News

2006

December

11

• Florida homeowners fight soaring insurance rates. Florida homeowners are no longer silent victims of the state's insurance crisis. From the Keys to the Panhandle, they've mobilized. In Miami-Dade County, they have launched a major petition drive to tell lawmakers in Tallahassee…

• A loan that'll get ugly fast. Every day, Will Hertzberg owns a little less of his three-bedroom house in Corona. Like hundreds of thousands of other homeowners around the state, Hertzberg has a mortgage that lets him choose how much he…

10

• Los Angeles seniors get help with houses. On a quiet residential street in Cypress, where a basketball hoop waits for children to come home from school, secrets lie behind the pink facade of Sylvia Finn's house. They are hidden by universal assumptions…

09

• Locked into a builders contract. Lisa and Reggie Starr thought they were getting a good deal when they signed a contract to buy a new six-bedroom house in Woodbridgealmost a year ago. But after they had trouble selling their own…

08

• Falling mortgage rates = big savings. If you're thinking of buying a home, here's a sum that will get your attention: $13,763. That's what you'd save in interest over the life of the loan if you bought a $221,300 house (the…

07

• Financial health? Do the math. The end of the year often provokes questions about your financial state. If it doesn't, it should. That was on my mind after receiving this query from one reader during a recent online discussion: "I…

06

• Mortgage refinancing applications jump. Mortgage applications rose sharply last week, as the lowest interest rates in more than a year prompted a surge in demand for refinancing, an industry trade group said Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its…

• Subprime mortgage loans: Boom to bane. In the housing boom of the last six years, millions of blacks, Hispanics and members of other minority groups achieved the dream of homeownership. While a steadily growing economy helped, experts say a new breed…

04

• Alternative credit scoring gains support. The heavy reliance on credit scores to determine a person's "worthiness" for loans has led to the exclusion of many otherwise responsible citizens from the chance to purchase a home, a car, or any sort…

02

• Coastal insurance crisis hits dream homes. A place near the water has been an American dream for a very long time. Fifty-four percent of Americans live within 50 miles of a coast. This is the year, however, in which the big…

• The housing median is the message. You might have seen the scary news reports just before Thanksgiving: Housing prices fell nationwide last quarter, the first such decline since 1993. Even grimmer, total sales of houses and condominiums across the country plunged…

November

25

• Low down on low-doc mortgages. If the IRS wants to spot large numbers of people who are stiffing the tax collectors, it might want to consider auditing a fast-growing segment of the home-mortgage market. New research suggests that more than…

18

• 'RESPA police' help with builder disputes. When home builders behave badly, some of their customers may have an unexpected resource: The federal government's "RESPA police," who say they have become increasingly active in resolving consumer complaints through nonpublic interventions with builders.…

16

• Tips for pulling cash from your home. Not long ago, a well-known economist surprised me by suggesting that it's a good time for homeowners to tap their equity to buy stocks.Crazy, I thought. If you had risked your house to invest in…

14

• Home sellers offer 'buy-down' savings. As the housing market slows, big builders and developers are stepping up concessions and incentives to buyers - now small-time individuals are doing it too. One such incentive is the buy-down, in which sellers pay…

12

• Predatory lenders prey on Habitat homeowners. The guiding principle of the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity, founded in 1976 to build affordable houses for underprivileged families, comes from the Old Testament: "If a brother living near you becomes poor, you must provide…

11

• Giving credit where credit's due. Picture this: You have lived in this country for 15 years, earned a decent wage, raised a family, and always paid your rent, utilities, cellphone charges and other bills on time, month after month. But…

07

• Home-office deduction rules challenging. A recent analysis of American commuting habits confirms what many weary workers already know: Commutes are getting longer. More Americans than ever are leaving home at 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. to beat the traffic.…

• Homeowners hesitate over equity loans. While 91 percent of homeowners deem equity in their primary home as an important financial asset, a nationwide survey released today reveals that many may overlook their home as a useful financial management tool…

04

• Appraising online appraisal site Zillow. Have you ever checked out the satellite photos and market-value estimates of homes in your neighborhood on Zillow.com, the Internet real estate site that says it offers "free, instant valuations and data for 67 million-plus…