On Tuesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association released its forecast for 2011 mortgage rates and other housing trends. They feel the benchmark (30-year fixed) mortgage rate will average 4.4 percent for the remainder of 2010. For 2011, the MBA predicts that the benchmark rate will slowly but steadily increase to around 5.1 percent.

“Various factors are driving our rate forecast,” said Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s Chief Economist and SVP for Research and Economics. “Absent some blockbuster post-election announcement from the [Federal Reserve] on November 3rd, we do not expect to see a further decline in rates.”

The MBA also forecasts a modest rise in home sales in 2011, and that mortgages for home purchases will increase by 30 percent.

Full story is available on U.S.Housing News

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is running for re-election at a tough time for her party. But selling her home in the gentrified, former industrial city of Hudson, N.Y. might even be trickier.

Gillibrand, 43, and her husband, Jonathan, called the five-bedroom, 4.5-bath home on 13 acres their primary residence until she was elected to the House of Representatives. She was later appointed U.S. senator to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton when Clinton was named secretary of state.

Full story is available on Housing Watch

Here’s the rundown of open houses in East Meadow this weekend.  Whether you are looking for a million dollar home, a starter home or you just want to know what your neighbor’s house is selling for, these listings, collected from MLSLI.com, include a wide-range of homes on the market.

Saturday, Oct. 30

68 Fairview Ave. (Noon to 2 p.m.)–Exp Ranch, Detached, 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. Listed at $319,000.

353 Maple Ave. (Noon to 2 p.m.)–Cape, Detached, 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. Listed at $349,000.

1475 Front St. (11 a.m.- 4 p.m. on Saturday & Sunday)–Co-Op, Detached, 6 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths. Listed at $369,000.

577 Marion Dr. (Noon to 1:30 p.m.)–Split, Detached, 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. Listed at $378,000.

Full story is available on Patch

As in any economic downturn, the wave of home foreclosures has attracted voracious opportunists — investors among them who are buying, fixing and then renting the places out.

In their wake are aspiring owner-occupants. How hard could it be, they ask, to pick up one of these houses on the cheap and make it livable?

For an answer, consider Jennifer Kuzara, 32, a grants manager for a nonprofit organization here. From early 2009 to early this year, she spent about 1,000 hours on her foreclosure project. The gang of helpers she assembled included two real estate agents, a banker, an architect, a contractor and her parents.

Full story is available on The New York Times

Full story is available on erstarnews.com

Retirement planning is important–there’s no debating that. Saving and investing in your 401(k) or IRA accounts is something all financial planners advise. However, for many people, allocating money to a retirement fund takes up a big chunk of a paycheck. If you’re maxing out your annual 401(k) and IRA contributions as you’re advised to do when possible, you might not have much money left over to fund other major milestones in life, like, for example, buying a home.

The 2010 limit for 401(k) contributions is $16,500 and the limit on IRAs is $5,000. That’s $1,350 and about $415 a month, respectively, of your gross income set aside just for retirement. As daunting as it may seem, financial planning for retirement shouldn’t be delayed or pushed aside unless there are very valid reasons.

In fact, some retirement plans allow you to withdraw or borrow funds from your accounts to help you financially if you need it, but you need to seriously contemplate the advantages and disadvantages of tapping into your retirement savings against using other options that are available to you.

Full story is available on Go Banking Rates

International properties are hot commodities these days, and the experience of buying a property in a far-away land is fun and rewarding. When you’re looking into the purchase of an international property, it’s exciting but also important to do your homework and collect as much information as possible while you’re investigating your options.

There are so many places to go and so many things to consider. Is your destination of choice easy to get to? What’s the climate like? How about the legal aspects, costs and financing? Recreational opportunities?

If you think you will be spending even more time at a favourite vacation spot, it might make sense to buy a home there. If you enjoy the weather, language, neighbourhoods, food and culture, then you’re definitely on the right track

Full story is available on edmontonjournal.com

Q: I recently received an e-mail stating, “Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8 percent sales tax on it.” Is this true? — Neil S., Las Vegas

A: This is not true.

The e-mail you included with your question, which is similar to messages many of us have been receiving since this spring, state: “Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8 percent sales tax on it? That’s $3,800 on a $100,000 home. When did this happen? It’s in the health care bill. Just thought you should know …”

Like many of these chain e-mails, it starts with a nugget of truth and distorts the issue with misinformation. Perhaps because of its political nature during this heated election season, this one attracted more attention than most.

Full story is available on Las Vegas Review Journal

Try walking through a barn yard without stepping in something messy. Not easy. Now try working in residential real estate without running into short sales.

“They’re pretty hard to avoid at this point,” said Erik Gerth, principal broker at Keller Williams Realty Professionals in Portland.

Short sales are transactions in which people ask banks to let them sell their homes for less than they owe on their mortgages.

Full story is available on bizjournals.com

Refinancing is a hot topic for homeowners these days.  Given the condition of the market, many folks have decided not to sell their home but would really like to keep their payments down (especially when the value of the home has dropped quite significantly from a few years ago).  Here is a pretty common, generalized scenario and questions that homeowners are asking these days which I presented to two mortgage brokers.

I bought my condo back in 2007 for $500,000 and have two mortgages on it. The first mortgage was $417,000 and my 2nd mortgage (HELOC) was $50,000. Recently, my Realtor told me that my condo is probably worth $400,000-$430,0000.  I don’t want to sell it now but would like to refinance my condo.  How can I go about refinancing my home?  What kind of documents would I need to provide?  Do I need to send my own appraiser first before talking to a mortgage broker/lender? If I can’t refinance , can I qualify for loan modification?

Full story is available on Seattle Pi