First-time home buying is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a thrilling and stomach-dropping plunge into the American dream.

Michael Starks Jr., 33, of Jackson knows the feeling all too well. Four months ago, the surgical support technician and former apartment renter moved into a three-bedroom house with a “really nice, big yard.”

Full story is available on Clarion Ledger

A majority of Americans recently surveyed say now is a good time to buy a home. That’s no surprise, given that record-low mortgage interest rates and bargain home prices are boosting affordability.

But selling a home? That’s a different story.

Full story is available on The Wall Street Journal

Even with the scars left by the housing mess, homeownership is still a goal for many Americans.

If you vowed to make your homeownership dream come true in 2012, it’s time to get started. Indeed the timing may be ideal. Housing market observers say that prices appear to have bottomed out in many markets, and mortgage rates are at their lowest point ever.

Full story is available on Courier-Journal

Three months of increased home sales have investors such as GI Partners, a mid-level private investing firm, looking to expand and invest in the foreclosure market.

It was recently announced that GI Capital has backed Waypoint Real Estate Group – which buys, renovates and rents foreclosures or short-sale single family homes in the San Francisco bay area– to the tune of $250 million, with the hopes of investing $1 billion over the next two years.

Full story is available on Wall St. Cheat Sheet

Massive intervention by Federal agencies and the Federal Reserve have kept the market from discovering price and the risk premium in real estate. That sets up a “catch the falling knife” possibility for impatient real estate investors.

A substantial percentage of many households’ net worth is comprised of the equity in their home.

Full story is available on Business Insider

Seasonal factors play an important role in selling a property, but there are other things to consider as well, such as supply and demand and the uniqueness of the local market conditions. No matter when a home goes to market, one should take a few things into consideration that might affect not just the ability to sell the home, but the ability to get the highest price for the home. Timing is everything!

Buyers are increasingly affected by our seasons and that affects their attitude as to when they purchase their home. In Ontario, we enjoy four distinct and beautiful seasons and these changing seasons play a large part in creating good buying conditions.

Full story is available on Oakville.com

President Obama told the nation last week that he was convening a task force to investigate the abusive practices in the mortgage industry that led to our economic woes. Both lending and the practice of bundling loans into securities will come under scrutiny, he said, adding: “This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.”

Full story is available on The New York Times

Rick Piette of Premier Mortgage Lending will present a seminar called Financing After Foreclosure or Short Sale this Wednesday to members of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors as part of the organization’s ongoing informational seminars and classes.

GLVAR members will learn how private lending programs, such as Premier Mortgage Lending’s Another Chance Home Loan Program, may help reopen the doors of homeownership for Southern Nevadans who have experienced a short sale or foreclosure.

Full story is available on Las Vegas Review Journal

For most people, a home is the biggest investment they’ll ever make, and with it comes the biggest debt they’ll ever face: a mortgage.

The sooner you can destroy that mortgage debt, the sooner you can become financially free. How can you get it done sooner? Let’s count the ways.

Full story is available on ValleyCentral

Even though we are seeing some recovery in our local economy, foreclosures continue to pose a serious threat to our community.

All of us are affected by it. Neighborhoods like Westwood and Price Hill have been hit especially hard, but no neighborhoods have been spared. A strong middle-class neighborhood like Mount Washington endured 31 foreclosures in 2010, while North Avondale witnessed 43 foreclosures a year prior. Between 2006 and 2010 in the city of Cincinnati, 6,731 homeowners underwent foreclosure.

Full story is available on Cincinnati.com