Resources for How To Buy A Home In Foreclosure

Recent How To Buy A Home In Foreclosure News

07/04/2009

How To Buy A Home In Foreclosure Answers

Open Question: What will a foreclosure do to my husbands credit when his name is not on the loan or title?

I bought this small house before we were married, We lived there for a little while after we were married and then had a son. We decieded we needed a bigger home so we rented a 3 bdrm home. My sister-in-law rented the home I own. Now she is about to move out. My husband is about to lose his job. We will not be able to afford to make the house payment and pay rent in the larger home. Moving back to the smaller home is not an option. We can not afford to make improvements to the home to sell it. I'd like to consider a short sale but I'm not sure how to go about it. We are current on the mortgage right now but once my husband loses his job we probably won't be able to afford the house payment. We like not to rent it out again either and just be able to get rid of it. more

Resolved Question: christian women are weak by trusting they're husbands?

okay..so here is the deal..I keep hearing all this stuff about how bad it is that the bible states that women should be submissive to they're husbands..people without understanding keep harping on this and its driving me crazy. Because for the most part..they have it all wrong, and they are unwilling to listen to what the bible really says on the subject. Its either complete ignorance, or they know the truth but still want to keep spreading unwarranted lies. So here is the deal, I'm a christian, and I'm a christian wife to a christian husband. Here is what that means...my husband is a god fearing man who trusts in the Lord for everything, he follows Jesus and Jesus' teachings. Which means..he is very very trustworthy. He is very loving, and he is very giving. In my opinion..if you cannot trust a man absolutely, then you should not be marrying him to begin with people. God intended marriages to work in this avenue..two people who trust in him and follow in him, without that...then yes a marriage where you do not have a Godly man where he expects his wife to be submissive will fail. the marriages we see today are not what God intended. God intended the marriages to be those by men who trusted in him and kept his commandments along with a wife who does the same, as well as trusting in her husband the same way she trusts in the lord. Hence the scripture...Wives submit to your husbands as the church submits to christ..and husbands, love your wives as Jesus loved the church. The bible as states...wives submit to your husbands...and husbands submit to your wives. Its not all about women being subservient,...its not about us losing our rights, nor our feminism. So here is the deal, I chose wisely, I made sure not to even consider marriage to any man unless I truly trusted him with everything. And my husband has never betrayed that trust. I used to work, and with the birth of our first child I chose to stay home. I realize not many women have this option, due to finances, etc. But we did, and while I enjoyed work, I could not stand the thought of my 6 week old baby being in daycare from 8am till 6pm, after all...I had her, she was my baby, shouldn't I be raising her? So what did this mean? after all, we had just bought our first house, and had two car payments.....things were tight. It meant my husband working longer hours and stressing more than he had before, because now it wasn't just him and me, but there was this precious little baby to feed and clothe, to take care of. Don't get me wrong, he had a wonderful job, so bills were paid, but for a while, the extra we had before was not there. But ....I was a stay at home mom now, and before we both worked, we both cleaned the house, we both took care of things together. But now, I was home and he was not. So here is what I want to put to you...for 10 years I had a job, with a boss, that boss was at one time a woman and at another time a man. That boss told me when I had to be to work, which meant in a round about way..that boss told me when I had to get up, they told me when I could have my break, which meant? they told me when I could eat. and since they made the rules on how long my lunch break was..they pretty much had control over when I would stop eating. They told me when my work day was over, which meant they were telling me when I could return home. And what did I do? I made sure I followed all those rules, to ensure I kept my job. But when I began to stay home? well..my husband never told me when to wake up, he never told me when to eat, he never told me how long I had to eat and he never told when I could or could not go somewhere. And yet..we fight against following our husbands. We'll bend over backwards to make it to a job and to follow the laws of a boss..who could care less if you get laid off tomorrow, but to be submissive to our husbands..is wrong? then why did we marry them? why does making sure our husbands are loved and cared for, and taken care of, mean that we are weak? do we not make sure our bosses are happy? do we not make sure to be commited fully to our jobs? so why then does doing so for a marriage mean bad things? my husband gets up at 5am to go to work 2 hours away and returns home at 9pm. I've never had to worry about our bills, or food, or clothes, or christmas or foreclosures or doctors or even the occasional vacations..so then why should I not ensure that at 5am he has clean clothes to wear? that he has a meal to eat when he comes home..a clean house to come home to that he works his ass off for? why should I not tell him he is the best? and make him feel good about himself? why should I not stroke his ego to let him know how much I appreciate him..I can tell you doing so has paid me off more than any job paycheck ever did. but I'm weak? it sounds to me like maybe instead some just weren't very smart in who they chose to marry.hannah what is controlling about a husband and wife having mutual submission, love and respect?..what would be controlling about my husband being so wonderful to me, that yes..when he needs something I am there to help him? how is that controlling? if that is controlling then what would be the point of marriage?nunya..I'm not really complaining, but I'm very tired of coming in here and reading about how it is weak for me to follow what God says about a marriage between a husband and a wife, I'm a very tired of hearing how by doing so, I am controlled, I am weak, I am antifeminist..its ridiculous..I mean..why then do women get married? if they cannot trust they're husbands be fully commited to them?exactly jiloth..and am I right in saying that could not work if your wife did not trust you completely? am I not right in saying that if a woman cannot trust her husband completely in order to allow him to take the husband role, then she should not be marrying him in the first place? I dont know about anyone else, but I sure dont want to marry a man I cannot rely on.I totally agree lindy...and God's scenario does not always come to be..there are many men out there who abuse what they read and hear, and that is unfortunate, and I advocate divorce in those situations..strongly, my mother was such a woman and I prayed everyday she would leave my father, he was not a godly man, but would use what her bible had to say against her. so yes..there are scenarios where men abuse what is written, but that doesn't mean every situation is the same. Andy stanley is the pastor of the church we attend and he recently had a fantastic service on this exact subject..he said falling in love is easy, staying in love takes a plan, but both have to be in on the marriage, both have to be in on each other, you can find him at northpoint.org..he has alot of other great sermons on a whole host of things that are great.follows Jesus..there was a verse I read a long long time ago, that always stayed wtih me, but I can't find it now..but it basically talked about the bedroom aspects of marriage..and if I remember correctly it was in the old testament and it stated something about the wife and husband submitting to each other in such things..it mostly related to bedroom areas, but we use it for our entire marriage as much as possible. but it basically was talking about how sometimes wives may refuse to make love with they're husbands when they are mad, and vice versa, and what God was basically saying was...don't make the wedge further, forgive each other, submit to each other..love each other..but I can't remember the exact book I read that in the old testament. more

Open Question: Help - we are going to foreclose.... My tenant is leaving.?

4 years ago I bought a condo and lived there for two years. Then I met my now wife. We got married and bought the house she lived in from her dad. I tried to sell my condo but had no luck. So, I have been renting it out. I had one tenant who just stopped paying and I had to evict her. I have a tenant now whose lease is up in two months. I am underwater on this condo and losing $600 dollars a month on this property. Plus, I now have four children. I also just was informed I am getting a paycut of over $500 a month. I can not afford this place anymore. I was going to list it two months ago as a short sale but my tenant said she wanted to buy it. Now, she has backed out. By the time I get it listed and hope to find a buyer, I will no longer have a tenant. By not getting rent, I will have to stop paying the mortgage. If I don't find a buyer, I will end up foreclosing. So, on my credit I will have many many months of no payments and then a foreclosure. (unless I find a buyer for a short sale, then it would no payments and short sale). If I try to find another renter, I will lose even more money per month than now, because rents are down. I don't see any other choice but foreclosure. My wife is so nervous about this. She said we will never be able to move from our current home. I can not refinance because I am underwater and it is a second home. I have an interest only ARM on this place, so I am not even paying anything down on this property. I do not see any other way out of this? I am just prolonging the inevitable. When the arm triggers (two years), it will be impossible to hold on to this place. Help.No, I do not want to keep the property. It is a second home and interest only loan and I am out of pocket monthly on this $600 after I get rent. No, I dont' want it. more

Open Question: Foreclosure---PLEASE HELP!!!!?

Me and family need some advice bad.....we have been part of this economy thing we bought a house 1yr 1/2 ago and then my wife lost her job and we fell behind and have been there ever since the bank gave us a loan modification but her father got really ill and had to help her family so we missed 1 payment and now were are in foreclosure.....this is our first home and we just want to try and save it...!! we have been trying to catch up on everything but now we have to get an attorney and can afford one right now......does anyone know what we can do ??? PLEASE HELP........................th bad thing is that me,my wife and my kids just dont want to be kicked out and dont know whats going to happen next...!!No selling weed!! and we could afford you %^&%^%*& !!! but my wife lost her job!! And no i wasnt just 1 payment i tried to make it short.......if you read it says we got a loan modification!!! if you know anything about houses or owning a home!!!! but to all others thank you for your advice and prayers.! we have tried everything from HUD to calling the lending a million times recording all conversations and we have the house for sale now!! Also my wife has a new job now so we back but ......!!! more

Open Question: Husband is going though foreclosure but I want to purchase another home...?

My husband bought a home, before we were married, and is now going through a foreclosure. We have a baby on the way and need a home but I would like to know what problems we might come across. We are not able to stay in his home because the payments are exactly what we make so that means no money for food, electric, water, car, etc. He has only had the house a year and hasn't made very many payments because the builder (his brother) told him the payments would be something he could afford but builder messed up and forgot to add things into the total amount, like the land! I am not on this loan at all. I have qualified for a loan without him on it and are very close to signing. Can they put a lean on the new house? Can they take any of my money? If they can put a lean on the new house about how much would the lean be for? Should my husband claim bankruptcy? Also at the end of the year should we do our taxes together? Is there anything else we should be worried about???I'm in Idaho. more

Open Question: I have a foreclosure that did not pay the 2nd lein & sold for more than 1st lien.?

I had a forclosure and the Mortgage Company sold the home. My husband & I were served civil papers the other day and are being sued fro the 2nd lien by a 3rd party company that bought the closed, charged off account. We find out yesterday through a friend that the house actually sold for enough to pay the 1st and 2nd mtgs. What can we do to get this resolved before ending up in court? more

Open Question: how soon after a foreclosure can i buy a house?

i live in phoenix az..Just been foreclosed on...Wandering how fast can i get into buying a home again? more

Open Question: Is this the best time to buy a new house, or is it worth waiting for the 2011 alt-a foreclosure increases?

I'm a first time home buyer, easily in a situation to buy a new home without a problem- I've even been pre-approved. Everywhere I read it looks like the housing market is expected to continue to fall for a year or two, and since Obama like to give out money, I can't help but think maybe he'll up the 8000 to 10, 12, 20k over the next two years as foreclosures increase? Mate that with lower house prices, and how can I turn that down? The part that I struggle with is that interest rates will likely be going up greatly, so is that enough to compensate for the higher interest rates? I'm struggling so hard to decide if I should buy, or rent and wait for better opportunities. I don't want to buy now and find myself in the same situation everyone else is in- sitting 3 years from now with a loan twice the value of the house... I know other people have posted similar questions, but I don't see much discussion considering itnerest rate increases, the current administrations likliness to spend more to help the continuing expected fall of housing prices, or the long term forecast of foreclosure rates increasing drastically until 2012. Is it better to just rent? or is now the time? more

Resolved Question: I have perfect credit but I'm near desperate?

I really need to get my family out of our home. It's in need of repair and I hate the area. We're all ready to buy a new house when we find one but can't do that until I get rid of the POS we have and I don't see it going away anytime soon. I talked to my mortgage company about possibly signing it over to them. They used a term "Deed of Lou" or something like that. I've never heard of it. They also said that it would show on my credit as a foreclosure. My credit is in awesome shape and I don't want to ruin it by doing something stupid like that. How bad do you think donig this would hurt my credit? Would it be worth doing to get my family in a better home to grow old in?okay, well scratch that idea. My house is just a piece of crap and in this economy, I owe more than what it's worth. I'm just impatient and really want my kids to have something better, like yesterday more

Voting Question: I'm buying a foreclosed home...I need advice?

I'm buying a foreclosure and the attorney called me to tell me there was a little problem with the title. The foreclosure process began before the bank actually owned the property. I don't know that much about it, but I guess they have to file with the count clerk and this didnt happen before the foreclosure process. The title ins. company that works with my attorney says it was done wrong and will not insure the title. The title company that works with the bank that owns the home says yes everything was done correctly and they will insure the title. What do I do? Do I back out, or go with it? Apparently I could have problems selling the home, when I decide to do so? more

Voting Question: Can you buy a home with a co-signer even if you're not 24 months out of foreclosure?

This is in Oklahoma. more

Voting Question: Why is now considered a good time to buy a home? Was it a good time to buy for those who lost their homes?

I keep hearing everyday on the radio that now is a 'great time to buy' than I keep hearing of the millions who did buy and lost their homes to foreclosure. So how is it a good time to buy when those who did couldnt keep their homes? more

Resolved Question: what is the difference in buying a house that is for sale and buying a house that is for foreclosure?

i don't even know how to ask the question, but my husband and i are planning to buy a home.. from what i've observed as i am searching for homes online, houses that are for foreclosure have lower prices than those that are listed as -for sale-. please advise me and my husband about the best way to go such that we can get a house with a better value.. thanks.. more

Resolved Question: How much time should you spend showing a client homes?

My thought is, depending on the price of the home, which now, there are many foreclosures at very low prices in GA, it should be more limited to how much time you spend with a client. I give great customer service to all my clients, but I also find myself wasting a lot of time, often with people who want to buy a $70,000 house and need to look at 15+ homes, how should I handle this? more

Voting Question: How long does it take to buy a house?

The house I was renting went into foreclosure. I'm assuming I have 90 days from the auction date to be out which puts me at 09/11/09. I want to start shopping for loans so I can be in my new home 9/1/09 and not any sooner. I need these next few months to save money for the down payment since I'm not paying rent right now and also my truck will be paid off in August. If I find something before 9/1/09, is it possible to stretch the move in date to 9/1/09 or should I wait a month before looking into loans? I'm a first time homebuyer.I live in CA. We have tenant rights of a 90 day notice from auction date. The house did not sell on 6/11/09. more

Resolved Question: Am I liable for the second loan on my property that has been foreclosed on?

We lost our home to foreclosure last year. We had a first and a second on it, both with the same lender. When they foreclosed, they forgave the first, but not the second. Both loans were made for the sole purpose of buying the home. Now they keep trying to collect the money for the second from us. more

Voting Question: Has anyone purchased a foreclosure home through RealtyTrac?

Anyone have experience in buying a foreclosure through RealtyTrac ?? more

Resolved Question: Is it possible to buy property with no credit check?

I have horrible credit but make decent income, I was wondering if it is possible for me to rent-to-own, purchase a home without a mortgage, take over payments, or at least establish ownership in a property and lease it out to others without having to bring an upfront deposit. I know the foreclosure market is huge, is there any investors strategies out there? more

Voting Question: How long before I can buy another home after a foreclosure is done?

Voting Question: Do you think that the decrease in people able to afford to buy their own house might change US mentality?

With the amount of foreclosures and limited credit capabilities of the consumers, would say the rental increase and prolonging might move america away from having your own home idea, like Europe and most of the world? more

Resolved Question: What happens if I'm trying to buy a pre-foreclosure home and....?

What happens if I'm trying to buy a pre-foreclosure home and I've already gotten homeowner acceptance of my offer but the bank counters and I actually go down? I'm comfortable where I'm at with my offer but I definitely think that I could have gotten it for less. Can I do that, and, if so, does it have to go back to the homeowner for acceptance again?? Also, can other people come in and offer on the house and the homeowners accept even though the they've already accepted our offer? Is it technically pending or what?Forgot to mention, the house has been on the market for quite a while and, according to the list agent, has had a previous offerer fall through at loan approval. The amount accepted by homeowner and bank at that point was incredibly close (only a few grand) to our current offer and to boot all of this was more than 2 months ago. We of course, didn't find that out from the list agent or our realtor until after the homeowners accepted our final offer. Also, the only reason it hasn't gone into full foreclosure is because we put the offer in and the bank is holding back. I'm of the opinion that the bank can either accept what we want to pay or let it go to the courthouse steps and get pennies on the dollar, it won't really hurt my feelings either way. Given the situation, am I wrong to think that I (as the potential buyer) am holding more than average power to name my price? more

Resolved Question: What should I do about my mortgage?

My husband & I bought a house 2 years ago. We bought a home at the top of the scale, meaning I had a set amount of what I wanted to spend on a house & didn't want to go over my set amount, the house is at the top of the set amount. I have recently lost my job(actively trying to find another one) & the bills are coming in fast. I feel like this house payment is too much for us now, we are always behind & can never get everything caught up. Houses are not selling around here, so I am sure that even if we did try to sell the house, we probably couldn't sell it anyways. I have talked to my mortgage company, Wells Fargo, & we are trying to do a loan modification... whatever that is?!? If we do dont get the modification from Wells Fargo are there any other options that I have? We cannot refinance because we haven't been in the house long enough, & I am sure we have bad credit now because we have been late so many times this year. Basically, I am wondering if anyone out there might know of any other options I might have besides selling the house or letting it go into foreclosure? more

Resolved Question: Can I buy a house even with poor credit?

I'm looking into buying a pre-foreclosure home, I have found several that are a good deal on a short sale (about $50,000) and from what I can approximate my monthly payments would be less than half of what I am currently paying to rent. The problem is I don't have great credit, I have about $5000 in credit card debt, but I would be looking into possibly getting a loan that would both eliminate that debt as well as buy the house. Is it possible to get into a house under these circumstances?Ok seriously, is it possible to get an actual answer that's NOT some sort of stupid scam?? Seriously??? more

Resolved Question: My Tenant is missing and behind on the rent.?

Bec of the market my home had lost so much value that I couldn't sell. I had to rent it in order to buy my current home which is closer 2 work. My renter is MIA and 2 months late in rent which I have been covering so far but i won't be able to continue to do that. what'll this do to my credit if the house goes into foreclosure but all my other bills and my current home are paid on time? (I have already filed the eviction on them) Just don't want to wreck my credit.Yes I have already filed the eviction our court date is in July. I'm concerned it may take a while to get someone else in the house. more

Resolved Question: Will an insurance company insure our home if there is a unpermitted cottage?

I'm in the process of buying a foreclosure home (Florida,USA, can't transfer the insurance since it has already lapsed) that has a detached unpermitted cottage (2 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and living room total of 900 sq ft), the main home also has a unpermitted converted garage that is used as a in law quarter (separate entrance and full bathroom), it also has a unpermitted sun room too. I really love the home and tried looking for home insurance but it looks like no one will insure me. Is there anyway I can get insured for this property without having to lie about these unpermitted additions to the insurance company? Any advice would be appreciated and any suggestions which insurance company would insure me for a reasonable price. Thank you in advance. more

Resolved Question: I am trying to buy a house and I need advise. Realtors, please help!?

