Finding Your Housing Value System

By Lois A. Vitt Are you stuck trying to make a housing decision? Small wonder. Your housing decisions are about everything in your life, not just the design and location of your home. They involve your inner motivations, desires, and well-being as surely as the objective circumstances of managing your housing-related finances or the logistics… Continue reading Finding Your Housing Value System

Investors Slammed by Housing Crash

By Mike Colpitts Homeowners are facing an economic crunch from the housing crash, but investors often face even more severe repercussions. More than 1 in 3 foreclosures are of investment owned properties, and should the foreclosure epidemic worsen as forecast that number is expected to rise as more investors walk away from mortgages. During the… Continue reading Investors Slammed by Housing Crash

Congress Finally Proposes Homeowners Help

By Kevin Chiu A proposal to halt the record number of foreclosures and force lenders to work with homeowners to modify mortgages was introduced in the Senate Wednesday by Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed. Rhode Island is one of the worst 10 states to be affected by the foreclosure epidemic. The bill would establish a… Continue reading Congress Finally Proposes Homeowners Help

Pilot Program Could Help Home Foreclosures

By Mike Colpitts The federal government response has been painstakingly slow to the foreclosure epidemic. But one city councilman is proposing a pilot program that could give mortgage holders of distressed homes a chance to stay in their residences amid the worst economic downturn in a generation. The program, already approved by the Los Angeles… Continue reading Pilot Program Could Help Home Foreclosures

Appraisal Reforms Sought

By Kevin Chiu Already under attack for inaccurate and sometimes fraudulent appraisals, a coalition of real estate industry related organizations is banding together to reform appraisal practices in an effort to fix part of the system that triggered the worst real estate crash since the Great Depression. Appraisers have been named as defendants in a… Continue reading Appraisal Reforms Sought

Nationalized Lending May be Permanent

Nearly 9 out of 10 home mortgages are now being sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government sponsored enterprises taken over by the federal government at the peak of the financial crisis and backed by taxpayer money. The government supported program has strongly nationalized mortgage lending and put the housing market on life-support.… Continue reading Nationalized Lending May be Permanent

Housing Shows Stabilization

By Mike Colpitts More than four years after beginning its downturn, many housing markets are stabilizing. Stabilization is key and the first step in the recovery process as markets settle from the worst housing crash since the Great Depression. The long-running housing depression is far from over, but there are more indications that stabilization is… Continue reading Housing Shows Stabilization

Foreclosures Maintain Record Rate

Foreclosure filings fell less than one percent in August from the record high foreclosure rate in July, according to the monthly RealtyTrac foreclosure report. Some 358,471 properties had filings, keeping activity 18% above a year ago. One in every 357 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month. After hitting a high for the… Continue reading Foreclosures Maintain Record Rate

Revolt May Start in California

By Kevin Chiu The first major move to pressure bankers to modify home mortgages may be developing in California. The action, planned for a vote next week, could be the most significant move yet to force bankers to take responsibility for millions of bad mortgages they issued to homeowners. The movement could signal a revolt… Continue reading Revolt May Start in California