January 30, 2010—(MCT)—If your idea of a dream retirement home is a luxury contemporary overlooking a championship golf course in the desert, you better be prepared for some mighty small block parties: When it comes to retirement living, golf courses are out.And Arizona and Florida aren’t the only retirement-relocation hot spots these days. In fact, […]

The following tips will help you turn your home into a stress-free haven.
1. Be responsible. Get serious about recycling by setting up a sorting center, perhaps in your garage to help you stay on top of things. Start by finding out what the guidelines for recycling are in your community, then clear a space, […]

 January 28, 2010—(MCT)—New-home buyers responded to the tough times in 2009 by opting for smaller houses, driving down the average size of a house built in the United States for the first time in 27 years.Data recently released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) found the average size of a new home that […]

 January 26, 2010—Fans of Punxsutawney Phil, Pennsylvania’s world-famous weather-forecasting groundhog, can sign up to be among the first to know if there will be an early spring

January 23, 2010—By now it is well documented that today’s affordable housing prices, historically low interest rates and federal home buyer tax credit have combined to create one of the most attractive first-time buyer markets in recent memory. What many Americans might not realize is that a recent expansion of the buyer tax credit has […]

January 22, 2010—Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner David Stevens announced a set of policy changes to strengthen the FHA’s capital reserves,

Recently, financial regulators told banks to have procedures in place to minimize their risks from loans when historically low interest rates start to rise. The advisory came from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, which includes the Federal Reserve. It’s unusual for the council to issue such an advisory. The last time it did so was in […]

 January 21, 2010—(MCT)—According to David Crowe, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, home builders, mired in their deepest slump since the Great Depression, are likely to see a rebound in sales in 2010 as stabilizing home prices and record-high affordability conditions draw buyers into the market.“The stage is set for the consumer […]

If you owe a debt to someone else and they cancel or forgive that debt, the canceled amount may be taxable.
The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection […]

1-20-2010
The Federal Housing Administration will raise mortgage insurance premiums, update requirements for so-called FICO credit scores and down payments for new home buyers and take other measures designed to shore up the agency’s low capital reserves.
The FHA, which insures mortgages, also will reduce allowable seller concessions to 3% from 6% and institute a number of […]