Shari Olefson's blog

Outcomes for administrations premier foreclosure alternative initiative.

EverBank has home loans for buyers with a minimum 640 score and 3.5% or less down.

Perhaps you’ll recall a year or so back when, after years of complaints from average Americans - for example saying their bank made mistakes in calculating what they owed or wrongly put forced place instance on their home or wrongly moved forward with a foreclosure while they were making payments under a modification - who allegedly wrongly lost their homes, the OCC decided to investigate. As a result, 14 of the biggest banks and services signed a Consent Order agreeing to have their foreclosure files reviewed by “independent auditors.”

Financial Fresh Start: Your Five Step Plan for Adapting and Prospering in the New Economy just hit shelves at Barnes and Noble.

This move continues the trend at Fannie and Freddie to allow on time folks some options previously reserved for people who stopped paying - a great move that rewards good behavior. We can expect banks to follow with similar program.

This measure - deeding the property back to the bank - has been around for a long time. Called a deed in lieu of foreclosure ( I've done many of them for banks). But to work there can be no other liens and the bank has to agree to pay the transfer tax which can be expensive.

We’ve been hearing news of housings recovery for several months in a row now. That, of course, is wonderful. One thing we can’t measure quite as easily by home sales and value stats, for example, is our cultural attitudes about homeownership. What, if anything has changed as a result of the crises and is functioning below our collective radar screens?

The house voted yesterday to extend the debt ceiling debate until may, a move more akin to ignoring the need for nonelective surgery than being cured. The senate expects to pass the measure next week. The leverage credited with making this happen? A threat to congressional pay checks.

With the country recovering from the most significant real estate crisis of our generation, some folks are still skittish when it comes to real estate. But owning and investing in real estate does not have to be guess-work. In fact the crisis was not because these indicators didn’t work, it was because they were largely ignored.

         Know what you need to buy? Want to be sure you get the best price? The Google Shopping App lets you type, scan a bar code, magazine ad, and/or album or book cover to search the products you want. Then it gives you a list of retailers and their links that have it so you can compare prices.