Proficient Note Buyers - Mortgage Note Buyers, Mortgage Buyers, Owner Held Notes, Real Estate Mortgage Purchases

It sounded like a great idea three months ago: Hand homeowners a $6,500 tax credit to find a new place to live, giving a thrust of energy to the housing market's recovery. So far, people are staying put.

America's total debt load is on pace to top $13 trillion this year, and $22 trillion by 2020 -- and that's just the debt we're counting. What's not being counted: potential debt bombs that don't get factored into most budget analysis.

The mortgage market may have begun to turn: Fewer borrowers fell behind on their payments during the last three months of 2009.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, said Monday afternoon that he won't seek a third term in the Senate -- a major blow to Democrats worried about losses in the midterm elections. "Congress is not operating as it should," Bayh said at a news conference in Indianapolis, adding there's too much partisanship and "the people's business is not getting done."

We're in our late 60s, retired and have a comfortable amount of money in retirement accounts, mostly mutual funds. My husband wants to liquidate most of our holdings and put the proceeds in money market funds, laddered CDs, maybe an annuity, as he fears the political situation will lead to another recession. Is he right?

Follow the funding proposals, which must be backed by the U.S. Congress, and a few key points become clear: jobs and education are in; banks and journeys to the moon are out. Here is a look at some of the winners and losers in the budget for the year starting October 1, based on initial details released by the White House.

Sales of existing U.S. homes plunged more than anticipated in December, showing the dependence of the housing market on a government tax credit.

New York's governor unveiled a painful budget plan Tuesday that slashes services, raises fees and implements some creative actions to close a yawning $7.4 billion fiscal gap. "There are no more easy answers. We cannot keep spending money that we do not have," Paterson said in a written statement.

An expanding slate of duties is stretching the Internal Revenue Service too thin, leading to poor customer service and undermining its ability to collect taxes owed, a government watchdog warned.

The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in November, dropped 16 percent from October to 96.0 after rising for nine straight months. A separate report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed new orders at U.S. factories rose 1.1 percent in November, notching their third straight increase and beating market expectations for a 0.5 percent gain.

The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price index, covering 20 of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation, was unchanged in October, after four consecutive months of gains. The index is down 7.3% from 12 months earlier.

You've probably heard that the restriction barring those earning more than $100,000 from converting a traditional IRA to a Roth will soon be history. This means that as of January, anyone with an IRA can create tax-free income in retirement.

If it's like New York's energy-efficiency plan, homeowners would hire a contractor to do a home audit and perform the work. Soon after, voila, a reimbursement check arrives.

Just 3.6% of lenders reported they had they had eased their mortgage qualifying standards “somewhat” over the past three months. But that was more than wiped out by the 25% who said they had tightened their standards.

Deals are everywhere. But even with such abundance of bargains -- or perhaps because of it -- it's easy to go overboard or make other spending mistakes. Avoid these 10 missteps to stretch your holiday dollars further this year.

The government is engaged in a far-reaching - and expensive - effort to rescue the economy. Here's how you can keep tabs on the bailouts.

Short sales and foreclosures can seem like great bargains, but hassles and hidden costs may make these unconventional purchases more trouble than they’re worth.

Fewer people are underwater on their mortgages -- further evidence that the real estate free-fall may be slowing.

Negotiations about whether and how to extend and expand the tax credit for homebuyers are moving quickly. Here are the latest developments.

With the November 30 expiration of the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit fast approaching, the wrangling in Washington over whether to extend the program is getting mighty interesting.

Detroit's four-figure home prices are unusual, but investors around the country think foreclosed houses are too cheap to pass up. How to tell a great deal from a money pit.

New data suggest that foreclosures are rising in more expensive housing markets. Rising foreclosures among more-expensive homes could create added pressure for a housing market that has shown signs of stabilizing in recent months as sales of lower-priced homes pick up.

Whether they can't sell or are waiting for the market to rebound before they try, more people are collecting rent to help pay the mortgage. It's a less-than-ideal situation for most of them.

A majority of U.S. consumers say they have permanently changed their spending and savings habits in response to the global financial markets crash and recession, according to a Citigroup survey released on Friday.