My wife and I are attempting to buy our first house. We first started to look about 2 months ago. We saw this house that we really like so we called a realtor. It was a little out of our price at $169,900 but we inquired anyways. She called on the house and said it was a short sale, but just that week got taken off the market because it went into foreclosure. We have been looking with our realtor at homes since then and haven't really found anything. Just this past Thursday, the original house came back on the market as a foreclosure priced at $160,500. We looked at it on Friday and more thoroughly on Saturday. We really like it, but it needs roughly $4,000 in work. We have been pre-approved for $155,000 but really want to stay under $150,000. We actually wanted to stay under $145,000 but were willing to go up to $150,000. Our realtor told us that there are 2 other couples interested in the house. I don't know what to do? We want the house, but don't want to overspend. How do we know if the other couples are interested? Will we be at a disadvantage since our loan is an FHA? I was told no because it is with a reputable lender (Caldwell Banker). Please help! more

Resolved Question: owe 425K on home worth 325K Live on SS can I take $ out of 401k to buy new cheaper home.I am over 65 yrs?

If I purchase new one before foreclosure can bank put lien on new home or if I wait can they still do it more

Resolved Question: 2nd mortgage taken out to buy my house, if i go in to forclosure can I be sued?

I bought a home with an 80/20 loan, I used a 2nd mortgage as a down payment. If I go into foreclosure can I be sued for the 2nd mortgage? I heard that since I took it out to buy the house I can not be sued for it by the bank. I live in California. Also what can I be sued for? more

Resolved Question: Has anyone filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy and had a foreclosure on their credit report and reestablish themselves?

were you ever able to buy another home? another car? more

Resolved Question: Inexpensive ideas to landscape a large backyard of weeds.?

My husband and I are buying a beautiful fixer-upper foreclosure with a lot of potential. The backyard is just about 1/4 acre of sticks, weeds, and hard dirt. I would eventually like a to install a deck, stamped cement patio, and start a garden, but fixing the house itself is our main priority for now. My problem is that I have 3 children (ages 7,5,and 3) and I run a home daycare and so I have smal children that need the back yard. Does anyone have any inexpensive landscaping ideas that I can do for now until I have the funds to fix it the way I want? more

Resolved Question: Complicated situation that may involve Bankruptcy and Foreclosure?

Hello All, In 2005 as a 24 year old I purchased a fixer-upper home. My father, who lives in the home with me, encouraged me to buy and told me that we'd fix it up. I was healthy, ignorant, trusting, and I wanted to have a home. It's now four years later and three years ago major health issues emerged that make my daily life very challenging. Just going holding down a job is a huge challenge. The house is in worse shape now then when I moved in because my father has a habit of starting jobs and never finishing them. So my house is a construction zone, it hate living there, and my environment makes me feel more unhappy about my health issues and my life in general. To top it all off, my father has been extremely unreliable financially and so I frequently bear the burden of the mortgage and all of the bills. I only make 32k a year or I'd hire someone to fix-up the house. I feel like I need to make a drastic change or I am going to fall apart. I know it's not a good choice, but I feel like I want to stop making the payments, let the house be foreclosed on, file for bankruptcy and rent a cute apartment that isn't a construction zone and is less of a burden to my health, finances, and time. Do you have advice?I need to have a market analysis done to determine the value. But it is probably worth less than what I paid because of what the housing market has done and because the house is in worse shape than when I bought it. more

Voting Question: Can I Buy a Home That Is Approching Foreclosure From a Family Member?

My parents moved from one home into a more expensive home a few years back. Since then my father has ran off leaving her with the burden of the new mortgage and the old mortgage of the home they moved out of but still own. She decided that there was no way she could pay for both homes and all the other things she needs when raising two children. My sister and I want to buy the first home but are afraid the bank won't let us because we all share the same last name? What can we do? more

Resolved Question: Let home go into foreclosure?

Our condo complex might be condemned in Jan 2010 for code violations. This is after a two year "second chance" to fix code violations after getting the lien lifted from the bank. I'm not sure what the implications are for a condemned property. Is it better to let the home go into foreclosure? The value of the home is almost half of what we bought it at 3 years ago. So selling is out of the question. more

Resolved Question: Should I claim Bankrupcy and if so will I be better off in the long run of things.?

I have been told that you have to have an excessive amount of debt to qualify for a bankruptcy candidate. I wanted to buy a home when my job was good,but then I found out that when I let my timeshare go last year when I was laid off, it shows as a foreclosure on my credit report. So I am already lime ted on options. My hours have been cut down to 2 days instead of 40 hours and I can't seem to clean up what's on my credit report and all of my bills. My open credit cards ain't behind,but now they will be at the end of the month. Financial would have been better if I didn't get laid off last year and now it looks like it's going to happen again. Maybe I will just sign up for the No Worker Left Behind Program and get a 2 year degree in something medical. But shoot,no one can afford medical,does that mean hospitals and doctors will start cutting employees hours? I am over stressed, I think I need a Zanax,lol. more

Resolved Question: Minor signed mortgage?

I will try to make a long story short. I got married when I was 17 (bad idea). In 2001 we divorced and my ex husband was awarded the house (by mutual agreement and he was court ordered to "try" refinance but he could not because of his credit). In 2006 he defaulted on the loan and the home was foreclosed. I have tried in vein to get this off my credit report. My question is was my signing the mortgage at 17 (I was married at the time the mortgage was signed) even legal since I was a minor? Is there anyway I can fight this and get it off my credit? I have had a perfect rental history for about 8 years now but I can not BUY a house because of this foreclosure, prior to the foreclosure I couldn't get a house because it was slow pay 120 days late (sometimes more). As most of us know rental history can not go on a credit report. Someone please help I want my own home for me and my kids! more

Resolved Question: Can I buy a new home if my current home is under foreclosure?

The home I live in now in CT is undergoing foreclosure, but it's only on my husband's name... We are moving to FL and would like to purchase a new home, possibly under my name... I have bad credit but a good amount of money to put down.... more

Resolved Question: Why do people Blame Bush on the Economy when...?

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) started this entire mess. If you did not know already, the fall of our banks, housing markets, and the oil crisis in the summer of 2008 lead us to our demise. The Community Reinvestment Act started it all. This Act was passed in 1977 by Congress to address the so-called discrimination by banks, which would not lend money to most minorities. The act provided that banks have “an affirmative obligation to meet the community’s needs.” The banks were not giving the loans out to minorities because most of them just didn’t have the money to pay them back-but the liberal congress under President Carter thought differently. But this Act was not enough to force the banks to give loans out to everyone. So in 1989, Congress amended the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act which required banks to collect racial data on mortgage applications. This data all came together in great use when in 1995 the Clinton Administration’s Treasury Department issued regulations tracking loans by neighborhoods, income groups, and races to rate the performance of banks. The ratings were used by regulators to determine whether the government would approve bank mergers, acquisitions, and new branches. The regulations also encouraged liberal-aligned groups, such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), to file petitions with regulators, or threaten to, to slow down or even prevent banks from doing their business by challenging the extent to which banks were issuing these loans. With such great leverage over the banks, many of the liberal groups were able to legally extort banks and make huge pools of money available to them. Then with such power over the banks, the government and groups were able to force the banks to give out loans to individuals who had bad credit or insufficient income. These loans are known as “sub-prime” loans. Most estimates put the figure of CRA-eligible loans at $4.5 trillion dollars lost to the banks… In 1992 the Department of Housing and Urban Development pressured two government chartered corporations, known as Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac, to buy large bundles of those sub-prime loans for the conflicting purposes of diversifying the risk and making even more money available to banks to make further risky, sub-prime loans. Congress also passed the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act, which mandated that those companies buy 45% of all loans from people of low or moderate income… In 1995 the Treasury Department under the Clinton Administration established the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which provided banks with taxpayer money to allow the banks to give out more risky, sub-prime loans. All of these actions turned the sub-prime mortgage market into a huge ticking time bomb that would magnify the housing bust by orders of magnitude… These policies lead to the housing boom which was seen in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. But it all eventually back fired when loans weren’t being paid back. The banks ended up losing more money than they were making - that lead to the collapse of our banks. This also led to the housing market’s demise or BIG bust… How did this affect the housing market? Well there were no more loans being given out, since the banks finally began to collapse. With no money being given out and thousands of houses going into foreclosure it is easy to see how the housing market went to hell… As you can see, the liberals caused us the major reason for our demise. All because they believed people had the right to houses. All because they believed high spending and expansion of government would help the poor… It didn't... But that was not the only reason for our fall. The high spending from congress led to higher debt and almost no money, which forced us to borrow from China… This debt left us with almost no money and that is why taxes were raised on most middle class families. This spending came from republicans and democrats who believed more government programs would reduce poverty or fix any other problems. It mainly came from the war over seas. Then came the gas crisis in the summer of 2008. This crisis happened due to the supply of oil being lower than the demand. It was also due to the speculation at home and the raising of prices by the Saudi Arabians. This all could’ve been avoided if President Clinton allowed the oil companies to drill in Alaska. In the 1990’s the companies went to congress for approval, but they were shot down… Many liberals say we have almost no oil here, but the REAL experts from the oil companies say we have more oil than the Middle East. Who would you trust? Oil company experts or politicians? My point is thI'd like to see people actually read this answer instead of acting like ignorant idiots. more

Resolved Question: Buying a foreclosure I'm currently renting?

I currently live in a house I'm renting from my brother and I just found out it's going into foreclosure. Does anyone know if I have any rights to attempt to buy the house first before auction? Buying out the current remainder of the mortgage? My credit is still not that great but I am currently working with a credit counseling service hince the reason I'm renting still. Any help would be appreciated. The house is in Louisiana and my brother moved to California and has not yet bought a home there. more

Voting Question: I have a foreclosure, can I still buy a house?

