Every day we see more drama in the foreclosure debacle, with increasing number of lenders being pressured to put them on hold.
But what's the strategy for those of us who are still paying our mortgages and not in danger of losing our homes? This should be a perfect opportunity to take Arianna Huffington's wildly successful "Move Your Money" campaign one step further by "shopping for a lower-cost mortgage" and refinancing with a more responsible lender. This won't just punish those who loaned recklessly and reward those who didn't, i.e., community bankers, it will likely save you big bucks if interest rates have dropped at least two percentage points below the rate you are paying on your mortgage.
In the first seven days alone of the "Move Your Money" campaign which began in December 2009, about 340,000 people searched zip codes to find community banks that are highly rated. More importantly, they also moved big bucks out of big bad banks: according to Dennis Santiago of Institutional Risk Analytics, who created a search engine on the site, more than $1 billion was moved in the first three months of 2010. Finding a bank couldn't be easier. When you go to Move Your Money you simply need to enter your zip code to find a list of sound local banks and credit unions to choose from.
There's a big difference between the Too Big To Fail banks that got bailed out and the Small Banks Who Failed. For one thing, the community banks tried to stop these reckless lending practices while the big banks threw bucks at Congress to try to stop reform, James MacPhee, chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).
"Along with several ICBA member bankers and staff, I have testified numerous times in the past three years in front of Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking committee," MacPhee said. "Conversely, the American Bankers Association and the largest Wall Street firms ran a full court press trying to stop (reform) from ever being passed."
Have community banks failed? Yes, MacPhee maintains, but it wasn't because they were reckless but because their prudent loans were "bundled" with bad loans.
"As these debt instruments became worthless, hose buying our debt stopped purchasing, and foreclosures ran in the tens of thousands. When that occurred, the market value of the solid loans became worth less, as foreclosed homes were being sold well under their market value. As the job market dried up, even good loans had to be written down by the community banks. The resulting loss of capital dropped below regulatory standards, and the banks were closed and then typically merged into other banks by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. "
The good news -- or let's hope so -- is that the exposure of reckless practices will humiliate the bad banks into changing their practices. If it doesn't? All the more reason to "boycott" them and only do business with those who put their customers first.
Ready to consider refinancing? Consider taking these steps.
Before you do any "mortgage shopping," get a copy of your credit history at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you have a low score, you might want to consider postponing refinancing until you've built a better bill-payment history; it could literally cut your mortgage cost in half.
Consider only fixed-rate mortgages. Some "experts" may claim that adjustable rate mortgages are okay if you're only going to stay in your home for three years or less, but your home is not a disposable item like a cell phone. If you're only planning to live in one place for three years or less, you should rent, not buy. MacPhee agrees with me that one of the biggest ripoffs in the banking industry -- that the media STILL isn't covering -- is the adjustable rate mortgage. "If (a bank is) going to write an ARM mortgage because someone cannot afford a home under standard bank rates, who are you kidding? The custom is happy for three years, or the period of the ARM balloon, the bank makes big fees, and then sells off both the credit risk and the interest rate risk and walks away."
As I pointed out in my book, America, Welcome to the Poorhouse, another big bargain is the little-talked about 15-year mortgage. Savings are significant both because the loan features a shorter payback period and because these mortgages generally feature lower rates. For example, assuming a 6% interest rate, your total interest costs on a $100,000 30-year mortgage are nearly $116,000. If that same mortgage were converted to a 15-year term, it would require somewhat higher monthly payments -- $844 instead of $600 -- but you'd save nearly $64,000 in interest payments.
Never take out an interest-only mortgage. While you pay no principal during the interest-only period, your payments will rise when that period comes to an end. Furthermore, the mortgage has to be paid off during a shorter term -- 25, 23, or 20 years -- so your monthly payments will be higher.
Avoid one of the riskiest mortgages, a balloon loan. Talk about bait and switch: typically, after the end of a three- or seven-year period, you owe the bank all the remaining principal, in one lump sum. If the value of your home drops you won't be able to find another mortgage to repay that loan and you risk foreclosure. And let's hope that this option won't even be broached by your responsible community banker.
