How Mortgage Rates Responded To The “No” Vote On The Bailout Bill”

Monday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated the $700 billion “Bailout Bill”, surprising Wall Street and the world.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average responded by falling 777.68 points — its largest one-day loss in history and, this morning, Every Newspaper in America...

If My Mortgage Lender Fails, Are My Payments Still Due?

Thursday, federal regulators seized mortgage lender Washington Mutual.   The Seattle-based thrift became the third “big name” lender to close its doors since July, joining IndyMac and Lehman Brothers. In 2007, these 3 lenders represented about 10 percent of the mortgage market and their...

WaMu Submits to the Credit Crisis

Late Thursday 9/25/08 the West Coast King WaMu fell victim to the plague better known as the Credit Crisis. The fall of WaMu marks the Largest Bank Failure in U.S. History. WaMu’s assets, deposits and some liabilities were acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase.  If you held accounts at WaMu individual...

Home Equity Lines and Personal Lines of Credit

As discussed in my April post on Zillow “Don’t Get Burned by the HELOC Freeze” Banks and Lenders began Freezing Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC). The wrath did not focus on poor credit score or delinquent borrowers, it was an across the board freeze.  With the current financial crisis we are...

Falling Home Supplies Are Bad for Buyers

The August Existing Home Sales report was released Wednesday, showing a decline in the number of homes sold nationwide, and a reduction in the median sales price.  Not surprisingly, the media singled these two statistics out, playing them as a big negative.  They’re not. The decline in sales...