High U.S. unemployment keeps pushing up the rate of mortgage delinquencies, which could in turn drive personal bankruptcies and home foreclosures, monthly data from the Equifax Inc credit bureau showed on Monday.

Small businesses have shed an estimated 1.6 million jobs this year. That leaves the remaining staffers to pick up the workload left behind -- and even bosses are pitching in.

Would panic prevail? That was the question gripping the world in the days surrounding the fall of Lehman Brothers on Sept. 15, 2008. One year after that terrifying Monday, the people who struggled to cope with the financial crisis share what they were thinking as chaos broke out.

"As soon as they can clear health care off the plate, it will be taxes, taxes, taxes," said Anne Mathias, director of research at Concept Capital's Washington Research Group.

An innovative program allows cash-strapped patients to swap skills and services to reduce what they owe.

Down the drain: $1.2 trillion. That's half of the $2.2 trillion the United States spends on health care each year, according to the most recent data from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute.

"There really are two reasons why you'd have vacancies: supply-related and demand-related. A number of these places have experienced substantial overbuilding, which would lead you to have supply issues. Others, with troubled local economies, are more demand-related."

The bad news about state budgets just keeps getting worse. Only three weeks into the new fiscal year, gaps are already opening up. And the shortfalls are only expected to grow.

The U.S. housing market is showing signs of stabilization, according to inventory data released on Monday by national real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

Many economists say weak June jobs and retail sales aren't reason to give up on hopes for a solid bounce back later this year.

Rough patches happen to everyone. Just make sure your finances don't get tripped up, too.

Four months after President Barack Obama pledged $275 billion to shore up home sales, the engine that powered every U.S. recovery since 1960 is stalled.

President Barack Obama said a new agency he proposed this week as part of an overhaul of U.S. financial regulations will protect consumers from deceptive lending practices.

It's tough for buyers to find financing and hard for sellers to find buyers. A solution that can work well for both is renting with an option to buy.

As you've heard us and others report, the U.S. economy, more so than other worldwide economies, is dependent on spending decisions made by consumers. Consumer behavior drives spending habits, spending habits drive corporate profitability, and corporate profitability drives the stock market.

You gave them everything. Now you wish you hadn't? Well, it's not too late to teach them the value of money.

The home price slide accelerated during the first three months of 2009, according to a report issued Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price index, a bellwether of real-estate market direction, plunged a record 19.1% during the quarter compared with the first three months of 2008. That followed an 18.2% drop last quarter.

A software entrepreneur's startup aims to make personal finance an educational cornerstone for America's teens.

The White House on Monday pushed up its forecast for the U.S. budget deficit for this year by $89 billion, reflecting the recession, a raft of new unemployment claims and corporate bailouts.

The Obama administration lost a bid to add a powerful weapon in its fight against foreclosure Thursday, after the Senate voted down a proposal to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages.

A record 19.1 million homes stood unoccupied in the first quarter and the U.S. homeownership rate fell as the recession sapped demand for real estate.

So is this just a really, really bad year? Or the end of capitalism as we know it? These days it's all too easy to imagine almost anything happening to the economy. And to you.

For many people, the most shocking aspect of the financial crisis is that something of this scale could happen at all. Wasn't it just a couple of years ago that the rise of globalization - and the growing sophistication of financial markets - offered the promise of perpetually low inflation, cheap money, and fat returns?

Finding a safe place for your money sounds easy enough. But you can do better by picking the right cash accounts for your goals.

More U.S. consumers have fallen behind on loan payments than ever before, and the problem may worsen as millions more find themselves out of a job, a study released Thursday shows.

Even with more credit-worthy applicants seeking loans, banks are reluctant to give them the money, despite near record low mortgage rates.

President Barack Obama said on Monday that he wants to block the $165 million in bonuses paid to senior executives of American International Group.

Bankruptcy judges could cut the mortgage debt of homeowners in bankruptcy court as a last resort to avert foreclosure, under a bill approved by a 234-191 vote Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A refundable first-time homebuyer tax credit of up to $8,000 is the centerpiece of four housing incentives found in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

In a moribund housing market, success means bleeding less than others. The latest S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index shows a record 18.5% drop from the previous year. Is your city in the pits or relatively stable?

