Where Have All the First Time Buyers Gone?

Mortgage rates are still low and the housing recovery still appears to be moving along. But in many markets around the country, fewer potential buyers are making that first step toward buying a home. Although the reasons for their absence from the housing scene is as...

Interest Rates Are Up – But Mortgages Are Too

Mortgage interest rates are still astonishingly low, even though they’ve begun to creep up from the historic low levels of a few months ago. While some housing industry watchers have worried that the rise in rates could put the brakes on the emerging housing recovery,...

How Green is Your Mortgage?

It’s no secret that green is in. Energy efficient and environmentally friendly upgrades and add-ons can boost a home’s selling price and attract good renters. But paying for those green add ons and getting a return on the investment can be tricky – especially when...

Can Good Math Skills Prevent Foreclosures?

Know your math, keep your house? A new study conducted by the Columbia Business School appears to suggest exactly that. All other things being relatively equal, Columbia’s researchers found that the better a homeowner’s math skills, the less likely they were to lose a...

The Myth of the 20 Percent Down

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...