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Posted
Oct 02 2007, 09:55 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Faced with having to foreclose on a home, a lender may consider a "short sale," selling the home to a new buyer for less than the cash-strapped current owner owes. It could be a lengthy process, and you have to make a case for the sale. But you could end up getting more house for your money.
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Posted
Jan 09 2008, 02:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Plenty of people have paid big bucks to live in gated communities, thinking they've insulated themselves from some of life's problems. Author Barbara Ehrenreich, in a post at Barbara's Blog and AlterNet, said that isn't necessarily so. "There are studies indicating that there are no differences in the crime in gated communities and non-gated communities," she wrote. They also aren't immune to the recent wave of foreclosures. She correctly observes that "there's no fence high enough to keep out the repo man."
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Posted
Feb 01 2008, 02:47 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What happens to people after they lose their homes to foreclosure or a short sale? DebtKid lived in his office for two months until he saved enough cash to rent a place. He showered at a nearby gym every morning before returning to the office for the workday. His employees never suspected. His post, part of a group effort by several personal-finance bloggers on the topic of homeownership, provides several options for no-cost housing until you can get back on your feet -- and tips for finding a rental despite your damaged credit score.
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Posted
Feb 01 2008, 04:46 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
News reports of people abandoning their pets in their repossessed homes or dropping  them off at overburdened animal shelters have prompted outrage across the blogosphere. "What is wrong with these people that they just leave them in the home after they have moved out? What is the reasoning behind their thinking?" wrote Texas real estate professional Stephanie Hansson at the Active Rain blog. "I am heartsick and just can't understand." Some bloggers are urging readers to take action as the foreclosure rate climbs. Deanna Raeke at For the Love of the Dog asked her readers to check the yards and look in the windows of vacant houses to see if pets were left behind. You also can adopt a "foreclosure cat" or dog from your local shelter.
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Posted
Feb 04 2008, 10:36 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Randall at Credit Withdrawal equates a soon-to-be-unaffordable adjustable-rate mortgage to the shark in "Jaws," and advises, "It's not going to get any easier by ignoring the problem and hoping it swims away." Randall provides some steps to take to try to keep your roof over your head, as well as sources of information about avoiding foreclosure. If you can't refinance and you have a good relationship with your lender, you can ask to renegotiate the loan or reschedule the payments, Randall says. Some people are eligible for no-interest loans to catch up on missed payments. Study your options, he adds. "With the upswing in mortgage defaults, there's more organizations than ever before that are trying to help the consumer to get through the tough times," he writes. Find a HUD-approved housing counseling agency, and check out Web sites like those provided by HUD and the FHA. For Randall's complete list of online resources, click here.
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Posted
Feb 19 2008, 02:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
It's a sign of the times that Web sites have sprouted up telling people how to walk away from homes they can no longer afford or -- in some cases -- are no longer willing to pay for. While some sites trumpet offers to buy homes from stressed-out owners, another one sells a foreclosure kit. California-based YouWalkAway.com says its kit will enable you to stay in your home "for up to eight months or more without having to pay anything to your lender!" It also says: "With our money-back guarantee, you get it all for only $995." The list of services provided is stuff you can do on your own if you're so inclined. And the steps won't eliminate the damage foreclosure does to your credit score. Writes blogger Sam Glover at Caveat Emptor, "Foreclosure ain't pretty, folks, no matter what this Web site would like you to think." All of this raises questions in our mind: In the wake of the mortgage crisis, is foreclosure becoming a more acceptable option? Should it?
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Posted
May 03 2008, 05:47 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Former baseball star Jose Canseco is walking away from his 7,300-square-foot mansion in a Los Angeles suburb. But did you know he's only the latest celebrity who has faced foreclosure? In fact, the Los Angeles Times blog L.A. Land has an occasional feature called "Celebrity Foreclosures," and so far has written about such notables as Canseco and Marion Jones. The most recent installment includes suggested headlines about Canseco like "Jose walks" and "Canseco took a walk, but was called out at home."
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Posted
May 19 2008, 04:35 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Just how bad is foreclosure? As the "Silicon Valley Blogger" points out, pretty awful. But it might just be the end to a financial nightmare that's keeping you up at night. If faced with the prospect of foreclosure, the important thing is that you understand the consequences -- and there will be some -- of this huge financial step.
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Posted
Jun 10 2008, 12:35 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Sure, it's sad that TV icon Ed McMahon is facing foreclosure on his $6 million Beverly Hills mansion. But "PT" at Prime Time Money is irritated by the way McMahon has gone public with his housing woes. Ed has said he hopes his story will help others who are about to lose their homes. "In my opinion, a millionaire, who could get any type of mortgage he wanted, has no business being the spokesperson for the foreclosure issues facing the few who really got duped," PT writes. "... I'm convinced he's simply hyping this to get the house sold."
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Posted
Jul 22 2008, 11:34 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Martin H. Bosworth at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Two reports released this week show that bankruptcy reform passed in 2005 -- rather than helping consumers -- actually costs consumers in the form of more credit card debt, and may be causing greater losses to banks due to increased foreclosures. According to a study by Michael Simkovic of the John M. Olin Center for Law and Economics at Harvard Law School: Supporters of the law claimed that it would benefit consumers as well as creditors, because reducing the losses faced by creditors would lower the cost of credit to consumers. ... The data suggests that although bankruptcies and credit card company losses decreased, and credit card companies achieved record profits, the cost to consumers of credit card debt actually increased. In other words, the 2005 bankruptcy reforms profited credit card companies at consumers' expense.
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