Foreclosure Articles

Uphill Battle: Buying a Home Amid Rising Rates - 04/13/2022
A “pre-approval letter” is like a license to buy a home; without it, a seller won’t take a buyer seriously. A pre-approval is a statement from a specific lender on how big a mortgage loan they’ll extend. Keep in mind though that pre-approval letters have a short shelf life. After a couple of years of flat and...Read More

Lookin’ Good for Landlords - 03/07/2012
If you’re a renter, now might be a good time to try to lock in your monthly payment. According to the National Association of Realtors’ quarterly commercial real estate forecast, all major commercial real estate sectors are showing improvement, especially multifamily housing. This landlord’s market means they can...Read More

Sizing Up the Right Condo - 12/23/2009
When it comes to buying the right condominium, the first rule of real estate – location, location, location – certainly applies. But a secondary rule that can be just as important is often overlooked, say the experts: namely, that size does matter. Indeed, many condo hunters willing to sacrifice square footage and a spatially...Read More

First-Time Buyers Remain Key to Housing Recovery - 01/04/2012
First-time homebuyers accounted for 37 percent of the homebuying market last year, according to the 2011 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. While down from 2010’s tax-credit-incentivized record high of 50 percent, the recent NAR survey shows that first-time buyers remain an important part of the...Read More

Cleaning House Online Gives Your Home The Right Image - 08/24/2016
Just as jobseekers should cleanse their Facebook page of any material that would dissuade employers from hiring them, homeowners benefit by checking their home’s online profile, particularly if they’re planning to sell. Simply by inputting an address, many websites will offer a price estimate on that property. Like Facebook,...Read More

Your home: Practicality counts more than status - 09/25/2019
If a silver lining can be found from the foreclosure crisis last decade, it’s that many learned that a home isn’t right for them unless they can comfortably afford it. The McMansion era, when buyers bought big because a man’s home is his castle, his statement to the world, is so over, right? Not quite. A recent...Read More

Suburban Sprawl Slows to A Crawl - 11/18/2015
What does a driver’s license have to do with home prices? Experts think they might be a clue to a mystery, namely why home prices in outlying suburbs have remained depressed, while values in suburbs closer to city centers have largely rebounded from the steep declines sparked by the financial crisis last decade. Closer-in...Read More

Finding Room For Savings - 03/25/2015
Two can’t live as cheaply as one, but splitting the rent can significantly cut costs. For example, rental site HotPads looked at the costs of renting within particular neighborhoods in 13 major U.S. cities. The analysis found that “cohabitating in a one bedroom apartment versus living alone in a studio or cohabitating in a...Read More

Emotion playing a larger role in selling a home - 06/17/2015
A real estate transaction is emotional – and not just when you’re buying a home. Despite occurrences of multiple bids, including those over asking price, today’s sellers are twice as likely to accept a purchase offer based on emotion – rather than just price – compared to pre-recession years, according to a...Read More

Paying Steady with Unsteady Income - 12/16/2015
Fifth-grade math skills come in handy when you’re home shopping. Lenders usually don’t want to see a monthly mortgage payment – plus all other regularly occurring debts – exceed more than about 36 to 43 percent of a borrower’s gross monthly income. No matter how adept they are converting ratios into...Read More

Marriage & Money - 02/10/2010
Do you and your partner have a financial plan? If so, you may communicate better and share greater trust than couples who don't, according to a Country Financial survey of 2,000 married Americans. Among the findings: • 88 percent of those who have a financial plan rate their spousal communication about finances positively, compared to...Read More

'Collaborenters' - 05/20/2009
Anyone who has ever endured an unbearable blind date with an incompatible friend of a friend can relate to the horrors of being trapped into cohabitation with "the roommate from hell." To keep the peace with a long-term leasemate, it's important to hunt for the ideal co-renter carefully before agreeing to share your current or future rental...Read More

