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RISMEDIA, November 2, 2010—(MCT)—When men buy "guy stuff"—cars, lawn mowers, electronics—they're on their home turf. For those purchases, "Men can rely on familiar brand names and test drives to guide their decision-making," says Jackie Hirschhaut, spokesperson for the American Home Furnishings Alliance. But even though men are becoming more involved in decorating their homes, according to research by the American Furniture Manufacturers Association, "For most men, furniture stores are unfamiliar territory," says Hirschhaut.

RISMEDIA, October 28, 2010—RealtyTrac, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties released its Q3 2010 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, which shows that cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona once again accounted for all top 10 foreclosure

RISMEDIA, October 28, 2010—The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the October edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard (www.hud.gov/scorecard). The latest housing figures show continued signs of stabilization in house prices and high home affordability due in part to record low interest rates. The housing scorecard is a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market.

RISMEDIA, October 27, 2010—A new home may have freshly painted shutters, a picket fence around it, and rainbow-colored flower patches leading to the candy-red door. But if the air quality isn’t good inside, those exterior niceties become insignificant—and—quite simply, you could get sick. “Sick building syndrome” (a term typically reserved for office buildings, but often interchangeably used with the term “sick house syndrome” when referring to private homes) is a combination of physical ailments—symptoms often include headaches, loss of concentration, general malaise and breathing problems. The cause: poor indoor air quality.

RISMEDIA, October 26, 2010—(MCT)—The taxpayer bailouts of housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost as much as $363 billion through 2013, according to government projections. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which has regulated the former

RISMEDIA, October 23, 2010—(MCT)—If you’ve been toying with the idea of taking out a reverse mortgage, it is important to take into consideration that today’s market is significantly different from what it was just a couple of months ago. Monthly insurance premiums on new loans went up this month, making an expensive product even more so. But the Department of Housing and Urban Development has offset that rise by introducing another reverse mortgage—the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Saver—which slashes the upfront cost. "It's a mixed bag," said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP, of the reverse mortgage market.

RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—(MCT)—In a new foreclosure crisis that has gone national, attorneys general in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have launched a sweeping probe of the country's lenders, even as new figures showed banks repossessed a record number of homes

RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—(MCT)—Jodie Mekled is looking forward to cheap utility bills this winter. The retail worker from Sterling Heights, Mich., could pay as little as $40 a month for natural gas thanks to energy-efficient home improvements made through Habitat for Humanity.

RISMEDIA, October 14, 2010—Thousands of first-time and move-up buyers who hoped to make a foreclosed property their new home now face uncertainty, anxiety and possibly remorse as they worry that closing on their desired property could be in jeopardy. For many, the dream of homeownership could turn into agony if their home purchase is indefinitely delayed by a moratorium on foreclosures declared by some banks, the National Association of Realtors said. The moratoriums are needed, banks say, to review all of the foreclosures in their portfolios to make sure they're in compliance with the law and that titles are clear.

RISMEDIA, October 14, 2010—The National Association of Realtors' HouseLogic, a free, comprehensive consumer website about all aspects of homeownership recently launched Operation Home Relief, a new Facebook Causes campaign. The campaign aims to increase awareness, rally

RISMEDIA, October 12, 2010—Trulia.com, a leading site for home buyers, sellers and renters, recently released the results from its Rent vs. Buy Index, which tracks whether buying a home or renting is less expensive in America's 50 largest cities, based on current market conditions. "Choosing to buy a home or continuing to rent is a highly personal financial and life decision that many people are grappling with right now," said Pete Flint, CEO and co-founder of Trulia. "In the wake of the foreclosure crisis and ongoing struggles in the industry, we created the Rent vs. Buy Index to provide a bit more context about current marketplace conditions to help prospective buyers make the right decisions for their own personal situations."

RISMEDIA, October 2, 2010—(MCT)—Despite industry and government efforts to make short sales—transactions in which the lender agrees to accept less than the mortgage amount owed by the homeowner—easier and more quickly accomplished, improvements are coming up, well, short. In some cases, the difference between the two numbers is being forgiven by the mortgage lender. In others, the homeowner must arrange with the lender to settle the rest of the debt.

RISMEDIA, October 1, 2010—(MCT)—The moving truck pulled away from the curb, loaded with Wallace Farmer's possessions. He locked the front door for the last time and left town—clutched by a long-simmering anger that finally gave way to relief. Farmer didn't sell his Baltimore house, worth far less than the $180,000 he paid in 2006. And he didn't lose it to foreclosure. He walked away from the rowhouse and the mortgage. It's the bank's problem now.

RISMEDIA, September 30, 2010—At a recently held event at the Pentagon, Fannie Mae and the U.S. Army announced new initiatives to help service members who are struggling with their mortgage payments avoid foreclosure. The effort includes a mortgage payment forbearance of up

RISMEDIA, September 29, 2010—New research from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reveals that the benefits of housing-related tax deductions, such as the mortgage interest deduction, generally decline in value as individuals age. Using Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income (SOI) data, NAHB was able to report for the first time how various tax deductions are used by different age groups. The analysis demonstrates that the biggest beneficiaries are younger households, who typically have large mortgages, small amounts of equity in their homes and growing families.