Good morning, Washington. To what extent do the boundaries of newsworthiness extend? That's the question that the Internet is discussing this morning, after Gawker decided to pull a graphic photo taken shortly after Christopher Jusko, a 21-year-old New Yorker, was stabbed to death. Locally, similar questions are being asked about the widely-circulated image of a crosswalk near DC9 on U Street. According to sources, the image, depicting a crosswalk splattered with what many assumed to be the blood of Ali Ahmed Mohammed after he was allegedly beaten to death, actually shows either blood from an earlier incident at the club that evening, or a substance that isn't blood at all. Ryan Kearney, who took one of the first images of the crosswalk and tweeted it, examines both stories and concludes that even the Internet's renegade journalists can go too far. I'd argue that both cases are good reminders that the soundest policy is usually the application of common sense.
Levy Murder Trial Resumes Today, Secrets Revealed: Testimony in the Chandra Levy murder trial restarts this morning after a six-day break in proceedings. To catch us up, Sarah Larimer reports on the multitude of Levy's personal details which have been revealed and pored over during the trial, including her workout routine, her Internet search history and her plastic surgery. Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to wipe my computer and burn all those receipts I've kept.
Groundbreaking On Convention Center Hotel: Mayor Adrian Fenty and company will attend the groundbreaking of the years-in-the-making, $520 million Washington Marriott Marquis Hotel at the intersection of 9th Street and Massachusetts Avenue at 11 a.m. this morning. Aside from introducing some new traffic patterns in the neighborhood, the groundbreaking has plenty of people feeling nostalgic -- I recommend DCMud's thorough retrospective on the process that's gotten the oft-debated site to this point. Looking towards the future, the Post has this tidy overview of what the hotel could bring to the District. Construction of the 1,175-room hotel is expected to take 42 months.
Wildlife Protection Act Passes: The bill proposed by Mary Cheh which will require professionals to humanely capture the critters roaming around D.C.'s crawl spaces passed the Council yesterday. We've discussed the bill before, and, as promised, the final version did not extend such protections to mice and rats, which anyone is still free to trap and kill however they see fit. Cheh also pointed out that the law only applied to pest control companies and not residents: "I don't like the image of you wielding a bat and smashing a possum in the head, but this law wouldn't stop that," Cheh said.
Heartbreaking: Paul Duggan writes this emotionally relentless report about the murder of Joseph Sharps, the Springarn High School student who was shot and killed on Monday night in Trinidad. Don't expect to get through it without getting incredibly angry or coming close to losing it several times.
Briefly Noted: Taxi driver carjacked at knifepoint on 300 block of Allison Street NW last night...DDOT is inspecting the District's bridges this week...Reminder to politicians: please take down your signs...Virginia outlines $1.45 billion transportation spending plan...Council passes emergency legislation requiring foreclosure mediation...Metrobus accident on Good Hope Road SE causes minor injuries...Maryland MVA says that more than 1,300 of the state's residents could be driving with suspended or revoked licenses.
This Day in DCist: Last year, the District's same-sex marriage legislation passed its first hurdle and we heard about the Tweed Ride for the first time; in 2006, we were raving about the soul food at Henry's.
eric seiger
In Hiring Joel Klein, <b>News</b> Corporation Signals Interest in <b>...</b>
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, signaling an interest in the education sector, has hired Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor. News Corporation announced Mr. Klein's hiring shortly after it was reported that he was ...
Cee-Lo Sings 'Fox <b>News</b>' Version of 'F--- You' on 'Colbert' (VIDEO)
Cee-Lo Green was forced to revise his popular 'F**k You' single when he appeared on 'The Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on COM). 'As this.
JLS to appear on X Factor ahead of UK tour | Tixdaq.com Ticket <b>News</b>
JLS will perform on this week's X Factor results show along with Westlife and Take That.
eric seiger
Every day we see more drama in the foreclosure debacle, with increasing number of lenders being pressured to put them on hold.
But what's the strategy for those of us who are still paying our mortgages and not in danger of losing our homes? This should be a perfect opportunity to take Arianna Huffington's wildly successful "Move Your Money" campaign one step further by "shopping for a lower-cost mortgage" and refinancing with a more responsible lender. This won't just punish those who loaned recklessly and reward those who didn't, i.e., community bankers, it will likely save you big bucks if interest rates have dropped at least two percentage points below the rate you are paying on your mortgage.
