Home Equity

Second in a series of articles "Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today. " -- Herman Wouk Deducting the interest you pay on your home mortgage is one of the big tax benefits available to American homeowners. If you have a mortgage, by the end of this month your lender will send you a Form 1098, which tells you how much interest you paid in 2008. When you do your taxes, that number goes on Line 10 of Schedule A of Form 1040.

The retirement prospects of Americans are slipping for the first time in generations, according to a report released Thursday, adding a new voice to those warning that future retirees face the risk of downward mobility when they leave the workforce. The report by the Pew Charitable Trusts said that Americans born after 1955 are carrying more debt than the generations that came before them, putting them in danger of not having enough savings to maintain their standard of living in retirement.

Here's a conundrum. Our society encourages homeownership — it's the American dream ! —in a variety of ways. But it also encourages us to load up our homes with debt, which, as the financial crisis vividly demonstrated, can result in the loss of homeownership. It's time for us to choose: a home as a societal ideal or a home as a cash machine. Over the past few decades, banks have spent billions marketing home equity lines of credit. This changed the image of such loans from a socially unacceptable sign of financial distress —...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama held assets last year that were worth between $1.8 million and nearly $7 million, according to federal financial disclosure forms the White House released Wednesday. Required by law, the forms allow public officials to list their assets in broad ranges, such as between $1 million and $5 million, which makes it difficult to determine a precise net worth. Obama signed the eight-page report Tuesday and the White House...

Rebecca Malik started an online contemporary furniture store in June, and already she is thinking of expanding it. "We've been trying to ramp it up and get it going," she said. Among the changes she is considering: beefing up the marketing budget and the inventory. But she is wondering how to go about financing it. She and her husband, Raj, an in-house counsel for an information technology company, think that taking a home equity line of credit against their Dupont Circle two-bedroom condo could be a good option.

An increase in consumer complaints over the cancellation or reduction of home equity lines of credit has prompted one federal banking regulator to remind financial institutions about the laws governing this type of loan. The Office of Thrift Supervision, which supervises savings associations and their holding companies, has warned institutions that if they curtail or terminate a home equity line of credit, the action must comply with federal laws and rules designed to protect customers, including regulations covered in the...

With all the bad news about underwater homeowners and strategic walkaways, you might think that American homeowners' equity holdings are in the tank. But the least-publicized recent statistic on real estate is that, despite these scary reports, home equity is again on the rise. Is that some piece of rosy propaganda put out by housing lobbyists to stimulate more home buying? Not unless you consider Federal Reserve economists to be shills for the real estate industry. The Fed conducts massive research...

(Second of two articles) When an investor offers you $50,000 or $100,000 in exchange for 30 percent to 50 percent of your home's future appreciation, is it a good deal? That's what some investment firms are promoting as an alternative to traditional home equity loans, lines of credit and reverse mortgages. The companies argue that sharing future increases in value is a superior way to convert current equity into spendable money now because there are no monthly payments or interest charges, fees are...

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. What does this mean to you personally? Depending on where you own your home, it might mean that finally — after years of struggling with an underwater mortgage — the market value of your...

The retirement prospects of Americans are slipping for the first time in generations, according to a report released Thursday, adding a new voice to those warning that future retirees face the risk of downward mobility when they leave the workforce. The report by the Pew Charitable Trusts said that Americans born after 1955 are carrying more debt than the generations that came before them, putting them in danger of not having enough savings to maintain their standard of living in retirement.

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. What does this mean to you personally? Depending on where you own your home, it might mean that finally — after years of struggling with an underwater mortgage — the market value of your property has risen enough...

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 underway for real estate. Start with homeowners' equity. It's growing again significantly, following five years of declines and stagnation. This is a huge piece of good news that hasn't received the attention it deserves. After hitting a low of $6.45 trillion in the final three months of 2011, Americans' combined home equity...

If you have a pressing need to raise some cash, here's some good news: Rising home values are encouraging lenders to revive a product that imploded during the housing bust years: second mortgages. Researchers at Equifax, one of the three national credit bureaus, say total outstanding balances of residential second mortgages at banks rose in the latest month for the first time in nearly five years. Though the jump was relatively small — about three-tenths of 1 percent — analysts say any...

Call it the political elephant in the room: 1.2 million families across the country are now at some stage of foreclosure, 3.8 million homeowners have been foreclosed upon since September 2008, 11.4 million are underwater on their mortgages, $6.5 trillion in home equity has been lost by owners since 2005. Home building and sales are intimately linked with job creation, yet the subject of housing policy was virtually a no-show in either the Democratic or Republican...

When my grandmother retired after working 25 years as a nursing assistant, she was mortgage-free. It was the achievement of a lifelong goal to reach a certain level of financial independence. However, what happens if you've paid off your mortgage but find that you're house-rich and cash-poor? Many seniors are finding they are cash-poor because of poor money management or through no fault of their own. Job losses and/or unreimbursed medical expenses have wiped out...

The United States is in the midst of a vicious cycle of inequality and recession: Inequality prolongs the downturn, and the downturn exacerbates inequality. Unfortunately, the austerity agenda advocated by conservatives will make matters worse on both counts. The seriousness of America's growing problem of inequality was highlighted by Federal Reserve data released this month showing the recession's devastating effect on the wealth and income of those at the bottom and in the middle.

As Prepared for Delivery -- Good afternoon. I want to start by thanking a few of the folks who've joined us today. We've got the mayor of Osawatomie, Phil Dudley; your superintendent, Gary French; the principal of Osawatomie High, Doug Chisam. And I've brought your former governor, who's now doing an outstanding job as our Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. It is great to be back in the state of Kansas. As many of you know, I've got roots here. I'm sure you're all familiar...

It's called "phantom income" — money you never received but still have to pay income tax on. The law is clear: If you owe money and your lender forgives or cancels that debt, with but a few exceptions, that is a taxable event. This aspect of our tax law is important for anyone whose home has been foreclosed upon or has been sold under a short-sale arrangement , because that is where your debt is technically canceled. Example: You owed your lender $250,000, and the home was sold for $230,000.

Q: I have a house. The original mortgage I took out was for $110,000 at 7.5 percent, and I still owe $37,000. My problem is that no one will refinance the $37,000. They all want to do a much bigger loan for over $100,000. I do not want to do that. Can I take out a home equity loan to pay off the $37,000 at a lower interest rate? Will I save money if I do that? I've been in the house for 23 years. I have already refinanced the loan once and still have 10 years to go. A: If you only have 10 years to...

I recently attended the National Association of Realtors legislative meetings and trade expo in Washington. More than 14,000 real estate agents in the organization rallied on Capitol Hill, urging lawmakers to "protect the American dream" of homeownership. Not surprising, the Realtors advocate maintaining the status quo on four tax code provisions. These legislative positions, though helping the members, are anything but "we-win-you-lose" propositions. Here's how the four...