A frequent question I receive at ChristianMoney.com is how to buy a foreclosed home. Let me first start by making clear that stories of homes for one dollar are mostly urban legends. There are some exceptions, such as the abandoned inner city homes offered for $1 in Detroit. Although it is highly unlikely that you will buy a home for $1, you can see discounts of 50 to 60 percent of what a home sold for just five years ago. The four windows of opportunity to purchase a distressed home: 1. Pre-Foreclosure A homeowner has fallen behind on their payments,... Read more →

In my last article, I addressed the latest chapter in the foreclosure crisis. Banks and mortgage companies announced last week that they intend to freeze all foreclosure proceedings. The self-imposed moratorium was due to serious questions that have been raised about the legitimacy of legal documents being filed by some lenders. Just a few days later, the major banks have now decided that perhaps they have overreacted and now they are poised to begin foreclosing again. This is extremely confusing, even to those of us that cover financial news for a living. We are definitely in uncharted territory here. Those... Read more →

Since the 1970’s, Social Security recipients have enjoyed a cost of living adjustment each year, except for the last two. Is it a coincidence that this year is also the first time that Social Security will pay out more than it takes in? It is true that over the last two years inflation has been almost non-existent. Measurements of inflation may be misleading, however. The cost of things people buy every day such as gas, food, and medical services have been starting to increase. Every one of the eight major categories that make up the Consumer Price Index is now... Read more →

You may have heard the news last week that several major banks decided once again to put a moratorium on foreclosures. This time, the reason has to do with one might called legal technicalities. You know all that crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s stuff. In recent months, courts in several states have become aware of serious flaws with the documents banks are presenting in court. At the center of the problem are bank employees being required to manage hundreds of foreclosure cases and sign thousands of legal filings. Some bank employees were reportedly signing as many as 8,000... Read more →