Buying a Home

Taking the Plunge: Considerations for First-Time Homebuyers in Today's Housing Market

Doug Lebda | Posted 05.18.2012

Doug Lebda

The housing market today is unpredictable which raises the question: how will the unstable housing market affect first-time homebuyers as they enter the market?

The Ten Most (And Least) Affordable Cities To Buy A Home

24/7 Wall St. | MICHAEL B. SAUTER | Posted 04.22.2012

After years of weak housing markets, home sellers are hopeful that this spring’s home-buying season will finally lift prices. In positive news, Real...

Renting? Think Again

The Huffington Post | Bonnie Kavoussi | Posted 04.04.2012

If you're trying to save money, you may want to consider buying a home. As contradictory as that may sound, renting cost 15 percent more than ownin...

Why Location Matters If You're on the Fence About Renting vs. Buying

Jed Kolko | Posted 05.21.2012

Jed Kolko

Marking a big shift from the boom years, the cost of buying relative to renting has fallen a lot. But just because prices dropped and rents held steady or rose in most places, does that make now a great time to buy? The answer depends on you and on where you live.

Why You And Your Spouse Should Get A Second Opinion

Marianne Szegedy-Maszak | Posted 05.09.2012

Marianne Szegedy-Maszak

Did we bother to discuss the wisdom of this enormous investment with anyone else -- a financial planner, perchance? A savvy friend? An architect or engineer? Of course not.

Housing Trends for 2012: Passing Trends

Marianne Cusato | Posted 04.17.2012

Marianne Cusato

If you are old enough to remember Avocado Green and Harvest Gold, you know that day eventually comes to say goodbye to some home trends.

Homes - Buy Now!

John R. Talbott | Posted 02.19.2012

John R. Talbott

Run, do not walk to your neighborhood banker and either finance a new home purchase or take out the maximum amount of money he or she will lend you on a home equity loan and buy hard assets, not financial securities, with the money.

Toni's Take on Real Estate: Buying as a Broker (Part II)

Toni Haber | Posted 02.18.2012

Toni Haber

if you really, really love an apartment or a home, $100k is not a big difference in a monthly payment (especially at today's rates).

How To Save For Your First Home (Without Having A Meltdown)

Allison Kornberg | Posted 02.12.2012

Allison Kornberg

The number of first-time home owners is shrinking, but don't let that dash your newlywed hopes and dreams of buying a home with the fabled white picket fence someday.

Toni's Take on Real Estate: Buying as a Broker

Toni Haber | Posted 02.12.2012

Toni Haber

We have a saying in my industry that "buyers are liars." Buyers aren't actually lying to their brokers, it's just that sometimes we come to find out that our "must haves" are wants rather than needs.

Buying A Home In My 20s Was The Best Thing I Ever Did

Kyla Ernst-Alper | Posted 01.17.2012

Kyla Ernst-Alper

I daydreamed about a home with space for dinners, parties and lazy afternoons; a place where we could gather together our friends and family.

Great Expectations: Lawyers, Legal Fees and the Due Diligence Dilemma

Ron Gitter | Posted 12.10.2011

Ron Gitter

At a time when the complexity of a basic residential real estate transaction has increased geometrically, could the presence of an attorney in the process actually be optional?

Lending a Hand to Lenders: How to Speed Up the Closing Process

Ron Gitter | Posted 07.06.2011

Ron Gitter

The process by which a bank completes the loan documentation at the closing is about as up to date as applying a wax seal. In the digitized world we live in today, a closing takes way too long.

BofA CEO: Some People Shouldn't Think Of Their Home As An Asset

Posted 06.12.2011

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (By Joe Rauch) - U.S. homeowners may need to look elsewhere for long-term investment returns as housing prices in some a...

30-Year Mortgages Could Disappear If Fannie, Freddie Are Shutdown

nytimes.com | BINYAMIN APPELBAUM | Posted 05.25.2011

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loan, the steady favorite of American borrowers since the 1950s, could become a luxury product, housing experts on bot...

Banks Requiring Bigger Down Payments

wsj.com | By S. MITRA KALITA | Posted 05.25.2011

he median down payment in nine major U.S. cities rose to 22% last year on properties purchased through conventional mortgages, according to an analysi...

Adjustable Rate Mortgages Are Making A Slow Comeback

CNN Money | Les Christie, Staff Writer | Posted 05.25.2011

Adjustable rate mortgages are back! After accounting for nearly 70% of all mortgages issued during the boom, ARMs vanished during the bust, totalin...

It's Cheaper To Rent In Only 4 Big U.S. Cities

The Huffington Post | Yepoka Yeebo | Posted 05.25.2011

Thanks to the foreclosure crisis, buying a two-bedroom home is cheaper than renting in most big cities. In its quarterly Rent vs. Buy Index, real est...

Home Builders: 'Sales Will Struggle,' Depend On Jobs

AP | ALEX VEIGA | Posted 05.25.2011

ORLANDO, Fla. — The housing market could gradually begin to emerge from its doldrums this year, industry experts said Wednesday, but their forecast ...

4 Things Home Sellers Need To Know In 2011

walletpop.com | Tara-Nicholle Nelson | Posted 05.25.2011

Past is prologue, they say. And that's certainly true when looking forward to what the housing market will hold for home sellers next year. WalletPop'...

Mortgage Rates Rise To Highest Level In 7 Months

AP | JANNA HERRON | Posted 05.25.2011

NEW YORK — The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages rose this week to the highest level in seven months, reflecting higher yields on long-term Tr...

The Foreclosure Pileup: More Bad News for the US Economy

Nicolas Retsinas | Posted 05.25.2011

Nicolas Retsinas

Today, thirty percent of home sales involve foreclosed properties. With low interest rates, there is a market for these properties. Keeping them off the market hurts would-be homebuyers.

7 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Buy a Home

DailyFinance | JAMES ALTUCHER | Posted 05.25.2011

This article is going to be a contradiction. After the fall that housing has suffered, I think that that, as an asset class, housing will probably be ...

Owning Home May No Longer Be A Shortcut To Upward Mobility

DailyFinance | CHARLES HUGH SMITH | Posted 05.25.2011

In the period beginning with the close of World War II and right up to 2005, buying a house opened up a pathway to upward mobility even for those with...

The Top 10 Cities Where It's Cheaper To Rent Than Buy A Home (PHOTOS)

Huffington Post | Christina Marie Fierro | Posted 05.25.2011

If you're enamored of the age-old wisdom that renting a home is akin to throwing your money away, think again. A simple calculation called the pri...