Newspaper headlines rarely tell the full story and today's papers provide a terrific example. From the Baltimore Sun (and others): New-home sales lowest since 19918.5% March decline exceeds forecasts; prices also tumble As always, there's more to the story than the headline. The Census Bureau re
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04/25/2008
More than 130 million Americans will receive tax rebates this year as part of Congress' $168 billion economic stimulus package. Payments begin in about two weeks and range from $600 for individuals to $1,200 for couples, plus an additional $300 per child. Not everyone is eligible for a full reba
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04/24/2008
The National Association of REALTORS released its Existing Home Sales report for March 2008. An "existing home" is one that is not considered new construction. A sub-headline in the report showed that the median sales price of all homes sold in March increased by 2.5 percent to $200,700. But don
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04/24/2008
- Max of 4 properties financed including the subject for both 2nd homes and investment properties.- Min 6 months seasoning on a cashout- If you do a cashout followed by a rate/term, there is a 6 month seasoning on the cashout before you can rate/term itThings are getting uglier by the day for inv
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04/24/2008
Tips for Rebuilding Credit:• If you must buy a car, focus on transportation as opposed to style. Buy an inexpensive, used car, and try to get a loan for it. It’s a good idea to figure out what your budget allows in terms of a dollar amount first. This means obtaining financing prior to looking
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04/22/2008
Here are some additional steps you can take to make the bankruptcy process as painless as possible:• Save all paperwork regarding your bankruptcy, and keep it organized. This will prove beneficial after your bankruptcy as you now have all of the pertinent information in one place. Also, be sur
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04/22/2008
Bankruptcy is an uncomfortable subject for a variety of reasons. The most obvious is the potential havoc it can wreak on your finances. Running a close second is the negative stigma which is often attached to the process. This negativity is important to mention because strong emotions can sometim
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04/22/2008
As mortgage lenders limit how much money they will lend and to whom, co-signing home loans is growing in popularity."Co-signing" a home loan is when a third-party -- usually a parent or relative -- promises to make repayments to the bank in the event that the borrower falls behind on his obligati
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04/22/2008
The S&P 500 added 4.3 percent last week -- more than during all of 2007 -- in what was a good week for the economy and a bad week for mortgage rate shoppers. After Friday's close, mortgage rates were higher by as much as 0.375% versus the Friday prior. This reversed a trend of falling rates for
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04/21/2008
In the world of real estate, Days On Market is the number of days between when a home lists for sale and when it goes under contract. It is often abbreviated as DOM.Average Days on Market is a similar statistic but instead of applying to one home in particular, it applies to all homes in a given
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04/18/2008
