|
*
A
look behind the lack of affordable family housing Washington Post
10/31/2009 Families are being priced out of the Washington area housing
market. Or at least they're being driven to the far edges of the metro area
and forced into long commutes to and from employment hubs. That's the
message in a new report from the Urban Land Institute's Terwilliger Center
for Workforce Housing.
|
|
|
*
A
look behind the lack of affordable family housing Washington Post
10/31/2009 Families are being priced out of the Washington area housing
market. Or at least they're being driven to the far edges of the metro area
and forced into long commutes to and from employment hubs. That's the
message in a new report from the Urban Land Institute's Terwilliger Center
for Workforce Housing.
|
|
*
Is
an Expanded Home Buyer Tax Credit A Good Deal? Wall Street Journal
10/30/2009 The U.S. Senate is considering extending and expanding the home
buyers' tax credit to help prop up the still-reeling housing market. Under
the proposal, the $8,000 credit for first-time buyers would be extended to
cover purchases into next spring buyers must sign contracts by April 30
and close within 60 days. Currently the credit is due to expire at the end
of November. The Senate plan would also expand the program by offering a
tax credit of up to $6,500 to current homeowners willing to buy a new home,
provided they have lived in their current home for five consecutive years
out of the last eight.
|
|
*
13
Ways to Get Gift Cards for Less finance.yahoo.com
10/30/2009 Gift cards have plenty of benefits -- they're convenient,
they're never the wrong color and they fit perfectly inside an envelope.
But they do have one major drawback: Recipients know exactly how much you
spent on them. Or do they? Though the fact is rarely advertised, gift cards
can be bought for less than they're worth.
|
|
*
Two
big U.S. apartment owners see some hope, finally Washington Post
10/29/2009 Two of the largest U.S. apartment landlords said on Thursday
they see something in their sector that's been missing for the past few
years -- a little optimism about the future. While not declaring an end to
falling rents and declining net cash generated by their properties, the
heads of industry leaders Equity Residential <EQR.N> and AvalonBay
Communities Inc <AVB.N> said they are seeing increased demand for
some of their apartments.
|
|
*
New
home sales rise 35 percent in Midwest, down nationally Columbus Dispatch
10/28/2009 Sales of new homes dropped unexpectedly last month as the
effects of a soon-to-expire tax credit for first-time owners started to
wane. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales fell 3.6 percent to
a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000 from a downwardly revised
417,000 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a
pace of 440,000. It was the first decline since March. Sales in September
were down 7.8 percent from a year ago.
|
|
*
If
you missed out on housing credit, don't fear San Francisco Chronicle
10/27/2009 If you missed out on the $8,000 federal tax credit for
first-time home buyers, which is set to expire after Nov. 30, don't
despair. One of two things will probably happen: Congress will extend the
credit into next year or, if not, home prices will fall as demand falls
off, perhaps by as much as $8,000.
|
|
*
Consumer
debt stress eases for September Business First, Columbus
10/26/2009 Americans worried less about their debt in September following
reports of an improving economy and signs of life in the retail and housing
sectors, a new Ohio State University survey shows.
|
|
*
Participants
in a $12.8 million loan program have yet to close on a single home Palm Beach Post
10/25/2009 Palm Beach County has $12.8 million in federal money to lend to
home-buyers in an effort to decrease surplus housing. But a
well-intentioned catch has actually stymied sales with few contracts being
signed and no homes yet purchased. Only foreclosed, vacant and abandoned
houses are eligible under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which
garnered nearly 400 applications in the first two weeks it was advertised
by the county in April.
|
|
*
Free
home is large enough for a dream Columbus Dispatch
10/24/2009 The South Linden home is very small -- a little more than 500
square feet -- and might not be much to look at. But for Karelyn Sutton, it
might as well be a mansion. "At this point, it would be everything for
my kids -- that's all that matters," she said. Sutton finds out today
that the Lexington Avenue home is hers. The price: free.
|
|
*
Home
sales rise 9.4 pct. in Sept., beat forecast Richmond Times-Dispatch
10/23/2009 Racing to complete their purchases before a tax credit for
first-time owners expires, homebuyers pushed sales up last month by the
largest amount in more than 26 years. After jumping 9.4 percent in
September, home resales are up nearly 24 percent from the bottom in
January, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. But the housing
market's momentum could easily peter out if Congress doesn't extend the
credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers beyond its current Nov. 30
deadline.
