Foreclosures

Want to Buy a Foreclosure? Here’s What You Need to Know

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Foreclosures are up in 26 of the 50 largest metro areas in the country, according to a quarterly report released by foreclosure site RealtyTrac.com. This is good news for bargain hunters and intrepid home buyers who want to get a cheap house. If you’re planning to buy a foreclosed home, though, there are some things you need to know before taking the plunge.

Foreclosures Are at a 4-Year Low, But That’s Not Necessarily Good News

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Foreclosure filings fell in March to their lowest level in four years, but a closer look at the data reveals a complicated housing market, one that is still likely to get worse before genuine, long-lasting improvements take place.

Housing Prices Fall to 2003 Levels, But Demand May Be Building

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It’s now officially a lost decade for home prices. With the release of the January data for the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes, prices in a national composite dropped 3.8% from a year before, rolling back to the levels of early 2003.

Reverse Mortgages More Popular With Younger Homeowners

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Once widely seen as money of last resort, reverse mortgages are fast entering the mainstream. Increasingly, those approaching retirement view home equity as a key source of future income.

Housing Bail-Out Arrives for One Group of Americans: Soldiers and Vets

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The $25 billion foreclosure abuse settlement announced last month targets one group very specifically: members of the armed forces.

Mortgage-Skipping Masters: Couple Lives in $1.29 Million Home Without Making Payments for 5 Years

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Guess what happens when you stop paying the mortgage? For quite some time, the answer is: Nothing much. In many states, while the foreclosure process drags on for years, homeowners who have stopped paying their bills can live in the property in a situation that amounts to “free rent,” as it’s been called. One couple [...]

Housing Recovery at Last? Evidence Mounts

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While experts continue to warn that housing has not yet hit bottom, a slew of indicators suggest otherwise. The latest is a stellar quarterly earnings report from Home Depot, which is benefitting from hopeful owners sprucing up for the spring selling season.

Who Qualifies for the $26 Billion Foreclosure Settlement?

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It took over a year for lawmakers and state AGs to agree to the terms of the $26 billion foreclosure settlement announced this week, and it could take up to another three years for eligible homeowners to see a share of that money. But the deal does mean that, for the first time, many distressed [...]

Crowd Favorite on American Idol Calls Tent ‘Home’

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On the most recent season debut of American Idol, viewers watched as a 24-year-old from Tennessee named Amy Brumfield won a golden ticket to Hollywood. Besides her soulful rendition of an Alicia Keys song, what made Brumfield stand out from the pack is that she lives in a tent in the woods with her boyfriend [...]

Fixing the Housing Market: What to Expect from Obama’s SOTU Speech

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What’s President Obama’s plan for getting the housing market back on track? Look for proposals—but not necessarily solutions—in tonight’s State of the Union address.

Does the Decrease in Defaults Mean Homeowners Are Getting Their Financial Houses In Order?

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The social stigma of going into foreclosure seems to have decreased in the last few years as almost three-quarters of U.S. households found themselves underwater with their mortgages, and “walking away” from a home became commonplace. However, two recently released figures suggest that homeowners feel a renewed sense of financial obligation to their homes and [...]