The vast majority of Americans still believe that owning a home is the best investment someone can make, despite steep declines in housing values over the past five years.
A new study by the Pew Foundation found that 81 percent of Americans surveyed said that buying a home is the best long-term investment a person can make. That’s nearly identical to the 84 percent that gave the same answer to a similar survey 20 years ago. The intensity of that belief has declined, however. Only 37 percent say “strongly agree” that a home is the best long-term investment, compared to 49 percent who held that view in 1991. That Read full post…
Many people need help reducing and getting rid of credit card debt.
Many people find themselves in a lot of credit card debt. Having too much debt makes it difficult to pay the bills each month. Even if people do not have trouble paying their bills at the moment, loss of income can change all that in an instant.
Homeowners can borrow up to $25,000 for home energy improvements under a new FHA home equity loan program announced today.
FHA PowerSaver is a two-year pilot program that will be made available through select lenders to qualified borrowers in certain parts of the country. Borrowers can use the funds to make energy efficiency improvements they desire, including insulation, new furnaces or air conditioners, geothermal systems, new doors or windows, water heaters and the like. To qualify, borrowers must have at least some equity in their homes, a FICO credit score of 660 or above, and a total debt-to-income ratio of no more than 100 percent. Read full post…
While bankruptcy relief is a federal process, some laws such as those regarding income qualification and asset exemptions apply specifically to South Carolina residents. Most people who file personal bankruptcy in the state choose a partial debt repayment plan in Chapter 13 or request forgiveness of approved bills in Chapter 7.
Bankruptcy Basics
You must have lived in South Carolina for at least six months to file bankruptcy as a resident of the state.
Lenders would have to decide within 45 days whether to approve or deny a short sale, under bipartisan legislation introduced this week in Congress.
The bill, jointly introduced by Reps. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) and Robert Andrews (D-N.J.), takes aim at one of the major issues hindering short sales for both buyers and sellers – the often months-long wait it often takes to get such sales approved. In a short sale, a lender allows a homeowner who is in financial difficulty to sell the home for less than the amount owed on the mortgage as an alternative to allowing the property to go into foreclosure. Th Read full post…
