Updated for 2009 Mortgage Links of Interest
Can mortgage rates fall below five percent? It's possible!
How where you live affects your credit.
Mortgage News and Information
Is it time to look at fixed rate mortgages? If so, which is better, buying a mortgage from a broker or a bank?
"These escalating foreclosures are creating more and more downward pressure on home prices, which is having a very negative impact on our economy." Tami Luhby reports on the FDIC bailout plan.
But why stop at one when you can have seven perfectly workable bailout solutions for a problem that should have never occurred. What President (elect) Obama will have to pick from. James Pethokoukis contributes.
Citigroup Inc became the latest major U.S. lender to try to help borrowers stay in their homes, launching a program it said may result in $20 billion of mortgage refinancings. Has help arrived for your mortgage?
Work the Numbers on our new 20 in 1 mortgage calculator.
Fred Moseley, professor of economics at Mount Holyoke College looks at the current housing situation.
According to Dan Levy, "More than a quarter million U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in October even as state laws designed to protect property owners from losing their homes slowed the pace of defaults, RealtyTrac Inc. said."
Special to the BlueCollarDollar: Interview with John Trauth, author and architect of the Reverse Mortgage.
Special Report:We crave transparency but once we have it we tend to no longer want it. We seek information, but once we get the news we react poorly. We look for some signs from a time past hoping that what once happened could possibly shed light on what is. But this time it is different. The Dichotomy of the US Economic Downturn
Still calculating the value of your home in your retirement plan? Perhaps that is not such a good idea. Retirement Planning and Your Home's Net Worth
Special Report: Return to Lender: The First of a Three Part Series on Mortgages.
Searching with Credentials: The Second of a Three Part Series on Mortgages.
Losing Proposition: The Third in a Three Part Series on Mortgages.
Foreclosures estimates for 2007 are expected to reach 1.3 million. These additional homes add to the already higher than normal inventory of available houses driving prices down. It is important to remember that each 1% increase in housing prices keeps 70-80,000 foreclosures from occurring. With inventories of unsold homes rising, the nationwide average home price is expected to fall 5%.
Sub-prime borrowers need more protection from lenders. Who should do it? The states are trying. The federal government is balking and Elliot Spitzer has made another motion to object to their roadblock between what is right and the
The national banking system.
As Americans face the growing problem of entitlement reductions, poor or diluted pension payouts, corporate bankruptcies, or just insufficient funds to meet day-to-day expenses, reverse mortgages will become the new nest egg for a good deal of the currently retired, or those who are planning to in the near future.
Are they right for you or your elderly parents?
The housing market is about to change. Not only have interest rate risen dramatically from their historic lows, $600 billion of sub-prime loans are about to change their terms. A look at how the American Dream is about to change.
Danergous Curves Ahead!
Will this affect the housing market?
By offering the 30 year long bond again, the Treasury hopes to show the global economy that we will be around for at least that long and of course, able to repay the debt. The hope is that the yield on these notes will be attractive enough to switch investors into the longer obligations.
Now fast forward to 2005, a time that has seen historically low interest rates designed to stimulate the economy, a long period of housing growth and a significant shift away from renting to owning. Is the misunderstood REIT the place for you?
Nine Signs of a Bubble
No amount of coverage has stopped folks who intend to purchase their first home from jumping in blindly, using ever riskier means to finance what has become a very expensive undertaking.
One of the benefits of homeownership, and admittedly the draw for many heavily taxed individuals and couples for the last fifty years, may have gotten better - and you may not be aware. Your home and taxes
Changes in the way insurers look at homes could have devastating results for homeowners and those looking to by a home. Not only is your insurance history coming under scrutiny, but the health of your home can be questioned as well. Do you have a CLUE what I am speaking about? You should. In this special report on insurance for your home, we look at a growing problem that provides insurers with a way of controlling costs while providing huge hurdles for consumers.
Chapter 7 allows for a fresh start. A new law passed by Congress and signed by the President holds spendthrifts who abuse the system accountable for their debts.
Women and finance - Women have made great strides in not only earning better wages - although they still fall 24 cents an hour behind a man with a similar job - and have become considerably more financially savvy than just five years ago, many still facing an uncertain financial future. Here are some ideas on how to fix what might soon become an enormous financial burden on the so-called growing American economy.
Order your copy of Building Wealth in a Paycheck-to-Paycheck World by Paul Petillo. This books contains a complete and comprehensive guide to home ownership as well as
Straight talk on mutual funds, bonds, real estate, and annuities
Techniques for avoiding financial disasters
Tools to help readers track their debt and create a plan for staying out of it
Road maps to buying a home and saving for college and retirement
Reshaping the Mortgage Markets
So much has been speculated about the predicted rise in short term interest rates and their long term effect on the housing market, it is difficult to make sense of what is really happening.
Mortgage Law
Nolo.com Law Center Just a plain old good site to bookmark. Follow through "buying a house", then to "house hunting online" and you'll find a cool checklist and a newsletter complete with forms for buying your home without the use of a lawyer.
A number of readers have written in asking what the difference between real estate and the stock market is when compared as an investment. With interest rates remaining low, the questions do merit some thought. But there are a few thing to consider when comparing the two.
Many of you have refinanced your home mortgage if you were lucky enough to reside in a neighborhood whose values have increased substantially or you have tapped some of that equity you have been building. With any luck, you have taken that money and wisely returned it to your home. So just how much is that remodel going to cost? . The BlueCollarDollar takes a look.
From an investment standpoint, the answer would appear on the surface to be true. There is some stagnation in real estate stocks on an individual basis, but valued as a group in mutual funds, or REITs, there is still some very favorable returns to be had.
It is important to note that the Net Asset Value (NAV) of these types of funds will not see an enormous amount of movement either way. The return comes from the dividends. With the S&P 500 index hitting just above the 20% mark for the year, the attraction to the average return in REITs (around 7%) can make one wonder why these are not a major holding in your portfolio.
Most REIT managers are historically conservative shooters, aiming at returns in the 8-10% range. Shopping around will find you some better performers, but they suffer from the same problem other mutual funds have. When you are at the top, there may be little upside left.
If you are unclear how a REIT works, you can find out here. If you are unsure of what REIT to purchase, indexing is a good way to go from a protective standpoint. Industry pros suggest that your portfolio only hold a small percentage (10% or less) of these funds, which from a diversification standpoint might be wise. It is still a more conservative play, and more profitable than equities at the moment.
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