Closing Costs Can Bust a Homebuyer’s Budget
In the emotional rush that precedes buying a home – negotiating contract details and price, beating away rival bidders, searching for the best mortgage deal – closing costs often aren’t a pressing concern.
Could Baby Boomers Spur a Housing Bust?
Will Baby Boomers turn into party poopers when they unload their homes in large numbers starting in the next decade?
CFPB Shifts Gears on Policing Zillow’s Co-Marketing Schemes
In a move with potentially significant implications for consumers, realty agents and lenders, the Trump administration has decided not to take legal action against online realty giant Zillow for alleged violations of federal anti-kickback and deceptive-practices rules.
Booming Home Equity: Financial Opportunity or Warning Sign?
If you’ve got it, don’t piggybank it – borrow against it.
Paying the Right Commission Is Ultimately Up to You
So you think things don’t get rough in real estate and feathers don’t fly when agents’ commission money is at stake?
Doomsday Predictions Over Tax Cuts Have Not Come True – Yet
What if Congress passed a massive tax bill with scary cutbacks in deductions for homeowners – prompting dire predictions of mass property-value declines – but nothing much happened?
Homebuyers Can Reap Bargains Thanks to Growing Lender Competition
Could lenders’ pain be your gain if you’re shopping for a home mortgage? Maybe.
Fannie, Freddie Want to Make Mortgages Easier for Gig-Economy Workers
The two biggest sources of home-mortgage money in the country – investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – are quietly working on ways to make qualifying for a home purchase easier for participants in the booming “gig” economy.
Racial Disparities Significant in Mortgage Rejections
For millions of Americans hoping to buy or refinance a home, it’s a crucial make-or-break question: Will the lender say yes to our mortgage application, turn it down or charge us a higher interest rate than we need?
Lawsuit Dismissed Against Zillow’s Zestimates
A Federal district court has dismissed a closely followed class-action lawsuit that charged Zillow – creator of the controversial Zestimate online home-valuation tool – with deceptive business practices designed to mislead consumers.
Single Women Purchase Housing at Twice the Rate of Male Peers
It’s the gender gap you don’t hear so much about: Single women are buying homes and condominiums at what may be more than twice the rate of single males, and the trend appears to be accelerating.
Appraisal-Free Loans Save Millions for Buyers
For homeowners and buyers, it’s been an unexpected windfall: relief from having to pay for a traditional mortgage appraisal that usually costs between $400 and $600.
Tired of the Hassle of Selling Your Home? Try This All-Cash Alternative
It’s the oldest fix-and-flip pitch in American real estate: “We’ll buy your home, guaranteed, no matter what its condition, and we’ll pay you quick cash with no commissions, and close in seven days or less.”
Are Lower Tax Rates Linked to Higher Home Appreciation?
Nobody likes getting tax bills, especially homeowners who are burdened with ever-escalating local property taxes.
Equity-Affluent Americans Have Options for Tapping into Funds
Americans are awash in record amounts of equity in their homes, posing the question for millions: So what do we do with it?
‘Tax Transcript’ Program Doesn’t Shield Borrowers’ Data
In an era of unceasing horror stories about breaches of sensitive consumer information, here’s some disquieting news for homebuyers: Federal auditors say the popular “tax transcript” program run by the IRS and used by millions of mortgage applicants a year lacks adequate security protections against disclosures of tax-return details to people who shouldn’t be allowed to obtain them.
Why Wannabe Sellers Are Looking but Not Listing Their Homes
Call them the frustrated wannabe sellers – eager to list their homes for sale this spring, but feeling locked out of their markets by severe inventory shortages and rising prices that are occurring in many parts of the country.
Don’t Be Afraid to Shop Around for a Better Mortgage Deal
It’s one of the weirder documented facts about homebuying in America: Surprising numbers of consumers don’t bother to shop for mortgage money, even though they could save tens of thousands of dollars through lower interest payments by doing so.
Cutbacks in High Debt Ratio Loans Could Hurt Buyers
A key policy change by mortgage giant Fannie Mae that offered homeownership to thousands of new buyers – many of them minorities – could face significant cutbacks. The reason: Private mortgage insurers are re-thinking their decisions to participate.
Taxpayers Get Good News on HELOCs
It’s official: Despite widespread fears to the contrary, the IRS has clarified that last year’s big tax bill did not kill all interest deductions on home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and equity loans.
