homeowners

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev 

Stealing Home: Five Signs It's Time to Lowball

Forget the market and climb inside the seller's head

(Newser) - It's not always the economy, stupid. Even in a weak market, buyers should consider a homeowner's situation before hurling a lowball bid, writes Daniel McGinn in Newsweek. One real estate broker offers five sure signs that a seller is ready to deal:
  1. Nobody's home. Sellers who have moved on, or
...

House OKs Mortgage Rescue Plan, Despite Veto Threat

Plan would allow homeowners to get more stable government loans

(Newser) - The House today shrugged off a veto threat from President Bush and passed a wide-ranging rescue plan for US homeowners, Reuters reports. The centerpiece of the legislation would allow people to trade in risky, fast-rising mortgages for more stable government loans. The $300 billion measure would help an estimated 500,...

Ditch the Lawn, Grow a Garden!
 Ditch the Lawn, Grow a Garden! 
Apr 20, 2008 5:18 AM CDT

Ditch the Lawn, Grow a Garden!

Artist/architect wages war on 'antisocial' front yards

(Newser) - A renegade architect/artist has declared war on an unlikely enemy: the suburban front lawn. To improve what he sees as an “actively antisocial space” which consumes resources and serves no definite purpose, Fritz Haeg is looking to transform lawns into food gardens, reports Men's Vogue. His first four repurposed...

More Fed Help on the Way for Homeowners

More FHA-insured mortgages to be available for strapped consumers

(Newser) - Homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure are about to get a boost from the Federal Housing Administration. The FHA commissioner is expected to announce plans to expand an aid program that will allow borrowers saddled with negative equity to write down part of their mortgages and refinance their homes with cheaper...

Couple Seeks $25K Over Google's 'Street View'

Privacy-seeking couple claims 'mental suffering' after home appears online

(Newser) - Google gave in to the Defense Department, but can it fight a couple in Pittsburgh? Aaron and Christine Boring are seeking more than $25,000 for invasion of privacy by Google's “Street View” feature, the Smoking Gun reports. The couple says that a “major component of their purchase...

Bernanke: Homeowners Need More Help

Fed chief calls for writing down problem mortgages' principal

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke says homeowners need more help, and that help might include writing down the principal on some problem loans, reports the Wall Street Journal.  "Efforts by both government and private-sector entities to reduce unnecessary foreclosures are helping, but more can, and should, be done,"  the...

Best Places for Home Bargains
Best Places for Home Bargains
Feb 13, 2008 2:13 PM CST

Best Places for Home Bargains

Plenty of opportunity exists for money-minded buyers, Forbes says

(Newser) - Certain housing markets are better than others for bargain-hunters, Forbes reports, and they're generally the ones with a glut of homes, strong job growth, and a low rate of foreclosures. Forbes rattles off its top 10:
  1. Salt Lake City: highest job growth in the country, and low foreclosure
  2. Raleigh, NC:
...

10 Lies Homeowners Tell Buyers
10 Lies Homeowners Tell Buyers
Feb 8, 2008 6:41 PM CST

10 Lies Homeowners Tell Buyers

Few are above making a fib or two part of the sales pitch

(Newser) - When a homeowner is desperate to sell and a buyer is ready to fork over the cash, the truth about a house is often swept under the rug, MSNBC reports. Watch out for frequent fibs when talking about:
  1. Personality of neighbors and the neighborhood.
  2. Status of home repairs (particularly the
...

Given Rent Prices, Homes Still Too High

Expect another 15% drop if historical relationship holds

(Newser) - If rent prices are any indication, home prices aren’t done falling, according to one former and two current Federal Reserve economists. Annual rents have historically held steady at about 5% of home prices, but since 1996 home prices have left rents in the dust, the Wall Street Journal explains....

Some Critics of Rate Freeze May Be Angry Investors

FDIC chief speculates that investors are blasting the plan to boost their income

(Newser) - Critics of the government’s new rescue plan for strapped homeowners may be investors who would cash in on a foreclosure-ridden market, one of the plan’s chief architects charges. Sheila Blair, head of the FDIC, speculated that naysayers may have a conflict of interest, the Wall Street Journal reports....

