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Want to Up Your Asking Price? Get A Ghost!
There was a time, not too long ago, where quite a few people took hauntings quite seriously. In fact, I seem to recall a lot of old movies where the basic theme was, some family got a house, cheap, because it was haunted. And that’s still true today in some cultures —...
Why The Feds Hold 1/2 of All Mortgages
OK. So the economy is better. The housing market is in full recovery, if not possibly even in a bubble again. So, what gives with over 50% of all residential mortgages being held by Fannie and Freddie? (As a reference point, that’s up from 7% in 1981). As expected...
Do You Have Your Costume Yet?
Link 1: http://www.popsugar.com/tech/Fun-Last-Minute-Halloween-Costumes-35978794#photo-35978794 Link 2: http://www.idigitaltimes.com/6-cheap-last-minute-halloween-costume-ideas-will-impress-everyone-485611 Link...
Job Data Adds to Likelihood of Fed Rate Hike This Year
The housing data is already shockingly strong (on top of the good news covered here the last few days, we just discovered that the housing supply shrunk from 5.1 months to 4.8 months). Now, on top of that, we have strong job data, with the four-week moving average on...
Back to Bubble Mortgages?
Following on several days, and to a lesser extent months, of really good news, the big boys are making noise that may be immediately appealing to many borrowers, but may not be so hot for the market as a whole. Freddie Mac has hinted that more low-down-payment...
1/3rd of You Will Live Longer Than You Think
Of course, it’s sensible that when making big medical or health decisions, you should take into account how much longer you’re likely to live. If the answer is either decades, or a few years, then you might reasonably make different decisions (e.g., if you’re going to...
Housing Starts Beat Forecast
Economists were predicting that September would be the sixth straight month to have more than 1 million housing starts — a sign of sustained recovery in the market. However, the numbers even surpassed expectations The economists polled by Reuters had been expecting...
[OPINION] The Necessary Evil of Fanny And Freddie
Bethany McClean, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, recently wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post. Her contention is, that while “everyone” in Washington thinks the taxpayer-backed mortgage giants need to go the way of the dinosaurs, the fact is...
Boo! Is Your House Ready for Halloween, Yet?
It may be hard to believe, but we’re only two weeks away from the unofficial kick-off of the holiday season, treasured by kids in every neighborhood! Of course, some of you are on top of this. Your yards have become graveyards, your windows are filled with cobwebs,...
Are You 1 of The Million on Solar?
Everyone knows that solar power hasn’t become mainstream. Still, with all the talk of renewable energy and global warming, it’s a little shocking how _really_ not mainstream it’s been: as recently as 2006, there were only 30,000 homes with solar panels. But solar may...