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Posted
Aug 25 2009, 05:57 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This devil's advocate post comes from Jim Wang at partner blog Bargaineering.
A few years ago, when the housing market was sizzling hot, everyone and their mother talked about how their home was a fantastic investment. They talked about how a home that sold 10 years ago had quadrupled in value over the last five and cursed themselves for not buying more.
I knew someone who owned four rental properties, all bought with adjustable-rate mortgages, and was making a "killing" on the rents and appreciation. I knew someone else who was looking at his paper riches and marveling at how wonderful homeownership was.
Then the housing market stalled. ARMs reset. People were in rough shape. Those who overextended learned something the prudent have always understood: As much as your home is a great place, it's not an investment.
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Posted
Jul 08 2009, 10:16 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Martin H. Bosworth at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Many an enthusiastic new homeowner has been horrified to find that the warranty offered to them by the builder not only does not cover a host of problems, but forces the owners into private, often complex and costly arbitration schemes -- which nearly always favor the builder in the end.
That's the premise of "Home Court Advantage," a new report (.pdf file) released by Public Citizen that explores the homebuilding industry's use of private arbitration to avoid responsibility for structural defects and flaws in their products -- often violating state consumer protection laws.
"The arbitration companies know that their futures depend on keeping the people who hire them happy, and that means the builders and warranty companies," said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division. "As a result, the system is stacked against the consumer."
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Posted
May 19 2009, 01:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Blogger "Stew" at Gather Little by Little finds himself in a housing situation that he aptly describes as a "pickle," and not the sweet bread and butter kind.
Here are the particulars. Please let us know what you think.
- Stew (who blogs with "Gibble" or "glblguy," the creator of Gather Little by Little), his wife and three small children moved to another state 14 months ago for a new job and are renting a place. They put their previous home on the market.
- That house has not sold and the one renter they had lived there only a short time.
- The $1,000 to $1,200 a month to keep up the mortgage, home-equity loan, taxes, insurance and utilities has drained their savings and most of their retirement accounts.
- The mortgage is now 120% of the value of the house.
- Stew got $14,000 from a balance-transfer credit card deal at 0%, which he calls "wiggle room" money. Yikes.
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Posted
Mar 19 2009, 05:27 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Tisha Tolar at partner blog Wise Bread.
Drive down residential streets and it is likely you will find one with multiple listings. It may look like a lot of possibilities if you are in the market for buying a home, but if your house is on the market, it can be frustrating to see so many signs in your neighborhood.
Because many people are selling their homes, it is increasingly important to make your home stand out. This is especially true if you and some of your closest neighbors are selling homes at the same time.
In this case, if you have innovative neighbors who are easy to work with, these multiple sales can work to your advantage -- and theirs too.
Here are some tips to take advantage of this selling opportunity:
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Posted
Dec 05 2008, 02:35 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Randall at Credit Withdrawal already liked Bank of America's online My Portfolio feature. And now the bank has added an even more fascinating option. You can sign on and watch the value of your home drop. Randall is hooked. "It's like driving by a car wreck," he wrote in a guest post at Cash Money Life. "You don't want to look, but you can't help but stare. As a people, we're fascinated with disasters, and my home value going down at this rate definitely qualifies as a disaster in my book."
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Posted
Nov 14 2008, 05:12 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Miss M" at M is for Money has a sense of humor about her predicament. She called her post "If my house is underwater, where is my ocean view?" This post will help people who live where housing prices are reasonable and stable -- yes, these places exist -- to understand how others could owe more on their homes than they're worth. For those of you who have firsthand experience with this problem, maybe you won't feel so all alone.
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Posted
Oct 02 2008, 02:17 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Plenty of news stories point to gloom and doom in the U.S. economy, and "FMF" at Free Money Finance informed his readers about three: Car sales have tanked, bidding for a date with tennis star Maria Sharapova topped out at a mere $10,000, and -- the craziest by far -- a woman bought an old vacant house in Michigan for $1.75.
FMF said in his tongue-in-cheek way, "I knew things were bad in Michigan, but never thought they were this bad."
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Posted
Sep 09 2008, 05:41 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
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.
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Posted
Aug 18 2008, 12:14 AM
by
Ryan MacClanathan
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
My wife and
I had been in our first house for 10 years when our dream home fell in our laps
one day. Until then, we had no plans to move. We were completely unprepared to
sell our existing home while buying a new one. Eventually we made it happen,
but we violated a number of home-buying best practices as we scrambled to make
our dream a reality.
We were
particularly worried about how to time things financially. We couldn't afford
to carry two mortgages -- how would we possibly make ends meet? Ultimately, we
were saved by the rise of the housing bubble and a friendly banker. Our home
sold in one day, and we were able to
close on that sale soon after closing on the new house. Meanwhile, a home-equity
loan floated us the cash we needed to get by.
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Posted
Jul 20 2008, 10:47 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
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).
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