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Wheels of stimulus spinning in place

By Lou Barnes, Friday, October 2, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/royandsusan/2912592049/" target=blank>roy.susan</a>.

Believers in "V"-shaped recovery gave it up this week, as did many hoping for any near-term recovery at all. The 10-year T-note broke cleanly through its post-May 3.28 percent low, taking mortgages below 5 percent, also for the first time since spring.

The manner in which the bond market cascaded said more than the fact. There was no new, single-piece, trend-changing report, just the cumulative weight of news describing an end to the May-July bright interval, and the beginning of an economic flattening or outright stall sometime in August.  more...

Buyer's agent fumbles repair request

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Friday, October 2, 2009.

Q: My husband and I recently bought a move-up home. During our inspection period, we were told that there were some problems with the furnace (the home has central heating). We got bids from an HVAC contractor who was recommended by our agent, and the bid was almost $2,000. The sellers agreed to do the work, but wanted to use their own contractor, who agreed to do it at a lower cost. We didn't care who did it, as long as they were licensed -- and they were.

We closed escrow and moved in. Now that it's starting to get cool at night, we decided to just run the heater and see how it worked -- and it didn't work!  more...

Extending furnace ducts after remodel

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, October 2, 2009.

One of the advantages to having a central heating system is that you can add to the system to service new or expanded areas. For example, if you add a room or enlarge a kitchen, providing the necessary heat for the additional space can often be accomplished by adding an additional duct run to the existing system.

When considering the addition of a new duct run, there are two things to keep in mind: furnace size, and the size and layout of the duct system. For all but the very simplest of small duct extensions, you'll need the help of an experienced heating contractor to make all of the complex calculations required to size and balance the system.  more...

Turbulence seen for reverse mortgages

By Steve Bergsman, Friday, October 2, 2009.

The reverse mortgage, which has proven very popular with the retirement-age crowd, has come under assault from two diverse groups: the government and scam artists.

Now I'm not going to argue with anyone who tries to say the government and scam artists are two sides of the same coin. That seems a bit mean. After all, the government attempts to do what's best for the consumer and the country, although sometimes the net effect of legislation appears to be as wounding to some people as theft through fraudulent practices.  more...

The jumbo loan mod 'pipe dream'

By Bernice Ross, Friday, October 2, 2009.

DEAR BERNICE: I received an unsolicited loan modification letter from my lender in December, informing me that pursuant to my lender's acceptance of TARP funds, our jumbo option adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) was eligible for modification. Our loan had NEVER been paid late and was not in danger of default. Nevertheless, based on income declines of 35 percent in our household, our hardship is real.

We filled out the mountainous paperwork and provided tax returns and every other item they requested. We sent everything to the bank the first week of January. In February, they requested two more documents that we sent the same day.

On March 12, 2009, we received a letter congratulating us on "taking the first steps to save your home."  more...

Tenant turnover doesn't add up

By Janet Portman, Friday, October 2, 2009.

Q: We hired a management company to find tenants and collect rent at our rental in a nearby town. Over the past two years, we've had four sets of tenants; one broke the lease, and we had to file evictions on two of them. The property is nice, though the market is cool now. We're tired of the fast turnover -- are we or the management company doing anything wrong? --Jose M.  more...