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Too many numbers, too little credit Premium Content

By Lou Barnes, Friday, September 18, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lrargerich/3029485203/" target=blank>lrargerich</a>.

Long-term interest rates slid a little this week, but confined in a tight, 30-day range: the 10-year T-note between 3.5 percent and 3.28 percent, and mortgages close to 5.25 percent.

The media are now giving every possible positive spin to new data, which are in reality still ambiguous: Ever-so-slight improvements look more like floors than durable uptrends. Retail sales did pick up 1.1 percent in August, excluding "Cash for Clunkers," and industrial production rose 0.8 percent, that gain bloated by "Clunkers" and still 10.7 percent below last year.  more...

Nailing the REO purchase offer

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Friday, September 18, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/icanchangethisright/3444212567/" target=blank>bradleygee</a>.

Q: I've made offer after offer on bank-owned properties. The last time I was outbid, I was really disappointed because I loved the house! I was really hoping it would fall out of escrow, so I kept an eye on the listing, thinking there was a small chance it would come back on the market. Instead, it just disappeared.

I asked my agent to follow up on it about 45 days later, and she told me that it sold, but the sale price was less than I offered! I'm not sure if this was an inside job (e.g., the listing agent sold it to her own client to get a double commission), but I'm thinking of calling up the listing agent and giving her a piece of my mind. What did I do wrong?  more...

What's wrong with my furnace?

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, September 18, 2009.

Q: We recently moved into a home with electric forced-air heat. In the winter, every time the furnace kicks on, the lights in the house dim for a nanosecond. Is this something that can be addressed or fixed?

Before we moved in we had to replace the electrical panel (it was made by a company that went out of business years ago because their panels were known to start fires), and I'm wondering if there is something associated with that we can correct. Any help before furnace season starts is greatly appreciated! --Lea  more...

Where are the luxury buyers?

By Steve Bergsman, Friday, September 18, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/2855278370/" target=blank>D'Arcy Norman</a>.

For a period of time after the onset of the credit crisis in 2007, it appeared the high end of the residential home market had sidestepped the disaster that had befallen the rest of the housing industry. The general thinking was, moneyed folk, despite the collapse of all types of investments, had the assets to hang in there through the tough times and were not forced to sell.

While that may be true, recent numbers by a host of organizations are showing even the priciest home markets are getting smacked about. Indeed, if you have a spare $1 million to $2 million in your wallet, this could be a good time to buy.  more...