Monday afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives defeated the $700 billion “Bailout Bill”, surprising Wall Street and the world.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average responded by falling 777.68 points — its largest one-day loss in history and, this morning, every newspaper in America is covering the story as front page news.  Lost in the coverage, however, [...]

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When functioning properly, gutters can extend the life of a home. By directing water away from the physical structure, gutters protect a home’s foundation, its siding, and its landscaping. The key to reliable gutter performance is simple — keep them clean.  Twice annually, experts recommend a thorough gutter cleaning and the project can be a [...]

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Earlier this year — and for the first time in its history — the FHA changed its funding fees and mortgage insurance structure. Effective October 1, 2008, it’s repealing those changes. Partly to keep FHA home loans affordable, and partly to comply with new laws, the FHA is rolling back its up-front fees and ongoing mortgage [...]

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Thursday, federal regulators seized mortgage lender Washington Mutual.   The Seattle-based thrift became the third “big name” lender to close its doors since July, joining IndyMac and Lehman Brothers. In 2007, these 3 lenders represented about 10 percent of the mortgage market and their subsequent failures are confusing American homeowners. The most prevalent question: If my mortgage lender [...]

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I attended the Phillies game last night and had the misfortune of sitting next to a Red Sox fan named Phil for 9 innings. I was there confident that this will be the season to cure our 100+ season Championship drought (since the Sixers 1983 Championship, the four major professional sports teams have played over [...]

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In August, home builders broke ground on the fewest number of homes since January 1991.  It was the 16th straight month in which Housing Starts declined. But, although the press labels these statistics indicative of a recession, home sellers nationwide quietly applaud them. With fewer new homes coming on the market, home sellers are finding that there’s [...]

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I’m thinking about this now, because I am considering whether to make a move from Glenside to Mt. Airy.  Even though Glenside is a nice town, and I love the Glenside Farmer’s Market, there is not much else holding me here.  Mt. Airy, on the other hand, has the Weaver’s Way Co-op, multiple farmer’s markets, [...]

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Fall Glory by Nachiket Kapre’s With the school zone signs now flashing on a street near you, that can mean only one thing, Fall is quickly approaching and with the season of changing leaves comes some quick tips for getting your garden and patio ready for the colder months to come… Clean Garden Pots: Wash [...]

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On all principal + interest home loans, the first few years of payments include a lot more money going to interest than to principal.  This is because mortgage repayment schedules are front-loaded with interest, meaning large-volume principal reduction won’t occur until late in the mortgage’s lifecycle. Comparing products at a 6% mortgage rate, did you know [...]

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I was recently visiting Washington D.C. and was pleasantly surprised to see bicycles everywhere. After probing a few businessmen for some insight on the abundance of two wheelers, I learned that Washington, D.C. has a bike sharing program where people pay a small annual fee for the right to borrow bikes from any of the [...]

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