|
|
*
Wachovia
savings boost Wells profits Charlotte Observer
10/22/2009 A year after announcing it would buy Charlotte's Wachovia, Wells
Fargo reported a third consecutive quarter of big earnings. The San
Francisco bank said Wednesday it made $2.6 billion from July through
September, helped by better-than-expected savings from Wachovia. But
analysts also cautioned that Wells' troubled loans were on the rise, and
investors pushed the shares down 5 percent to $28.90.
|
|
*
Fewer
short sales are coming up short San Francisco Chronicle
10/21/2009 Want to hear a real estate agent curse? Just say the words
"short sale." That transaction, in which borrowers sell their
house for less than they owe, has earned a reputation as a frustrating
morass with banks taking weeks or months to respond to offers and then
often rejecting them. Because lenders swallow a loss on short sales, they
have the ultimate say.
|
|
*
Citibank
yanks some gas-linked credit cards Columbus Dispatch
10/20/2009 Shannon Burdette tried to pay with her Shell MasterCard after
filling up her gas tank this weekend but found the card rejected. Confused,
she called the customer-service line on the back of the card, issued by
Citibank, and was told the account was closed because of something that
appeared on her credit report. But when the Sykesville, Md., resident got a
copy of her credit report online, the only negative thing she saw was
"closed at credit grantor's request" on the Shell MasterCard account.
|
|
*
Casualties
of previous real estate busts Sarasota Herald-Tribune
10/19/2009 Sarasota may be known for its beautiful beaches and support for
the arts, but the area also has a rich history of real estate swindling.
The first and probably most sympathetic group to be bilked here was the
Scots of the 1880s. They were convinced through a slick marketing campaign
that they could make their fortune as gentlemen farmers in the New World.
|
|
*
Right
on Your Money: Don't Give Up Yet TIME Magazine
10/19/2009 Okay. Your 401(k) hasn't lived up to the hype, but remember that
even Warren Buffett lost $25 billion in the Great Recession. You've just
survived one of the most harrowing periods in the history of modern
finance. If you lost less than a third of your portfolio, you fared
reasonably well.
|
|
*
Doubling
Down On the Wrong Housing Policy Washington Post
10/18/2009 The only remaining major source of middle-class mortgage
liquidity, the FHA has increased its insurance portfolio from $323 billion
in 2006 to $695 billion today -- with the inevitable inclusion of some
apparent clunker loans like the one in the Times story. Its default rate is
7.8 percent, up from 5.6 percent a year ago. Its capital reserves are below
the statutory minimum, which is 2 percent of its portfolio.
|
|
*
Mortgage
Rates Up, but Still Under 5% Washington Post
10/17/2009 Rates for 30-year home loans have inched up, but they remained
below 5 percent for the third straight week as government efforts to aid
the housing market continued to keep rates low. The average rate on a
30-year fixed mortgage was 4.92 percent this week, up from 4.87 percent a
week earlier, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday.
|
|
*
Meltdown
101: Budget gap huge, but has been worse Miami
Herald
10/16/2009 The federal government's budget gap is huge - but by some
measures, it's been bigger in the past. The annual budget deficit reached
$1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2009, the Obama administration said Friday, a
record sum by far in dollar terms. It's the result of both a huge jump in
spending and a sharp drop in tax revenue.
|
|
*
At
foreclosure auctions, broken dreams on sale news.yahoo.com
10/15/2009 Okay. Saddled with swollen portfolios of foreclosed and unsold
properties in the housing crisis, U.S. lenders and builders are turning to
professional auctioneers to help them unload the unwanted real estate in a
hurry. But the rapid-fire, under-the-hammer sales -- usually resorted to
only after every other effort to market a property has failed -- are on the
rise across the United States, providing a colorful burst of activity in a
corner of the weak economy that needs all the life it can get.
|
|
*
Ohioans
wait longer for property tax appeals Columbus Dispatch
10/15/2009 Budget cuts and the housing market collapse mean long delays for
Ohio homeowners seeking property tax relief from a state panel. The
three-member Ohio Board of Tax Appeals has thousands of cases on its plate
and is sending letters to property owners warning of lengthier waits for
hearings.
|
|
*
Foreclosures
rise 5 percent from summer to fall Charlotte Observer
10/15/2009 The number of households caught up in the foreclosure crisis
rose more than 5 percent from summer to fall as a federal effort to assist
struggling borrowers was overwhelmed by a flood of defaults among people
who lost their jobs. The foreclosure crisis affected nearly 938,000 properties
in the July-September quarter, compared with about 890,000 in the prior
three months, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc.
