Those hoping mortgage rates will fall sharply from current levels, already historically low, may be disappointed. Mortgage firms Thursday were quoting rates averaging 4.75% on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, according to Zillow.com, a real-estate information service. That is down from more than 5% two days ago and about 6% in mid-November. But further big declines will [...]

Today, I received an email from a blog reader who was having problems with his bank regarding his mortgage. No, he didn’t want a loan modification and he wasn’t in default. The problem was that he wanted to to send an extra $3,000.00 check towards his principle and the bank wouldn’t let him. As John [...]

On January 3, 2009 MLS reported 1,464 Boston condos for sale. Today, March 20, 2009 MLS reports 2,001 Boston condos for sale.

You probably read — or saw something on TV — about a group of Chinese investors who toured the U.S. shopping for bargain basement real estate in San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Boston and Los Angeles. While the tour made headlines — most of which were fairly alarmist — the trip seems to have [...]

House for sale by owner because my neighbor’s an A….. Sellers Report Card: Disclosure – A+ Salesmanship – F Source: sandiegohomeblog.com

Three more dead cats were found in the Plymouth refrigerator and freezer of a woman dubbed “The Cat Lady,” six years after 60 dead cats were found in the freezer of her Beacon Hill apartment. Plymouth health officials found the dead cats in former cat breeder Heidi Erickson’s Lothrop Street apartment on Wednesday. The cat [...]

From Inman News: In a bid to keep mortgage rates low, the Federal Reserve said Thursday it will boost purchases of mortgage-backed securities this year to as much as $1.25 trillion — a $750 billion increase from a previous commitment. The move should give would-be homebuyers and those seeking to refinance confidence that mortgage interest [...]

We all know, of course, that this whole financial mess started with the housing market. But how did a bunch of wacky mortgages mushroom into an all-encompassing threat to the global financial system? I’d like to call your attention to this piece in Wired magazine – entitled The Formula that killed Wall Street. It’s a [...]

Good morning, My condominium is for sale in East Boston. I had a buyer interested and she began the process of financing. Yesterday that came to a halt because her mortgage broker told her he ran into a new rule that any condo less than 500 square feet must have a comparable sale in the [...]