The Value of Building Home Equity

There are numerous advantages to owning a home. One of the serious advantages is the equity that is built over time. As equity builds, you create a pool of money to access in trying times.

Home Equity

Equity is simply the value of a property after all debts have been deducted. If your home appraises at $500,000 with a home loan of $250,000, you have $250,000 in equity. Whether you realize it or not, this equity can get you through hard times or provide you with a funding resource. Let's look at some examples.

Emergency

If you get through life without any family or financial emergencies, you are one lucky person. Unfortunately, most people aren't so lucky. Home equity can provide a financial cushion when life gets hard. You can use it to pay medical bills, legal fees and any other expenses that arise from your particular problem. You will be extremely thankful you purchased a home if you ever run into this situation.

Education

If you've ever watched "The Simpsons," you may have seen the episode where Bart and Homer go camping. Bart tells Homer a scary story, but you only see the end of it and Homer screaming in terror. The words Bart whispers are, "?and that's how much it will cost to send Maggie [baby] to college." It is a very funny scene until you, a parent, actually investigate the cost of college tuition. Trust me, nightmares will soon follow.

Home equity can put an end to college tuition nightmares. You can borrow against the equity to pay college expenses. As with an emergency situation, home ownership will give you the ability to pay the bills.

Making the decision to buy a home can be stressful and frightening. As time passes, you will be incredibly happy you made the leap.

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More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.