April 25, 2008
- Negotiating With Your Lender
Negotiating with Your Lender
You're behind on your mortgage, and you want to save your house. It's time to talk turkey with your lender. But what do you say and who do you say it to?
In this short (1:32) video, Money Talks correspondent Stacy Johnson offers some tips.
Leave any comments you have about this video, or [...]
April 22, 2008
- Reverse Mortgages: Pros and Cons
Reverse Mortgages: Pros and Cons
One of the most confusing mortgages to much of the general public is the reverse mortgage. Lots of folks aren't sure what a reverse mortgage is, who qualifies, how to apply, and where to go to get information.
These are all great questions, and here is a great article that sums it [...]
April 21, 2008
- Sub Prime Mortgages: Not So Easy Anymore
Sub Prime Mortgages: Not So Easy Anymore
April 17, 2008
- Foreclosure Scams: Big Business Now
Foreclosure Scams: Big Business Now
Among the byproducts of the U.S. housing crisis is a surge in scams that cheat people out of their money, their homes, or both, under the guise of offering to rescue them from foreclosure.
Almost every foreclosure rescue program you see advertised anywhere is fraud, and law enforcement lacks the funds to [...]
April 4, 2008
- Mortgage Questions: There Are NO Dumb Ones
Mortgage Questions: There Are NO Dumb Ones
The old saying, "the only dumb question is the one you don't ask" couldn't be truer when it relates to your mortgage. The more you ask, the more you know. And the more you know, the better decisions you'll make when getting a mortgage.
when you are ready to talk [...]
March 29, 2008
- Home Mortgages with Bad Credit
Home Mortgages with Bad Credit
March 21, 2008
- Lenders Cutting Off the Home-Equity Spigot
Lenders Cutting Off the Home-Equity Spigot
For more than a decade, banks encouraged homeowners to tap their equity for everything from paying off credit cards to covering college tuition.
Now lenders are abruptly shutting off the spigot. More than 100,000 homeowners at one lender already have been told that their home-equity lines of credit have been frozen [...]
March 20, 2008
- High-Cost Mortgages: Now a Bit Cheaper
High-Cost Mortgages: Now a Bit Cheaper
Mortgage costs just got a little cheaper for buyers in high-cost areas.
The size of loans that can be guaranteed by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae was raised recently by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. The new, higher loan limits will stay in effect through the end of the [...]
March 5, 2008
- Bi-Weekly Mortgage Payments: Don't Pay Fees
Bi-Weekly Mortgage Payments: Don't Pay Fees
The "magic" of a biweekly (every two weeks) mortgage payment is that you end up making the equivalent of 13 full mortgage payments in a year rather than the usual 12, reducing the time needed to pay down the mortgage and cutting interest payments substantially. But a biweekly payment plan [...]
February 26, 2008
- Can't Make the Mortgage Payment? Just Walk Away?
Can't Make the Mortgage Payment? Just Walk Away?
More and more borrowers are watching their house values sink while the cost of their loans skyrockets. What to do? It appears that some are opting to skip out on the mortgage all together.
Homeowners are abandoning their homes and, more importantly, their mortgages, rather than trying to keep [...]
February 18, 2008
- Counting on Higher Mortgage Limits? Be Patient
Counting on Higher Mortgage Limits? Be Patient
February 4, 2008
- Should You Buy Points or Not?
Should You Buy Points or Not?
January 28, 2008
- Lenders Beginning to Make Deals
Lenders Beginning to Make Deals
January 23, 2008
- Lender Going Under?
Lender Going Under?
January 21, 2008
- Stop the Foreclosure Process
Stop the Foreclosure Process
It is estimated that more than 3 million homes will be foreclosed through 2009. This is worse than what happened during the Great Depression. Reasons for this are many, but put simply, homeowners have allowed themselves to get into mortgages they couldn't really afford. Predatory loan processes used by lenders have only [...]
January 18, 2008
- Considering a New Home Loan?
Considering a New Home Loan?
Those considering purchasing a new home need to be prepared for the changes that are happening almost on a daily basis in the mortgage marketplace. Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac are changing guidelines on a fast and furious pace to keep up with the real estate market declines in most of [...]
January 10, 2008
- Refinancing: Is Now The Right Time?
Refinancing: Is Now The Right Time?
You should only refinance if you can get a lower interest rate, lower monthly payment and better terms in your mortgage. If all these are favorable, then refinancing your home loan may be a sound financial decision right now.
Before making a decision to refinance, consider the following factors:
What are the [...]
January 4, 2008
- Help for the Nearly Homeless
Help for the Nearly Homeless
December 19, 2007
- Pay Off Your Mortgage or Invest the Money?
Pay Off Your Mortgage or Invest the Money?
December 9, 2007
- The Rate Freeze Idea - Give Us Your Opinion
The Rate Freeze Idea - Give Us Your Opinion
If you haven't been keeping up with the news of late, you may not be aware of the new "Rate Freeze" idea that is being kicked around by the Hope Now Alliance, coalition of lenders, servicers, investors and community groups, put together by the Treasury Department. Details [...]
