Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
New Wave Of Foreclosures By The End of 2010 is Predicted (Los Angeles Times)
About 4 million U.S. homeowners are 90 days or more delinquent on their loans or in foreclosure proceedings, Moody’s Economy.com says. A federal loan modification program is helping a relative few.
Reporting from Washington – [...]
Suburban Homeless Is Becoming a Reality For American Families (Huffington Post)
ROOSEVELT, N.Y. — Homelessness in rural and suburban America is straining shelters this winter as the economy founders and joblessness hovers near double digits – a “perfect storm of foreclosures, unemployment and a shortage of affordable housing,” in one official’s eyes.
“We are seeing many families that never before sought government help,” said Greg Blass, commissioner [...]
The Happiest And HealthIest Cities In The United States (USA Today)
Feeling down? You might consider a move to Boulder, Colo.
A massive new study of Americans’ attitudes concludes that the city at the foot of the Rocky Mountains is home to the happiest, healthiest people in the United States. At the bottom of 162 large and medium-sized cities: Huntington, W.Va.
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, based on interviews [...]
How To Buy Foreclosed Properties At Auction (Bankrate.com)
Home foreclosure filings declined steadily from August through November 2009, but were still significantly higher than they were a year ago, according to RealtyTrac, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties.
Home foreclosure filings For November 2009 — including default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions — numbered 306,627, a decrease of nearly 8 percent [...]
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 [...]
HOME BUYING: The Best Foreclosure Bargins In America (CNBC)
The turmoil in the US housing market has been punctuated with a wave of residential foreclosures. With sellers looking to offload foreclosed properties, often at a loss, the discounted prices have been identified as potentially profitable investments by speculators betting on a housing rebound. But across the country, where are the best opportunities?
According [...]
Federal Housing Administration Has Mounting Finanicial Woes. A Crush Of Foreclosures Is Possible (Washington Post)
The share of borrowers who are falling seriously behind on loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration jumped by more than a third in the past year, foreshadowing a crush of foreclosures that could further buffet an agency vital to the housing market’s recovery.
About 9.1 percent of FHA borrowers had missed at least three payments [...]
The Fastest Growing Cities In Amercia (Business Week)
Tired of reading about how rotten the real estate market is? Here’s some good news that shows that even during the worst of the recession plenty of American cities, towns, and suburbs continue to grow.
One such place is Atascocita, Tex. A mostly residential community 20 miles from Houston, it gained more than 1,800 households in [...]
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% [...]