In the first seven days alone of the "Move Your Money" campaign which began in December 2009, about 340,000 people searched zip codes to find community banks that are highly rated. More importantly, they also moved big bucks out of big bad banks: according to Dennis Santiago of Institutional Risk Analytics, who created a search engine on the site, more than $1 billion was moved in the first three months of 2010. Finding a bank couldn't be easier. When you go to Move Your Money you simply need to enter your zip code to find a list of sound local banks and credit unions to choose from.
There's a big difference between the Too Big To Fail banks that got bailed out and the Small Banks Who Failed. For one thing, the community banks tried to stop these reckless lending practices while the big banks threw bucks at Congress to try to stop reform, James MacPhee, chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).
"Along with several ICBA member bankers and staff, I have testified numerous times in the past three years in front of Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking committee," MacPhee said. "Conversely, the American Bankers Association and the largest Wall Street firms ran a full court press trying to stop (reform) from ever being passed."
Have community banks failed? Yes, MacPhee maintains, but it wasn't because they were reckless but because their prudent loans were "bundled" with bad loans.
"As these debt instruments became worthless, hose buying our debt stopped purchasing, and foreclosures ran in the tens of thousands. When that occurred, the market value of the solid loans became worth less, as foreclosed homes were being sold well under their market value. As the job market dried up, even good loans had to be written down by the community banks. The resulting loss of capital dropped below regulatory standards, and the banks were closed and then typically merged into other banks by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. "
The good news -- or let's hope so -- is that the exposure of reckless practices will humiliate the bad banks into changing their practices. If it doesn't? All the more reason to "boycott" them and only do business with those who put their customers first.
Ready to consider refinancing? Consider taking these steps.
Before you do any "mortgage shopping," get a copy of your credit history at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you have a low score, you might want to consider postponing refinancing until you've built a better bill-payment history; it could literally cut your mortgage cost in half.
Consider only fixed-rate mortgages. Some "experts" may claim that adjustable rate mortgages are okay if you're only going to stay in your home for three years or less, but your home is not a disposable item like a cell phone. If you're only planning to live in one place for three years or less, you should rent, not buy. MacPhee agrees with me that one of the biggest ripoffs in the banking industry -- that the media STILL isn't covering -- is the adjustable rate mortgage. "If (a bank is) going to write an ARM mortgage because someone cannot afford a home under standard bank rates, who are you kidding? The custom is happy for three years, or the period of the ARM balloon, the bank makes big fees, and then sells off both the credit risk and the interest rate risk and walks away."
As I pointed out in my book, America, Welcome to the Poorhouse, another big bargain is the little-talked about 15-year mortgage. Savings are significant both because the loan features a shorter payback period and because these mortgages generally feature lower rates. For example, assuming a 6% interest rate, your total interest costs on a $100,000 30-year mortgage are nearly $116,000. If that same mortgage were converted to a 15-year term, it would require somewhat higher monthly payments -- $844 instead of $600 -- but you'd save nearly $64,000 in interest payments.
Never take out an interest-only mortgage. While you pay no principal during the interest-only period, your payments will rise when that period comes to an end. Furthermore, the mortgage has to be paid off during a shorter term -- 25, 23, or 20 years -- so your monthly payments will be higher.
Avoid one of the riskiest mortgages, a balloon loan. Talk about bait and switch: typically, after the end of a three- or seven-year period, you owe the bank all the remaining principal, in one lump sum. If the value of your home drops you won't be able to find another mortgage to repay that loan and you risk foreclosure. And let's hope that this option won't even be broached by your responsible community banker.
Good morning, Washington. To what extent do the boundaries of newsworthiness extend? That's the question that the Internet is discussing this morning, after Gawker decided to pull a graphic photo taken shortly after Christopher Jusko, a 21-year-old New Yorker, was stabbed to death. Locally, similar questions are being asked about the widely-circulated image of a crosswalk near DC9 on U Street. According to sources, the image, depicting a crosswalk splattered with what many assumed to be the blood of Ali Ahmed Mohammed after he was allegedly beaten to death, actually shows either blood from an earlier incident at the club that evening, or a substance that isn't blood at all. Ryan Kearney, who took one of the first images of the crosswalk and tweeted it, examines both stories and concludes that even the Internet's renegade journalists can go too far. I'd argue that both cases are good reminders that the soundest policy is usually the application of common sense.
