First Time Home Buyers
From the monthly archives: June 2009
Moving to a new metropolitan area requires adjustments. There’s new streets to learn, new weather patterns to get used to, and new social cultures to assimilate.
There’s also new costs.
Just like home values vary by area, so does the Cost of Living. To visit a doctor in Chicago, as an example, costs a [...]
Continue Reading →After being range-bound since the start of the year in May, surprising analysts and Wall Street.
It”s the latest in a string of housing-related data that suggests a real estate recovery is already underway.
Housing Starts is an important statistic for a number of reasons, but to homebuyers [...]
Continue Reading →Americans are feeling better about their budgets right now, raising the possibility of a full economic recovery.
According to a University of Michigan and Reuters, Consumer Sentiment rose for the in June.
Consumer Sentiment is now at its highest levels since September 2008, the month in which Lehman [...]
Continue Reading →The mortgage market roller coaster continues. Markets worsened badly in the early part of last week, before rallying into Friday’s close.
Overall, mortgage rates were slightly higher for the week even though — briefly — they rose to levels not seen since November 2008.
Last week marks the third week in a row and the [...]
Continue Reading →When finances are tight, homeowners are often forced to choose between making home repairs right away, and putting them off until finances improve.
Some repairs, though, become more expensive if not tackled on the double. The hard part is knowing which fixes those are.
In this 5-minute piece from The Today Show on NBC, a [...]
Continue Reading →The is a statistical concept most commonly known as the 80/20 Rule.
It says 80 percent of the effects come from 20 of the causes.
Apparently, the 80/20 Rule applies to foreclosures, too — at least according to data compiled by foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac.
Based on data from [...]
Continue Reading →Tighter mortgage guidelines since late-2008 are forcing home buyers to make bigger downpayments. Anecdotally, the change has led to a surge in buyers taking gifts of cash from family members.
If you”re among those accepting a cash gift from family, it”s important to know that you can”t just deposit the money in your bank account.
[...]
Continue Reading →Since Memorial Day, conforming mortgage rates have jumped by more than 1.125 percent, adding thousands of dollars to the annual cost of homeownership.
To the casual observer, the moves may seem random. There”s a reason this is happening, however.
It starts with inflation.
As an economic force, inflation [...]
Continue Reading →The economy posted stronger-than-expected data last week, reigniting fears of inflation on Wall Street.
The positive-slanted economic news caused conforming mortgage rates to rise by another 1/2 percent last week.
It marked the second week in a row of soaring mortgage rates and the fifth week [...]
Continue Reading →Suze Orman recently appeared on The Today Show and gave 5 minutes of practical money management advice. Not everyone”s a fan of Ms. Orman, but this is an interview worth watching.
The segment”s theme is “What should you do first?“, pitting real-life financial scenarios against each [...]
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