Kate Middleton and Prince William were spotted looking at luxury $5 million homes near Malibu, California. Are the happy couple moving to the U.S.? It's a new-age house-hunting fairy tale. But it certainly begins with shopping online for a house. If Kate Middleton and Prince William shop online to find a house, shouldn't you?
Today Ilyce Glink filled in for Clark Howard over the holiday weekend. Ilyce discussed foreclosures, as it looks like housing defaults are expected to skyrocket as unemployment continues to rise and homeowners can't make their mortgage payments. The big lenders have indicated that they're going to pursue more aggressively homeowners who default. Ilyce recommends calling the Homeowner's Hope Hotline at 888-995-HOPE if you're behind on your mortgage payments. Ilyce took questions from callers about mortgages and financing, and gave advice on how to shop around for a mortgage. She also took questions about Roth IRAs, paying off debt, how your credit score affects your credit card interest rate, and advised to get rid of credit card debt before purchasing a house. For more show notes and links to resources, visit Ilyce's blog.
Today on the Clark Howard Show, we're talking about foreclosure. It looks like housing defaults are expected to skyrocket, as the unemployment rate co...
Today on the Ilyce Glink Show, Ilyce takes some email from listeners, answer questions about money and real estate and explore the idea that the more things change in real estate, the more they stay the same. She answers several questions from callers about the new credit card legislation and how it will affect consumers, including negotiating credit card debt pay offs, how to interpret your credit score, and what closing credit card accounts will do to your credit score
Today on the Ilyce Glink Show, we'll take some email from listeners, answer questions about money and real estate and explore the idea that the more t...
Today Ilyce filled in for Clark Howard on the Clark Howard Show for the Fourth of July weekend. She took lots of calls from callers about the latest economy news and with questions about mortgages. Ilyce discussed jobs and unemployment and the latest construction and home sales numbers. She also talked about the latest recalls, and how to opt-out of annoying sales calls, junk mail and pop-up ads. Listen to the full show here and check out Ilyce's blog for show notes and helpful links.
Today on the Clark Howard Show, we discussed the following: Recalls: [Simplicity Cribs](http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09260.html) and [...
The terms loan modification, streamline refinance and streamline mortgage are terms that sometimes get mixed up in use. For some borrowers, the idea of a streamline refinance or loan modification is a simple process to go from point A -- the current loan and interest rate -- to point B -- the same loan with a lower interest rate and lower monthly mortgage payment. In this process the homeowner expects that the fees will be low and well below going to a new lender to refinance the loan.
Going through foreclosure isn't what anybody wants to go through. For some, going through foreclosure can be the start of a process that can drag on for years. If the foreclosure process does not yield enough money to pay off the mortgage that the lender had given the homeowner, that homeowner could be stuck with a deficiency judgment and having to repay the difference for years to come. If the lender does not pursue the deficiency judgment or can't, the foreclosure will still have a negative effect on the homeowner's credit history and credit score for years to come.
Lowering your monthly mortgage payment by refinancing should be one of your goals if you decide to refinance. But that is only one of three issues that you should consider once you decide to refinance. Falling home values have caused many homeowners to be unable to refinance and lower their monthly mortgage payments. But the Obama administration's newly enacted change to the Making Home Affordable program that will allow homeowners greater ability to refinance their homes even if the value of their mortgage is up to 125 percent higher than the value of their home, more people may benefit from the program.