Levy Murder Trial Resumes Today, Secrets Revealed: Testimony in the Chandra Levy murder trial restarts this morning after a six-day break in proceedings. To catch us up, Sarah Larimer reports on the multitude of Levy's personal details which have been revealed and pored over during the trial, including her workout routine, her Internet search history and her plastic surgery. Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to wipe my computer and burn all those receipts I've kept.
Groundbreaking On Convention Center Hotel: Mayor Adrian Fenty and company will attend the groundbreaking of the years-in-the-making, $520 million Washington Marriott Marquis Hotel at the intersection of 9th Street and Massachusetts Avenue at 11 a.m. this morning. Aside from introducing some new traffic patterns in the neighborhood, the groundbreaking has plenty of people feeling nostalgic -- I recommend DCMud's thorough retrospective on the process that's gotten the oft-debated site to this point. Looking towards the future, the Post has this tidy overview of what the hotel could bring to the District. Construction of the 1,175-room hotel is expected to take 42 months.
Wildlife Protection Act Passes: The bill proposed by Mary Cheh which will require professionals to humanely capture the critters roaming around D.C.'s crawl spaces passed the Council yesterday. We've discussed the bill before, and, as promised, the final version did not extend such protections to mice and rats, which anyone is still free to trap and kill however they see fit. Cheh also pointed out that the law only applied to pest control companies and not residents: "I don't like the image of you wielding a bat and smashing a possum in the head, but this law wouldn't stop that," Cheh said.
Heartbreaking: Paul Duggan writes this emotionally relentless report about the murder of Joseph Sharps, the Springarn High School student who was shot and killed on Monday night in Trinidad. Don't expect to get through it without getting incredibly angry or coming close to losing it several times.
Briefly Noted: Taxi driver carjacked at knifepoint on 300 block of Allison Street NW last night...DDOT is inspecting the District's bridges this week...Reminder to politicians: please take down your signs...Virginia outlines $1.45 billion transportation spending plan...Council passes emergency legislation requiring foreclosure mediation...Metrobus accident on Good Hope Road SE causes minor injuries...Maryland MVA says that more than 1,300 of the state's residents could be driving with suspended or revoked licenses.
This Day in DCist: Last year, the District's same-sex marriage legislation passed its first hurdle and we heard about the Tweed Ride for the first time; in 2006, we were raving about the soul food at Henry's.
eric seiger
In Hiring Joel Klein, <b>News</b> Corporation Signals Interest in <b>...</b>
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, signaling an interest in the education sector, has hired Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor. News Corporation announced Mr. Klein's hiring shortly after it was reported that he was ...
Cee-Lo Sings 'Fox <b>News</b>' Version of 'F--- You' on 'Colbert' (VIDEO)
Cee-Lo Green was forced to revise his popular 'F**k You' single when he appeared on 'The Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on COM). 'As this.
JLS to appear on X Factor ahead of UK tour | Tixdaq.com Ticket <b>News</b>
JLS will perform on this week's X Factor results show along with Westlife and Take That.
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
In Hiring Joel Klein, <b>News</b> Corporation Signals Interest in <b>...</b>
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, signaling an interest in the education sector, has hired Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor. News Corporation announced Mr. Klein's hiring shortly after it was reported that he was ...
Cee-Lo Sings 'Fox <b>News</b>' Version of 'F--- You' on 'Colbert' (VIDEO)
Cee-Lo Green was forced to revise his popular 'F**k You' single when he appeared on 'The Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on COM). 'As this.
JLS to appear on X Factor ahead of UK tour | Tixdaq.com Ticket <b>News</b>
JLS will perform on this week's X Factor results show along with Westlife and Take That.
eric seiger
Every day we see more drama in the foreclosure debacle, with increasing number of lenders being pressured to put them on hold.
But what's the strategy for those of us who are still paying our mortgages and not in danger of losing our homes? This should be a perfect opportunity to take Arianna Huffington's wildly successful "Move Your Money" campaign one step further by "shopping for a lower-cost mortgage" and refinancing with a more responsible lender. This won't just punish those who loaned recklessly and reward those who didn't, i.e., community bankers, it will likely save you big bucks if interest rates have dropped at least two percentage points below the rate you are paying on your mortgage.