That puts foreclosure-related filings on a pace to hit about 3.5 million
this year, up from more than 2.3 million last year.
|
|
*
Bank
regulators: Real estate loans biggest concern Charlotte Observer
10/14/2009 The smaller, community banks are especially exposed to
commercial real estate loans, which now pose the biggest challenge for many
financial institutions and their overseers, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Chairman Sheila Bair told lawmakers at a Senate hearing.
|
|
*
FHA
Head Rejects Calls for Higher Down Payments Wall Street Journal
10/13/2009 The head of the Federal Housing Administration warned that
raising down payment requirements or taking similar steps to limit the pool
of eligible buyers for FHA-backed loans would hamstring a fragile housing
recovery.
|
|
*
MBA:
Foreclosures, unemployment to peak next year Palm Beach Post
10/13/2009 Foreclosures will peak by the end of next year and unemployment
will climb above 10 percent as the housing market and U.S. economy grapple
with the aftermath of the recession, the Mortgage Bankers Association's
chief economist said Tuesday.
|
|
*
Foreclosures
Grow in Housing Market's Top Tiers Wall Street Journal
10/12/2009 New data suggest that foreclosures are rising in more expensive housing
markets. About 30% of foreclosures in June involved homes in the top third
of local housing values, up from 16% when the foreclosure crisis began
three years ago, according to new data from real-estate Web site
Zillow.com. The bottom one-third of housing markets, by home value, now
account for 35% of foreclosures, down from 55% in 2006.
|
|
*
Saving
up even more crucial to buyers Columbus Dispatch
10/11/2009 As credit restrictions remain tight, lenders are requiring more
cash to buy a home. Sure, you can get an FHA loan with 3.5 percent
interest, but if you want a conventional loan, you might have to put down
at least 20 percent. That's a hefty buy-in -- even if homes are priced 30
to 40 percent less than they were a few years ago.
|
|
*
IRS
form gains importance for income verification Richmond Times-Dispatch
10/10/2009 You might assume it's just another boring-looking piece of the paper
blitz you're hit with when you apply for a home loan. But given IRS Form
4506-T's new prominence in the fraud-shocked mortgage market, it's much
more than just another document to sign. The form authorizes a loan officer
or mortgage investor to get electronic transcripts from the Internal
Revenue Service covering multiple years of your federal income tax filings.
|
|
*
Mortgage-relief
plan slowly ramping up Columbus Dispatch
10/09/2009 The Obama administration said yesterday that its mortgage-relief
effort has helped 500,000 homeowners, and officials say the program is on
track despite its disappointing launch. The $50 billion program, started in
March, is designed to reduce foreclosures by lowering borrowers' monthly
payments. The government says the program will help 3 million to 4 million
borrowers within three years.
|
|
*
Meltdown
101: What is a short sale of a home? Washington Post
10/08/2009 For a homeowner who needs to sell but has a mortgage balance
higher than the property value, one option is something called a
"short sale." And don't let the name fool you. This type of sale
is complicated and can drag on for months.
|
|
*
Questions
about damage may flood Realtors Atlanta
Journal-Constit.
10/07/2009 Georgia law requires home sellers to disclose certain information
about the condition of the property, such as water damage, that the buyer
may not already know. These disclosures are supposed to be passed from
owner to owner. Failure to disclose a previously known condition in a home,
including flood damage, active termites or the presence of lead-based
paint, could result in lawsuits against the previous owner and sometimes
the real estate agent.
|
|
*
ECONOMY:
For young, recession offers deals of a lifetime New York Times
10/06/2009 The Great Recession has turned into the best of times for young
investor Daniel Lee. Early this year, the 30-year-old salesman in Scottsdale,
Ariz., shelved expensive meals and vacation plans and threw "every
spare dollar" into the stock market. The value of his portfolio has
more than tripled as the market has rallied since March.
|
|
*
Apartment
vacancy rate hits 23-year high: report news.yahoo.com
10/06/2009 The U.S. apartment market in the third quarter turned in one of
its weakest performances ever as the national vacancy rate hit a 23-year
high despite being propped up by landlords willing to take lower rent to
keep tenants, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc.
