| Will people stop spending if their homes are worth less?
Subprime lenders, who market to homebuyers with low credit ratings, have been in distress nationwide and in Texas. Some have gone out of business or scaled back operations. "We're going to see about a 10 percent correction in our business over the next two months," said Kevin Miller, chief executive of TexasLending.com, a mortgage banker in Dallas that does about 25 percent of its business in subprime loans. Subprime loans account for about 13 percent of residential mortgages in Texas, and nearly 16 percent of those are past due. The percentage of such loans in foreclosure in Texas rose to 4.3 percent at the end of December, compared with 4.1 percent at the end of September. The situation in Texas is apt to get worse before it gets better, analysts said.
High price to pay for a foot on property ladder
Properties in this area are going for 20%-25% above the asking price," the estate agent at our first flat viewing told us. "But this one is so desirable, it could go for anything." Desirable? Up to a point. It was all right if you had oxygen for the climb to the top floor. The sitting room looked on to a wall; and the kitchen was so narrow I had to reverse out of it. She was right, of course. It did go for anything - and add a bit. Ours was the bottom bid. I say "ours" euphemistically. It is our grown-up children who are trying to put a toe on the property ladder. Accompanying them on this so far fruitless voyage has been a revelation. .
Dad finds out pitfalls of co-signing mortgage
Q: About two years ago, I helped my daughter (then age 23) buy a one-bedroom condo by co-signing with her on her mortgage. She was fresh out of college with a good job at an accounting firm. About 18 months ago, she foolishly quit that well-paying job because she didn't like her boss. Since then, she hasn't been able to find another job paying as well. As a result, she is now three months behind on her mortgage payments, plus the monthly condo fees. I didn't know about this until I recently applied for a car loan, and the dealer told me I was three months late on my mortgage payments and my FICO score is now only about 600. This was news to me, as I always had a good FICO score over 700. Now I learned from my daughter the mortgage lender has started foreclosure. What can I do? How can I get my name off the title? -- Andrew S.
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