Two years ago I had a foreclosure, my income has increased and the reason for the delinquency on my prior loan was due to complications in my pregancy that put me on disability for six months. We are living in a rental but the landlord was using our rent money to pay the mortgage on his personal home and now the hose we live in is foreclosing. There are many houses in our area selling for dirt cheap, I'm talking like $45k-$145. Do I have a chance to buy another house? more

Resolved Question: whats going on with real estate these days?

Here is what is going on, me and my gf are looking to buy a home. We are first time home buyers and are looking to buy a house or condo. We have placed bids on about 8 places so far. We started out bidding under the asking price and soon learned that would not be even considered. So we keeped over bidding more and more. Our price rang is $80k and under. The last place we looked at was a condo listed at $59,900 so we bid $74,000 asking for nothing back. So we bid $14k over asking. It was a foreclosure as is everything else we are looking at. We are not even bothering with short sales as we hear it will take forever and chances are very low you will get it. We are getting very discouraged and seems we will never get anything. We are looking in Bonita Springs and Naples, Florida. If anyone has any info that may help it would be great. Thanks! more

Resolved Question: need to refinance is this a good idea?

My husband and I bought our first home last September and two new cars back in 2007 when we first got married. We owe about $23,000 on both cars and $81,000 on the house. My husbands income is $3000-$35000 depending on overtime and extra weeks. We are adding a third bedroom to our home and a laundry room and we're planning on putting it on the market for $130,000, we've already spoken to our realtor. I know that this is a horrible market and we'll probably get less than that, but we need about $120,000 to pay our cars off and our $7500 first time home buyers credit. We don't want to sell unless we pay these things off because it will give us a fresh start with no debt and we can afford a bit of a bigger house, but still stay around $100,000-$125,000 so our mortgage doesn't exceed $1000 a month. Anyways since the market is so bad we've talked about possibly refinancing our home after the addition and taking $23,000 out and paying our cars off and staying in our home until next summer when hopefully the market will pick up a bit and we can try to sell than and make a bit of a profit. Would this be a good idea? This is definitely not a home we are planning on living in for more than a few years. We bought it as a foreclosure to fix it up and we're done everything to the original portion of the house and are ready to do this addition which will cost us about $4000 since my husband is doing all the work him self accept for the electricity. The reason that we want to pay our cars off is because we could get a lower rate since we are currently paying 7.25% for both cars and 6.25% for the home. We currently pay $500 a month for both cars, and $657 for our home. We're hoping to keep pur mortgage around $800-$850 and put the rest into savings. Also how would I go about refinancing? more

Voting Question: need to refinance is it a good idea?

Resolved Question: should i file 4 bankruptcy?help needed please?

i foreclosed on my home, basically just walked away last year. i owe approximately $9000in credit card debt. should i file 4 bankruptcy or just wait until my 7 years are over for the foreclosure to not show up? my main goal is to be able to buy a house again as soon as possible. what is the best way??? please help more

Resolved Question: How do home foreclosures work in Canada?

I'm interested in buying a home, and I keep hearing that my area (Windsor, Ontario) has a high foreclosure rate. How do I find these homes? more

Voting Question: In PA do the names on the deed of a house have to match the names on the mortgage?

Lets just say a young couple buy a house. Both there names are on the deed and mortgage. The husband gets in trouble and ends up in jail. His wife can not afford the home by herself so she just walked away. The father of the person in jail has a lawyer draw up a document putting his name and his wife's name on the deed, but not the mortgage. I'm not sure of the details of the document but i can only assume it stated that he will buy the house from his son for $1.00. He claims he just wants to make sure the house doesn't go into foreclosure since no one will be making the mortgage payments and will return it to his son when he gets out of jail. He rents out the house and pockets the rent money, not paying the mortgage anyway. The mortgage company sent a letter that they were going to foreclose on the house so the father contacted the company, using his sons name, and made a deal that he would pay $10,000 to bring the mortgage up to date then he was to make monthly payments as usual. The mortgage company were supposed to send a payment booklet but never did. The father contacted the mortgage company looking for the booklet and the company said they had made a mistake and would need another $15,000 to bring the mortgage up to date. He did not want to pay the extra money so the mortgage company agreed to not foreclose if the house is put up for sale and the father pays half the mortgage amount monthly while the house is on the market. A few days later the father gets a fax stating that he has a 6 month deadline to have the house on the market. He would have to pay half the mortgage for the 6 months but if he could not sell in the allotted time he would have to pay the $15,000 to bring the mortgage up to date. Now the son is out of jail, the house is on the market almost in foreclosure again and the father is trying to sell it without the sons approval. I guess my question would be.... Is any of this even legal??? P.S.- The son's wife's name has somehow disappeared off both the deed and the mortgage. more

Resolved Question: any newlyweds with financial troubles?