First Homeowner In Family Paves Generational Wealth - 06/21/2023
Those who are first in their family to earn a college degree are typically asked to take a bow at graduations. The recognition is well-deserved, since the degree promises greater wealth for these grads and their children. Arguably, though, the first homebuyer in the family stands an even greater chance of establishing generational...Read More

The Loans That Welcome Vets Home - 10/22/2014
When rules for qualifying for a conventional mortgage tightened in the wake of the financial crisis, VA loans, guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, spiked in popularity. “Since 2007, the volume of VA loans is up 370 percent,” observes Chris Birk, director of education at Veterans United, a loan company in Columbia,...Read More

Reading Between the Lines: Floor Plans Crucial to Listings - 08/11/2021
Increasingly, buyers have multiple ways to view a home: in-person, a virtual tour, a 3-D tour, a slide show. But a relatively simple two-dimensional drawing – the floor plan -- offers unique insights into how you’d live within those lines. The public is becoming more familiar with floor plans, which are distinct from a...Read More

Second Home? First Think Financing - 07/07/2010
The beach is sunny; the fishing is great. It's only natural to wonder: Can I make the good times last by buying a home here? Well, the living may be easy, but affording a vacation home can be difficult. Just as with other loans, rules for vacation-home mortgages tightened when the credit crisis hit, but "they're slowly going back to...Read More

Fixes for today’s remodeling frustrations - 07/06/2022
Dust, delays, cost over-runs. Remodeling is trying under the best of circumstances. Now, with record remodeling projects underway and continued supply snafus, it’s particularly vexing. Homeowners can benefit if they employ strategies for this unique remodeling environment, shares Kurt Clason, owner of NH-based Clason Remodeling...Read More

Color Consult - 03/17/2010
With a new Paint Remedy iPhone app, the Paint Quality Institute has taken a portable, pocket-sized approach to helping homeowners solve their paint problems, but larger paint predicaments still loom. “Fear of color choice is a consumer’s biggest mistake when it comes to painting,” says Debbie Zimmer, paint and color trends...Read More

Catch That Contractor! - 09/11/2013
In many markets, homebuyers are investing money on new roofs, kitchen makeovers and brand new bathrooms. So much so that contractors are turning down new business because their schedules are full. “It’s really picking up,” says Dan Fritschen, CEO and cofounder of Planese, Inc., which provides a mobile app with tools to plan...Read More

Some home sellers now have a floor - 01/22/2020
Home sellers usually ask agents, “What price can you get?” Now, more owners are saying, “How much above this {amount] is possible?” “What started as a moonshot idea six years ago has now blossomed into a massive, billion dollar home buying market,” says Todd Teta of research firm ATTOM Data...Read More

The Price is Right - 02/20/2019
A critical question for home sellers – getting the listing price right – has just become more difficult. “It is definitely a problem when a house has been sitting on the market, enduring one or more price reductions, because there is a psychological stigma that ends up attached to the property,” explains Kevin...Read More

Flood Insurance Changes to Better Reflect Risk - 10/13/2021
What are the odds that your home will flood? Given the number of extreme storms making headlines, you may answer that question differently now than you did several years ago. Now, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program {NFIP}, the federal program most owners get flood coverage from, has revamped its premiums effective October...Read More

Virus crisis contingency plans for renters - 04/08/2020
When paychecks are threatened, businesses’ viability is too. But landlords – who typically collect a major portion of worker’s pay – are especially vulnerable. With the Covid19 virus crisis occurring in spring, a popular season for renters to shop for a new place and for current residents to renew leases, the...Read More

Recognizing Renters Who Make Punctual Payments - 01/13/2016
A record 43 million households rent, rather than own. Many of them aren’t getting the credit they deserve, but some businesses are aiming to change that. Reports on whether renters make timely payments to their landlord typically aren’t sent to credit bureaus, but mortgage payment histories are captured. This puts renters who...Read More

Big Ideas from the ‘Not So Big’ Architect - 06/17/2009
Ten years ago, as McMansions were being built across the country and few blinked twice at the thought of two- or three-story foyers and kitchens with two and three sinks and dishwashers, architect Sarah Susanka became a contrarian. Having grown up in England, Susanka moved to the U.S. when she was 14 and quickly understood that Americans...Read More