|
|
*
Fed
seeks ratings competition for lending program Washington Post
10/05/2009 The Federal Reserve may expand the field of credit ratings agencies
that determine the eligibility of securities pledged for loans in a
government program aimed at sparking more consumer and business lending.
|
|
*
Appraisal
reforms a mixed bag Columbus
Dispatch
10/04/2009 Appraisers say their job is to estimate home values, not to make
sure that sales happen. The way they estimate home values changed
dramatically May 1 with the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, imposed on the
industry by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federal agencies that guarantee
most mortgages. Appraisals must include not only comparable houses that
have sold recently but also houses listed for sale.
|
|
*
Refinancing
should lower rate or payment, or shorten term Columbus Dispatch
10/04/2009 The questions you must answer when deciding whether to refinance
are: Can you lower your interest rate? Can you lower your monthly payment?
Can you shorten the loan term?
|
|
*
SoMa
gentrification - model for new S.F. San Francisco Chronicle
10/03/2009 The word, gentrification, seemed to embody all the liberal agenda's
worst fears: entitled newcomers, a heedless displacement of the poor and
the transformation of the city into ugly, sterile concrete blocks. That's
no longer true. In the past 10 to 15 years, we've seen gentrification given
a free hand in the South of Market area, and the results don't frighten
anyone.
|
|
*
Real
estate flippers back in South Florida, but this time they could help Palm Beach Post
10/03/2009 Unlike the speculative flippers during the boom - scourges who
unnaturally jacked up prices, spawned reality TV shows and led to the
economic crumble - today's flippers are erudite capitalists who could usher
in positive change by buying dilapidated and abandoned homes, patching them
up and selling them for a market-bearable price, experts say. The downside:
These cash-in-hand guys are competing with regular folks looking for deals
and struggling to find loans.
|
|
*
Course
of U.S. recovery uncertain, professor says Richmond Times-Dispatch
10/02/2009 The recession that has gripped the nation since 2007 may have
ended. But the damage is not over and solutions are needed to prevent
another crisis, a finance and real estate expert said yesterday at a
Virginia Commonwealth University real estate event at the Willow Oaks
Country Club.
|
|
*
August
pending home sales rise to 2 1/2 year high San Francisco Chronicle
10/01/2009 Aspiring homebuyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit for
first-time owners that expires in November, driving up the number of signed
sales contracts for the seventh straight month in August. Construction spending
also rose unexpectedly in August on the biggest jump in housing activity in
nearly 16 years, another sign the real estate market is recovering from its
four-year slump, data Thursday showed.
|
|
*
Forty
homes on market in Manchester two-day sales event Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review
09/30/2009 Forty homes in the historic Manchester section of Pittsburgh
will be put up for sale during a two-day event in October that will entice
buyers with tax breaks, low-interest loans and other perks. The $20 million
Great House Sale & Tour on Oct. 17 and 18 will feature five
neighborhood homes two with rental units that date to the late 1800s
and are set to be restored.
|
|
*
Consumer
confidence unexpectedly falls in September Columbus Dispatch
09/29/2009 Americans' worries about job security flared up in September,
causing a widely watched barometer of consumer confidence to fall
unexpectedly and raising more concern about the upcoming holiday shopping
season. The New York-based Conference Board, a private research group, said
that its Consumer Confidence Index dipped to 53.1 in September, down from
the revised 54.5 reading in August.
|
|
*
Events
draw thousands hoping to keep homes San Francisco Chronicle
09/28/2009 It's the day before a mammoth foreclosure-prevention event in
Los Angeles and Marks, the CEO of Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America,
the Massachusetts nonprofit running the event, sounds stressed but buoyant.
