Although home prices haven’t increased much and interest rates have remained steady over the past year, it’s still going to be a more expensive to buy a home soon. The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has decided to increase the down payment requirements on the mortgage loans they guarantee/insure. This down payment was [...]

The FTHB Credit of $8,000(and $6,500 for repeat homebuyers) will be expiring soon. Those wishing to utilize the tax credit need to enter into a home purchase contract by April 30, 2010 and fully close the loan by June 30, 2010. The homebuyer’s tax credit can be used to offset expenses for a [...]

Mortgages are loans made by banks and lenders that package these loans (securitize) and sell them on Wall Street in the form of bonds called mortgage backed securities (MBS). The money made from the sale of the MBS them goes back to the bank/lender so they can complete more loans. The mortgage payments [...]

The Obama administration and the US Treasury dept are vowing to pressure the mortgage industry to administer more loan modifications as permanently modified mortgages have not kept up with the number of troubled households owning homes. While 14% of homeowners with a mortgage are facing foreclosure, only about 2% of homes applying for modifications [...]

As the number of Americans facing foreclosure of their homes, manycould be saved if only they understood the processs more. Here are some tips to protect your home.
1. Don’t ignore your mortgage problem – If you are unable to pay your mortage, dont hide from your lender. Call them and try to work [...]

A major part of financial literacy is an understanding of the rules of money. And there is nowhere better place to learn about rules than within hall of Congress. After all, these are the lawmakers of our society and they decide upon taxes levied and the regulation of commerce. The easy thing [...]

Millions of American homeowners are communicating with their mortgage loan companies for a loan modification. Many homeowners are experiencing varying degrees of success and failure with mortgage re-structuring efforts, but there is a lesser sought-after avenue that provides a win-win situation for the distressed homeowner and mortgage lender [...]

I recently got a call from a friend whose grandparents (80 years old) were placed into an expensive “no documentation” residential mortgage loan that is now foreclosing. The grandparents were seeking cash for medical expenses and didn’t qualify for a loan requiring full documentation of income [...]

Mortgage interest rates have increased by .5 % since last week and mortgage applications for refinances have dropped by 25% since then. The increase of a half a percent equates to about $50/month per $100,000’s of debt. Many banking industry experts are saying the historically low interest rate period is over and some industry heads [...]

Buying a home in this market is a no-brainer to anyone that understands financial literacy. Home values are at an all time low, the inventory of empty homes are higher and mortgage interest rates lower than any other time in recent history. However, since the economy is still in the “red” and news [...]