RECENT BLOG POSTS
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The issue of earmarks is once again at the forefront, and the opposing sides are gathering their forces and arguments. Most see it as an issue that should have already been decided. You either believe it to be a benefit or see it as a scar on the political process; there’s little gray area in bet...
11/13/2010
Banks Add Safeguards to Counter Foreclosure Fraud An article in ProPublica describes how the foreclosure process has resumed, but that banks have added safeguards to counter issues of fraudulent or erroneous processing. However, a number of judges reviewing subsequent foreclosure cases have disag...
11/13/2010
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While the pundits and economists have begun making projections on when we’ll begin to see home prices increasing, we can forget looking for a housing bottom. Macro projections may make for interesting headlines, but what homeowners want to know is when the price of THEIR home will increase; and t...
11/10/2010
Government Moves to Curb Rising Home Prices . . . In China U.S. homeowners can only drool over the seemingly unstoppable rise in home prices in China; and while the thought of spiraling prices may seem attractive, Chinese leaders are concerned over the possibility of creating an asset bubble. Alt...
11/09/2010
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Payrolls Rise More Than Expected Private sector jobs were added during October at rate more than double expectations. While economists had predicted the addition of 60,000 jobs, the actual number came in at 151,000. However, the unemployment rate remains the same at 9.6%. Additionally, hourly w...
11/05/2010
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The Housing Guru is pleased to announce that the Guru family has expanded, and would like to invite you to visit our latest addition, The Frugal Guru. With the tough economic times our nation is facing, we can all benefit by discovering and sharing ways to live within our budgets, while still enj...
11/04/2010
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The recent foreclosure scandal, exposing the methods by which lenders attempted to speed up the foreclosure process, has spawned the question: Why shouldn’t banks try robo-modification? If they were truly interested in modifying loans for those who qualified, and if their staffs were overloade...
11/02/2010
An interesting article in today’s LA Times describes how paying on an underwater mortgage may create more problems than it solves. And while we often speak of the moral hazard of “strategic default,” there are also hazards to staying and paying. If we honestly analyze the consequences, we may r...
11/01/2010
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With three years of struggle under our belts, are we ready to solve the housing crisis? Are we ready to accept a strategy that could help stabilize housing and begin to get the economy rolling again? Now that housing has become mired in yet another calamity (the the foreclosure scandal), are poli...
10/31/2010
Consumers Express Concern About Paying For Housing In a recent Washington Post poll, consumers reported increased concern over their ability to pay for their housing. Showing an increase of 16% in just the past two years, 53% of consumers said they were “very concerned” about making their monthly...
10/30/2010