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It seems that mortgage servicers aren’t satisfying anyone these days.- advertisement -

Homeowners get fed up when they try to work something out with their servicers, to no avail. Real estate agents complain that mortgage companies drag their heels on short sales. Regulators are restless about the lack of “meaningful improvement in foreclosure prevention outcomes.”

If there’s a lesson for foreclosure-avoiding consumers, it is this: Be patient, don’t take mortgage servicers’ actions personally and be ready to send paperwork multiple times.

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Whether you’re a homebuyer, seller or an owner, you probably have one central question about this market: Where are prices headed from here?- advertisement -

You can gain some insight into the pricing puzzle by focusing not just on home values, but on rental rates.

Housing economists have long used a home price/rent ratio as one way to gauge whether or not home prices are inflated or undervalued.

Moreover, on a very practical level, relating home prices to rents can give you a more detailed view of whether there’s a financial payoff to homeowning, says Gary Smith, Pomona College professor and co-author of “Houseonomics.”

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Today’s financial maelstrom has consumers fleeing to safe havens to park their hard-earned cash. One place that’s largely been off the radar for most folks is the neighborhood credit union.- advertisement -

These relatively small financial institutions have long been perceived as antiquated and unable to provide the same services as banks, but just the opposite is true.

“Today’s credit unions provide the full cornucopia of services that banks provide,” says Fred Becker, president of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. “They are fully open for business.”

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Nina Smith was among those who obtained, but never tapped, her HELOC. Instead, Smith — who owns properties in Nevada and California — thought having an open line of credit for a home she uses as a rental investment in Phoenix would be a smart way to access cash in case of some big emergency.

“Obviously, I have plenty of savings and investments, but I like to have someplace where I have cash that’s liquid. It’s my backup to my backup,” says Smith.

Not anymore. In February, Smith was among 122,000 borrowers who got letters from Countrywide Lending informing her that she couldn’t use her credit line after all.

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It’s not just homes that are being taken away these days — cars are also being repossessed at startling rates.- advertisement -

Today’s all-too-frequent recipe for hard times — resetting mortgages, increasing foreclosures, declining home prices and soaring prices for food and fuel — is now peppered with increasing numbers of consumers falling behind on car payments.

Thomas Webb, chief economist at Manheim Consulting, a wholesale vehicle auction operator, says 1,505,000 vehicles were repossessed in 2007, a 10 percent increase over 2006. He predicts another 10 percent increase in repossessions during 2008, sending repo numbers to one of the highest levels in a decade.

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Whether you’re buying a home or refinancing an existing home loan, you’ll soon find out that lenders today are a picky and demanding bunch when it comes to loan approvals. Even well-qualified borrowers are expected to jump through some pretty high hoops to qualify for financing. - advertisement -

But fear not: These tips and suggestions can help you make the best possible impression on the lender of your choice.

Just as job-hunters may wonder what top employers want to see on a resume, prospective borrowers may be curious about what lenders look for on a loan application.

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The sound of the B-52s — quirky, cutting, dance-a-riffic — was not just perky and fun, but always very much of its time. It’s hard to hear “Rock Lobster” or “Dance This Mess Around” without being transported to the days of bizarre new-wave hair and ’80s fashions; by the same token, “Roam” and “Love Shack” are equally transporting to their own era.- advertisement -

So it wasn’t that surprising to learn that the band — Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson and Keith Strickland — had gone 16 years without recording. When news emerged, then, that the band was finally going to release a new record, the curiosity factor was high.

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It’s a common misconception, but in fact, the FHA is not a lender. Nor does the FHA give people money to buy a home or set interest rates on home loans. Rather, the FHA, or Federal Housing Administration, is a federal government agency that offers mortgage insurance on loans originated by lenders that are approved by the agency. This insurance protects the lender in case the borrower defaults on the loan.- advertisement -

The FHA was set up in 1934 after the Great Depression and is a division of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. FHA-insured loans enjoyed decades of popularity, but then fell out of favor during the recent housing boom in part because lenders began to offer subprime loans that had artificially low initial interest rates and monthly payments. These subprime loans have since proved disastrous. As a result, lenders have tightened their credit standards and borrowers have flocked to the comparative safety and familiarity of FHA-insured loans.

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As the FDIC mops up the mess that was once IndyMac Bank, consumers are left with unpleasant images of long lines of worried customers waiting to get their uninsured deposits back. There was approximately $1 billion in uninsured deposits spread among consumers, businesses and nonprofit organizations.- advertisement -

The sad reality for those customers is that they’re getting $0.50 on the dollar for their excess deposits. Anything they get above that will be determined by the sale of IndyMac assets. You can bet many individuals had substantial amounts of money not covered by FDIC insurance and may end up losing at least a quarter of their funds.

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The politics of housing have changed in four years.- advertisement -

In 2004, George W. Bush campaigned on a platform of increasing homeownership, especially among minorities. He wanted the government to insure zero-down payment mortgages. “In changing times, ownership can bring stability to your lives,” Bush told a rally in Michigan.

It turns out that homeownership brought instability to the lives of people who bought houses when they weren’t ready. Perhaps as a result, Bush’s potential replacements aren’t running on a platform of extending homeownership. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., both offer proposals to let homeowners keep what they have. They have modest goals, born of the bitter experience of the mortgage meltdown.

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Whether you are just starting out or already in retirement, you may not be comfortable with recent market swings. That means your risk tolerance likely is low. Young investors should try to get accustomed to risk. They can capitalize on down markets by dollar-cost averaging, which enables them to buy fund shares on the cheap. Older investors can mitigate risk by limiting exposure to the stock market and making wise bond purchase decisions.- advertisement -

Bankrate’s article, “Managing retirement savings in down markets,” applies to investors of all ages. Below I offer age-specific advice to help you make savvy decisions about retirement investing under all market conditions.

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