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Give the buck a break Premium Content

By Lou Barnes, Friday, October 23, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/hammer51012/3010232028/" target=blank>Hammer51012</a>.

Treasury and mortgage rates have again reached their post-August highs, but still in tight ranges: the 10-year Treasury note at 3.48 percent and low-fee mortgages just under 5.25 percent.

The producer price index fell hard in September, down 0.6 percent, the much-hoped-for re-building of inventories not yet under way. Initial claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose, back in the 525,000-550,000 weekly band.  more...

September home sales up 9%

By Inman News, Friday, October 23, 2009.

Demand from first-time homebuyers helped drive a 9.4 percent increase in sales of existing homes from August to September, the National Association of Realtors said today, continuing a trend of increasing sales in five out of the last six months.

At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million, sales of existing single-family, townhome, condominium and co-op properties in September were also up 9.2 percent from a year ago.  more...

Bill targets appraisal rules Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Friday, October 23, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thetruthabout/2763078149/" target=blank>TheTruthAbout...</a>.

Pending legislation to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency would give the new agency 60 days to implement uniform appraisal rules that would supersede the Home Valuation Code of Conduct -- controversial procedures governing appraisals when loans are slated for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

An amendment attached to HR 3126, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009, would direct the agency -- if it's created -- to convene a rulemaking committee and establish uniform "appraisal independence requirements" across federal agencies.  more...

Homebuyer's tax savings plan foiled

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Friday, October 23, 2009.

Q: I recently got into contract to buy a foreclosed home. I put $35,000 down, and the closing is in a couple of days. The first day I hired my title attorney I mentioned to her that I wanted my mother to be on the deed in order to get the taxes reduced. Now, the lawyer is telling me that I have to wait until after the closing, do a new title search under my Mom's name, and pay the attorney again to include my Mom on the deed. I feel like it's too late to stop everything now -- what did I do wrong?

A: It used to be the case that you couldn't put a co-owner who was not also a co-borrower on title during the course of a purchase transaction.  more...

Go green ... or else

By Arrol Gellner, Friday, October 23, 2009.

On Sept. 1 of this year, the European Union began banning the sale of incandescent light bulbs -- another well-meaning but heavy-handed effort on the part of EU bureaucrats to go green. This is the same government, you may recall, that blundered into requiring that 5.75 percent of its fuel come from biofuel sources by 2010 -- a mandate as ill-considered as it was premature.

Anyone who feels like tut-tutting the European nanny state, though, should know that, here in the good old free-market U.S., our own government is planning to phase out incandescent bulbs beginning in 2012. Rather than letting the obvious economies of more efficient lighting speak for themselves, Congress feels obliged to fine-tune America's buying habits with a sledgehammer.  more...

Winterize your home

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, October 23, 2009.

Hard to believe it's that time again! Fall is here, and you need to start getting your home ready for the winter months to come. To help get you started, here's a checklist of some of the projects that you need to consider:

Indoors

__ Check the fireplace: It's about time to get those logs burning, so get the fireplace ready! Clean the fireplace chimney or wood stove flue using brushes approved for the size and type of flue you have. If you're not partial to ladders, roofs and soot, this is a good project to leave to an experienced chimney sweep company. A good chimney sweep will also inspect the fireplace from top to bottom, and talk to you about any repairs that need doing. Clean out the firebox, making sure you place the ashes in a fireproof container with a tight lid for proper disposal. If you have an airtight wood stove or fireplace insert, check the door-seal gasket, and clean the glass on the door.  more...

7 ways to say: 'How's the market?' Premium Content

By Joseph Ferrara, Friday, October 23, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dspender/3354312914/" target=blank>David Spender</a>.

Every real estate agent is asked, again and again, to give an opinion on the market. And too often that answer is in the form of a one-word answer.

That's a mistake. There is a better way to answer this question. In fact, there are seven better ways. These take your opinion, which most consumers will discount, out of the equation.

It is best to calculate all of the following indicators and use your local market statistics.  more...

Layoffs prolong luxury housing pain

By Steve Bergsman, Friday, October 23, 2009.

In December 2008, my son was laid off from his job at a hedge fund, which had shut down operations and ceased functioning as an ongoing business. Three months later, his severance pay ended and he was still unemployed, with no job offers in sight.

My son is a homeowner, having bought a townhouse four years ago in Weehawken, N.J., just the other side of the Hudson River from Manhattan. When he walks out his front door, he can see the gleaming towers of the Big Apple in the distance. The good news for my son is that when he acquired his property, he bought at a very reasonable price with an adjustable-rate mortgage, which he refinanced a few years later with a 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage. The mortgage payments are not onerous.  more...

Rules for charging 'pet rent'

By Janet Portman, Friday, October 23, 2009.

Q: I'm interested in a rental that describes the rent in an odd way: First, the advertisement lists the rent, then it adds "pet rent." Is this legal? --Rigoberto R.

A: It's perfectly OK for an ad to specify that if a tenant has a pet, the rent will be a certain amount more than the stated rent (unless, of course, the property is subject to local rent control, as explained below). The rent is the rent, whether the landlord chops it up into little pieces ($200 for the ceiling fan, $100 for keeping a dog, etc., for a total of $X,000 rent), or simply announces one flat sum. That said, a few things need to be kept in mind:  more...