Subprime Nightmare to Get Worse
Subprime Nightmare to Get Worse
Nov 24, 2007 2:28 PM CST

Subprime Nightmare to Get Worse

With rates about to reset higher, expect more foreclosures

(Newser) - The subprime mortgage crisis is only just beginning, new data suggests. Hundreds of billions of dollars in subprime adjustable-rate mortgages are due to reset to higher rates in the year ahead, reports the Wall Street Journal. Analysts say this means the steep rise in defaults and foreclosures this year may...

Black Families Need Their 40 Acres
Black Families Need Their
40 Acres
OPINION
Nov 18, 2007 3:22 PM CST

Black Families Need Their 40 Acres

The ticket to black success is property ownership, says Gates

(Newser) - With a poll last week showing that African Americans no longer think of themselves as a "single race," Henry Louis Gates Jr explores causes of  the widening gap between middle class and poor blacks. His study of 20 highly successful African Americans, from Oprah to Whoopi to...

Homeowners Lure Free Labor With Libations

Remodeling parties are a risky new rage

(Newser) - Word of advice: Cocktails and power tools don't mix. Renovation parties are sweeping the nation, as homeowners look for ways around rising construction costs. But handing out martinis and sledgehammers doesn’t always produce the best results, the Wall Street Journal counsels, recounting horror stories of crooked tiles, drywall hung...

Home Foreclosures Hit Record
Home Foreclosures Hit Record
Sep 18, 2007 12:14 PM CDT

Home Foreclosures Hit Record

August numbers double, with no end in sight

(Newser) - Another 108,716 American homeowners received foreclosure notices in August, a record total more than double last year’s figure. And this is only the beginning, say analysts, who expect even more subprime borrowers to default over the next 2 years. That will further depress housing prices, which are expected...

Subprime Crisis Sparks a Spate of Legal Battles

Investors, homeowners, banks head to court, but obstacles lie ahead

(Newser) - The troubles plaguing Countrywide and Bear Stearns’ hedge funds will move from the boardroom to the courtroom. Homeowners and banks are suing mortgage lenders, shareholders are suing funds, the SEC is investigating executives, and Congress may conduct hearings into credit agencies' practices. The current mess ensnares “an incredible range...

Sunny Days Here for Green Homeowners

Thanks to subsidies and surplus, going green is paying off

(Newser) - Sunny days are here to stay for solar homes with roof-top panels, Forbes reports. Such green abodes can cover electricity costs in warm months and store enough to sell solar power to the grid for profit. Installation is expensive but viable thanks to government subsidies, especially in California, New Jersey...

Bush Promises Mortgage Relief
Bush Promises Mortgage Relief
Aug 31, 2007 2:52 PM CDT

Bush Promises Mortgage Relief

Fed agencies to offer aid to help Americans during credit squeeze

(Newser) - The government will roll up its sleeves and aid homeowners battered by the subprime mortgage crunch, but it will forsake “speculators” trying to exploit the crisis, President Bush said today. The FHA will step in and help delinquent borrowers avoid foreclosure by refinancing at lower rates, but experts predict...

Bush to Unveil Bailout Plan in Mortgage Crisis

Reforms will help families keep their homes

(Newser) - President Bush will announce a rescue package for homeowners with subprime mortgages faced with foreclosure. The package will include a call for Congress to give the Federal Housing Administration more power to help borrowers keep their homes—and stricter enforcement of laws against predatory lending, Reuters reports.

Biggest Buyers Hit Hard in Mortgage Fiasco

‘Jumbo’ loans dry up as subprime mess continues to spread

(Newser) - As the subprime mortgage mess spreads to homeowners beyond those with poor credit ratings, jumbo mortgages are under particular pressure, the New York Times reports. An investment banker recently purchasing a $1.5 million home saw the interest rate spike from 8% to 13% in just three days. The rate...

Scams Target Delinquent Homeowners
Scams Target Delinquent Homeowners
Jul 3, 2007 5:45 PM CDT

Scams Target Delinquent Homeowners

'Equity strippers' deceive borrowers behind on their mortgage payments

(Newser) - A new form of fraud is thriving in the declining housing market, targeting desperate homeowners who are late on their mortgage payments. Known as equity strippers, companies cold-call burdened borrowers, promising a reprieve from their financial woes. In the end, they profit, and the owners end up losing their  home...

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev