C21AGVoices

As lenders tighten mortgage guidelines, minimum downpayment requirements are increasing. It’s leading to an increase in the number of buyers accepting cash gifts from family. There’s a right and wrong way to accept a gift.

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The press is referring to the May New Home Sales report as “poor”. A closer look, however, shows that may not be the case.

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NBC’s The Today Show hosted Consumer Reports for its take on mattresses. Some of the results may surprise you.

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Today, in its first meeting in 5 weeks, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-to-1 to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged. The Fed Fund Rate remains within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent.

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The Biltmore Estate, built in 1895 by George Washington Vanderbilt II, measures 175,000 square feet — 83 times the size of a typical home today.

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In May 2010, Retail Sales at non-store retailers — a category that includes Amazon and eBay — topped $29 billion, up 16 percent from May 2009. Clearly, Americans are doing an increasing amount of shopping online. But how well are we protecting our identities?

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The Federal Open Market Committee begins a 2-day meeting today, its fourth scheduled meeting of the year, and fifth overall. There’s no expectation for the Fed to change the Fed Funds Rate but that doesn’t mean consumers should expect mortgage rates to remain unchanged, too.

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Mortgage rates may be dropping, but mortgage costs are not. According to Freddie Mac, the average required discount points on a conforming mortgage rate are higher by 0.1 percent since early-May.

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Single-family housing starts plummeted to a one-year low in May, just 30 days after soaring to a 20-month high. It’s no wonder home builders are confused.

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Contrary to what you may have read (or heard), the federal home buyer tax credit has not been extended past June 30, 2010. At least not yet.

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