Foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 12,286 Wisconsin properties during the third quarter of 2011, up 6 percent from the second quarter of 2011, but 5 percent below the level reported for the same quarter last year, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.Complete Story

Foreclosure filings were reported on 230,678 U.S. properties in October, a 7 percent increase from the previous month, but still down nearly 31 percent from October 2010, according to the RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for October 2011. The report also shows one in every 563 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month. “The October foreclosure numbers continue to show strong signs that foreclosure activity is coming out of the rain delay we’ve been in for the past year as lenders corrected foreclosure paperwork and processing problems,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. Complete Story

The word is out: it's harder to get a mortgage, maybe impossible. Lenders are clamping down, especially on foreclosure purchases. Just about everyone says so. Since this is a “fact” why bother to buy real estate when you can't get financing? Well, maybe not a fact. Maybe tales of mortgage woes are exaggerated. Or, maybe they're not true at all. Here are four commonly believed myths about securing financing in today's real estate market, especially when it comes to financing a foreclosure purchase. Complete Story