Just one week after reports of Existing Home Sales and New Home Sales plunging, the housing market signaled that the next few months may fare better than did May and June.

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3. Pending Homes Sales Gain For The 7th Straight Month

June’s New Home Sales data is a major improvement over May, but gains are relative. It’s possible that the true “new home market” may be softer than the statistics suggest.

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1. New Homes Sales Were Strong in March, But Not As Strong As The News Would Have You Believe
2. Homeowners Rejoice! New Homes Sales Data Is Weak.
3. Pending Homes Sales Gain For The 7th Straight Month

Looking to go green, but unsure of where to take your first step? Try the greenest spot of your home: your yard. Green gardening is a great starting point for any journey toward a more earth-friendly lifestyle. It’s easy to get started, it’s fun, and changing how you garden in even small ways can [...]

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Today, living green isn’t just a lifestyle choice; it makes solid financial sense. As home energy costs increase, homeowners are seeking simple and smart ways to save energy and consequently save money, too. Trying to create a more environmentally sound household doesn’t have to start with taking out a massive loan in order to [...]

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At 7,333 words, the June Fed Minutes is the unabridged version of the more well-known, post-meeting press release. The corresponding press release was just 360 words. It turns out, the Fed’s words are doing wonders for mortgage rates.

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In May 2010, Retail Sales at non-store retailers — a category that includes Amazon and eBay — topped $29 billion, up 16 percent from May 2009. Clearly, Americans are doing an increasing amount of shopping online. But how well are we protecting our identities?

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3. So, How Much Is Starbucks Costing You Each Year?

In a near-unanimous vote, the House of Representatives gave the FHA power to raise the monthly mortgage insurance premiums it charges to its borrowers.

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3. The Rising Cost Of A Small Downpayment

April marks the third straight month that pending home sales are up and today’s buyers should take note. This is because, according to the National Association of Realtors®, 80% of homes under contract close within 60 days.

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As lenders tighten mortgage guidelines, minimum downpayment requirements are increasing. It’s leading to an increase in the number of buyers accepting cash gifts from family. There’s a right and wrong way to accept a gift.

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3. FHA Bans Seller-Financed Downpayment Assistance Programs

A mortgage approval is never final until it’s funded. A host of things can “go wrong” while your home loan is underway. Some are in your control, many more are not. And just being aware of some potential pitfalls could help save your loan down the road, and your peace of mind today.

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Insurance is a part of your home closing process. So, outside of being sure that you have an agent that cares about your purchase and protection, offers a reasonable rate and appropriate coverage, you want to make sure that there will be no hiccups in your closing process!
Some insurance companies have specific issues with [...]

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I’ve been pulled out from my temporary blogging hiatus by a post which has been brought on by the incredibly poor communication and service that buyers who are in contract on a property are encountering …

The Federal Reserve says that financial markets “remain supportive of economic growth”. Residential mortgage guidelines, however, continue to tighten. If you’ve applied for a home loan recently, you probably felt it; extra scrutiny on income, assets and credit scores, among other things. The hard proof of the changes, however, can be found in the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of its member banks.

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Shopping for mortgage rates takes more than good research skills. It takes a little bit of luck, too.

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More than 60 percent of U.S. homes are “over-assessed”, says an industry trade group. It causes homeowners to pay more in property taxes than they otherwise should have to. You might be one of them. Have you considered fighting it?

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Volcanic eruptions and like natural disasters remind us: mortgage rates change for all sorts of reasons. Some we can predict, most we cannot. There’s literally thousands of influences on the U.S. mortgage market. If you’ve been shopping for a home or floating a mortgage rate, luck’s been on your side.

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Not all home improvements are created equal. Especially if you’re looking for “resale value” back from your work. An article from the Wall Street Journal lays it out cleanly. Function beats flash these days so be wary of where you spend.

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1. Get Your FHA Mortgage Application Started — Fees Increase 1/2 Percent Starting Monday, April 5, 2010
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Taxes are due April 15 and if you’re among the millions of Americans who wait until the last week to file, watch this video interview. It could help you reduce your federal tax liability.

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1. Good Morning America: TurboTax vs Accountants
2. How “Repair Credits” To The Buyer Can Sabotage Your Home Sale
3. 7 Weeks Remain To Find A Home, Claim Up To $8,000 In Tax Credits

There’s just 30 days remaining to use the federal home buyer tax credit. The credit ranges up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers, and up to $6,500 for existing homeworkers who have lived in their main home for 5 of the last 8 years.

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Starting Monday, April 5, 2010, getting an FHA mortgage will be more expensive. That means you’ll want to give a full mortgage application before the weekend so your lender can register your loan in time for the deadline.

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1. Separating FHA Fact From Fiction : Mortgage Insurance Premiums
2. It’s Semi-Official : New Conforming Mortgage Fees Go Into Effect Monday
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If you’re among the Americans expecting a tax refund this year, this 4-minute piece from NBC’s The Today Show may be helpful. It’s a talk about how to receive a refund and what to do with it.

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CNNMoney.com recently published its 2010 forecast and projections for home prices in the country’s largest metro markets. Listed as “Top 25″ and also comprehensively by state, CNNMoney.com’s home price forecasts puts Santa Rosa, California at the top of 2010′s home appreciation list and Hanford, California at its bottom.

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If you’re trying to gauge whether rates will be rising or falling, one keyword for which to listen is “inflation”. Mortgage rates are highly responsive to inflation.

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency has extended the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program by 12 months. HARP’s new end date is June 30, 2011.

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According to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings topped 300,000 for the 12th straight month last month as 1 in every 418 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing.

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The relationship between your lender and agent is extremely important when purchasing a home. The new market environment has many more regulations, hoops and sharp turns and everything relating to your home purchase should be correct and accurate up front.
The lender doesn’t want any surprises, like a seller credit the day before the lender [...]

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Publishing on a 2-month lag, the Federal Home Finance Agency said home prices fell by 1.6 percent nationally in December. And that’s an average, of course. Some regions performed well in December as compared to November, others didn’t.

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Although the newspapers reported mortgage rates down last week, they weren’t. Conforming mortgage rates were higher by at least 1/8 percent, or roughly $11 per $100,000 borrowed per month. In some cases, rates were up by even more.

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1. What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : February 16, 2010
2. What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : February 22, 2010
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