Applications to refinance home mortgages surge

Homeowners rushed to take advantage of last week's drop in interest rates following the government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but rates are rising again on investor fears about the eroding conditions in financial markets.

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How to tell if now is the time to refinance

When Elaine Chen, a 39-year-old marketing executive in New York, saw interest rates falling in January, she called her mortgage broker to see if she could get a lower rate to finance Manhattan condo. She estimated the lower rate could save her $300 per month. 

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Should I sell my house now — or wait?

The news from the American housing market seems likely to get worse before it gets better. That has some would-be home sellers wondering: should I sell my house now, before the market gets worse? Or wait until next year hoping it will  get better? And just what caused this housing slump to begin with?

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Government controlled U.S. mortgage finance company Fannie Mae announced on Thursday about their unique rental program which is aimed at helping homeowners who can't pay back their loans. The program aims at turning struggling homeowners into renters in their own homes.

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Homeowners with 30-year loans (and looking to refinance) have been seeing some good news this past month concerning loan rates. For the past three weeks in a row now, rates for 30-year home loans have dropped to 5.04 percent.

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She's convinced that banks will improve their track record only if they're forced to make loans. "Until it's made a mandatory program, I think we will not see a significant drop in foreclosures," Thompson said.

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The Sweet and Lowdown.......Economic Update

During this historic economic time, more disturbing news was announced this week that will have a disastrous effect on my afternoon coffee and candy habit: Sugar is at its highest price since the 1980's! Starbucks is already adding 30 cents to my favorite low fat beverage, with …

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This Bud Is For You......Economic Update

The American public, our Banks and our Government were invited to a back yard get-together to discuss the misunderstanding called our economy while throwing back a couple of brews.

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The Obama administration put together a plan to try and salvage the deteriorating housing market. From its inception, lenders have been revising mortgage loans to make them more affordable for their customer.

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South Carolina's highest court on Tuesday temporarily stopped thousands of pending foreclosure sales in the state to give homeowners more time to take advantage of a new federal program to help them refinance mortgages.

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...Fewer walking away than you think Almost 20% of homeowners - or 8.3 million people - are "underwater" on their mortgages, owing more than their properties are worth. Another 2.2 million are near that drowning point, known as "negative amortization."

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Homeowners seeking help from the Obama administration's foreclosure-prevention plan should start by contacting their bank, a process that's likely to involve multiple phone calls and hours of effort.

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The administration, launching what it calls the "Making Home Affordable" initiative, said that borrowers will have to provide their most recent tax return and two pay stubs, as well as an "affidavit of financial hardship" to qualify for the $75 billion loan modification program,  …

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3 words to save your home: Produce the Note Some homeowners are successfully stalling foreclosures by uttering three words in court. What to say... See more irresistible headlines

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Mortgage Crisis: Could that person be your neighbor?

(This is my first article that I have written on Newvine).

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A failure of capitalism? This could never happen in a country where private property was respected and people were not subsidized by government to buy what they can't afford. Rather than saving the American dream, the Obama team could be bringing it to an end.

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Fannie Mae plans to eliminate some credit-score requirements, scale back income-documentation standards, and waive the need for appraisals in some cases, starting on April 4.

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Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Monday demanded an amendment to the mammoth economic stimulus package to give government-backed, low-interest loans to homeowners -- a revision that he says will both increase the demand for houses and boost the average household income …

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Homeowners around the country are scrambling to refinance their mortgages at the lowest rates since the early 1960s as the economy staggers through what's likely to be the worst recession in decades.

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4.5% Just Kidding!

The media played a cruel joke on the housing industry last week with an unsubstantiated rumor that the 30 year fixed rates would drop and stay at 4.5%. This piece of juicy gossip with no details has evaporated into never, never happened land.

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Almost overnight, the talking heads went from perpetuating the euphoria of investors to rushing to pronounce the economy dead.

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Mortgage brokers started phoning after their Bushwick, Brooklyn, house had more than tripled in value. Letters poured in, too, urging the Paredes family to refinance and take some extra cash. The simulated checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars were impossible to ignore.

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This calculator will help you to decide whether or not you should refinance your current mortgage at a lower interest rate.

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...You've had credit problems, but you've worked hard to repair the damage, scrimping where you could, restraining your impulses and mailing every bill early. Now what?

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...Blacks 3.8 times more likely than whites to receive a higher-cost home loan

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House-flipping still offers opportunity

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Shares of Beazer Homes USA Inc. fell more than 8 percent Wednesday after the FBI said it is among agencies investigating possible fraud in the company's mortgage lending practices and other financial transactions.

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