Conventional real estate wisdom has it that most home purchases require a down payment of a least 20 percent of the purchase price. That’s a number that may be keeping some potential homebuyers out of the market while they scrape together the required amount. What’s...
After months of maybe yes, maybe no, the Federal Reserve has made it official: its large-scale buyup of mortgage backed securities and other commodities is coming to an end. And while that won’t happen until 2014, the news has sent shock waves through markets around...
The recent spate of natural disasters – superstorms, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods – has homeowners and property investors throughout the country checking their insurance policies and talking to their lenders about how to recover. But, as recent news reminds us,...
Interest rates that continue to run low and rising prices make the housing market pretty hot right now. Banks are offering attractive mortgage packages, too. But, say some market watchers, it’s hotter still for buyers who can pay cash. To compete in the cash wars,...
Is plastic a thing of the past? After the economic shakeups of the last few years, new financial realities may be changing traditional patterns of managing money and handling debt. And for many Americans, that means rethinking their relationship to credit. A new...
