Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
BANK WORLD UPDATE: Citigroup Gives Distressed Homeowners’ A New Alternative. “Turn Over Your Deed and We’ll Give You 6 Months To Leave” (Yahoo!/AP)
Citigroup Inc. plans to let homeowners on the verge of foreclosure stay in their homes for six months — if they turn over the deed to their property.
Citi said Thursday it is launching the pilot program, dubbed “Foreclosure Alternatives,” this week in Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio. Initially, about 1,000 homeowners are [...]
10 Must Have Features In Today’s New Homes (Yahoo!)
Americans want smaller houses and they are willing to strip some of yesterday’s most popular rooms — such as home theaters — from them in order to accommodate changing lifestyles, consumer experts told audiences at the International Builders Show here this week.
“This is a traumatic time in this country and the future isn’t something we’re [...]
The Hidden Costs Of The American Dream. Owning A Home May Now Not Make Sense (Yahoo! Finance)
The past few years have certainly challenged the idea that real estate prices only go in one direction. But the downside of the “American Dream” is even more pronounced, says James Altucher of Formula Capital.
Owning a home has “never been a great investment,” Altucher says, noting housing went up a dismal 0.4% annually vs. 8% [...]
Walking Away From Your Mortgage (The New York Times)
John Courson, president and C.E.O. of the Mortgage Bankers Association, recently told The Wall Street Journal that homeowners who default on their mortgages should think about the “message” they will send to “their family and their kids and their friends.” Courson was implying that homeowners — record numbers of whom continue to default — have [...]
BANKING WORLD UPDATE: Even The Rich Are Getting Turned Down For Mortgages (CNN)
The wealthy have money problems, too — yeah they do.
Even refinancing a mortgage for their fancy digs or getting a new loan can be near impossible these days thanks to skittish lenders. And the higher the loan value, the more they worry.
Still, that people with high six-figure incomes, stellar credit histories and gobs of assets [...]
THE STORY THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: Foreclosures Jump in December As Obama Loan Modifications Fail To Work (USA TODAY)
Foreclosure filings increased 14% in December from November, the first monthly increase since foreclosure activity peaked in July, according to a RealtyTrac report out Thursday.
Foreclosure filings were reported on 349,519 properties in December, which were also 15% higher than in December 2008, RealtyTrac said.
“It’s somewhat startling to see these kind of numbers,” says Brian Bethune [...]
Friendly Home Upgrades On The ‘Cheap’ (Shine)
Giving the kitchen or bath a lift doesn’t have to shrink your wallet. Try one or two of these easy ideas to upgrade the hardest-working spaces in the house.
For the Kitchen:
1. Small Change
Instead of everything but the kitchen sink, how about just the kitchen sink? Replacing a dated faucet does wonders for overall style.
2. Surface [...]
U.S. Now a Renters’ Market: Landlords See Rents Fall (Wall Street Journal)
Apartment vacancies hit a 30-year high in the fourth quarter, and rents fell as landlords scrambled to retain existing tenants and attract new ones.
The vacancy rate ended the year at 8%, the highest level since Reis Inc., a New York research firm that tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 U.S. markets, began its [...]
10 Savvy Homebuying Tips for 2010 (Bankrate.com)
The housing market, and with it, the mortgage landscape, have changed dramatically over the past two years.
Rules for scoring a low-interest mortgage have become stricter, and homebuyers must be savvy and well prepared to land any home loan. Below are 10 tips to make your homebuying and refinancing odyssey more successful in 2010.
FOR CONTINUATION OF [...]
Tough Year For Real Estate Predicted (The Wall Street Journal)
Real estate, which sparked the global economic downturn in 2008, struggled to recover in 2009. But the path to a full return to health is littered with land mines that could send the sector spiraling downward again, possibly upending the nascent economic revival.
The past year’s progress in the housing market has relied on government programs [...]