Don't have a job? Struggling to keep up with payments on a home worth less than half the mortgage? Owe way more than your home's value, but can still afford the payments? Sorry, but you likely aren't among the 9 million people who may get help under President Obama's $75 billion foreclosure prevention program.

The National Association of Realtors reports that home prices dropped a record 12.4% in the final quarter of 2008 - the biggest decline in 30 years.

Coming up with a retirement plan involves many factors -- but don't let recent market performance affect your long-term strategy.

Real estate values around the nation have collapsed, and sales of foreclosed and "underwater" homes now dominate many housing markets, according to a report released Tuesday.

The government will soon report just how bad the economy was at the end of 2008. And there's a growing fear that the first quarter won't be much better.

The U.S. is facing an “economic Pearl Harbor” that has spread fear throughout the country, billionaire investor Warren Buffett told Tom Brokaw in an interview broadcast yesterday on Dateline NBC.

People still want to live in safe, stable neighborhoods where services abound, schools are decent and they are surrounded by educated, caring neighbors. To many people, that’s an intangible and worthwhile investment.

What can you do to speed the sale of your home in a down market? We asked more than two dozen real estate agents and home builders for their best tips.

Subsidies and taxes, for good or bad, are usually implemented to achieve an outcome presently not revealing itself due to natural market forces. But when it comes to housing, history shows any governmental efforts meant to achieve greater ownership were superfluous at best.

We don't know whether to laugh or cry. Our annual list of the year's most laughable moves proves that, even in moments of crisis, stupidity lives on.

You know the financial outlook is glum when the mortgage brokers who arrange loans have quit paying their own debts.

The government has been trying to stabilize the housing market for over a year with no luck. Here are three fresh ideas from the private sector that just might work.

Selling a home in this market is hard enough. Competing in a neighborhood flooded with foreclosed homes that are heavily discounted is nearly impossible.

The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, making official what most Americans have already believed about the state of the economy .

Home resales in the U.S. dropped in October and prices fell by the most on record, signaling a deepening housing recession going into 2009.

If you read nothing else about the housing market for the next six months, read this article. It encapsulates everything yours truly has been blogging about for the past year.

Forget the old saw that all real estate is local. What's pummeling housing prices in your neighborhood is the same thing that's hurting them around the country: the credit crisis.

Congratulations Mr. President-elect. Now get to work. It's a little more than 10 weeks until Jan. 20, and there's an economy in dire need of fixing.

Mark-to-market is a business rarity -- an accounting term that draws reactions from people who don't know spreadsheets from bedsheets. Mark-to-market, which we'll call MTM, evokes images of Enron's made-up profits and the other corporate scandals that marred the first years of this decade. Not pretty.

Nearly a fifth of U.S. borrowers owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth - and that number is growing.

In the midst of the financial crisis, more and more Americans are filing for bankruptcy. And experts say the numbers are likely to get worse.

Employees at Moody's Investors Service told executives that issuing dubious creditworthy ratings to mortgage-backed securities made it appear they were incompetent or ``sold our soul to the devil for revenue.''

It can take years for nest eggs to recover from heavy investment losses. But time is something baby boomers -- the oldest of whom turned 62 this year -- just don't have enough of.

The relentless slide in home prices has left nearly one in six U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage than the home is worth, raising the possibility of a rise in defaults, the very misfortune that touched off the credit crisis last year.

Rather than being contained by the emergency government action taken to date, the credit crisis has gone viral. Here's how it is affecting us all.

Investors who look at a brokerage or 401(k) account balance these days may well want to yank every last cent out of the markets. Unless they need that money soon, they ought to stifle that urge.

Though the devil's in the details of the emerging government response to the collapse on Wall Street, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge. Here are answers to some common questions about what it means for homeowners, consumers and taxpayers.

At the heart of today's economic crisis is the continued rapid decline in home prices at the national level. For not only do falling home prices erode the main source of the average American's wealth and financial security, they also compromise the solvency of our banking system.

Loans in foreclosure have doubled over the past year, while delinquency rates continue to soar.

It's a buyer's market, and many are trying to take full advantage of it by demanding major home repairs, warranties on home appliances, and even tax rebates.

Survey of top economists finds inflation concerns closing fast on credit market woes as top threat to economy.

Values have fallen so far in many cities that sale prices don't cover what sellers originally paid. That means more hard times before markets recover.

Sure, there are bargains to be had, but there are also plenty of pitfalls awaiting anyone brave enough to wade into real estate's maelstrom. Here's what to consider.

The Justice Department is going after real estate fraud. The 400-plus people charged nationwide racked up $1 billion in losses. Here's what they are finding.

"They are still not showing a downward trend," said Christian Menegatti, U.S. lead analyst at RGEMonitor.com, an economic research and consulting group. "That's the bad news. The numbers are telling us that prices have to fall more."

They took the stove, the refrigerator, the cabinets, everything, including the kitchen sink!

The IndyMac failure will take a chunk out of the fund the FDIC has to insure deposits. But bank experts aren't worried about it running out of money.

With mortgage lenders requiring down payments of 20 percent, the average household, which puts away less than 1 percent of after- tax pay, will have to save 10 percent for 10 years to buy a home.

As rumors of big mortgage companies' collapse swirl, many Americans are unable to find affordable home loans.

How is your local real estate market doing? Find out by clicking the link to find current data on 381 markets nationwide.

The news that housing starts have fallen to their lowest level in 17 years sounds like one more reason to be depressed about the shrinking value of your home. In fact, it's an almost certain sign that the path to a housing recovery is finally in sight.

A squeeze on tax revenues could force local leaders to cut tens of thousands of more jobs. That could add to the nation's economic woes.

More people are looking to live closer to work and shopping, and find relocating saves them hundreds of dollars a month in gas.

Sky-high gasoline prices aren't just raising the cost of Eugene Marino's 120-mile round-trip to his job in the Washington, D.C. area. They're reducing his wealth, too.

The white bus with the magnetic sign saying ``Long Island Foreclosure Tours'' pulled up to a small home in East Meadow, Long Island, and spilled out its cargo: a dozen homebuyers looking to save $100,000 or more.

During the first quarter of 2008, inflated U.S. home prices got hit by the law of gravity. We're talking the largest year-over-year plunge in twenty years, and the sobering reality is that experts are saying the market isn't yet near bottom.

Demand for new homes collapsed last year. Next up could be a similar drop in the rest of the construction market -- and that could be the latest drag on an already sputtering U.S. economy.

Whether you're buying or selling, the real estate game has changed. To win, you've got to learn a new playbook.

Are you really serious about selling your home in this market? Then be prepared to try anything - and everything.

Not only are lenders (slowly) concluding it was risky to have borrowers overloaded with debt, they are also seeing, in the recent tide of foreclosures, evidence that when homeowners have none of their own money tied up in a house, it's emotionally and financially easy for them to walk away. They "were homeowners, but they really weren't homeowners..."

A growing majority say they won't buy a home anytime soon, the latest sign of increasing pessimism about the nation's housing crisis, a poll showed Monday.

"I think we are a ways from the bottom -- and a long way from any indicators that would even hint at an upturn,"

"I think we are a ways from the bottom -- and a long way from any indicators that would even hint at an upturn."

These days, bankers and mortgage companies often find that by the time they get the keys back, embittered homeowners have stripped out appliances, punched holes in walls, dumped paint on carpets and, as a parting gift, locked their pets inside to wreak further havoc.

What started in subprime is likely to continue cascading into the markets and keep the economy down until 2010, economist Paul Krugman forecasts. Bottom line for homeowners: An average drop of 25%.

A problem with risky mortgages has led to a global financial crisis. The bigger issue: Experts don't know when it will end.

"Some of the street's biggest lenders started to pull in their credit lines very quickly. It has been a selective but noticeable process and that is because the banks themselves are in trouble."

Mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures will continue to rise for a while longer and further declines in house prices are likely, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday.

2007 year-end results are in and the news is bad: Major housing markets were down even more than anticipated.

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) is urging the federal savings and loans lenders under its authority to refinance loans by reducing mortgage balances to the current market values of the homes. Thanks to falling home prices, many homeowners are now stuck with mortgages that are actually worth more than the houses themselves.

