Category: Financing

FHA Likely To Be The Next Shoe To Drop

September 4th, 2009
The FHA is a big reason that home prices haven't fallen even further. The FHA's aggressive lending programs have continued throughout the housing downturn, causing its market share of the mortgage industry to grow from 2% in 2005 to 23% …Read more  »

HUD Properties, FHA & Title Seasoning for Real Estate Investors

August 1st, 2009
With HUD properties, title seasoning, FHA loans, and short sales, real estate investors have had some confusion regarding the rules.  This article will clarify all of these issues for you. HUD is the United States Department of Housing and Urban …Read more  »

Three NEW FICO Credit Scores Hit the Market

June 26th, 2009
The Fair Isaac Company have announced that they will be releasing three new credit scores based on their new FICO 08 model. 1. The FICO Mortgage Score The FICO Mortgage Industry Score is designed to help mortgage lenders improve credit …Read more  »

Existing Homes Sales Rise, While Mortgage Applications Fall

May 28th, 2009
According to the National Association of Realtors, the number of sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose by 2.9% in April to an annualized pace of 4.68 million. The gain, the second in three months, was spurred by …Read more  »

Who Profits from Toxic Assets?

April 18th, 2009
Yesterday, I suggested that the idea of the "Stress Test" for banks was really just a marketing ploy by the Treasury to boost confidence that the United States financial system is stable. After all the back-bending, and billions in bailout …Read more  »

Protecting Yourself From Mortgage Fraud

April 4th, 2009
With the large number of foreclosures to hit this country over the last few years, con artists have come out of the woodwork  to prey on those in trouble -- including real estate investors. The number of schemes, and those …Read more  »

Bailed-out Banks May Buy Toxic Assets

April 3rd, 2009
There's a lot going on today. The unemployment rate "surprisingly" hit 8.5%. President Obama knocked 'em dead at the G-20 meetings. But the headline that caught my eye was "Bailed-out banks may buy toxic assets." Believe it or not, Citigroup, …Read more  »

Top 10 Economic Predictions for 2009

December 16th, 2008
The U.S. and world economies are about to suffer through some of the worst recessions in the postwar period. Most measures of economic and financial activity look like they fell off a cliff in September and October, and have been …Read more  »

Fed Slashes Key Interest Rate to 1 Percent

October 29th, 2008
In an effort to revive the economy the Federal Reserve cut the federal funds rate today but a half-point (0.5%). This lowers the rate to 1 percent – the lowest rate since 2003-2004. The last time the federal funds rate …Read more  »