from repstein.vodpod.com

The 15-year fixed-rate also rose, averaging 5.79% this week, up from 5.78%. The mortgage averaged 5.89% a year ago. Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.90%, up from 5.89% average. The ARM averaged 5.96% a year ago.  Clich here to read the rest!

What to do when your mortgage is underwater and you can’t pay.

By Lew Sichelman

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Question: What do I do when I owe a $450,000 first mortgage, a second at $115,000 and new houses he same as mine are selling for $500,000? I owe two months on the first and two months on the second, and I cannot pay. What do I do?
Answer: Your situation, and that of thousands of other folks like you, is serious. You are, indeed, in dire straights. You are “under water” by $65,000, not including your selling costs. And you’ll probably have to take less than $500,000 to sell quickly or beat the competition. But all hope is not lost, at least not yet.

You should contact your lenders right away. If you are like most folks, you aren’t answering the lenders’ mail or returning their phone calls. Most think they don’t need to speak with their lenders about their situations, or think they can take care of their problems, if they recognize them as such, without involving the lender.
But a large percentage also believe their lenders can’t or won’t be any help, or are simply too embarrassed or scared to ring them up. But all these people are wrong — on all counts.  Click here to read the rest!

According to the most recent outlook from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, those who heat their homes with heating oil could see heating costs rise 25.6% this winter, compared with last winter. Those who use propane could see their costs rise 20.2%, and those who use natural gas could see a 10.7% rise.

Those estimates could change with the weather, said Jonathan Cogan, energy information specialist at the Energy Information Administration. A warmer than expected winter could drive costs down, while a colder one could boost them up even more.

But people who aren’t willing to gamble with Mother Nature might want to consider home improvements that will help keep costs down this year as the weather gets chilly.

Sometimes the hardest part about making those improvements is deciding how to select and prioritize the projects, said Maria Vargas, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman for the government’s Energy Star program. Click here to read the rest!