Plans for sweeping government bailouts and wholesale rewriting of mortgage terms that were unthinkable at the start of the U.S. housing crisis are gaining traction as other efforts to stabilize the market fall short.

When Mary Kamanu paid $409,000 for a house in Folsom, California, she never imagined that three years later it would be worth about 20 percent less and she would have to pay the bank more than $80,000 just to sell the place.

The economy and the markets may be in for a hard fall. Here's how you and your family can land safely.

More and more borrowers are watching their house values sink while the cost of their loans skyrockets. What to do? Skip out on the mortgage all together.

Why home prices could drop 25% more on average before the market finally hits bottom

Authorities in economically stressed cities see an increase in torched houses. Is the nation's mortgage mess transforming more Americans into criminals?

The risk of foreclosure is on a rapid rise nationally and, with a possible recession at hand, this spike in mortgage-defaults could last for years.

Prices of homes sold in December registered the biggest year-over-year decline on record, according to an industry trade group, and 2007 is the first year on record that has seen a drop. A report issued Thursday showed the problems in the housing market have not yet bottomed out.

The worst housing financial crisis in decades is only going to get worse, a Merrill Lynch report said Wednesday. The investment bank forecasted a 15 percent drop in housing prices in 2008 and a further 10 percent drop in 2009, with even more depreciation likely in 2010.

Stocks fell sharply worldwide on Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. government's stimulus plan to prevent a recession.

More than three out of four Americans believe that a recession has already started or will hit in '08. Half have cut their spending, which could make a slowdown worse.

Sometimes the only way to stop a snowballing problem is to go back to the top of the hill and find out what started it.

Even a few months ago, it seemed like a good idea to hold a debate between real estate bulls and bears. But with home sales spiraling and the outlook getting gloomier, it was hard to find a single optimist at a recent panel discussion on the forecast for the housing market.

Lennar Corp.'s November sale of 11,000 properties in eight states set a price that may mark the bottom for the U.S. housing market: 40 cents on the dollar.

Contracts to sell existing homes fell in November and there could be darker days ahead for home values, which are expected to post their biggest decline on record this quarter as a full-year rebound in prices now isn't expected until 2009.

The Bush administration is working to combat the country's severe housing crisis but there is no simple solution, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday, adding that a correction in the housing market is "inevitable and necessary."

Consumer bankruptcy filings rose 40% in 2007 as housing-market turmoil and increasing consumer debt levels led more people to seek protection from creditors.

Americans are falling further behind on consumer loans, with late payments rising to the highest level since the nation's last recession in 2001.

Market strategists expect a volatile year for stocks and that the housing market will swoon. Sound familiar?

Michigan and Ohio share something with Florida and California - some of the nation's highest rates of foreclosed homes and delinquent mortgages. But the reasons for their woes are as different as their climates.

More than 1 of every 3 workers at retirement age in the 2050s will have nothing saved in a 401(k)-style account, according to a government study.

Instead of panicking and dumping stock funds in a downturn, be cool and rethink your strategy.

More trouble looms for the nation's battered housing market next year, even as the pace of home sales inched up in October from the depths of this summer's mortgage meltdown.

Your gut instinct may tell you it is not being able to make the mortgage payments. Even though we have been inundated with media coverage about this, the truth is: The main driver of foreclosures is the change in real estate prices.

According to new home price data released yesterday, homeowners in at least 17 states lost money in the housing market over the last 12 months as home prices declined. California had a double-digit decrease; Florida and Nevada were not far behind.

Consumer confidence fell more than forecast in November as Americans struggled with surging fuel costs and falling home prices.

This useful tool provides the forecasted price changes in real estate for 379 markets nationwide. Check it out.

(Fortune Magazine) That's the question homeowners are asking in the midst of the worst real estate slump in decades. Our exclusive calculations can help you figure out what your house will be worth in coming years.

As housing markets deteriorated over the summer, and a liquidity squeeze buffeted credit markets, delinquencies and defaults jumped. And now one forecast predicts that these numbers will climb even higher over the next six months.

Our efforts stay focused on note holders. If you are a note finder, a note broker, or anyone other than the actual note holder, please do not contact us.