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• Mortgage-rate drop bright spot in Freddie/Fannie takeover

  Posted Sep 09 2008, 05:41 PM by Karen Datko
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  Filed under: housing, banking, taxes, Karen Datko
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  If you closed on a house recently, prepare to kick yourself. One of the outcomes of the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the lowest mortgage rate in five months.

  According to Bankrate.com, the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped half a percentage point -- to about 6% -- on Monday after the takeover was announced. Rates dropped even further Tuesday, settling at 5.79%.  (To figure out how long that rate will last, you will need a crystal ball.)

  It's part of a mixed bag of results American consumers can expect now that the federal government has assumed responsibility for Freddie's and Fannie's debt. And it's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 316 comments) 124,007 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• Blogger vs. reader: Should the feds bail out homeowners?

  Posted Jul 31 2008, 03:02 PM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: housing, banking, taxes, Karen Datko
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  "JLP" at All Financial Matters bought a house he knew he could afford, even though he was told he could qualify for a much larger mortgage. He saved over the years to remodel the modest house into a dream home. Did we also mention that the homeowner bailout passed by Congress and signed by President Bush really ticks him off?

  He wrote, "As a responsible, taxpaying citizen of the United States of America, I find it offensive that our goverment is bending over backward to keep irresponsible people in houses they can't afford."

  His post, "Let people (and companies) fail," provoked a rebuttal from one of the homeowners hoping to keep her house with the government's help.   Read More...

  Discuss ( 30 comments) 3,041 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• The neighbors from hell are selling their house

  Posted Jul 20 2008, 10:47 AM by Karen Datko
  Rating:
  Filed under: housing, banking, taxes, Karen Datko
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  Do you want to purchase a Cape Cod with an asphalt front yard and an abundance of broken beer bottles and cigarette butts all about? Please, please buy this house and become the new neighbor of "Brainy Smurf," the blogger at Pants in a Can.

  You can't be any worse than the people who have the house up for sale. You'd think the very existence of these people would be enough to drive property values down (although, due to other factors, Brainy's property taxes have gone up).   Read More...

  Discuss ( 7 comments) 2,892 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

• HouseMath 2.0

  Posted Dec 17 2007, 06:41 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: housing, banking, spending, taxes
  Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money

  This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.

  Should you buy a house or continue to save for retirement? Balancing your present and your future can be difficult, especially where housing is concerned.

  HouseMath 2.0 is a Web-based app designed to help users explore the costs of purchasing a new home. You enter the numbers for the proposed transaction, and HouseMath runs the numbers to let you know the financial implications. Rather than bombard the user with a bunch of numbers, though, the program provides an easy-to-understand narrative summary.   Read More...

  Discuss (no comments) 505 Views Digg this | Email this | Link to this

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