Consumerist
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mortgages
When To Buy A Home And How To Avoid Screwing It Up
Are you hitting that stage in life where you're thinking of becoming a homeowner? Morningstar has published two home buying articles that together offer some good, concise advice to the prospective buyer, especially if you're a first-timer. More » -
housing
Need Affordable Housing? What About A Mobile Home?
Mobile homes have a less-than-stellar reputation, deservedly or not. I know my own mom always warned me against them by saying they were just tornado bait, which was enough to make me leery of even stepping foot inside a friend's mobile home growing up. But if you're not irrationally afraid of tornadoes, a mobile home might be a great housing option if you're on a tight budget or looking to save money, writes Michigan Telephone. More » -
bad advice
Homeowner Says Bank Told Him To Skip Payments, Then Foreclosed
When MC lost his second job he had trouble affording his $3,000 mortgage payment. He called his mortgage holder, Flag Star Bank, asking for a break, but the bank told him there was nothing it could do for him unless he skipped payments and submitted a loan modification package. More » -
hot infographics
What Recovery? 937,840 Foreclosures Q3
What recovery? There were 937,840 foreclosures in Q3 in the US, according to RealtyTrac, the highest quarterly level since they starting issuing reports in 2005. Let's take a closer look via giant sexy graphic visualization, inside. More » -
refinancing
How A Disputed Item On Your Credit Report Can Screw Up Your Home Loan
Thanks to federal regulations, when you dispute an account on your credit report and the dispute is resolved in your favor, the credit reporting agency is required to remove or correct the account. Credit reporting agencies often don't do this, though, and the Washington Post notes that it can come back and interfere with your next home loan application. More » -
auctions
Nobody Wants To Buy (Four Fifths Of) Detroit
Detroit tried to auction off almost 9,000 homes and lots last week—enough property to fill Central Park—but Reuters says less than 1/5th of what went on the block actually sold. Unfortunately, it sounds like speculators snatched up few decent properties, leaving actual Detroit residents looking for new homes out in the cold.
"Detroit house auction flops for urban wasteland" [Reuters]
(Photo: stan) -
bailouts
Is The Federal Housing Administration Going To Need A Bailout?
Earlier today a former Fannie Mae exec and the current head of the FHA gave conflicting testimonies to Congress about the health of the mortgage insurer—particularly about whether or not it's going to require a taxpayer bailout in the next couple of years. More » -
mortgages
Homeowners With Good Credit Are More Likely To Strategically Default
Here's an interesting discovery about mortgage defaults from the LA Times:
More »Research using a massive sample of 24 million individual credit files has found that homeowners with high scores when they apply for a loan are 50% more likely to "strategically default" — abruptly and intentionally pull the plug and abandon the mortgage — compared with lower-scoring borrowers.
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fico
Old Debts Under $100 Don't Matter Under FICO '08
An update to how the new FICO '08 scoring system got revamped this year: More » -
interest rates
Fed Keeps Interest Rates At .25%
Interest rates will stay at at a low low .25%, the Fed announced today. For you this means... More » -
buying a home
Buying Your First Home? Here Are 7 Good Tips
Ron Lieber at the New York Times has put together seven sensible tips that can help you find a first time home that you can both afford and enjoy living in. More » -
change of address
Couple Remodels Wrong Condo (Theirs Was Next Door)
LadySiren writes,
More »Here's something I came across today: a husband and wife bought a condo, moved in, spent $30K on renovations, and then found out that they didn't own that condo, but the one next door instead.
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loan modifications
"What Do I Do When My Lender Isn't Playing Fair With Loan Modification?"
Yesterday, the New York Times wrote about a judge in Arizona who forced Wells Fargo to explain why it keeps stalling and being uncooperative with a customer who has been trying to get a loan modification request approved. Sadly, in the past week we've gotten two separate emails from homeowners who are also having trouble with getting banks to approve their requests for the government-sponsored loan modifications. "Who can we contact to complain?" asks one frustrated customer. More » -
mortgages
Brooklyn Judge Rejects Improperly Documented Foreclosure Motions, Shocks Banking Industry
There's a judge in Brooklyn, NY, who has tossed out nearly half of the foreclosure cases brought before him over the past year, because the lenders have such messy paper trails that they can't prove ownership anymore. More » -
forecasts
48% Of Mortgages Underwater By 2011
48% of all mortgages could have negative equity, being a debt greater than the underlying house is worth, by 2011, says Deutsche Bank. Someone please tell Brooklyn. After a few weeks of checking out apartments in Gowanus, Park Slope and Red Hook, everyone's asking prices are still like the good times are just around the corner. [FORTUNE] (Thanks to Michael!) (Photo: kevindooley) -
recession watch
Bad News: Yet Another Record Month For Foreclosures
For the third time in the last five months a new record for foreclosure filings has been reached says foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac. July saw an increase of 7% from June of this year and, even more telling, a 35% increase from last year. More » -
mortgage meltdown
Family Lives Alone In 32-Story Tower
Thanks to their bank, Victor Vangelakos and his family live by themselves in a 32-story tower. More » -
underwater without a life preserver
Banks That Reap Fees From Bad Loans Won't Want To Help Beleaguered Homeowners
The White House has asked mortgage executives to come up with the manpower to stop precarious loans from becoming foreclosures, but a New York Times story says finance experts say a lack of bodies isn't the problem. It's greed. More »
mortgages
New York, 10:05 PM
Sat Nov 14
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