Rising unemployment is exacerbating the already critical foreclosure crisis, because sadly, while you can return your Hyundai if you lose your income — you’re kinda stuck with that 4 bedroom ranch with the in-ground pool.
housing
Daylight Savings Can Save You Money
By 3.7.09
Congress will sneak into your bedroom tonight and steal a precious hour of sleep, but you don’t need to take the theft lying down. Get up tomorrow and use a few tips from Consumer Reports to steal back some hard-earned cash.
By 3.4.09
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Looking for a mortgage? You might want to consider an FHA loan. The New York Times says, “The Federal Housing Administration used to be known as a place for low-income borrowers with tarnished credit histories. But now, it has become a destination for borrowers whose credentials are respectable, but not stellar.” [NYT]
By 3.2.09
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6 months was enough for Freddie Mac Chief Executive Officer David Moffett. He’s outta here. [Portfolio]
By 3.2.09
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125 Years is the length of time it will take a totally abandoned wood frame house to simply fall down. What should we do with them in the meantime? [CR]
See The Bank Failure And Foreclosure Rates In Your State
By 2.27.09
CNN Money has put together a couple of quick interactive maps of the U.S. that let you see the bank failure rates and foreclosure rates for each state. According to these two maps, Wyoming is the place to be.
Top 10 Most And Least Affordable Cities
By 2.20.09
The National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo have put together an index of the most and least affordable metro areas. The index was created by calculating what percentage of a city’s residents making the median income can afford a house in that city.
Octuplets Family $23,225 Behind On Mortgage Payments
By 2.19.09
CNN is reporting that the house that the octuplets mom is living in is currently in default, and the mortgage owner, the grandmother of the octuplets, is $23,225 behind on her mortgage payments.
What's In This New Obama Foreclosure Plan?
By 2.18.09
With the economic stimulus (or “e-stim,” as we’ve been calling it) signed into law, President Obama turns his attention to the foreclosure crisis. At an event in Arizona today, he announced the following proposals to help homeowners.
California Man Barricades Himself Inside Foreclosed Home
By 2.17.09
Carson, California has over 1,100 homes in foreclosure according to its mayor, and barricaded inside one of them was Frank Torres, an oil-refinery worker who lost his home to foreclosure after work was scarce last year. Now he’s working full-time and he wants to buy his house back — but he says the bank won’t listen. That’s why he painted a message on the roof of his former home and held the building hostage for 5 hours.
Housing Statistics Are Being Buoyed By So-Called "Vultures"
By 1.27.09
Sales of existing homes are up, which sounds like good news — except that if you really look at what is going on — it’s really sort of bleak. About half of all home sales in December were foreclosures, says Marketplace, where the house is sold for less than what is owed on the mortgage.
By 1.22.09
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Builders started building the fewest number of new houses since they started keeping records, says Bloomberg.
Save Money On Your Next Refurb Project, Shop At A Habitat ReStore
By 1.9.09
Did you know Habitat for Humanity operates retail outlets where they sell used and surplus building materials? Habitat ReStores are located in 47 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces.
Citibank, Senate Agree On "Cramdown" Bill To Prevent Foreclosures
By 1.9.09
Ever heard of a cramdown? It’s when a bankrupcty court splits a home loan into two parts: a secured loan that’s equal to the current value of the home, and an unsecured loan that covers the rest of the outstanding debt. The secured loan is paid, and the unsecured isn’t. It can result in lower monthly payments (if the new loan amount is amortized over the course of the loan), but the important part is that it helps guarantee that a significant part of the loan will still be paid off.
Former Treasury Secretary Says He "Forgot" That People Had To "Afford Their House"
By 12.22.08
Former Treasury Secretary John W. Snow has told the New York Times that he, along with the entire Bush Administration, simply “forgot” that people had to be able to “afford their house.”
By 11.25.08
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Look at it this way, yes, housing prices are down by record amounts… but maybe you can get yourself a Black Friday deal on a house?
Make Your Next House A Shipping Container
By 10.15.08
These 12 ideas for converting shipping containers into homes are pretty cool, if not always practical or cheap. Our favorite is the one that’s probably among the most expensive to make, not to mention that added cost of relocating to New Zealand to get the awesome view. Runner up: Ross Steven’s three-story fortress built into a hillside (see page 2).
