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.
real estate
Fannie Mae To Stop Evicting Renters From Foreclosed Properties
By 1.13.09
As a rule, banks generally consider renters to be a liability and want nothing to do with them. When a property goes into foreclosure, these renters are usually unceremoniously tossed out and the building resold. Now Fannie Mae has announced a new program whereby renters in good standing will be allowed to stay in their apartments — if the property is owned by the government-controlled home funding company.
Not Even Money Saves You From Foreclosure
By 12.4.08
Eric lost his home to foreclosure, but unlike other homeowners, he had actually been trying for the past month-and-a-half to buy it back from the mortgage company for more than the mortgage. The law firm that was handling it, however, wanted an extra $20k in fees to make that happen. He told the realtor that he would buy it for more than it was going to be listed for. The realtor told him that he couldn’t make a bid until it was “active,” which would happen on 11-29. On Sunday he tells the broker he;ll give an offer on Monday. Monday rolls around and they’ve already sold the house to someone else, for less than Eric was willing to pay. They said they “forgot” that he was going to make a bid. Eric is livid. His story, inside…
You Can Steal The Empire State Building In Only 90 Minutes
By 12.3.08
The Daily News has stolen the Empire State Building, and it only took 90 minutes. They made up some fake paperwork and successfully got the deed to the 102-story landmark transferred to a fake company called “Nelots Properties LLC.” Get it? Nelots? Stolen? The information provided to the city register was laughably fake — King Kong star Fay Wray was listed as a witness.
Catch My Robert Allen Piece On On The Money Tonight
By 11.7.08
“When is the best time to get out there and make a lot of money? NOW!” says the real-estate investment speaker in a dim ballroom in a hotel just off a New Jersey highway. Body odor musky baby powder and farts mingle and hang in the air. I’m in a dim ballroom that’s been converted into a nexus of financial success. A tall man in his 40’s or beyond, with square shoulder, combed thinning blond hair, lords over the group of about 35 on a Tuesday afternoon. In a condescending tone a practiced manner of over-enunciating every syllable, he’s here to disseminate the secrets of real-estate pros. Working undercover for CNBC’s On The Money, I’m eager to learn…
Chase To Fix 400,000 Option-ARM Mortgages
By 11.3.08
Chase will turn 400,000 high-interest option-ARM mortgages into lower-cost fixed ones, the bank announced this Friday. Foreclosure processes on the loans will be stopped for 90 days while the procedure gets set up. Banks mainly have latitude to adjust the mortgages they themselves own. The complexities of modifying a loan that may have been sold and repackaged into a security are intricate. For one, hedge funds have threatened to sue banks if they modify the loans underlying their bonds. So hooray for the lucky 400,000. Only a few more million to go. If you’re a homeowner facing foreclosure and you’re unable to get your lender to work with you, try contacting the HOPE NOW hotline at 1-888-995-HOPE for free advice from a home preservation counselor.
How To Save On Homeowners Insurance
By 10.30.08
With the economy in the dumper, it seems like everyone is looking for ways to save on everything. Not wanting to stand in the way of this lovefest for saving, we’re proud to bring you six ways to save on homeowners insurance from Smart Money:
We All Need Extra Income
By 10.28.08
Hey, if you’ve got $28,000, you can use it to rent Steve Martin’s house for a week. [WSJ]
Countrywide To Fixed Rate Customer: Your Mortgage Is About To Adjust!
By 10.28.08
Countrywide either doesn’t know, or doesn’t care that reader Graham has a fixed rate mortgage, because they keep sending him “notices” that his mortgage is about to “adjust.”
By 10.28.08
../../../..//2008/10/28/the-case-shiller-home-prices-index/
The Case-Shiller home prices index, which tracks US home prices, fell a record-breaking 16.6% from last year in 20 metropolitan areas. [Forbes]
Greenspan Says That His Free-Market Ideology Was Flawed
By 10.23.08
Here’s something that probably doesn’t happen too often. Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan had a crappier day than you did. He had to admit before our federal government that his free-market, anti-regulation ideology was “flawed.” Ouch.
Consumerist Attends Robert Allen's Get Rich Quick In Real Estate Seminar
By 10.23.08
I wanted to find out what Robert Allen’s “get-rich-quick in real estate with no money down” promise was all about, so when I saw a full page ad in the Daily Post advertising one of his free seminars recently, I went and checked it out. I’ll give you a full run-down later, but here’s the quick and dirty, and what I can tell about how the darn thing seems to function.
By 10.22.08
../../../..//2008/10/22/the-wall-street-journal-says-1/
The Wall Street Journal says that the troubled California real estate market may be healing, but not without considerable pain. [WSJ]
Despite Subprime Implosion, Robert Allen's Troops Still Pitch "Get Rich Quick In Real Estate With No Money Down"
By 10.21.08
Robert Allen promises to make you millions teaching you how to buy real estate with no money down. Unsurprisingly, Ripoffreport is littered with complaints about his company and those that use his name. Here’s the story they tell:
After Losing His Home, Man Trashes House, Spray Paints Message To Bank
By 10.21.08
Here’s an odd story from the Bay Area. A man who says his house was “sold without his knowledge” to a bank after he signed a “deal” to prevent foreclosure has trashed the property — spray painting a message to the new owner.
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).
Woman Buys House For $1.75 On EBay
By 10.2.08
Joanne Smith from Chicago now owns an abandoned home in Saginaw, Michigan, and she only paid $1.75 for it on eBay. Well, there’s also $850 in “back taxes and yard cleanup cost,” reports MSNBC. Smith says she hasn’t seen the house yet or visited the town, but we’re thinking hello summer home! Or maybe it’s a good place to put the parents when they retire.
10 Things To Expect From The New Post-Apocalyptic Economy
By 9.30.08 — Updated: 10.25.12
Kiplinger’s has put together a list of 10 things that you, fair consumer, can expect from our new post-wall-street-apocalypse economy. Should you be scared? Maybe.
