Bryan Quinn's (libertyone72) Blog

Last month, the fallout from the mortgage crisis took a rather unusual turn. For the first time in 20 years, several US banks went belly-up, most notably IndyMac Bank, the second largest financial institution to fail in US history, and one of the largest mortgage lenders in the country. Suddenly,...

On July 31, the President signed into law H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, a sweeping, nearly 800-page housing law, unlike anything we've seen in a generation. Shrouded in controversy, the bill has a number of provisions which have been exhaustively debated and politicize...

When the housing market is hot, it seems like just about any project is a good investment for boosting your home's value and appeal. But when the market's tight, you want to be more selective about which projects you undertake and what you expect to gain in return. There's nothing worse than wast...

During the housing boom, shopping for a mortgage couldn't have been easier. Mortgage interest rates were low, credit was a breeze, and the sheer volume of mortgage products made buying or refinancing a home a cinch, even if you had credit issues. All you had to do was call up a few mortgage compa...

Mortgage rates are set daily by individual lending institutions and are based solely on the trading activity of mortgage-backed securities (MBS), a type of bond that investors trade daily. Without getting too technical, MBS are bonds that represent mortgages currently in place. For instance, let'...

The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates six straight times since September 2007. Most analysts are predicting that the Fed will cut rates even further when it meets at the end of this month. And yet, despite a full 3% in interest rate cuts during this time, mortgage rates are significantly hig...

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans have become an extremely popular choice recently for Americans looking to buy a new home, or refinance an existing home. In fact, according to the FHA, the total volume of FHA loans has reportedly tripled in the last year alone - but why? In recent years...

Tax Documents: How Long Should You Keep Them? Tax season is over, and what a relief! But what do you do with all of this paperwork? For years, the rule of thumb for individual tax filers has been to keep federal tax returns and all supporting documents for three full years. This is based on the p...

Increased Loan Limits This Year Only The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 did more than just authorize rebate checks. It also increased loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA-insured mortgages in many regions throughout the country. For those looking to purchase real estate in a "high-cos...