James's Blog

As I described in a blog post on October 15th (What Exactly Is the Government's New "Hope for Homowners" Rescue Program?), the federal government's rescue program known as Hope for Homeowners is long on rhetoric and short on substance. As it turns out, it's been even more of a failure than I anti...

With the rising tide of foreclosures on the market, many people are buying homes that need some post-closing repairs and renovations. These extra costs are usually paid from savings and credit cards. As a result, it usually takes a long time to complete these projects, the financing charges are m...

The major media continue to irresponsibly report public relations figures from banks and other mortgage loan servicers as facts, without the qualifiers and fact-checking the public has a right to expect. Here's an example from an Associated Press report today:    "JPMorgan Chase & Co. last month ...

There are plenty of great ways to buy your own home with little or no down payment, using safe government loan programs. Don't listen to uninformed people in the press or anywhere else. The credit crisis has not stopped mortgages from being approved and funded. It's very feasible for people to bu...

Loan modifications for borrowers without any late payments are starting to happen. We're having growing success in getting lenders (actually loan servicers) to renegotiate a mortgage (known as a loan modification, or loan mod for short) prior to any mortgage lates, if appropriate. However, as a g...

Realtors, buyers, sellers - nearly everyone is frustrated with purchases and sales not going through because of financing issues. Loans can be delayed or denied for a variety of reasons, such as appraisal problems, underwriting backlogs, communication issues, and inept or careless loan officers o...

FHA has extended indefinitely the $100 HUD Repo Program, which was scheduled to terminate on 9/30/08. This is great news, because this is a tremendous program. It allows ordinary people to take advantage of this buyer's market, by purchasing a home owned by HUD with literally nothing but a hundre...

Appraisal issues are a common stumbling block or deal-killer in the current mortgage lending environment. Many Realtors and consumers attribute appraisal problems to the type of loan (FHA is frequently blamed), the appraiser, or the lender. Sometimes, that's true. And sometimes the desired value ...

The federal government's new Hope for Homeowners program is little more than cynical political rhetoric. Politicians and the media have been promoting it as a just-in-time solution to the foreclosure crisis, but the public is being misled. Sadly, the misinformation campaign is causing many people...

Most renters are *not* renting because it's their first choice. They're renting because they believe homeownership is out of reach - at least for them, at least for now. Of course they want the stability, the protection from rent increases, the freedom to renovate, the tax advantages and other be...