Michigan Mortgage

Wait on that Harley

So you want to buy a Harley? And that new house you’re closing on in a month has the perfect garage for it. It sure seems like the stars are aligning for you, and maybe they are (if you believe in that sort of thing). But before you and the Mrs. go shopping for matching leather chaps, you might stop and consider something…

Raising Your Credit Score

Not happy with that credit score? More importantly, is your lender not happy with it? Well, here’s some good news: it’s not a fixed number. It’s like your cholesterol level. There are things—short-term and long—that you can do to improve it, and things to avoid…

Extending the $8,000 FTHB Tax Credit

November 30 is the deadline for the $8,000 1st time home buyer tax credit, but what actually ends up happening on December 1st is, at this point, anyone’s guess. But for what it’s worth, I’ve linked an article I read yesterday that has a lot of the right people giving their opinions on the matter.

Another Bright Spot? Low Rates May Be Here to Stay

In keeping with our previous “cautious optimism” ideal, I’ve been watching for more bright spots in real estate and investing. And here’s another…

One of the financial magazines I read weekly is Business Week. It can be a little bit politically charged, but depending on who’s writing the economics ‘short’, it can be very good…

Sunshine

So maybe the dark days are truly behind us. The numbers coming from all corners of the housing industry seem to be more than spikes on an otherwise flat chart. They seem to be sustained. Even Bernanke has finally gone so far as to admit that yes, it looks like…

The Folly of the Reg Z Exemption

There’s an interesting pair of verses in the book of Proverbs. They go like this: “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.” Then right after that we read, “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” This is no contradiction…

The Time is Now.

The housing downturn has, over the past few years, challenged some of the conventional wisdom about owning vs. renting. Let’s face it. Renters have weathered the storm ok; whereas owners, as a group, have not.

Does that mean you should dump your home and rent? Not at all. In fact, if you’re renting now, this may be just the right time to cross over into home ownership.

You Can Breathe Now

The first encouraging news from industry pundits were the bottoming-out numbers, making the case that a recovery may be imminent. Then we started reporting actual increases in key stats, also very encouraging, but we did it with words like cautious, optimistic, and wait-and-see…