Stimulus boon

Thanks to the 2008 stimulus act, the federal government has been insuring about six mortgages a week in San Francisco -- compared to none for all of 2007. Traditionally, loans underwritten by the Federal Housing Administration are for the poors ("in low-cost states like Texas and Michigan"), but the bar's been raised, allowing middle- and upper-income buyers into the game.

Profiled in the New York Times: three friends who dropped $33K in order to buy a building in San Francisco's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The idea? "We're banking on real estate. Everyone expects prices to keep going up."

Hey, that sounds familiar.

Reposted with permission from Curbed.com. Click here to view original post.

Copyright (c) 2009 Curbed.com LLC

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