Not only does the weather heat up with the arrival of spring, but typically so does the housing market. Many people may be wondering if they should buy a home or if they can afford it. “The first step is figuring out how much you can afford to spend on homeownership, which means an honest [...]
There’s some good news about credit card debt in America. According to Equifax, nearly 60 of the top 100 metro areas hardest hit by credit card debt are actually experiencing declines in the ratio of income owed to credit card companies. Four states in particular saw big declines: Florida, Louisiana, Washington and California. In fact, [...]
This week India’s richest man moved into the world’s most expensive home. The 27-story state-of-the-art residential skyscraper cost about $1 billion to build. Fifty-three-year-old Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, will live in the 400,000 square foot home known as “Antilla” with his wife, three children and mother. Some features of this home include a [...]
I just came across this story out of Memphis. Sixty-four-year-old George Tirpak lost his job and fell behind on his mortgage and tax bills. Now he’s been kicked out of his home so he simply moved to the front yard. Neighbors are trying to help while Tirpak figures out what to do. He’s one of [...]
Before the economy started to slide American consumers were pretty good at paying their bills. According to US News and World Report about 95 percent of loans were paid on time before 2007. But that slipped to 92.3 in 2008, 88.8 percent in 2009 and 88 percent by the end of 2009. US News and [...]
I was listening to Dave Ramsey the other day and he posed an interesting question– what are you willing to give up in order to achieve your goals? We often think and talk about what we’re willing to do in order to make our goals reality, but we rarely think about the cost that comes [...]
A new report from the Associated Press says that nearly half of the 1.3 million homeowners who initially tried to get help from the Obama administration’s mortgage relief program have left the program due to difficult paperwork and red tape. The $75 billion program was created to help those at risk of foreclosure avoid losing [...]
The Mortgage Bankers Association announced this week that the demand for home loans in the US slid to a 13-year low, despite record-low mortgage rates. According to Reuters, requests for mortgages fell by 3.1 percent in early July which was the lowest level seen since December 1996. Refinancing has also slowed down, falling 2.9 percent. [...]
CNN Money just released it’s annual list of the top 100 best places to live. Here’s a look at the top 25 and their current population: 1 Eden Prairie, MN 64,000 2 Columbia/Ellicott City, MD 155,000 3 Newton, MA 82,000 4 Bellevue, WA 124,000 5 McKinney, TX 125,000 6 Fort Collins, CO 141,000 7 Overland [...]
There are lots of factors that go into trying to get your house sold. When competing against other homes in your price range sometimes it can help to offer incentives for buyers. It can be a great way to convince buyers to choose your home over others in the market. There are several options for [...]