In the first seven days alone of the "Move Your Money" campaign which began in December 2009, about 340,000 people searched zip codes to find community banks that are highly rated. More importantly, they also moved big bucks out of big bad banks: according to Dennis Santiago of Institutional Risk Analytics, who created a search engine on the site, more than $1 billion was moved in the first three months of 2010. Finding a bank couldn't be easier. When you go to Move Your Money you simply need to enter your zip code to find a list of sound local banks and credit unions to choose from.
There's a big difference between the Too Big To Fail banks that got bailed out and the Small Banks Who Failed. For one thing, the community banks tried to stop these reckless lending practices while the big banks threw bucks at Congress to try to stop reform, James MacPhee, chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).
"Along with several ICBA member bankers and staff, I have testified numerous times in the past three years in front of Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking committee," MacPhee said. "Conversely, the American Bankers Association and the largest Wall Street firms ran a full court press trying to stop (reform) from ever being passed."
Have community banks failed? Yes, MacPhee maintains, but it wasn't because they were reckless but because their prudent loans were "bundled" with bad loans.
"As these debt instruments became worthless, hose buying our debt stopped purchasing, and foreclosures ran in the tens of thousands. When that occurred, the market value of the solid loans became worth less, as foreclosed homes were being sold well under their market value. As the job market dried up, even good loans had to be written down by the community banks. The resulting loss of capital dropped below regulatory standards, and the banks were closed and then typically merged into other banks by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. "
The good news -- or let's hope so -- is that the exposure of reckless practices will humiliate the bad banks into changing their practices. If it doesn't? All the more reason to "boycott" them and only do business with those who put their customers first.
Ready to consider refinancing? Consider taking these steps.
Before you do any "mortgage shopping," get a copy of your credit history at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you have a low score, you might want to consider postponing refinancing until you've built a better bill-payment history; it could literally cut your mortgage cost in half.
Consider only fixed-rate mortgages. Some "experts" may claim that adjustable rate mortgages are okay if you're only going to stay in your home for three years or less, but your home is not a disposable item like a cell phone. If you're only planning to live in one place for three years or less, you should rent, not buy. MacPhee agrees with me that one of the biggest ripoffs in the banking industry -- that the media STILL isn't covering -- is the adjustable rate mortgage. "If (a bank is) going to write an ARM mortgage because someone cannot afford a home under standard bank rates, who are you kidding? The custom is happy for three years, or the period of the ARM balloon, the bank makes big fees, and then sells off both the credit risk and the interest rate risk and walks away."
As I pointed out in my book, America, Welcome to the Poorhouse, another big bargain is the little-talked about 15-year mortgage. Savings are significant both because the loan features a shorter payback period and because these mortgages generally feature lower rates. For example, assuming a 6% interest rate, your total interest costs on a $100,000 30-year mortgage are nearly $116,000. If that same mortgage were converted to a 15-year term, it would require somewhat higher monthly payments -- $844 instead of $600 -- but you'd save nearly $64,000 in interest payments.
Never take out an interest-only mortgage. While you pay no principal during the interest-only period, your payments will rise when that period comes to an end. Furthermore, the mortgage has to be paid off during a shorter term -- 25, 23, or 20 years -- so your monthly payments will be higher.
Avoid one of the riskiest mortgages, a balloon loan. Talk about bait and switch: typically, after the end of a three- or seven-year period, you owe the bank all the remaining principal, in one lump sum. If the value of your home drops you won't be able to find another mortgage to repay that loan and you risk foreclosure. And let's hope that this option won't even be broached by your responsible community banker.
Good morning, Washington. To what extent do the boundaries of newsworthiness extend? That's the question that the Internet is discussing this morning, after Gawker decided to pull a graphic photo taken shortly after Christopher Jusko, a 21-year-old New Yorker, was stabbed to death. Locally, similar questions are being asked about the widely-circulated image of a crosswalk near DC9 on U Street. According to sources, the image, depicting a crosswalk splattered with what many assumed to be the blood of Ali Ahmed Mohammed after he was allegedly beaten to death, actually shows either blood from an earlier incident at the club that evening, or a substance that isn't blood at all. Ryan Kearney, who took one of the first images of the crosswalk and tweeted it, examines both stories and concludes that even the Internet's renegade journalists can go too far. I'd argue that both cases are good reminders that the soundest policy is usually the application of common sense.