NACA's Save the Dream tour has become a nationwide phenomenon, drawing more
than 180,000 desperate people this summer to gigs in Cleveland, Chicago,
St. Louis and Atlanta - where a 2-mile-long line of people waiting to get in
wrapped twice around the Georgia Dome. The pitch: a mobile loan-servicing
operation where struggling homeowners can arrive with their paperwork and
leave with a more affordable mortgage.
|
|
*
Homeowners
can slow down 'Rocket Docket' Sarasota Herald-Tribune
09/27/2009 Florida "rocket dockets" have earned the reputation as
a cold, heartless place where a lender can retake someone's home in less
than two minutes. And in most cases, that's true: The judge orders the
house sold in 30 days in a rapid-fire proceeding. But in Sarasota County,
the judge has started cutting a break to troubled homeowners who simply
show up at the courthouse, giving them an extra three months to try to save
their home.
|
|
*
Massive real
estate losses hidden at California bank Sacramento Bee
09/26/2009 A California bank that
received $298.7 million in federal bailout money is facing state and
federal scrutiny and has fired its two top executives after an internal
investigation discovered that massive real estate loan losses were
improperly and deliberately hidden from its finance department and outside
auditors. The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into troubles
at United Commercial Bank of San Francisco.
|
|
*
How
To Get The Feds To Slash Your Mortgage Payment forbes.com
09/25/2009 If your income slumped along with the economy, you've got plenty
of company these days. So much so that the government has a program meant
to help you out by cutting your mortgage payments to 31% of your gross
income. But it turns out that qualifying for this benefit will probably
take some fancy footwork, a sympathetic partner and a little luck. Here are
some pointers for navigating the terrain.
|
|
*
Fed
signals confidence by adjusting housing program Richmond
Times-Dispatch
09/24/2009 Signaling confidence in an economic recovery, the Federal
Reserve decided yesterday to stretch out the pace of a program intended to
lower mortgage rates and prop up the housing market. Even so, rates on home
loans are expected to remain low. With the economy on the mend, the Fed
said it now plans to reach its goal of buying $1.45 trillion in
mortgage-backed securities and debt by the end of March, rather than by the
end of this year as originally scheduled.
|
|
*
Palm
Beach commercial real estate take one-two punch: As business slips,
appraisals dip Palm Beach Post
09/23/2009 Like most homeowners, owners of some of the county's most
prominent landmarks are feeling the effects of the property bust. For these
commercial real estate owners, the depth of decline depends on how they use
their land. There are more than 40 classifications of commercial property
and some are faring better than others.
|
|
*
Unlikely
suspects walk away from mortgages San Francisco Chronicle
09/22/2009 New research using a sample of 24 million individual credit
files has found that homeowners with high scores when they apply for a loan
are 50 percent more likely to "strategically default" - abruptly
and intentionally pull the plug and abandon the mortgage - compared with
lower-scoring mortgage borrowers
|
|
*
Moody's:
Commercial real estate prices falling San Francisco Chronicle
09/21/2009 The Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI) was
down 5.1 percent from June after slipping just 1 percent the previous month.
The index is now 30.8 percent below its year-ago level and 38.7 percent
below its peak in October 2007.
|
|
*
The Credit Guy:
Minimum card payments can rise, ways to fight back Arizona Daily
Star
09/20/2009 I currently have a credit card that instead of raising the
interest rate raised my minimum payment from $70 a month to $160 a month.
Is that legal under the new credit-card law?
|
|
*
Brown
lawn? Nothing a coat of paint can't fix San Francisco
Chronicle
09/19/2009 With the foreclosure crisis still gripping northern Nevada, some
area companies are turning to a new tool to fight neglected and ugly lawns
paint.
|
|
*
U.S.
household wealth grows Columbus Dispatch
09/18/2009 For the first time in two years, Americans actually got a little
wealthier. Household wealth grew by $2 trillion, or about 4 percent, in
spring, ending the longest stretch of quarterly declines on records dating
back to 1952, the Federal Reserve said yesterday. Net worth -- the value of
assets such as homes, checking accounts and investments minus debts such as
mortgages and credit cards -- came to $53.1 trillion for the second
quarter.
|
|
*
Fenced
in: Couple can't find refinancing during mortgage industry upheaval Columbus Dispatch
09/17/2009 Teresa and Len Horstman have never missed a mortgage payment.
They have excellent credit, a six-figure income and more than 30 percent
equity in their house. Lenders are balking at refinancing the mortgage of
Teresa and Len Horstman because the couple lease about 10 acres at the back
of their Galloway property to a farmer. The Horstmans are examples of
another side of the housing crisis: solid credit risks who can't get a
loan.
|
|
*
Metro
Atlanta foreclosures swamp last years record Atlanta
Journal-Constit.
