NuWire INVESTOR(investing)

The Federal Finance Housing Agency, which oversees the government conservatorship of lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has announced a program wherein it will package and sell foreclosed homes at a discount to investors who agree to convert the properties into rentals for a set term of years...

Republican presidential candidate and front-runner Mitt Romney has won the Nevada caucus, but critics were quick to note his strategy of sidestepping the state’s dire housing market situation. Nevada leads the U.S. in foreclosures and in Las Vegas 70% of current borrowers are underwater on their...

Distressed sales including short sales and bank-owned property transactions helped to drive down U.S. residential real estate prices for the fifth year in a row. Core Logic reports that prices dropped an average of 4.7% across the nation, although when distressed sales were left out of the equation...

It used to be that franchises were born in a brick-and-mortar establishment, with historical examples that include McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts and KFC. Now, home-based franchises are becoming more popular – and more successful. As of 2007, more than half of U.S. businesses were home-based...

DataQuick reports that Las Vegas home sales increased for the sixth consecutive month in December, with both resale home and new homes seeing improvement. The majority of transactions occurred for homes priced less than $200,000, with 42% of all deals inked in the month falling under $100,000. Distressed...

Some prospective homebuyers in Portugal who are having trouble securing a bank loan now have the option of getting funding from the property developer. Portuguese property agent Infinito Real reports that some borrowers are being given the opportunity to finance with the developer, typically for a short...

Entrepreneurs and startups are always looking for financing, and “crowdsourcing” – using the Internet to establish large groups of small-budget investors – is a hot trend. Unfortunately, current law prevents a lot of crowdsourcing from taking place. The Entrepreneur Access to...

The largely unsuccessful Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which was designed to help ease the loan burdens of struggling homeowners, is getting yet another boost from American taxpayers on orders from the U.S. Treasury. The plan is to use TARP funds to triple the incentives to lenders &ndash...

Citigroup is the latest lender among major banks to announce it will stop accepting broker-originated mortgages, meaning the bank will now only deal in loans it makes directly to homebuyers. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America previously chose this strategy, with all banks reasoning that broker-originated...

It’s no secret that Google has global ambitions for all of its products, evidenced by the 149 languages available in its interface and country-specific content, but bugs still remain in the functionality of Google Apps for Businesses for the international business traveler. One tester put the...

Europe has been struck by cold weather and that means more burst pipes for landlords and tenants in the United Kingdom (UK). The Landlord Syndicate, an organization that provides support services to UK landlords, notes that insurance claims for burst pipes increased 900% last winter, and provides advice...

New statistics from Australian Property Monitors indicates home prices in Melbourne edged up 1.1% in the final quarter of 2011, while prices in Sydney remained neutral. Analysts are interpreting the numbers as good news moving into 2012 when combined with increased housing affordability, inexpensive...

There has been very little good to report in recent news regarding the U.S. housing market, but vacation- and investment-home purchases may change that. New studies from the National Association of Realtors indicate that buying a second home could mean big savings and a great investment for some. Many...

The European Union (EU) came very close to a consensus on how to build a framework for a fiscal union and the news helped to boost currencies against the U.S. dollar, despite holdouts in the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic as well as growing uncertainty about the future of Greece. Even so, the...

There are a lot of small changes restaurants can make that can result in big differences in profits if done consistently and correctly. Fast-food restaurants should focus on face-to-face upselling as well as balancing the right amount of upsell signage with verbal customer interaction. In casual eateries...

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that sales were down 2.2% for new homes in December from the previous month, with a seasonally adjusted decrease of 7.3% from the same time last year. NAR economists have called on the federal government to make U.S. housing a policy priority, arguing...

All major phone company companies enjoy advertising the global capability of their service, but anyone who has tried to place an international or local calls abroad has likely experienced dropped calls, exorbitant fees or both. Now, a small startup in the United Kingdom called Tru is offering a solution...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors most recent Global Commercial Property Survey shows that Europe’s commercial property market has struggled to remain competitive with other major global markets, and experts believe the persistent sovereign debt crisis may result in little growth or...

The past few years have proven to be incredible for gold investors, and as a result more and more people are looking for ways to invest in Gold using their IRA and 401(k). The good news is there are many options available to you for investing in Gold using your retirement accounts, but depending on...

Living and working together presents an array of challenges for couples that choose to do it, but it does not mean they can’t be successful. People in this work and living arrangement say that honesty is a critical factor in their success, as is respecting boundaries and personal areas of expertise...