Tag: income property investing
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Palladium: The Other Silver Metal
Palladium is the hottest metal you’ve never heard of. Currently outperforming other precious metals in the markets, this cousin of platinum is showing its strengths even as gold, long the standard of financial stability, drops to levels not seen in three decades. The fate of palladium and gold are entwined with the ups and downs…
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Today’s New Renters Bridge Generation Gaps
The stereotypes are familiar: unemployed twentysomethings living in their parents’ basements, senior citizens trotting off to retirement communities in sunny states – or occupying rocking chairs on the porch of the family home. But new economic realities and changing social dynamics are putting a new spin on the old pictures. Now, millennials and retirees are…
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The US Housing Market Welcomes Chinese Investors
A changing economic picture brings new perspectives. A few years ago, Japanese investors with big bucks began snapping up US real estate at ferocious rates and raising fears that Asian investors would end up owning the country. Now, though, as Chinese investors take the lead in foreign investment in US real estate, a shaky housing…
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Do Short Sales Boost Real Estate’s Recovery?
housing market continues to improve – a trend that signals better health for the economy as a whole. Although that means fewer distressed properties are hitting the market, short sales still pop up in the listings — a process with a bad name that can mean a good property. The number of short sales soared…
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What’s Ahead For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
Venerable home loan servicers Fannie Mae end Freddie Mac have been around so long, it’s hared to remember what their real names are. In spite of a troubled past linked to the subprme mortgage meltdown of a few years ago, these two institutions seem like a permanent part of the US housing landscape. But as…
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Home Finance Reform and the Future of the Fixed Rate Mortgage
Talk of housing finance reform is in the air. And as members of the House financial Services Committee continue debates about creating a more “holistic” housing policy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reminded them in recent remarks to start with a clear decision about what the government’s role in home financing should be. At issue:…
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Do Pocket Listings Manipulate the Market?
The housing recovery seems to be humming along nicely, by many accounts. But the rebound depends on properties made available for sale. A little known and slightly shady practice known as “pocket listings” can skew access to those potential properties, though, as brokers collect bigger commissions by keeping properties out of public access while they…
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Fewer First Time Buyers Affect the Housing Recovery
By many indications, the hosing recovery is still on the upswing. Mortgage rates remain on the low side and homes are available in most markets. So why aren’t first time buyers taking the plunge into homeownership? The answer, according to a new report from RE Insider, is complex, with broader implications for the rebound of…
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New Legislation Promises a Holistic Housing Policy
The government’s heavy involvement in housing affairs may be coming to an end – at least if a new bill promising a more “holistic” approach to housing policies becomes law. Now in draft form, the new legislation promises to whittle down the government’s presence in home financing and refinancing to make way for greater privatization…
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Can Better Math Skills Boost the Housing Recovery?
Can something as simple as better arithmetic skills prevent another housing collapse? According to a new study by researchers at Columbia Business School, the answer might be yes. After an extensive survey of mortgage holders both before and after the housing collapse, Columbia’s scholars found that a key predictor of mortgage defaults and foreclosures turned…