Buying your first home: How to find the right mortgage lender that will have your best interests at heart. Hint: It may not be who your real estate agent suggests. Q: I recently saw you on the news and I wanted to reach out to ask you a few questions. I wanted to take the [...]
A recent report from the Harvard JCHS takes a look at the important differences in the housing market since the 1980s. Many staples of American life look different in the three decades since 1988, from big hair to the cost of college to the rising number of Americans burdened by housing costs. In a recent [...]
Wondering what threats await real estate this year (and in the future)? Scott Muldavin, Chair of the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE), ran down his annual list at this year's National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) conference, in Denver. This story features the first 5 threats to real estate. Real Estate Threat #1 - [...]
Do you get the deed after your final mortgage payment? After making your final mortgage payment, there are many documents you should receive, but is the home deed one of them? Q: My husband and I paid off our home in 1999, 10 years early. We never received a deed. The loan company said that [...]
Home buyers are out in force. Sellers are scarce. The number of homes for sale on the market is as low as it was more than twenty years ago. As a result of supply and demand, half of all housing markets are overvalued in terms of price. The median home price in San Francisco is [...]
Millennial’s student loans have kept them from becoming homeowners because they can’t afford a down payment or tanked their credit defaulting on a loan. If you’re hoping your children will be able to buy a home of their own someday, you might want to keep an eye on how much money they’re taking out in [...]
What might be hiding in the fine print of your mortgage documents? In this reader’s case, a prepayment penalty that they may not be able to get out of. Q: I recently took out a mortgage to purchase my first home. It’s a condo. I went with a non-traditional lender that offered a loan about [...]
Is the tiny house trend a good investment? Benefits and concerns to weigh before investing in the tiny house real estate trend. Is the Tiny House Trend a Good Investment? Open floor plans, urban areas and cool color palettes are still trending, according to a recent report from Fixr, a remodeling, installation, and repair project [...]
Parents, children, estates and house titles: how does property title pass after death. What happens when a parent adds you to the title for estate planning. Q: My dad died quite some time ago and I have three siblings. We all get along but we all have different ideas on how to handle money. When [...]
There are a few reasons mortgage lenders are loosening regulations, one of which is a spike in late payments, but these roll backs won't be the cause of the next recession. I was asked on the radio last week if I thought mortgage lenders were loosening regulations too much. Steve Cochran, who hosts morning drive on [...]
