mortgages: How to Manage Your Finances - 09/29/10 05:43 AM
Today, I’m going to give advice on managing your cash flow. One of the most important to consider, when managing your personal finances, is to treat yourself as a business. Businesses live and die on cash flow. If a business runs out of cash, it fails.
Managing your cash flow in today’s world is necessary for financial success. The first step is to log all your income sources. For most, this is easy. Include all ways you get money. Obviously the biggest source is probably your job. Others include money from investments, interest, bonuses, child support, alimony, and allowances.
Next, you … (2 comments)

mortgages: Government Doing Too Much - 09/08/10 05:33 AM
There’s a lot of talk nowadays about how much the government should be intervening with our economy and housing market. Many believe Washington is simply throwing money at a problem and will never solve it. Many also believe that without the government’s help, we would be in a far worse situation than we currently are.
I personally feel that it is time to let everything take its natural course. Let the foreclosures happen and stop of the bailout, tax credits and subsidized mortgages. Clearly, what our government has been doing is not working and spending more money on the same programs … (2 comments)

mortgages: Mortgage Application Essay Question - 08/25/10 05:16 AM
Today I read an article on credit.com citing a New York Times story about Wells Fargo. It says that Wells has violated the Fair Housing Act by requiring applicants for their mortgage products to answer an essay question. Wells is in violation of the law because the question includes procuring about the applicants’ familial status.
Now, I am 100% for giving everyone an equal opportunity to get housing and loans, and I don’t think that one’s gender, age, family size, or other personal preferences/beliefs should be a determining whether or not to give them a loan, but I also don’t think … (2 comments)

mortgages: Lending Standards, Too Strict - 08/17/10 04:22 AM
Mortgage rates are still at record lows. But, what does this mean for all of us? Yes you can get a home or refinance your current mortgage at a phenomenal interest rate, but there is more to it. Why are interest rates so low right now?
Interest rates continue to fall because there are not enough people buying homes. With a lot of the “Bank Owned” inventory hitting the market, there just are not enough qualified buyers. There are not enough buyers because lending practices have become increasingly strict. I agree that the practices during the sub-prime mortgage boom were a … (3 comments)

mortgages: Lending Standards, Too Strict - 08/17/10 04:19 AM
Mortgage rates are still at record lows. But, what does this mean for all of us? Yes you can get a home or refinance your current mortgage at a phenomenal interest rate, but there is more to it. Why are interest rates so low right now?
Interest rates continue to fall because there are not enough people buying homes. With a lot of the “Bank Owned” inventory hitting the market, there just are not enough qualified buyers. There are not enough buyers because lending practices have become increasingly strict. I agree that the practices during the sub-prime mortgage boom were a … (0 comments)

mortgages: Problems with Strategic Defaults - 07/26/10 04:25 AM
I believe most of you know about the new Fannie Mae regulations for borrowers who purposely default on their mortgages. If you do not, one is quite simple. If you “strategically default” on your mortgage, you will have a seven year ban on new Fannie Mae loans. They are using this as a means of detouring borrowers who can afford to make their payments, but choose not to. This is becoming popular amongst borrowers who owe more on their home than it is worth. On top of the seven year ban, according to an article on seerpress.com, Fannie Mae might start … (2 comments)