Today’s Top Story – Consumer

7 Tips to Negotiate Your Way to a Mortgage Loan Modification

RISMEDIA, May 2, 2009-For some small business owners, trouble on the home front (as in home mortgage front) threatens already precarious business conditions. Home mortgages that once seemed a good source of money for the business now could result in the need to layoff workers or even close. Homeowners with trouble making mortgage payments often hear that their best bet is to contact their lender about a loan modification, but they should be well prepared when they do so.

5 Advantages Move-Up Buyers Have in a Down Market

RISMEDIA, May 1, 2009-Potential home buyers who aren't eligible for the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit because they currently own a home actually have what could be an even bigger advantage - the opportunity to buy a new home that is bigger and better than they could have just a year or two before. "Now may be an ideal time for any family looking to upgrade from their starter home to one more suited to their current or future needs," said Joe Robson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders

Help for Homeowners – New Details Emerge about ‘Making Home Affordable’ Program

RISMEDIA, May 2, 2009-The Obama Administration announced details of new efforts to help bring relief to responsible homeowners under the Making Home Affordable Program, including an effort to achieve greater affordability for homeowners by lowering payments on their second mortgages as well as a set of measures to help underwater borrowers stay in their homes. "With these latest program details, we're offering even more opportunities

Tips for Home Sellers Competing against Foreclosed Homes and Short Sales

RISMEDIA, April 29, 2009-With distressed sales accounting for half of all home sales, many home sellers are finding that traditional sales are competing with discounted prices offered by foreclosed properties and short sales in their local area. To help home sellers attract buyers and compete against the discounted prices offered by distressed properties, ForSaleByOwner.com offers the following tips and advice:

Finding Bottom: Where the Market Will Turn Around

RISMEDIA, April 28, 2009-The end is near. When exactly, is hard to predict. It is also hard to predict what that end will look like. However, it is hard to escape the sense that some things will change forever. But what? Will law and order, if you can call this that, descend into chaos? Will nations withdraw from the global economy and seek self-sufficiency and protectionism? Will complex monetary systems that allow insider manipulation be replaced by barter? Will Brad and Angelina ever tie the knot? These are the great questions of our time.

Buying Foreclosed Homes: Deal or No Deal?

RISMEDIA, April 27, 2009-HouseMaster®, a home inspection franchisor, reports there are abundant opportunities for qualified homebuyers in the current real estate market - triggered by a 28% rise in foreclosure activity from last year. While President Obama's $75 billion loan modification and refinancing Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan will help as many as 4 million struggling homeowners, it won't save everyone from foreclosure resulting in prime deals for qualified homebuyers.

Energy Efficiency Tax Credits – Are You Ready to Take Advantage?

RISMEDIA, April 25, 2009-This year, the federal government extended and expanded home energy efficiency tax credits through 2010 as part of the broader economic recovery package, and millions of U.S. homeowners appear poised to pursue them, according to a survey released by Johns Manville. More than two-thirds of survey respondents, or 68%, said they were aware of the newly created federal energy efficiency tax credits. Of those homeowners

Help First-Time Home Buyers Help Themselves

RISMEDIA, April 25, 2009-The $790 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President Barack Obama in February gives first-time home buyers an exciting incentive to enter the housing market-an $8,000 tax credit. Now the trick is getting them to take advantage of it. In 2008, the home buyer tax credit of $7,500 required repayment over a 15-year period. Under the new provisions, there is no repayment requirement as long as the buyer remains in the home for three years.

Americans Staying Put – Residential Mover Rate Lowest Since 1948

RISMEDIA, April 23, 2009-The U.S. Census Bureau announced that the national mover rate declined from 13.2% in 2007 to 11.9% in 2008 - the lowest rate since the bureau began tracking these data in 1948. In 2008, 35.2 million people 1 year and older changed residences in the U.S. within the past year, representing a decrease from 38.7 million in 2007 and the smallest number of residents to move since 1962.

Are Banks Withholding Foreclosed Homes to Prop Sales?

RISMEDIA, April 22, 2009-(MCT)-Lenders for months have been holding back a high volume of homes in the foreclosure pipeline that could further depress home values if they are released at once into the market, industry experts say. The artificially created shortage of foreclosed homes for sale comes when there is a strong resurgence of home buying, with consumers finding, often to their surprise, that they must make multiple offers to compete for a diminished supply of bargain homes. Meanwhile, financial institutions have been encouraged by federal and state lawmakers

Could New Stimulus Plan Actually Cost You Money?

RISMEDIA, April 21, 2009-(MCT)-Wage earners beware: One of the federal government's new tax breaks, designed to put more take-home pay in your wallet now, may take a bite out of your wallet next spring. Under certain conditions, the extra cash you've started seeing in your paychecks could shrink your refund or boost the size of the check you have to write when you file your 2009 tax returns next year.

5 Things You Need to Know Before Buying Renters’ Insurance

RISMEDIA, April 18, 2009-(MCT)-It is, unfortunately, an all-too-familiar news image: An apartment building smolders in the hours after a major fire. The traumatized residents have gone off to put their lives back in order. In all likelihood, they have lost most of their possessions. ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Helping More Homeowners – Loan Modifications Increasing

RISMEDIA, April 17, 2009-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac modified nearly 24,000 loans during the fourth quarter of 2008, an increase of 76% over the third quarter. The modifications, along with the suspension of foreclosures that began November 26, reduced the number of foreclosures by nearly 27% during the quarter, according to data released by James B. Lockhart, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), as part of the Foreclosure Prevention Report for the fourth quarter for 2008.

Environmentally Friendly Lifestyle Top Priority for Renters

RISMEDIA, April 16, 2009-Renters are doing their part to save the environment. During a national survey, more than 65% of renters told Apartments.com that practicing an environmentally friendly lifestyle is a high priority. To conserve energy, 52% of renters are turning off lights and computers when not in use, setting air conditioners and heaters on timers and using energy-efficient light bulbs. Twenty-two percent are recycling paper, plastics and electronics.

Generation Y Bullish on Housing Market

RISMEDIA, April 15, 2009-The first major survey into Generation Y's perception of the U.S. housing crisis reveals a surprisingly strong sense of optimism about the future, despite cautious near-term sentiment. While the housing industry is readying for this wave of future homeowners (approximately 80 million strong), there is little data on what this influential buying group actually wants in their next home or how the current downturn has affected their future plans.

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