Total Number of News: 6378
- 12/1/2008 - Real Estate News
Financing closing costs may be unwise
Many mortgage borrowers are tempted to finance their closing costs, that is, adding the costs to the loan amount. This could be attractive to borrowers who can earn high returns on their free cash, or those who don't have any free cash. Financing closi... - 12/1/2008 - Real Estate News
Credit crisis delaying home purchases
Changes in the housing market can change the nature of home-sale transactions. For instance, before the boom in the home-sale market that began in the second half of the 1990s, the California Association of Realtors (CAR) purchase agreement used by mos... - 11/26/2008 - Real Estate News
Better roof longevity: composition or concrete?
Q: My husband and I are having a new home built in the California foothills. I resisted suggestions to go with vinyl windows to save on cost. The latest struggle is the roof. The architect designed the house with a concrete tile roof to go with the En... - 11/26/2008 - Real Estate News
Is predatory lending a thing of the past?
Predators have come to the party wearing a variety of hats, yet their intent clearly is common. Webster's gives the definition of "predatory" as "relating to, or practicing plunder, pillage or rapine … showing a disposition to injure o... - 11/26/2008 - Real Estate News
Dear Lender, take my house keys
A new survey from First American CoreLogic, a real estate data company, has concluded that nearly a quarter of all homes with mortgages are worth less than what is owed on the loans. According to the data, which was first reported in the New York Times... - 11/25/2008 - Real Estate News
Couple's dream home vandalized before closing
DEAR BARRY: Construction of our new home was recently completed, but four days before the closing, vandals broke into the house. They stopped up all of the drains and turned on the faucets. The builder found the mess in the morning. He immediately repl... - 11/25/2008 - Real Estate News
HOA: Replace windows or face wrath
Q: My condo community requires us, the homeowner, to be responsible for the replacement of our windows. I have done this, going through the proper channels, even going to the extent of having someone from the management office come over while the inst... - 11/24/2008 - Real Estate News
Trading houses creates host of problems
DEAR BENNY: My daughter and her husband are thinking about trading houses with a friend. They own a townhouse and their friend owns a larger home. I don't know all the particulars, but I believe they are thinking about keeping their own mortgages and ... - 11/24/2008 - Real Estate News
Online home listings don't tell whole story
The Internet has changed the way we buy and sell houses. Most listings of homes for sale can be found on the Internet. Realtor.com, the world's largest real estate database of homes for sale, carries information on more than 3 million listings. Accordi... - 11/24/2008 - Real Estate News
Prospects brighten for hard-money lenders
Like all disasters, the financial crisis has its share of beneficiaries who profit from it. One of them is the hard-money lenders, who lend strictly on the basis of the collateral. These non-institutional lenders require a lot less paperwork than insti...