09/16/2009 With three months left in 2009, the number of metro Atlanta
foreclosure notices has already surpassed last years record, a sign of how
deep the recession has been as well as a portent of further trouble as the
economy struggles to regain its footing. At the current pace, 116,905 area
properties will have been listed for foreclosure by years end, up 47
percent from 2008, according to a report released Wednesday by
Alpharetta-based Equity Depot.
|
|
*
Commercial
real estate crisis threatens recovery Atlanta Journal-Constit.
09/15/2009 The Federal Reserve has limited options since it has doubled the
size of its balance sheet and taken unprecedented action in monetizing
government debt to deal with the credit crisis over the past year. Now, it
is faced with managing the dual challenges of shrinking the money supply to
head off inflation and extricating itself from more than $5 trillion of
credit exposure from the bailout programs instituted so far.
|
|
*
Strategic
Defaults: When Homeowners Walk Away From Mortgages They Can Afford realestate.yahoo.com
09/15/2009 Even when a home is financially underwater (the total mortgage
balance is greater than the value of the property) owners will usually make
serious efforts to keep from defaulting. But only up to a point. If it gets
too far underwater, people will let it go -- even if they can afford to make
the payments. While there may be an intuitive sense to this, the fact is
not widely recognized.
|
|
*
U.S.
a 'reluctant' investor: Obama to tell Wall Street role is temporary Columbus Dispatch
09/14/2009 When President Barack Obama travels to Wall Street today to
speak from Federal Hall, where the Founders once argued bitterly over how
much the government should control the national economy, he is likely to
cast himself as a "reluctant shareholder" in America's biggest
industries and financial institutions.
|
|
*
South
Florida banks facing a new wave in real-estate crisis Miami Herald
09/13/2009 Squeezed by plunging rents, empty storefronts, the credit crunch
and a dearth of buyers, a growing number of commercial property owners are
defaulting on their loans, which could unleash a new wave of bank failures
and slow the region's economic recovery.
|
|
*
Million-dollar
mansions lost a small percentage while working-class homes lost a big one
Palm
Beach Post
09/12/2009 For all but a tiny fraction of Palm Beach County homeowners, the
question isn't whether your home lost value last year. It's how much it
lost - what percentage burst with the housing bubble. The answer, it turns
out, often lies in one number: how much the home was worth to begin with.
|
|
*
How
you handle mortgage woes can hammer credit Richmond Times-Dispatch
09/12/2009 WASHINGTON When you do a short sale of a house, or modify the
mortgage, is there much of an impact on your credit score? What if you walk
away from the mortgage altogether? A scoring company created by the three
national credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and TransUnion -- has some
eye-opening numbers.
|
|
*
The
Ripple Effect: What One Layoff Means For A Whole Town TIME Magazine
09/11/2009 The Eaton Manufacturing plant in Roxboro, N.C., makes a 3-in.
gadget called a lash adjuster that keeps pressure constant on engine
valves, increasing fuel efficiency.
|
|
*
Your
Money: Seven New Rules for the First-Time Home Buyer New York Times
09/11/2009 As the one-year anniversary arrives of our near financial
collapse, its a good time to blow up a long-standing but underexamined
maxim of real estate that you should always stretch financially when
buying your first home.
|
|
*
Trio
of Central Ohio cities win home improvement grants Business
First, Columbus
09/11/2009 Newark, London and Marysville were among 66 communities
statewide unveiled as recipients of about $32.4 million in Community
Housing Improvement grants. The funding, awarded through the state
Department of Development, supports low- and moderate-income homeowners
whose properties are in need of repair or rehabilitation.
|
|
*
Secrets
of a Professional Negotiator autos.yahoo.com
09/10/2009 The energy is electric in the offices of Authority Auto in
Sherman Oaks, California. That's because Authority's president, Oren
Weintraub, is doing what he loves: negotiating car deals and saving money
for his clients.
|
|
*
Investors
take a shine to gold Denver Post
09/09/2009 Stocks rose for the third straight day Tuesday as gold topped
$1,000 an ounce for the first time since February and oil jumped more than
$3 a barrel. The rising prices helped lift material and energy stocks. The
gains in commodities came as the dollar fell and investors looked for more
ways to profit from an improving economy.
|
|
*
Rate
on 6-month Treasury bill hits new record low San Francisco Chronicle
09/08/2009 The Treasury Department on Tuesday auctioned $29 billion in
six-month bills at a discount rate of 0.225 percent. That was down from
last week's record of 0.240 percent. The government started issuing these
bills weekly in December 1958.
|
|
*
A
year ago today, financial meltdown began Richmond Times-Dispatch
09/07/2009 A year ago today, the U.S. government took over faltering
mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because they were deemed too big
to fail. Thus began the meltdown -- the worst financial crisis since the
Great Depression.
|
|
*
Backlash
against banks growing over mortgage modifications Sacramento Bee
09/06/2009 James Seeley, a machine shop supervisor at the University of
California, Davis, just wants a modified mortgage that he and his wife,
Sandi, can better afford. It's a common quest in this economy. Seeley's
wages are being cut. His house in Natomas has lost almost half its value.
