose your co-op stock certificate and proprietary lease papers?
Posterboy For The Housing Bust
By October 9, 2006
Ah, more oogie in the wake of the recessing housing froth. Meet Casey Serin, a 24-year-old with $2.5 million in debt.
American Dream Faces Setbacks in Peoria
By May 24, 2006
There’s a scandal brewing in Peoria and it doesn’t smell like potpourri.
Remainders
By February 24, 2006
Here’s all the stuff we couldn’t think of enough clever things to say about but nonetheless found interesting.
American Houses, Blouses Trend Together
By February 1, 2006
This is far from science—and the author of this chart doesn’t claim that it is—but you might find it a bit amusing to see this correlation between American’s median home size and our rates of obesity. Both are blossoming.