Sellers: Think spring in February - 12/18/2019
No doubt you’ve heard that utterance since it’s common knowledge that the real estate market comes to life in spring. Sellers, though, might have an advantage if they turn intention into action to list early in the season. In fact, there’s less preparation time than you might think. In many markets, as in the...Read More

New Ideas, Options For Renter’s Insurance - 05/02/2018
“New and improved” is a popular label on everything from detergents to wrinkle creams. But insurance, particularly renter’s insurance, what could add zest to this product, which many renters don’t even purchase unless required by their landlord? A greater number of renters has made insurers compete harder, notes...Read More

Second Home Buyers Get Rental Go-Ahead - 12/23/2020
This year we’re logging record time at home. Now, owners think they could use a spare -- near a beach, mountains, or woods. Recent Zillow data shows that views of for-sale listing in vacation-home markets are up nearly 50 percent from last year, and pending sales have jumped 30 percent. The WFH trend is likely fueling that...Read More

Get the Lead Out - 07/14/2010
In the course of a remodel, painting is often one of the final and easiest tasks on the way to completion. New lead-based renovation, repair and painting requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency, however, might make that final hurdle a bit more difficult to cross if the remodel involves a home built before 1978, when lead-based...Read More

The ‘New’ Search - 06/20/2018
If misery loves company, frustrated buyers that can’t find an affordable home can take comfort in this: Those with their hearts set on new construction face an even bigger challenge. While “the market needs 1.2 million [new homes] to keep up with household growth,” new single-family homes, which includes town homes and...Read More

The Non-Payment Plan - 11/24/2010
A contract is a contract - that's the way most Americans see it. When it comes to mortgages, nearly six-in-10 (59 percent) Americans believe it's wrong for homeowners to deliberately stop making payments and surrender their home to the lender, according to Pew Research Center survey of nearly 3,000 adults earlier this year. However,...Read More

What’s Your Home’s Fashion Statement? - 03/07/2018
Being style-conscious is a virtue in the real estate. Just look at listings, and you’ll find them peppered with phrases such as “recently updated” or “like new” show up. Styles in counters, flooring and other features don’t change as quickly as runway fashions. Trends might take several years to become...Read More

Built for budget buyers - 06/10/2020
Anyone who made a New Year’s resolution to “buy a home,” and is determined to stay the course may be altering their original price range, due to the unexpected economic downturn. Manufactured homes, which are built off-site in a factory-like setting, tend to offer more square feet for the buck than conventionally built...Read More

Loan vs. Credit - 07/09/2008
Life, as they say, is filled with difficult choices. Paper or plastic? Blonde or brunette? Chocolate or vanilla? Home-equity loan or home-equity line of credit? Whether you’re looking for extra cash to remodel your house or need extra help purchasing a newer one, a home-equity line of credit (HELOC) or home-equity loan (HEL) can do...Read More

House rules on spare spaces - 07/29/2020
The number of bedrooms is a key stat in home sale listings, just as a patient’s weight, height, and blood pressure are standard metrics in his medical chart. Except in a home, nothing dictates that the way a room is counted is the way it’s used. A recent Zillow study reports that 46 percent of homes have a...Read More

When Selecting Apartments, Renters Make Fast Choices - 01/20/2016
Apartment hunters place a high priority on something they can’t really see when they step into a unit – fast Internet connectivity and cell phone reception. Renters of all ages want to be able to live easily online wherever they choose to physically live, explains Caitlin Sugrue Walter, director of research for the National...Read More

It gets better? Millennials think so - 04/23/2014
They may be “entitled,” “self-centered” and “needy,” but they’re also the most optimistic about the country’s future. Nearly half (49 percent) of millennials — those born between 1981 and 1996 — say the country’s best years still lie ahead, compared to 42 percent of...Read More