And he owes more than it's worth, even with a $125,000 down payment in
2006.
|
|
*
New
rules protect home-loan borrowers
Columbus Dispatch
09/06/2009 In the next two years, consumers might feel like an
overscheduled soccer mom when trying to keep track of the effective dates
of new rules and regulations intended to better protect them.
|
|
*
Foreclosure
rescue scams avoidable Columbus
Dispatch
09/06/2009 Late last month, the Federal Trade Commission settled with a
Florida-based company -- United Home Savers -- that allegedly operated like
this, victimizing more than 3,100 homeowners nationwide. The company and
its officers denied any legal wrongdoing as part of the settlement, but
have shut down the firm and agreed to a $4.1 million judgment and close
monitoring by federal officials of their future business activities.
|
|
*
Heir
learns being first-time owner not same as being first-time buyer Palm Beach
Post
09/06/2009 Rules of the new federal tax-credit program specifically
prohibit consumers who inherit a property from claiming the credit, even if
they have never owned a home before. The credit is available to most buyers
who purchase a house before Dec. 1, provided that neither they nor their
spouse has owned a home for the past three years. The credit, however, is
not available to single tax-filers who earn more than $95,000 per year -
even if they meet the three-year requirement - or to married couples who
file their taxes jointly and whose adjusted gross income is more than $170,000.
|
|
*
Commercial
real estate market in Richmond is ailing Richmond Times-Dispatch
09/05/2009 The commercial real estate market in the Richmond area is ailing
and likely to get worse, much like the rest of the country. Twenty-three
properties here -- ranging from hotels to mixed-used developments,
apartments and shopping centers -- are in financial distress, according to
Real Capital Analytics, a commercial real estate research and consulting
firm based in New York.
|
|
*
City pays steep
price for land amid North Myrtle Beach lawsuit Myrtle
Beach Sun News
09/04/2009 A dispute over who botched a real estate deal here is being
played out in circuit court, and the outcome will determine whether this
city's taxpayers wind up paying more than $2 million for property worth
only a fraction of that amount. The property includes three parcels along
1st Avenue South where the city wants to build a library and a museum.
Those parcels have a combined fair market value of $346,800, according to
county tax records.
|
|
*
Developer
expanding Weinland project Columbus
Dispatch
09/03/2009 The Wagenbrenner Co. wants to spend $12 million to redevelop the
blighted property at the northeast corner of N. 4th Street and E. 5th
Avenue in the Weinland Park neighborhood. Plans call for one building with
42 residences above 17,500 square feet of retail space, and another with 30
residences above 12,500 square feet of retail space.
|
|
*
Behind
Florida's Exodus: Rising Taxes, Political Ineptitude TIME Magazine
09/02/2009 There are many things public officials probably shouldn't do
during a severe recession, but no one seems to have told the leaders in
Florida about them. One thing, for instance, would be giving a dozen top
aides hefty raises while urging a rise in property taxes.
|
|
*
Savvy
buyers use self-directed IRA to buy homes San Francisco Chronicle
09/01/2009 Nathan Foran used his self-directed IRA to buy a dilapidated
foreclosed house in Richmond for $25,000 cash. Another $25,000 to $35,000
from the retirement account will go toward fixing up the property. He then
hopes to rent it out for about $1,000 a month, money that will go straight
into his retirement account.
|
|
*
Six-month
Treasury bills sell at lowest rate ever Richmond Times-Dispatch
09/01/2009 Interest rates on six-month Treasury bills fell yesterday to the
lowest point on records that go back more than 50 years. The Treasury
Department yesterday auctioned $29 billion in six-month bills at a discount
rate of 0.240 percent. That's down from 0.255 percent last week, and an
all-time low since the government started issuing the bills weekly in
December 1958.
|
