The Better Business Bureau is suggesting homeowners exercise caution during the home buying process to avoid a scam that could empty your bank account. Apparently, hackers have been posing as real estate and title agents to trick homeowners into sending money. Most importantly, never send financial information via email. Watch a video, and read more to protect yourself, here.
What you do for a living may inform discounts on mortgages. Dana Dratch at Bankrate has some information on job-related mortgage savings. Working as a teacher, firefighter, doctor, or lawyer—or whether you choose to live near where you work—could amount to substantial savings. You can learn more here.
Maryalene LaPonsie at U.S. News and World Report examines the plausibility of another housing bubble, and subsequent collapse. The short answer is, no—but, it’s worth a read here.
A Pittsburgh law firm, representing visually impaired, hearing-impaired, and other disabled clients, has threatened more than 25 real estate companies with lawsuits if they don’t modify their websites to become usable for those with handicaps. The Chicago Tribune has the report here.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency will be granting some borrowers the ability to reduce their mortgage debt. The desired outcome is that a portion of delinquent homeowners will be able to avoid foreclosure. Bankrate has an article with additional information, here.
Diana Olick at CNBC shared a list of the top U.S. cities for real estate investors, and the results are surprising. Florida has more markets on the list than any other state, and Syracuse and Milwaukee were included for the first time. You can see the list and report, here.
Federal Reserve economists along with academics at UCLA and Arizona State, spent some time researching strategic mortgage defaults in relation to the housing bust. Among the findings was proof that many who claimed to plan their default, were actually forced into non-payment. More here.
As homes in the U.S. are moving off the market this year more rapidly than in 2015, there are some areas that are not enjoying the same trend. The decrease in oil prices has kept homes in oil-rich areas for sale for an alarming amount of time. Among the affected cities are Houston, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Forth Worth. CNN has more information here.
U.S. News and World Report has an article about how real estate can diversify your investments, and generate more money during retirement. Of course, the rental income needs to cover the mortgage, insurance, taxes, upgrades, maintenance and repairs. The IRS Income Tax Schedule E, can help assess the profitability for an individual property. The article is available here.
The number of Americans that plan to buy a home in the next six months is at historic levels. Job creation, and low interest rates have a rash of buyers looking for suitable homes to inhabit. Business Insider has a current piece on what’s happening and why here.
