It’s a bad time to be an honest mortgage broker. In recent months, some of the biggest companies in real estate have decided to stop working with brokers. Chase won’t lend to brokers’ clients anymore. The PMI Group, one of the biggest companies in the mortgage insurance business, flat out refuses...
Drive less? Pay less for auto insuranceIf you have a car that spends most of its time parked in a garage, a couple of insurers have a deal for you: auto-insurance rates based on how much you drive, among other factors that suggest you present a lower-than-average risk. The thinking behind the mileage-based discounts offered by Progressive...
Mortgage demand falls despite lower ratesU.S. mortgage applications fell last week despite the lowest loan rates in four months, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, in another sign that housing will likely recover slowly from its three-year plunge. Home loan applications fell a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent in the September...
The top five financial mistakes parents makeSaving for college is often a priority for parents — as it should be. But saving for school doesn’t give moms and dads license to neglect the rest of their financial goals, advisers say. According to AllianceBernstein Investment’s “College Savings Crunch,” a recent report...
Consumer confidence unexpectedly falls in SeptemberU.S. consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in September as the worst job prospects in 26 years fueled worries over personal finances, according to a report released on Tuesday. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes fell to 53.1 in September from a revised 54.5...
Home-Buyer tax credit: should it expire?The $8,000 first-time-home-buyer tax credit that’s been helping juice the housing market is set to expire on Nov. 30. A lot of people don’t want to see that happen. Since some of those people are in Congress, there’s a decent chance the credit will be extended into 2010. Among the bills...
5 new investing rules for retirementMany of the old rules for retirement investing no longer apply. Facing longer life spans, increasing healthcare costs, and a market in crisis, retirees will need more growth in their portfolios during the coming years and decades. At the same time, they need the assurance that a 37 percent market drop–as...
Surprising jobs that pay $25 an hourCareer websites typically compile a listing of jobs that pay $25 an hour. The list of professions — and the career training you need to pass the muster of recruiters — can be daunting. But you don’t necessarily need a post-graduate degree to qualify for a job that pays several hundred...
Top places to cash in on real estate dealsAcross America, tall towers of unsold condos stand like monuments of another age. In many markets, sales activity has virtually stalled, with sellers enduring a sales drought that’s lasted longer than a year. That means lots of opportunity for buyers. That’s the case in Lake Tahoe, Calif.,...
4 signs your home is about to lose valueDespite signs that the real estate market is bottoming out, millions of homeowners are likely to find themselves in worse shape within the next two years. Nearly half of the nation’s 52 million mortgage borrowers will have negative equity by the end of the first quarter of 2011, up from the 14...