Is now the time to buy?
Is now the time to buy a home? Most prospective homebuyers think so, according to a recent study conducted by Gary V. Engelhardt, a professor at Syracuse University.
Despite high unemployment and slow economic growth, about 80 percent of Americans believe now is a good time to buy a home, shows the study, titled "The Great
Upward trend in homebuying
Finally someone is feeling optimistic about home sales. Builder sentiment rose for the third straight month, according to the December survey by National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo. It's the first consecutive, three-month upswing since 2009 and is considered a "legitimate, though slowly emerging upward trend," according to David Crowe, chief economist at National Association
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Tagged builders, confidence, homebuyers, housing market, Mortgages
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Were big banks ‘stealing homes’?
Forget for the time being all the Three Stooges document-fumbling surrounding the housing collapse. Set aside the obvious malfeasance of robosigning and rocket dockets.
The question on the table now is, were America's largest mortgage lenders stealing homes?
The recent lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley against five of the nation's largest banks for deceptive
Posted in Mortgages
Tagged Foreclosure, loan modification, Mortgages
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Were big banks ’stealing homes’?
Forget for the time being all the Three Stooges document-fumbling surrounding the housing collapse. Set aside the obvious malfeasance of robosigning and rocket dockets.
The question on the table now is, were America's largest mortgage lenders stealing homes?
The recent lawsuit filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley against five of the nation's largest banks for deceptive
Posted in Mortgages
Tagged Foreclosure, loan modification, Mortgages
Comments Off on Were big banks ’stealing homes’?
Fannie, Freddie saga heats up
Troubles continue to plague Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant mortgage companies that were taken over by the government in 2008 and bailed out by taxpayers.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, sued three former executives at each of the two companies, including the former CEOs, charging them with misrepresenting the amount of subprime
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Tagged Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, loans, Mortgages, subprime
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Student debt blocks homebuyers
More potential first-time homebuyers are living with their parents instead of shopping for a home, further stalling a housing recovery.
Mortgage rates are at record lows and home values have dropped -- significantly in some areas of the country -- since the heights of the housing bubble, yet young people are locked out of the market.
Higher rates vs. tax increase?
A bid to boost fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders in order to pay for the proposed payroll tax cut extension for another year is drawing fire from some in the real estate industry who fear that lenders will pass the fees on to borrowers in the form of higher mortgage interest
Posted in Mortgages
Tagged Fannie Mae, fees, Freddie Mac, lenders, Mortgages, payroll tax cut
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A visa for foreign homebuyers?
As one way to unload the glut of housing inventory languishing on the market, two senators want to introduce a bill today that gives foreigners who buy a home in the U.S. a residence visa.
Foreigners would have to invest at least $500,000 in residential real estate (buyers can invest in more than one home as
Internet mortgage scams
Beware when searching on the Internet for ways to modify your mortgage payments. So far, the federal government has shut down more than 200 scam companies that are promising to help struggling homeowners.
In a separate action, search engines have been taking their own actions by barring suspicious advertisers. Google removed 500 advertisers from its site
GMAC out of Massachusetts
GMAC, the mortgage arm of Ally Financial, will cease most of its mortgage lending in Massachusetts.
The announcement came a day after Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed suit against GMAC and four other major mortgage servicers, alleging illegal foreclosure practices in Massachusetts.
GMAC says it will stop buying loans from correspondent lenders and wholesale brokers, which
Posted in Mortgages
Tagged Foreclosure, GMAC, Massachusetts, Mortgages
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