Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Disowned by the Ownership Society
A property tax increase of a few hundred dollars a year doesn't even begin to compare to an increase of $300-400 a month on your mortgage. An increase in property tax is not the difference in making or breaking your ability to pay for your home unless you're living too close to the edge already. Crisis situation? No, but the trends are certainly not favorable unless you're a buyer. The next year or two will be a great time to buy, so my advice to people is to get your credit cleaned up if you need to do that, build some credit quick if you need to do that, and DO NOT SIGN A VARIABLE RATE MORTGAGE. It might sound sweet at first, but you'll really pay through the nose later. To Ted434: I don't know of any specific place to look for foreclosed homes, but most real estate agencies will deal with them, so just check the websites: Remax, Woods Bros., Home, etc. read more
Top economist says America could plunge into recession
The loss of around £5bn it incurred in just the last three months of its financial year would have wiped Northern Rock from the face of the planet.
If Northern Rock's loans were in as parlous a state as Citigroup's, there would be no argy bargy about whether it would be right to nationalise the bank or whether shareholders should receive a penny.
The Rock would simply be in liquidation. The game would be well and truly up for shareholders and depositors.
And Citi is not an exception.
In the US, the assets of Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns have all suffered write-downs that would have been sufficient to topple any medium size British bank.
And in Germany, a number of banks are feeling very acute pain from their exposure to US sub-prime. read more
