I woke up this morning to a National Public Radio story about the ongoing mortgage crisis, especially those "subprime" borrowers who are in danger of foreclosure. On the radio I could hear...
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Via Lifehacker, a really interesting post from Millionaire Mommy Next Door on how ditching home ownership in favor of renting improved both her financial life and her feeling of freedom. You could...
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Back in May, I covered American Express's new program, in which it lets cardholders pay their mortgages with a credit card. But it was full of downsides, as you can only do it if you pay $395 as...
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Filed in archive Housing
by Justin McHenry on September 26, 2007
Back in May I brought up Bank of America's No-Fee Mortgage offering, which claims no loan origination fees, or closing fees and no PMI for those with less than 20% down payments. I didn't know...
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Major banks generally have a reputation for working hard to screw you in the fine print, whether it's mortgages, credit cards or what have you. But so far I haven't been able to find a catch...
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As more and more of the tax money that cities receive comes from property taxes, a strange occurrence has taken place. People are reveling in the upswings in value in their homes from the recent hot...
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Alaska has no state sales tax and no state income tax. But that's only the beginning... I came across this article today that shows Anchorage to be the cheapest major American city to live in, at...
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These two to the left look happy now, but just wait until that house sits on the market for 8 months and they're carrying two mortgages because they already bought a new place. That's the...
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If you've ever house hunted, you probably noticed a wide variance in the quality of the homes available at similar price points. Oftentimes it's not the intrinsic quality that is so much...
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Filed in archive Housing
by Justin McHenry on September 20, 2006
I got stupid and bought some homebuilder stocks a little while back. Looks like I'm going to have to hold on to those for a few years if I ever want my money back. But my loss is your...
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Although her grass definitely needs a cutting, this woman appears happy with her home. But, is she happy because it's a great home, or happy because she knows its value is rising and one day...
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To your left is a photo of me during a recent do-it-yourself project. I believe I was building a shed or something that required me to saw some wood. Ah, who am I kidding? That's not me--it's...
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J.D. at Get Rich Slowly is discussing the merits of making extra payments toward your mortgage principal. He rightly acknowledges that even the experts seem to disagree on whether it's the right...
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The Christian Science Monitor had an article yesterday about the pros and cons of putting extra money toward paying off your mortgage versus investing it. The financial experts they talked to...
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Filed in archive Housing
by on January 19, 2006
Easy access to money can sometimes make you feel like you know how it all works together in your various transactions. In the area of home loans I think this may come back and bite a lot of...
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Filed in archive Housing
by on January 18, 2006
Forbes reported today that the UK housing market ended 2005 on a much better note than it had started the years at. In the month of December prices rose for the second straight month after 15 months...
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Filed in archive Housing
by on January 17, 2006
According to this commentator the primary cause of the housing bubble is the huge debt that America is carrying. "Rising real estate prices have created the illusion that homeowners are now...
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Filed in archive Housing
by andy on June 24, 2005
I've kept quiet on housing of late because, frankly, I got tired beating that drum. How much anecdotal evidence of a mania can one really stomach without becoming tone deaf? But I'm ready to...
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Filed in archive Housing
by andy on June 22, 2005
In every area of our lives we flock to those producers that offer the latest and greatest. In fact, we demand it. The iPod and Dyson vacuums come to mind. As a society we demand innovation. The...
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Filed in archive Housing
by andy on June 03, 2005
With mortgage rates about to hit lows not seen in over a year, it may be a good time to think about refinancing. Here's a handy calculator to help you in your decision making.......
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Filed in archive Housing
by andy on June 01, 2005
It's always interesting to see what some "seasoned" players have to say. Here's a fellow who's been there, done that for quite some time. Today people are certain real estate...
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Filed in archive Housing
by andy on May 19, 2005
My brother is a mortgage banker so I frequently discuss housing with him to get a bird's eye view of what's going on. A year or two ago I was tossing ideas around to spur some debate. One...
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