Photo credit: 401kcalculator cc Political rivals join up to assist low to moderate-income borrowers The ultimate odd couple has come together to introduce a viable mortgage which could help low-to-moderate income borrowers build wealth instead of accumulate debt. Bruce Marks, a liberal consumer advocate and head of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), and Ed Pinto, […]

Photo credit: NNECAPA Photo Librarycc Turnkey Landlord Smaller investors now have the opportunity to invest in single-family rental properties on a more level playing field with the institutional heavy-weights. HomeUnion, an Irvine, California-based company, wants to help smaller investors identify bargain-priced properties, then buy and manage them without setting foot in them. Institutional investors buy […]

Photo credit: Jason Pratt cc The U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) jointly released the housing starts and permits report for July 2014. At the surface, July 2014’s housing starts of 1,093,000 over June’s starts of 945,000, which is a 15.7 percent increase, suggests a housing recovery. These numbers represent […]

Photo credit: Paško Tomić cc Financial Institutions Should Tweak Old Models and Simplify Processes The housing market is at a crossroads. Monthly data from the usual housing industry giants point to up and down swings in the parameters of home prices, housing starts and sales. While the data can seem to paint both an unflattering […]

Photo credit: William Warby cc More Conservative Credit Requirements The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said that credit access is only about 25 percent of the pre-housing bubble rate from 2004. There are many questions in Washington as to why the housing market is not faring as well with all of the regulatory changes and consumer […]

Photo credit: 401(K) 2012 cc “In a normal housing market, all-cash sales should be 10% or less” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. This projection hasn’t been the case since 2001, a time when cash sales were close to 30%. In the last 10 quarters, cash sales have festered at […]

Photo credit: Chris Potter cc The New Lending Paradox The thought of applying for a mortgage can induce fear in some. Many potential first-time homebuyers ruminate on this important decision, with much of the hesitation derived from the endless articles and news stories about how easy or hard it is to get a mortgage. HousingWire […]

Old and Less Relevant Data We’re provided housing data from multiple sources, seemingly almost on a daily basis; but what does the data really say about what’s happening in the world of housing? It’s great to know that national home prices are up or down, but the numbers don’t mean much when it comes to […]

Photo credit: wetwebworkcc Increasing Outsourcing Seen As A Cost Saver July marked another year of the Dodd-Frank Act’s passage and reform of some areas in the appraisal management company (AMC) world. One area of focus is to ensure that the compensation of fee appraisers is “at a rate that is customary and reasonable for appraisal services […]