Are you having trouble staying afloat in the current economic climate? Did you buy the home of your dreams, only to be facing foreclosure? Did you fall behind in rent and are getting evicted? Are financial woes forcing you to move back in with your parents or in-laws? more

Resolved Question: What do you think the odds are of getting this home?

We placed an offer yesterday on a home that we love. The home is a foreclosure and has been in foreclosure for about a year. The thing is that the home does need some work but to us it is well worth it. There were some people that were trying to buy the home and they were in contingency based on their loaner wanted the bank (the seller) to make repairs before they would give the loan. I have talked to some people and asked what the chances were of that happing and they said the chances were very slim and some people said the bank would not fix anything for them. They were suppose to be in contingency until Friday but I spoke with the real estate agents today and they said that the contingency was about to be over today because the potential buyers were asking for their ernest money back. What do you think the odds are of us getting this house now? Our offer is very good and very little under their asking price. From this info doesnt it seem like those people are out of the running? more

Resolved Question: I am upside down on my home and cannot get another one! What is my recourse?

Well I bought at the height of the market and like a lot of people, I'm upside down on my current place but I want to take advantage of the market and upgrade. I know that I still have to cover the first place and was okay with renting it out until the market picks up. Financially, I can cover both places (I've done the math) and the broker can attest to that. BUT I've run into a problem because the current place isn't even worth 75% of what I signed on the dotted line for. I was told that no lender would touch that situation. I'm upset. I can get such a good rate now, which is why I don't want to walk away from what I have because my credit is good. I was told that this "rule" was put into place because people would upgrade and leave their other place to go into foreclosure. I'm not giving up! But I want to know if the yahoo answer community had any ideas on what I can do (the broker I've trusted with all of my information has told me there isn't much left to do). I also feel as though a short sale is not only not in my best interest (I stand to lose close to $90K on a little place in a not so great neighborhood and this is not equity, folks), but it could wreck my credit. And I'm tired of writing to my congressman, by the way! more

Resolved Question: What's the deal with buying a "foreclosure home"?

I was just wondering what really happens in these deals. I've seen homes that are $350,000 homes that have listings for $10,000. What does that mean?! What would the buyer actually end up paying? Also, does anyone know the "pros" and "cons" of buying a foreclosure versus a 'regular' home? more

Resolved Question: How long do I have to reinvest capital gains from the sale of my primary residence?

OK, if that sounds easy, let's see how many variables I can throw in. I bought a Fannie Mae foreclosure house last September and undertook a host of extensive renovations myself. I couldn't finance the house and renovations through a mortgage, so my parents co-signed a line of credit that needs to be rolled into a mortgage before this September. After spending seven months subletting an apartment during construction, I moved in to my house. I attached utility bills and building permits to my '08 tax return to document that, for purposes of the first-time homebuyer credit, my project should be considered a site-built house with the applicable date for the credit being the day I moved in--I got the $8K grant as if I'd made a 2009 purchase (have to repay if it's not my permanent residence for three years). I'll be deploying to Iraq later this summer and am rushing to convert my loan into a mortgage before I leave town for pre-deployment training. But the refinance is going to cost me over $7000!!! I'm not happy about repaying all the fees I paid during my cash sale closing last year and am considering selling vice the refi. I plan to put the house on the market at a price to net me $15K after sales fees and construction expenses; for various reasons I'll refinance if I can't clear that amount. It is my understanding that if I sell, I would owe the IRS $8000 and roughly 25% of any capital gains (under my reading I don't qualify for home sales capital gains exemptions). However, I would put any money I save overseas and proceeds from this house into another fix-up foreclosure home when I return next summer. a) how can I minimize my tax liability and maximize my funds towards a new residence? b) if I can avoid cap gains tax and the credit pay-back by reinvesting in a new primary residence, how long do I have to reinvest? Will I be able to convince the feds that time spent for military service in a combat zone should be tacked on to that clock? c) I did most of the work, from demo'ing a pool in the backyard, replacing wood paneling with sheetrock, installing hardwood floors, relocating kitchen, etc. with my labor and the help of great friends. If I had bids for some of the projects I undertook, can I expense my labor to reduce capital gains? The profits aren't coming through speculation (not that I philosophically object to that), but through nine months of my blood and sweat. It doesn't seem right that I could deduct paying someone to texture my walls but get hit if I buy the sprayer and do it myself. d) should I be doing anything during the sale or refi to make something else in the process easier? Thanks for reading my novel, and I really appreciate any tips!Thanks for the advice. I'm asking here for ideas, previous experiences and hopefully some sources (I've checked IRS pubs but they, of course, don't expand on all the variables here). I'll be verifying whatever counsel I receive but can imagine some valuable feedback from this community. more

How To Buy A Home In Foreclosure Resources