Levy Murder Trial Resumes Today, Secrets Revealed: Testimony in the Chandra Levy murder trial restarts this morning after a six-day break in proceedings. To catch us up, Sarah Larimer reports on the multitude of Levy's personal details which have been revealed and pored over during the trial, including her workout routine, her Internet search history and her plastic surgery. Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to wipe my computer and burn all those receipts I've kept.
Groundbreaking On Convention Center Hotel: Mayor Adrian Fenty and company will attend the groundbreaking of the years-in-the-making, $520 million Washington Marriott Marquis Hotel at the intersection of 9th Street and Massachusetts Avenue at 11 a.m. this morning. Aside from introducing some new traffic patterns in the neighborhood, the groundbreaking has plenty of people feeling nostalgic -- I recommend DCMud's thorough retrospective on the process that's gotten the oft-debated site to this point. Looking towards the future, the Post has this tidy overview of what the hotel could bring to the District. Construction of the 1,175-room hotel is expected to take 42 months.
Wildlife Protection Act Passes: The bill proposed by Mary Cheh which will require professionals to humanely capture the critters roaming around D.C.'s crawl spaces passed the Council yesterday. We've discussed the bill before, and, as promised, the final version did not extend such protections to mice and rats, which anyone is still free to trap and kill however they see fit. Cheh also pointed out that the law only applied to pest control companies and not residents: "I don't like the image of you wielding a bat and smashing a possum in the head, but this law wouldn't stop that," Cheh said.
Heartbreaking: Paul Duggan writes this emotionally relentless report about the murder of Joseph Sharps, the Springarn High School student who was shot and killed on Monday night in Trinidad. Don't expect to get through it without getting incredibly angry or coming close to losing it several times.
Briefly Noted: Taxi driver carjacked at knifepoint on 300 block of Allison Street NW last night...DDOT is inspecting the District's bridges this week...Reminder to politicians: please take down your signs...Virginia outlines $1.45 billion transportation spending plan...Council passes emergency legislation requiring foreclosure mediation...Metrobus accident on Good Hope Road SE causes minor injuries...Maryland MVA says that more than 1,300 of the state's residents could be driving with suspended or revoked licenses.
This Day in DCist: Last year, the District's same-sex marriage legislation passed its first hurdle and we heard about the Tweed Ride for the first time; in 2006, we were raving about the soul food at Henry's.
eric seiger
eric seiger
In Hiring Joel Klein, <b>News</b> Corporation Signals Interest in <b>...</b>
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, signaling an interest in the education sector, has hired Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor. News Corporation announced Mr. Klein's hiring shortly after it was reported that he was ...
Cee-Lo Sings 'Fox <b>News</b>' Version of 'F--- You' on 'Colbert' (VIDEO)
Cee-Lo Green was forced to revise his popular 'F**k You' single when he appeared on 'The Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on COM). 'As this.
JLS to appear on X Factor ahead of UK tour | Tixdaq.com Ticket <b>News</b>
JLS will perform on this week's X Factor results show along with Westlife and Take That.
eric seiger
eric seiger
In Hiring Joel Klein, <b>News</b> Corporation Signals Interest in <b>...</b>
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, signaling an interest in the education sector, has hired Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor. News Corporation announced Mr. Klein's hiring shortly after it was reported that he was ...
Cee-Lo Sings 'Fox <b>News</b>' Version of 'F--- You' on 'Colbert' (VIDEO)
Cee-Lo Green was forced to revise his popular 'F**k You' single when he appeared on 'The Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on COM). 'As this.
JLS to appear on X Factor ahead of UK tour | Tixdaq.com Ticket <b>News</b>
JLS will perform on this week's X Factor results show along with Westlife and Take That.
eric seiger
In Hiring Joel Klein, <b>News</b> Corporation Signals Interest in <b>...</b>
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, signaling an interest in the education sector, has hired Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor. News Corporation announced Mr. Klein's hiring shortly after it was reported that he was ...
Cee-Lo Sings 'Fox <b>News</b>' Version of 'F--- You' on 'Colbert' (VIDEO)
Cee-Lo Green was forced to revise his popular 'F**k You' single when he appeared on 'The Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on COM). 'As this.
