Falling oil prices is one reason why mortgage rates are dropping for the first time in 6 days.

Oil is off $9 per barrel from last week, a shift that correlates to $0.23 per gallon of unleaded gas, roughly.

This drop is good news for both home buyers and “rate shoppers” [...]

Mortgage financier Fannie Mae is toughening its mortgage application decision-making process effective Monday, June 2, 2008.

The new guidelines will force many Americans to face higher mortgage rates, higher loan fees, or to be shut out from “prime” mortgage rates altogether.

The new “mortgage rules” include the following changes:

Higher income [...]

The monthly S&P/Case-Shiller Housing Price Index is a popular and often-quoted measurement of the housing market’s health. The chart above is sourced from its report published yesterday.

In 18 of the 20 largest metropolitan areas, home values declined at a slower pace than in the previously measured month. The report also showed [...]

At 32 million acres, homeowner lawns are the most irrigated crop in the United States.

That’s more acreage than the state of Pennsylvania.

Water is not free, however, and the 7 billion gallons deposited on lawns each day comes at a high cost to homeowners and to the environment.

Installing [...]

The process of buying a home is very different from the process of selling a home, but they both end the same way — with Moving Day.

Choosing a moving company is the often-hurried “last step” that buyers and seller view as a hassle.

Because it’s difficult to differentiate between the moving companies, they [...]

Three weeks after adjourning, Federal Reserve officials release detailed minutes of their most recent meeting.

Therefore, the April 30, 2008 minutes were released Wednesday and it affirmed traders’ beliefs that the Federal Reserve will not be in a hurry to lower the Fed Funds Rate again.

This is bad news for two groups of [...]

Loan-to-value is a math formula that represents the relationship between how much a home is “worth” and how much money is borrowed against it.

Loan-to-value is often abbreviated as “LTV” and is one of the many factors that lenders consider when underwriting a mortgage application.

The math formula is straightforward:

In the LTV [...]

Yesterday, several mortgage lenders issued three separate “rate sheets” in response to the changing mortgage market.

It was the fourth time in the last 6 trading days that mortgage lenders issued multiple rate sheets in a day, and continued the trend that started in mid-January.

The yo-yo nature of mortgage rates underscores the importance [...]

Sometimes, turning electronics off doesn’t really turn them “off”.

Because of clocks, battery chargers, and other LED displays, devices in Standby Mode slowly suck energy from the national power grid and have earned the nickname “Energy Vampires”.

Some examples of standby energy include:

Clock displays on home applicances Computers in Hibernation Mode Battery rechargers Communication [...]

It’s not often that a mainstream media publication taunts renters into buying homes, but that’s exactly what Smart Money magazine tries to do in its latest issue.

The Smart Money Web site “lead-in” reads 5 (Lame) Excuses for Not Buying a Home. That’s a forceful title!

It’s unfortunate that renters could feel antagonized by [...]