January 30, 2012
Published by Linda at January 30, 2012
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FANNIE MAE and Freddie Mac’s recent extension of forbearance programs will give short-term aid to unemployed homeowners, but housing counselors warn that these borrowers will need to look at longer-term solutions. In a forbearance program, a lender agrees not to foreclose on a property and gives a borrower several months’ grace from or reduction in monthly mortgage payments. The programs work best for temporary setbacks, like job loss, health problems […]
December 30, 2011
Published by Linda at December 30, 2011
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THOUGH the threat of foreclosure has eased a little in the last 18 months, more than 2.6 million households are at least 60 days delinquent on their mortgage payments, according to Hope Now, a nonprofit coalition of lenders and agencies. Beyond the obvious threat of losing your home, falling behind can be costly: lenders charge late fees as well as legal and administrative costs, and your credit score will suffer. […]
November 8, 2011
Published by Linda at November 8, 2011
When you add everything up, closing costs can increase the price of a home by as much as $10,000, sometimes more. Those who are cash-poor can ask relatives for help. But some lenders advertise another option: If borrowers agree to accept a mortgage interest rate from a quarter to a full percentage point higher than they would ordinarily qualify for, they can receive credit toward their closing costs. Such mortgages […]
October 24, 2011
Published by Linda at October 24, 2011
Is low demand or poor supply the biggest cause for concern in the current housing market? Of course, one of the biggest problems facing the U.S. housing market right now is that there aren’t enough buyers for homes. Mortgage rates are hovering near their lowest levels in most Americans’ adult lifetimes, but demand is anemic. But we have written about a surprising trend: housing inventories have shrunk over the past […]
October 17, 2011
Published by Linda at October 17, 2011
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“WE regret to inform you…” Nobody applying for a new mortgage or a refinancing wants to see or hear these words. But last year more than two million people were turned down for home loans, according to federal data, often because they didn’t meet certain lender requirements or because their applications were incomplete or otherwise problematic. And that number, from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, doesn’t even include those […]
September 2, 2011
Published by Linda at September 2, 2011
From cbsnews.com The U.S. government has sued several of the country’s largest banks over mortgage-backed securities they sold that lost value in the housing market collapse. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, filed the lawsuit Friday seeking seeks compensation for more than $41 billion of losses related to subprime mortgage bonds. The suit could hamper a broader government mortgage settlement […]
August 28, 2011
Published by Linda at August 28, 2011
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From sfgate.com Foreclosures made up roughly one-third of all home sales this spring. While that’s a smaller share of sales from the previous quarter, it’s six times the percentage of foreclosures in a healthy housing market. Foreclosure sales, which include homes purchased after they received a notice of default or that were repossessed by lenders, accounted for 31 percent of the market in the April-June quarter, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac […]
July 19, 2011
Published by Linda at July 19, 2011
On average it took less time to foreclose in California, Arizona, and Nevada in June 2011, countering what has been a growing trend to extend the foreclosure process, according to the latest report from ForeclosureRadar.