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A column by Brett Arends posted on SmartMoney.com has 3 sentences that neatly sums up everything you need to know before buying a house: "If you buy a home, you can live in it without paying rent, or you can rent it out to someone else. It has no other use. It has no other value". Forget the American Dream hogwash, a house is about money.
It is the eternal question: Is it better to rent or buy a home? Here is a calculator to help you figure it out.
The government's efforts to help banks went pretty well. The efforts to help homeowners have been lame! Now -finally- there is a proposal on the table that could help real people. The New York Times has the inside scoop.
Talk about a foreclosure deal! This guy got a McMansion for 16 bucks! How? There is a little known legal principle called "adverse possession". When you go to law school they teach it in the first year, then you never hear about it again. But here it is in real life, and it could get you a nearly free home too.
Mortgages get traded around more than a second rate baseball player in their fourth year. You know the drill: you get your mortgage from one lender, who sells it to another... who sells it to yet another. The bad guys know this, too, so they are setting up fake mortgage companies. Letters are sent out explaining to homeowners that their mortgage has been sold and gives a new address for the payments. Homeowners who fall for it, lose a payment or two before they figure out they've been scammed. The solution? Call your old bank using the number on an old statement to confirm any change.
