We expect computers, televisions and other kinds of devices to become obsolete. But what about houses? It turns out that the problem of “functional obsolescence” may be haunting the housing recovery, as potential buyers - and renters - are put off by homes that don’t...
In addition to redistributing wealth from lenders to borrowers, inflation redistributes wealth from old to young. Older folks are typically on a fixed income, so purchasing power is destroyed as prices increase. Younger people generally have more debt, which is less...
How low can you go? A growing number of mortgage lenders around the country are about to find out, as they lower the minimum credit score requirements for getting a loan in hopes of jump starting a sagging housing market. We’ve reported previously about the ongoing...
Where have all the home buyers gone? Interest rates for typical mortgages are hovering around 4 percent – but potential homebuyers aren’t biting. Overall, applications for both refinancing and home mortgages are down by 48 percent this year, according to a new CNBC...
Do you remember the days before Facebook, before smart phones, before the Internet and before you even owned a computer? I do and I'm very grateful to have that perspective which just cannot be conveyed to somebody who was 13 when the iPhone came out. This video...
When Jason Hartman speaks, he often refers to his mother. Aside from a genuine affection for the woman that raised him, Jason talks about his mom because it’s a story full of lessons. In 1976, Jason’s mother purchased her first house (which she still owns) for...
Sorry, baby boomers. You're no longer number one. For decades that group of people born between 1946 and 1960 or so have bee the biggest single group in the US, the subject of endless study by everyone from psychologists to advertising directors. But new statistics...
The first key to understanding inflation is to recognize the difference between real and nominal. If you think about a physical $100 bill, it is easy to understand that 50 years ago, it was still a $100 bill. We called it the same thing, it looked (mostly) the same...
While you have a variety of investment options, very few of them allow you to always remain in control. Stocks and bonds are fickly, unpredictable, and have bad leverage. They offer either low tax benefits or no tax benefits at all. They’re a paper asset, a fiat by...
For many, home ownership represents the ultimate investment, perhaps because it is so engrained in our ideas about the American Dream. But it’s tricky—one of the signs of a good investment is its ability to make money. For most of us, this isn’t the case with a home....
