Howie writes in: My wife and I have been running our own home-based business for three years now. We rent and work out of a smallish 2-bedroom apartment in the very expensive SF Bay Area. One of those bedrooms is … Read More

A few months before we bought our current home, my wife and I toured literally dozens of different houses, trying to find one that was right for us. We had come up with a budget for our purchase and knew … Read More

Mortgage rates jumped today in Orange County after the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the nationwide unemployment rate dipped in July, surprising some market watchers. Jeff Altman, a partner in WestCal Mortgage Corp. in Orange, said banks are offering 5.62% … Read More

Randy Johnson, president of Independence Mortgage Co. in Newport Beach, author of “How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Home Mortgage” and a mortgage broker since 1983, answers questions… Chi Nam in Mission Viejo asks: Q. I own a … Read More

Note: some of the data appears out of date - but if the data was updated regularly this would be a useful tool. Healdsburg Housing Bubble directs me to a Google maps feature that shows houses in various states of … Read More

Fannie Mae Press Release : Loss of $14.8 Billion Driven by Credit-Related Expenses Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) reported a loss of $14.8 billion , … in the second quarter of 2009, compared with a loss of $23.2 billion, … in the … Read More

Two separate reports … From Bloombeg: ‘Underwater’ U.S. Mortgages May Hit 48%, Deutsche Bank Reports The percentage of properties “underwater” is forecast to rise to 48 percent, or 25 million homes, as property prices drop through the first quarter of … Read More

WSJ Headline : Taylor Bean, 12th largest U.S. mortgage lender, to cease operations, won’t fund mortgages in pipeline. This is a significant story. Taylor Bean was the third largest FHA loan originator in May. Update: Taylor Bean press release (ht … Read More

“I think it is shaping up there is another leg down in terms of market rents and effective rents and that will be somewhere late this year or early [next] year where I think all the operators will move their … Read More

Dr. Brad Setser, author of the blog ” Follow the Money “, has taken a new job with the National Economic Council. Unfortunately this means no more blogging for Brad. Here is an excerpt from Brad’s farewell post: All great … Read More