Articles filed under Harney, Ken

• When short sales leave sellers short May 17, 2013 12:00 AM
  Are large numbers of homeowners who have negotiated short sales with lenders at risk because of a startling omission in the American credit system? Do their credit reports and scores indicate that they were foreclosed upon, rather than having negotiated a mutually agreeable resolution with their lender?
  

   

• The rise of ‘pocket listings’ may be costly to sellers May 10, 2013 12:00 AM
  How hot is hot when it comes to housing markets across the country right now? Crazy hot: There are growing numbers of houses that sell even before they formally hit the market — sold through a controversial technique known as "pocket listings."
  

   

• The nation’s housing: Some zero-down successes May 3, 2013 12:00 AM
  WASHINGTON — Who says lenders need to charge you a cash down payment when you take out a mortgage in this era of hyper-strict underwriting?
  

   

• Why lengthy listings exist in hottest of markets Apr 26, 2013 12:00 AM
  With full-fledged sellers' markets under way in dozens of metropolitan areas around the country, new research has found curious statistical patterns emerging: Even in cities where listings get multiple offers within days or hours, significant numbers of homes are sitting on the market for six months, 12 months or more with no takers.
  

   

• Bank windows open a bit wider on equity credit lines Apr 19, 2013 12:00 AM
  Using your home as an ATM no longer is a financial option, but the tools that allowed owners to pull out massive amounts of money during the boom years — equity credit lines and second mortgages — are making a comeback.
  

   

• A boom market reappearing Apr 12, 2013 12:00 AM
  They’re back after barely a decade: Escalation clauses in real estate contracts, “naked” contingency-free offers and lowball-priced listings designed to pull in dozens of bidders and turn routine sales transactions into auctions.
  

   

• The nation’s housing: Energy savers due a break Apr 5, 2013 12:00 AM
  WASHINGTON — If you buy or own an energy efficient house, does this make you less likely to default on your mortgage? Is there a connection between the monthly savings on utility costs and the probability that you'll pay your loan on time?
  

   

• The mortgage complaint window is open Apr 5, 2013 12:00 AM
  Got a beef with your mortgage company or loan servicer? Lots of people do, and thousands of them have been turning to a federal complaint hotline for action — or at least a quick response from the lender.
  

   

• Push on to get MLS to add ‘green’ data on forms Mar 22, 2013 12:00 AM
  When it comes to energy efficiency and "green" features in homes, there's a chasmic disconnect in the marketplace among potential buyers, real estate appraisers and the nation's realty sales system.
  

   

• Equity growth signals a transition back to ‘normal’ Mar 15, 2013 12:00 AM
  Home equity is back! And it's growing fast: According to the latest data from the Federal Reserve, Americans' net equity holdings in their houses jumped by nearly half a trillion dollars during the last three months of 2012, and have increased by $1.7 trillion since the spring of 2011.
  

   

• Institutional investors buying up houses Mar 8, 2013 12:00 AM
  Could rental houses owned and managed by deep-pocketed hedge funds and big investors be the post-bust steppingstones to homeownership for huge numbers of renters? Could they also provide a form of safe harbor or sanctuary for thousands of families who were displaced by financial difficulties?
  

   

• Entry level buyers are often tripped up by student debt Feb 22, 2013 12:00 AM
  Though the housing market is rebounding in many local markets, there is one important segment that is not: First-time buyers are missing in action and represent a smaller proportion of overall sales activity than their historical norm.
  

   

• Washington sizes up the home interest tax deduction Feb 15, 2013 12:00 AM
  In the contentious debate over whether to reduce or eliminate the home-mortgage interest tax deduction — or leave it alone — one fact has been virtually unchallenged: The popular write-off used by millions of American owners costs the government massive amounts of revenue, somewhere in the range of $100 billion a year.
  

   

• FHA’s new mortgage fees will pack a bite Feb 8, 2013 12:00 AM
  If you want to buy a house with minimal cash by using an FHA-insured mortgage, here's some sobering news: Thanks to an ongoing series of fee increases and underwriting tweaks — the most recent of which were announced Jan. 31 — FHA is getting steadily more expensive, and may not work for you.
  

   

• The nation’s housing: Caught in a reverse nightmare Feb 1, 2013 12:00 AM
  The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has a birthday gift for 91-year-old widow Jeanette Ogle that should cause any senior to think twice before signing up for a government-insured reverse mortgage.
  

   

• IRS to simplify deduction process for home officesJan 25, 2013 12:00 AM
  If you're one of the millions of homeowners and renters who work or run a business from the place you live, here's some good news on taxes: The Internal Revenue Service wants to make it easier for you to file for deductions on the business-related use of your home.
  

   

• Real estate sales appear to be in early bloom Jan 18, 2013 12:00 AM
  Could we be looking at an early spring this year — not in meteorological terms but real estate? Could the chilly December to February months, which traditionally see fewer buyers out shopping for houses compared with the warmer months that follow, be more active than usual?
  

   

• ‘Cliff’ deal is a bonus for homeownership, at least for now Jan 11, 2013 12:00 AM
  WASHINGTON — Although it wasn't a total win for homeowners and sellers, the patchwork legislation that emerged from the "fiscal cliff" fracas on Capitol Hill came pretty close. In fact, it even reached back and resuscitated two key tax benefits for housing that had expired more than a year ago.
  

   

• Home equity values roar back in past year Jan 4, 2013 12:00 AM
  With all the depressing reports about the "fiscal cliff" and potential rollbacks in tax benefits for homeowners, you might have missed some of the positive trends under way for real estate. After hitting a low of $6.45 trillion in the final three months of 2011, Americans' combined home equity jumped nearly $1.3 trillion during the next nine months to $7.71 trillion — a 20 percent gain.
  

   

• Government to tighten up on reverse mortgages Dec 28, 2012 12:00 AM
  You've probably seen the reverse mortgage pitchmen at work on your TV screen — former Sen. Fred Thompson and actors Robert Wagner and Henry "Fonzie" Winkler prominent among them — urging seniors to pull cash out of their homes through a loan program guaranteed by the federal government.