David After Dentist

This is a cute YouTube video of a woozy 7-year-old boy in the back seat of a car, struggling to understand the effects of anesthesia. It’s  been viewed 53,900,000 times and has helped the family gather income in the low six figures since it was posted 18 months ago.

CNN has more on this rapid way [...]

Foreclosures Rise Slowest in Four Years

U.S. foreclosure filings rose 6% in February from a year earlier, the smallest increase in four years, according to RealtyTrac.
RealtyTrac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio added the leveling of the foreclosure trend isn’t necessarily evidence that fewer homeowners are in distress and at risk for foreclosure, but rather that foreclosure-prevention programs, legislation and other processing [...]

Bank of America’s Contractor Confiscates Parrot

A contractor for Bank of America went into the home of a borrower which was not vacant nor in default with the mortgage. While Angela Iannelli was away, under instructions from Bank of America, the contractor cut off utilities, padlocked the door and confiscated her pet parrot, Luke.  Maybe the contractor was thinking the woman [...]

Good Real Estate News: Home Equity is Rising Again

Numerous articles have reported that homeowners are underwater and that strategic defaults are increasing. However, a little known statistic by the Federal Reserve shows that home equity again is on the rise.
KEEP THIS IN MIND
• The Federal Reserve conducts substantial research on mortgage balances and home-value changes in hundreds of local markets nationwide and reports [...]

Nicolas Cages $4.95 Million Home Sells in One Day

The upper end market for real estate is picking up.  This reminds me of prior downturns, when people waited for the bottom of the real estate market to turn, and when they finally decided to buy, they paid thousands more by waiting because the bottom had passed them by.  Which brings up  actor Nicolas Cage’s [...]

Foreclosures, The Good and The Bad

The good and bad of foreclosures is a mixed bag.  The bad is that banks which pushed these risky loans are going to take a bath.  The bad is that people who are being foreclose on either because of being tricked into a bad loan or loss of income, are going to have bad credit [...]

Why Not Walk Away From My House?

I wrote earlier that we should not walk away from your house if you are upside down on your mortgage. I’ve changed my mind. If you lost your job or had a great reduction in income for whatever reason, the banks don’t seem to care. I’ve read and seen were they’ll stall until you have [...]

Fourclosure Rates Hit Record in Third Quarter

The share of homeowners delinquent on their mortgage or in foreclosure hit a new record during the third quarter, according to industry data released Thursday, which also indicates that the problem is likely to get worse through next year as unemployment rates continue to rise.
About 9.6 percent of borrowers were delinquent on their mortgage during [...]

Seeking Foreclosure Help? Be Careful

There is an amazing story in the August 2009 issue of the California Bar Journal about the growing number of complaints against lawyers and law firms offering mortgage help to homeowners. From investigating nine such complaints for all of 2008, the California State Bar is now investigating 391 complaints against 140 attorneys. What is causing [...]

Foreclosure Floodgates Opened?

Depending on your perspective on the market, the promised wave of foreclosures may have already hit California—but there’s a huge difference between filing for foreclosure and foreclosing, and that difference may be making all the… difference.
RealtyTrac on Thursday released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for the third quarter, which shows that foreclosure filings (default notices, [...]