Denied A Mortgage? You’re Not Alone - 05/10/2023
Applying for a mortgage is like taking a test you need to pass to graduate. Except instead of a diploma, the prize is a home of your own. The “pass” rate on mortgage approval, though, is surprisingly low. Surveying 4,900 buyers, the Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2022 finds that in 2022, 28 percent of applicants were...Read More

Little dwellings that can provide big help to homeowners - 11/18/2020
Whether you want parents or extended family to live nearby or need a more affordable mortgage payment, the answer may lie right in your own backyard. The answer may also lie above the garage, in the basement, or attached to your main home. Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, touted for meeting some pressing housing needs, is defined as...Read More

Thrift Shopping: Find an App to Save a Downpayment - 06/12/2019
Saving for a down payment is so difficult that it’s consistently rated as the biggest obstacle facing aspiring homebuyers. Now, help is widely available through mobile apps. Indeed, just input “apps to help you save money” or “apps to help save for a down payment” in a search engine to call up...Read More

Need a Bigger Loan? There’s a Bank for That - 03/15/2017
Conforming loan limits increased for the first time in more than a decade due to an increase in housing prices and home values nationally and to adjust for inflation. “The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 restricted government-sponsored enterprises like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from increasing these limits until real estate...Read More

That old house: Will buyers love it or level it? - 09/21/2022
Homes don’t have to die of old age. But just as high blood pressure or inactivity impacts humans’ longevity, older homes have their own predictors on whether a buyer will purchase it to live in or tear it down. Homes which haven’t been updated and located in highly desirable neighborhoods without nearby buildable...Read More

Subsidized Sprawl - 02/06/2013
A new study indicates that the sprawled suburban development of primarily single-family homes is disproportionately encouraged by Uncle Sam. The study, conducted by Smart Growth America, a land development advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., found that the federal government spends $450 billion per year on real estate in the form of...Read More

Sustainability on Loan - 01/01/2014
While growing numbers of homeowners are saving money on energy bills by making “green” updates to their homes, getting a lender or appraiser to realize the value of those updates may not be as straightforward. But, getting proper valuation on sustainable home features may be the norm rather than the exception in as few as...Read More

How Much Color Helps a Home Sell? - 11/10/2021
Buyers want to find a place that they can easily envision themselves living in. But first, they have to be interested enough to tour a home and rank it among their favorites. That idea explains the findings of a recent Zillow survey of 1,300 prospective homebuyers who said they were more interested in visiting a home they viewed online...Read More

Short Sale vs. Foreclosure - 05/01/2013
While short sales are currently scorching the real estate market, foreclosures are cooling down. Steve Harvey, founder and president of the market research program Keeping Current Matters, attributes the trend to a change in the collective business practices of banks. “At the beginning of the economic crisis, these banks were more...Read More

Post-Recession Trends - 12/04/2013
Home values are slowly picking up after the Great Recession, though they’re nowhere near pre-recession levels. A closer look at home values shows that they declined in large counties but held steady in smaller counties after the most recent recession, according to new findings from the U.S. Census Bureau and American Community...Read More

Location, Location, Location - 01/02/2013
Every homebuyer knows the importance of location, and a recent Coldwell Banker Real Estate report shows that homes in the priciest markets are worth up to $1.6 million more than those in the most affordable markets. A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Los Altos, Calif., has an average listing price of $1.7 million, according to the report,...Read More

Looking Optimistically To the Future - 11/12/2014
Real estate experts are looking with optimism to the future. Despite expectations that existing-home sales will drop slightly from 2013, from 5.1 million to 4.9 million this year, the numbers are forecasted to increase to 5.3 million sales next year and up to 5.4 million in 2016, according to the National Association of Realtors. NAR...Read More

Make the Living Room More Alive - 03/03/2010
My client had a spacious and beautiful new home, but the complaint about her living room revealed she wasn't happy with the some of her home's aesthetics or usefulness. Our job was to make an attractive living room that she could feel proud to share with guests. Before -The green rug fit the room well and was in good shape, but my...Read More