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

  Posted Jul 31 2008, 03:02 PM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Housing, Banking, Taxes, Karen Datko
  Rating:

  "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...

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• The neighbors from hell are selling their house

  Posted Jul 20 2008, 10:47 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Housing, Banking, Taxes, Karen Datko
  Rating:

  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...

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• HouseMath 2.0

  Posted Dec 17 2007, 06:41 AM by Karen Datko
  Filed under: Housing, Banking, Spending, Taxes

  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...

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