..

Home Prices Increase and Sales Stabilize

National home prices jumped a substantial 3.6% in the past year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released on Tuesday. Prices also climbed 4.4% in the second quarter compared with a 2.8% plunge in the first quarter. Home prices rose in August for the third straight month, a rapid pace of recovery that surprised [...]

Missed Mortgage Payments Rate Falling

The number of U.S. households that missed consecutive mortgage payments or were in foreclosure fell more in the second quarter than any time since the mortgage crisis began four years ago, a survey found. But the data, released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association, showed the crisis is far from ending. One worrisome sign: The [...]

New Online Help From Fannie Mae

Since the start of the housing downturn, the number of Web sites and foreclosure-prevention companies claiming to offer help to struggling borrowers has greatly increased.  While some of the businesses are legitimate, others are fraudulent and offer services that consumers may be eligible to receive free of charge. This month, Fannie Mae – the government-sponsored [...]

Inside a Russian Billionaire’s $300 Million Yacht

Known as the “A” — the mega-yacht features luxuries most of us can hardly dream up, like a glass-bottomed pool built atop a disco or a plush room with walls covered in stingray hides. The boat, designed to be longer than a football field by the legendary French designer Phillipe Starck, cost $300 million to [...]

Buying Land, be Careful

By John J. O’Dell I recently met a couple at one of my favorite coffee shops, the Flour Garden. We started talking and they were looking for some cheap land to buy, figuring that there was a lot of good deals out there because of the economy. Since I always carry my laptop with me, [...]

A Hike to Grouse Ridge, Land of a 100 Lakes

Jeff Toff, a local Grass Valley attorney  took a hike around Grouse Ridge with his dog Logan a few weeks ago. Logan is an Irish Wolfhound, and when Logan puts his front feet on Jeff, he’s a lot taller than Jeff. Jeff took many pictures while he was there and I’ve combined them into a [...]

New Federal Reserve Rules to Protect Consumers From Abusive Lending Practices

Getting a mortgage in the hay day of the housing bubble was sometimes a very costly adventure.  Some mortgage brokers would try to steer the borrower into  loans that gave the  broker the most points (a point is one percent of the loan) to them. In other words, they would pick a lender that gave [...]

Home Appraisal Sites on Net Fail to Pin Down Accurate Prices

Over the last five years, one of the newest developments in real estate is the ability for home buyers and sellers to search online for a home’s value.  Popular Web sites such a Zillow.com, Cyberhomes.com, and Eppraisal.com offer free home estimates, but some consumers and real estate industry professionals say the values calculated often are [...]

Do You Know the Red Flags of Mortgage Fraud?

By Howell Haunson RISMEDIA, August 18, 2010–Mortgage fraud is not going away any time soon. The FBI has been working with bureaus of investigation in states that recently passed residential mortgage fraud acts to stay abreast of the latest fraud tactics. The FBI has found that fraudsters are evolving new ways to take advantage of [...]

Help Your Headaches with Herbal Remedies

by Lisa J. Lehr Headaches are among the most frequently reported health problems. Migraines are the most common type; many people suffer occasional tension headaches, with chronic tension headaches less common. These may co-exist in adults who have migraines, causing “mixed headaches”; add in sinus and cluster headaches, and the number of headache sufferers probably [...]