JLS to appear on X Factor ahead of UK tour | Tixdaq.com Ticket <b>News</b>
JLS will perform on this week's X Factor results show along with Westlife and Take That.
eric seiger
In Hiring Joel Klein, <b>News</b> Corporation Signals Interest in <b>...</b>
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, signaling an interest in the education sector, has hired Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor. News Corporation announced Mr. Klein's hiring shortly after it was reported that he was ...
Cee-Lo Sings 'Fox <b>News</b>' Version of 'F--- You' on 'Colbert' (VIDEO)
Cee-Lo Green was forced to revise his popular 'F**k You' single when he appeared on 'The Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on COM). 'As this.
JLS to appear on X Factor ahead of UK tour | Tixdaq.com Ticket <b>News</b>
JLS will perform on this week's X Factor results show along with Westlife and Take That.
eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
eric seiger
In Hiring Joel Klein, <b>News</b> Corporation Signals Interest in <b>...</b>
Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, signaling an interest in the education sector, has hired Joel Klein, the New York City schools chancellor. News Corporation announced Mr. Klein's hiring shortly after it was reported that he was ...
Cee-Lo Sings 'Fox <b>News</b>' Version of 'F--- You' on 'Colbert' (VIDEO)
Cee-Lo Green was forced to revise his popular 'F**k You' single when he appeared on 'The Colbert Report' (weeknights, 11:30PM ET on COM). 'As this.
JLS to appear on X Factor ahead of UK tour | Tixdaq.com Ticket <b>News</b>
JLS will perform on this week's X Factor results show along with Westlife and Take That.
Real estate investing is really taking root here in America, especially now that there are thousands of foreclosed homes being auctioned off every month. Just about anyone can find homes for auction and set out to make a bid, but finding foreclosure listings can be a regular pain in the neck. It requires plenty of extra time, and these tips will help set you on your way.
Drive Around
As "research" for this article, I drove around my neighborhood and surrounding communities for about an hour. I've always enjoyed long, leisurely drives, but this time I had a purpose: to find as many foreclosure listings as possible. I didn't need a newspaper or a laptop computer; I just needed my eyes. In Texas, the auction signs of foreclosed homes listed by the government are announced by large yellow signs with red or black writing. Bank-owned properties are identified in the same way.
After just sixty minutes of travel, I found 36 foreclosure signs in front of various properties. Granted, some of them wouldn't be worth the land they're sitting on, but I did manage to find a few nice-looking homes where the bidding was set to start at $5,000. Rather than relying on newspapers and Web sites to find foreclosure listings, drive around to find some of the best deals.
Surf the Internet
Web sites like Foreclosure Free Search and HUD.gov are great places to find foreclosure listings in your city. Although it might take some digging initially, you'll eventually find the sites you like best, which might mean ease of search or quality of listings. The Web sites I find most helpful might not seem as great to someone else.
It's also a good idea to visit the Web sites of your local newspapers, particularly those with wide circulation. Most of these will have local foreclosure listings in the Real Estate section, so keep an eye out for great deals. This will give you access to properties that have just become available rather than waiting for tomorrow's paper to land on your doorstep.
Talk to Agents
Believe it or not, real estate agents can help you find foreclosure listings in your city, even if they don't stand to make a commission from the sale. Some Realtor offices have free foreclosure e-mail newsletters that get sent out once a week and detail the properties that are newly available. You might wind up with more e-mail in your inbox, but it beats painstaking searches that always seem to turn up too few results.
Ask Your Neighbors
One of the best ways to find foreclosure listings in your city is to start a little word-of-mouth action. Let your neighbors, friends and colleagues know that you're on the lookout for a nice investment home, and you'll be surprised how many leads you generate. Now that they know you're looking, your name will come to mind when they hear of a pending foreclosure in their area.
Real estate investing is not a part-time hobby for most people; in fact, it can easily become a full-time job, and you won't make any money if you aren't vigilant. Too many real estate "gurus" claim that real estate can translate into fast money. Except for very rare circumstances, it is an extremely difficult investment that requires plenty of time and energy. However, if you are persistent in your search for quality properties, you might have a large payday in your near future.
eric seiger
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