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Rents on the Rise: To Rent or To Buy?

This year Renters should expect to experience price increases of about 3%, while landlords reap the benefits receiving a further profit increase of almost 6%. According to U.S. Census Bureau, more families are presently renting homes than they are owning them. “As it becomes more difficult to buy (harder to get a mortgage, for example) more people [...]

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How Much Of Your Income Goes to Housing?

How Much Of Your Income Goes to Housing?

When looking to buy, rent, or invest, it’s important to remember to stay within your budget and not “break the bank.” After all, no one wants a nightmare real estate experience. Here is an easy way to look at your finances and your next step. Calculate your annual income, then break the income into monthly [...]

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Top 5 Tax Credit Tips for New Homeowners

Top 5 Tax Credit Tips for New Homeowners

‘Tis the season to file your taxes! It’s the gift that can keep on giving once we know how to do them. So here’s five quick and easy steps to a bountiful tax return: 1) Get professional help. You can miss so many extra deductions just because you didn’t know they existed. 2) Keep your [...]

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MA Attorney General Martha Coakley to take on Bad Lenders

MA Attorney General Martha Coakley to take on Bad Lenders

Martha Coakley is stepping into the mortgage mayhem on behalf of her constituents.  On Oct. 18th, the Boston Globe reported that Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley will file a lawsuit against mortgage  lenders who have abused their power. The lenders have not been named nor has their been a date set for the suit. There [...]

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WSJ Calls for Focus on Housing

WSJ Calls for Focus on Housing

In the end, it all comes down to that new house. That’s what a recent blog post on the Wall Street Journal says, and adds that without a stronger focus on the housing sector, the United States may not move out of the recession so easily. The piece acknowledges the Fed’s recent rate change will [...]

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Mortgage Rates Fall Below 4 Percent for the First Time

Mortgage Rates Fall Below 4 Percent for the First Time

For the first time in America’s history, the average rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to just under 4 percent. The rate on 15-year fixed loans also dropped to a record 3.26 percent. These exceptionally low levels provide an excellent opportunity for consumers with previously high interest rates such as rates between five and eight [...]

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MA mortgage balances among highest in U.S.

Massachusetts residents are among the most credit-worthy in the country, this despite the fact that the state’s average mortgage balance is a lofty $221,671. Local residents also have some of the largest student-loan balances nationally. The Bay State’s average home-loan balance ranked as the sixth-highest in the United States in May, behind only California ($318,731); [...]

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Tax Credit Got Extended!

Congress has sent President Obama a plan to give homebuyers an additional three months to finish qualifying for federal tax incentives that boosted home sales this spring. The legislation would give buyers until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases and qualify for tax credits of up to $8,000. Under the current terms, buyers had until [...]

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About FHA Loans

In 1934, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) was created by the National Housing Act for the primary purpose of insuring long-term residential mortgage loans and, thereby, promoting home ownership in the United States. Today, the FHA is the largest government insurer of mortgages in the world. FHA loans have surged in popularity. In 2005, government-backed [...]

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Loft New Development, FP3 is Now Fannie Mae Approved

FP3, one of Boston’s hottest loft buildings, now passes the Fannie Mae standard for mortgage guidelines as the number of units sold is now more than 51 percent. In the past 6 months, FP3 gained great momentum and sold over 24 units! “This is a great opportunity for buyers to procure conventional financing, which is [...]

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