May 31, 2008
- Mortgages with Bad Credit History
Mortgages with Bad Credit History
As home loan guidelines get stiffer and stiffer, more and more people are finding bad credit mortgages as plan A, not plan B as it used to be. But just because you're in the market for a bad credit mortgage loan doesn't mean you shouldn't still look for the best deal [...]
May 27, 2008
- Home Loans Without the Big Down Payment
Home Loans Without the Big Down Payment
Many people give up on the dream of home ownership before they even get started because they just don’t believe they will ever be able to afford the down payment and closing costs.
A down payment can be as much as 20 percent or more of the purchase price [...]
May 9, 2008
- Reverse Mortgages: Older Homeowners Cautioned
Reverse Mortgages: Older Homeowners Cautioned
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority urged homeowners over the age of 60 to carefully weigh their options before tapping into their home equity through reverse mortgages to obtain additional income for their retirement years.
The group, formed by a merger of the NASD and some regulatory functions of New York Stock Exchange [...]
May 6, 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 26, 2008
- Mortgage Help: Talk is Cheap
Mortgage Help: Talk is Cheap
With foreclosures and bankruptcies soaring nationwide, both government and private industry have been promising help to homeowners. But is that help materializing?
Learn more about "Hope Now" from Money Talks correspondent Stacy Johnson in this short (1:38) video…
What is your opinion about the "Hope Now" project? We'd love to hear your feedback. [...]
April 20, 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 16, 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 15, 2008
- Sub Prime Mortgages: Not So Easy Anymore
Sub Prime Mortgages: Not So Easy Anymore
If your credit isn't the best, you might be familiar with sub-prime loans: they're the kind with a high rate for people with low credit…
With the mortgage industry suffering it's worst setback in decades in the past 12 months, the landscape is changing. Money editor Stacy Johnson explains in [...]
April 10, 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 23, 2008
- Home Mortgages with Bad Credit
Home Mortgages with Bad Credit
2 points to keep in mind with a mortgage loan for people with bad credit:
Finding a bad credit mortgage could take a while. The reason it can take a while is, most of the high street banks and financial institutions have shareholders. They usually want to make safe bets on people [...]
March 16, 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 15, 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 9, 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 24, 2008
- Counting on Higher Mortgage Limits? Be Patient
Counting on Higher Mortgage Limits? Be Patient
Homeowners are already calling their lenders about refinancing, and ads are pushing the idea that the congressional economic rescue plan offers the perfect time to get a loan.
But it could be weeks before consumers will be able to benefit from the mortgage provisions contained in the legislation approved by [...]
February 22, 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 [...]
January 31, 2008
- Lenders Beginning to Make Deals
Lenders Beginning to Make Deals
With so many houses in the United States facing foreclosure, mortgage lenders are starting to offer favorable deals for distressed borrowers they would not have agreed to just six months ago. This is not altruism, but a case of lenders trying to avoid being stuck owning hundreds of thousands, or even [...]
January 30, 2008
- Should You Buy Points or Not?
Should You Buy Points or Not?
Make sure you understand what points are. Points (or discount points) are simply pre-paid interest. One point amounts to 1% of the total mortgage. If you have a $100,000 mortgage, one point costs $1,000. That's pretty much all there is to it.
So why would anyone want to "pre-pay" interest?
You pre-pay [...]
January 22, 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 19, 2008
- Lender Going Under?
Lender Going Under?
What should you do if your mortgage lender goes bankrupt? Watch this video (1:12) to make sure you avoid a major problem…If you have a question or comment about the video, please post it below using the "Comment" link. Your email will never be published here for your protection and privacy against [...]
January 15, 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 [...]
