RISMedia » Today’s Top Story – Consumer

Obama Moves Forward with Foreclosure Prevention

susanne — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:01:20 +0000

Last Wednesday, February 1, President Obama announced the details of a plan to help homeowners refinance their mortgages in hopes of bolstering the housing market.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, this proposal will allow buyers …

Don’t Forget a Home Inspection with a New Construction Home

susanne — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:03:01 +0000

Every home—whether it’s a resale or new—has some kind of an issue, and the reality is that there is no “perfect” house. Many homebuyers embark on their search for a home with the belief that new homes should be flawless, …

Information Is Power…Again

susanne — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:03:15 +0000

Setting yourself apart from your competition is becoming increasingly difficult. The emergence of social media into the business world has created platforms where constant, ongoing contact is possible. As a result of this desire to be in constant contact, many …

Facebook Files for Initial Public Stock Offering

susanne — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:51:53 +0000

(MCT)—Facebook has filed papers for what’s expected to be the largest initial public offering ever to come out of Silicon Valley and one of the largest in U.S. history.

Ending months of breathless speculation, the 8-year-old social networking company has …

FHFA Responds to NPR Freddie Mac Refinance Story

susanne — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:58:08 +0000

A ProPublica–NPR news story recently suggested that a mortgage financing vehicle utilized by Freddie Mac may be preventing homeowners from refinancing. While FHFA does not typically comment on its supervisory activities, the circumstances here require some clarification, according to the …

Consumer Sentiment Picks up in Fourth Quarter

susanne — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:52:41 +0000

(MCT)—The lower-than-expected annualized growth rate of 2.8 percent reported Friday for the final three months of 2011 raises doubts about the strength of the U.S. recovery, and concerns that 2012 may be another year of muddling along.

Most mainstream economists …

Investors with Cash Fuel Uptick in Home Sales

susanne — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:57:45 +0000

Regional Spotlight—Investors with cash continued to reap a harvest of bargain-priced bank-owned and short sale properties across the San Francisco Bay Area in the fourth quarter of 2011, sparking a slight uptick in home sales compared with the same period …

The Power of Belief and Expectation

susanne — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:05:00 +0000

While you may not always get what you want, you will almost always get what you expect. Surprisingly, the power of belief and expectation work just as effectively on your feelings of self-doubt and limitation as they do on your …

Builders Commend White House Focus on Helping Homeowners

susanne — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:31:49 +0000

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) commends President Obama for offering proposals in the recent State of the Union address to help families stay in their homes and stanch foreclosures, and is urging policymakers to take additional actions to …

Look for Continued Housing Market Recovery in 2012

susanne — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:57:51 +0000

The end of 2011 brought good news on the nation’s economic front, with unemployment in December falling to its lowest level in three years and the economy adding 200,000 jobs during the same month.

Dave Liniger, chairman and co-founder of …

Success Strategies: 4 Quick Ways to Be More Productive

susanne — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:45:01 +0000

If being connected 24/7 was supposed to make our lives easier, the business world didn’t get the memo. Most American professionals just can’t shake the end-of-the-day feeling that they didn’t get enough done. So day after day, they find themselves …

Miami Home Sales Break Record in 2011

beth — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:04:15 +0000

Regional Spotlight—Miami home sales set a new record in 2011, exceeding transaction levels during the height of the real estate boom in 2005, according to the 26,000-member MIAMI Association of REALTORS® and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS). Total …

Finding the Positives in Economic and Housing Conditions in 2012

susanne — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:05:27 +0000

While 2011 was clearly a challenging year, there is a lot to be positive about looking ahead. Economically, while buffeted by natural disasters and fiscal policy indecisiveness at home and a European sovereign debt crisis abroad, the U.S. economy was …

Don’t Shoot the Messenger; Appraisers Not at Fault for ‘Low’ Home Values

susanne — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:26:33 +0000

Don’t blame the real estate appraiser if it turns out that house you’re trying to sell or buy isn’t worth what you thought it was. That was the message delivered recently by the Appraisal Institute, one of the nation’s largest …

Safeguard Your Health Care Dollars

susanne — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:19:31 +0000

More Americans are paying more of their health care costs out of pocket every year because they lack insurance, have higher deductibles and co-payments, or have chosen a Health Savings Account plan.

There are ways they can save money without …

Taxpayers, What Are Your Rights? Report to Congress Focuses on IRS Funding

susanne — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:53:28 +0000

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson recently released her annual report to Congress, identifying the combination of the IRS’s expanding workload and declining resources as the most serious problem facing taxpayers.

The result, the report says, is inadequate taxpayer service, …

2012 Is the Year of the Political Economy

susanne — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:04:22 +0000

Fiscal policy issues and political economic uncertainty will take center stage in determining the degree of consumer and business activity—key drivers of economic growth—during 2012, according to Fannie Mae’s (FNMA/OTC) Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group. The forthcoming presidential election, …

Numbers Vary by Region in Real Estate Auctions

susanne — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:04:16 +0000

Real estate auction activity continues to thrive. In today’s tumultuous economy, both residential and commercial properties are selling in droves via auction.

According to PropertyAuction.com, the number of auctions posted on their site has almost doubled in 2011. From January …

The Vote is In: Americans Place High Value on Homeownership

susanne — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:03:57 +0000

By an overwhelming margin, American voters strongly value homeownership and would oppose efforts to weaken or eliminate the mortgage interest deduction or diminish a federal role to help qualified home buyers obtain affordable 30-year mortgages, according to a new nationwide …

Foreclosures Decrease 34 Percent in 2011

susanne — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:01:34 +0000

Total U.S. foreclosure activity and the U.S. foreclosure rate in 2011 were both at their lowest annual level since 2007, according to RealtyTrac®, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties. The company recently released its Year-End 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, …