Homeowner Assistance Helps Investors

Homeowner assistance programs such as the Home Affordable Refinance Program have traditionally been aimed at helping residential borrowers keep their homes out of foreclosure, But a growing number of lenders are recognizing that extending this kind of aid to...

Rate Your Landlord? Tenants Turn the Tables

Credit checks, references and questions about employment are routine, if unpleasant, aspects of renting a place to live. And traditionally landlords have had the right to dig into a potential tenant’s life in any way that doesn’t violate housing discrimination laws....

Refinancing for Investors: A New Landscape

Although they’re rising a bit, mortgage interest rates are still holding at rates called “historically low” by financial reporters everywhere. And since the housing market appears to be on the upswing and many lenders are courting both residential homeowners and...

New Federal Homeowner Support: A Boost for the Economy?

What helps the housing market helps the economy as a whole, say economists and financial professionals. With that in mind, the federal government is planning changes to its slate of programs intended to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure – and put the money...

Innocents Abroad? Buying Foreign Property for Retirement

The future of retirement in the US appears to be anything but rosy. Shrinking pension plans, skyrocketing medical care and new taxes on assets are among the reasons that more and more retirees, and those nearing retirement, are considering moving their money abroad....

The Shadow Within Real Estate’s Shadow Industry

The battered US housing market continues to show signs of a recovery, with demand for existing hones rising along with purchase prices. But a closer look at the underpinnings of this apparent recovery reveals that it’s fueled in part by artificial interventions on the...

Naming Houses: A New Real Estate Trend?

What’s in a name? In real estate investing, the answer is, surprisingly a lot. In the current, still-fragile housing recovery, real estate professionals say, it’s the intangible, psychological factors associated with a house that can tip the scales toward buying – or...

Who’s Pulling the Strings in the Housing Recovery?

Mortgage interest remain low, housing prices are going up and demand is outstripping supply in some markets – all indications that the housing recovery is humming along nicely. But according to some industry professionals, the rebound in housing after the historic...

The No Closing Cost Mortgage: Who Benefits?

Since the subprime mortgage meltdown of a few years ago, the mortgage industry has undergone numerous changes. The scandals that erupted over blatantly fraudulent practices led to stricter lending standards and more regulation that both protects and deters potential...