A short sale represents a great opportunity for a homeowner who owes more than their home is worth. Ideally, it gives them a chance to sell their home without owing the difference to their lender. As home values continue to decline, short sales have become one of the most viable solutions for millions of underwater homeowners who are facing foreclosure. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to successfully negotiate a short sale with most lenders today. A short sale can also benefit... Read Full Story

A short sale describes the process of negotiating with your lender to get them to accept less than they are owed for your property. A short sale is an ideal alternative to foreclosure if you owe much more your home is worth and you no longer want to own your property. Traditional loan modifications will not lower your principal balance enough to make any real impact on your situation. Your lender has no incentive to dramatically lower your principal balance because they would end ... Read Full Story

In these bleak economic times, it is not unusual to hear of or know someone in foreclosure. In response to this trend, the Government, the lenders, and private institutions are creating various programs to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. Determining which program suits you best is the difficult part, however. Just a few years ago, refinancing your mortgage seemed to be the best option for the majority of homeowners. Refinancing was popular because homeowners counted on their homes’ app... Read Full Story

In these bleak economic times, it is not unusual to hear of or know someone in foreclosure.In response to this trend, the Government, the lenders, and private institutions are creating various programs to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. Determining which program suits you best is the difficult part, however. Just a few years ago, refinancing your mortgage seemed to be the best option for the majority of homeowners. Refinancing was popular because homeowners counted on their homes’... Read Full Story

It’s no secret by now that our country’s housing market is facing a financial crisis. Home values are at their lowest since The Great Depression and more homeowners are becoming less willing to stay current on their mortgages as their homes’ values drop. For example, would you want to continue to pay off a $500,000 mortgage on a house that’s only worth $250,000? For most people, the answer is no. In the midst of all of this, President Obama is trying to formulate a large scale plan to rescue... Read Full Story

Predatory lending seems to be the leading cause of our current housing epidemic. Pushy salesman and forged documents got people into mortgages they couldn't afford to repay. Unfortunately most of the homeowners were unaware of the excessive points and fee's that were incorporated into their mortgage. To add insult to injury many of these sub-prime type mortgage contracts contained clauses that skyrocketed interest rates if the homeowner was late on a payment or the interest rates the... Read Full Story

In order to understand how to invest in our current bear market, one must first understand what a bear market is. A bear market is distinguished by a sustained weak economy that is expected to continue to weaken into the future. Other distinguishing features of a bear market are increased inflation, a rise in unemployment, and falling stock prices. Consequently, bearish markets have an uneven number of buyers and sellers; there are more sellers than buyers. There is a prolonged downward spir... Read Full Story

Many people assume that if a lender starts foreclosure proceedings the defendant most likely owes the money and has no real defense in the case. However, in the better part of the last decade, shady sub-prime mortgage contracts have been multiplying to record numbers. Many of these high interest mortgages were created and approved by fudging income numbers and hiding abusive fees within the mortgage contract. Fortunately for many homeowners, in a foreclosure crisis these di... Read Full Story

Before one begins on any investing endeavors, one is encouraged to settle his or her personal finances. The first step in doing so is to eliminate one’s credit card debt. The average annual interest rate for the billion plus credit cards currently circulating in the United States is 16%-21%(data taken from www.fool.com). If a person chooses to make only the minimum payment required, it will take many, many years for that person to pay off his or her principal balance; moreo... Read Full Story

If you or someone you know owes the IRS money I’m sure you’ve heard the term “offer in compromise”. While this is not the only solution to solve your IRS problems, it certainly is the most common approach. An offer in compromise is basically an agreement between the tax payer and the IRS that settles the tax payers’ debt for less than the amount owed. How much less highly depends on the unique financial circumstances for the individual applying. The key element of this agre... Read Full Story