OCHN: Homeowners deduct cheap consumer debt interest while renters pay higher rates

Homeowners convert consumer debt into tax-deductible debt through home equity lines of credit. Since this debt is secured by real estate, homeowners also pay much less for it.

HELOCs are making a comeback! This is great news for Ponzis who want free money from stupid lenders, but it’s a...
Homeowners deduct cheap consumer debt interest while renters pay higher rates

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OCHN: How to earn huge profits on distressed residential properties

Buying distressed residential properties, fixing them up, and holding them through the recovery is a great way to earn huge profits.

I am a big fan of buy-and-hold residential real estate, but that isn’t the only way to make money from this asset class. Home flipping is one extreme, and...
How to earn huge profits on distressed residential properties

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OCHN: Academics prove the desire for free money causes financial manias

Financial bubbles are real. A recent academic study proves people change their behavior when they witness their neighbors making money with little effort.

Everyone wants free money. A new academic paper provides strong evidence that the desire to obtain free money drives the insane behavior in...
Academics prove the desire for free money causes financial manias

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OCHN: Policies that saved the banks deny homeownership to Millennials

By saddling Millennials with copious amounts of student loan debt and by trapping Generation X in overpriced starter homes, Millennials endure too much debt and too little available supply to become homeowners.

The largest generation in American history is not buying homes, and it’s...
Policies that saved the banks deny homeownership to Millennials

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OCHN: The surprising change in buyer behavior caused by the housing bust

With the fear of being priced out gone, would-be home buyers see high prices as a deterrent, not as an incentive to recklessly jump into the market.

Prior to the housing bust, house prices on a national level had not fallen in over 80 years. Even in California where house prices had fallen on...
The surprising change in buyer behavior caused by the housing bust

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Test Post from OC Housing News

Test Post from OC Housing News http://ochousingnews.com/blog

OCHN: The hidden perils of lender policies that suppress housing supply

Saving the banks required reflating the housing bubble, trapping a generation in their starter homes and slowing sales in the housing market.

The reason fewer homeowners than usual list their homes for sale is due primarily to loss mitigation policies at lending institutions. Many homeowners...
The hidden perils of lender policies that suppress housing supply

OCHN: Lenders destabilize housing with failed bubble-era loan products

With memories of the housing bust fading, lenders embrace loan products proven to destabilize housing markets and cause foreclosures and lender losses.


One of the main factors preventing further home price inflation is the lack of down payment savings among the buyer pool. With super low...
Lenders destabilize housing with failed bubble-era loan products

OCHN: The hidden, long-term benefit from the housing bust

Thanks to the housing bust, suburban renters now enjoy a much better selection of houses and neighborhoods to suit their family’s needs.

People often complain the media focuses too much on doom and gloom. Despite this perception, the financial media is almost entirely focused on providing...
The hidden, long-term benefit from the housing bust

OCHN: Forget austerity, housing and the economy need more stimulus

Proponents of austerity predicted a number of dire consequences for fiscal stimulus, but so far, none of them have come to pass.

Have you ever been completely certain about something only later to find out you were completely wrong? Most people won’t admit it, and many people fail to...
Forget austerity, housing and the economy need more stimulus

OCHN: Root cause of California"s housing problems is homeowner greed and hypocrisy

The worst social problem in the most heavily Progressive-dominated political districts is a lack of housing caused by selfishness and greed, two characteristics hypocritical Progressives like to criticize Conservatives for.

California has a housing problem. Anyone who lives in California copes...
Root cause of California"s housing problems is homeowner greed and hypocrisy

OCHN: You pay for failed mortgage innovations with your taxes and your home

When the mortgage industry innovations fail, millions of people lose their homes, and taxpayers fork over billions in bailout aid to foolish lenders and foolish borrowers.

Financial innovation:
Designing a loan program that borrowers won’t repay but lenders and investors will fund.
Most...
You pay for failed mortgage innovations with your taxes and your home

OCHN: We"ve reached a permanently low floor in mortgage interest rates

Mortgage rates will remain low because the banks and the economy can’t accommodate the loss of sales and lower house prices bound to accompany higher rates.

“Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.”
– Irving Fisher, Ph.D. in economics, Oct....
We"ve reached a permanently low floor in mortgage interest rates

OCHN: Politicians designed a future crisis to facilitate mortgage finance reform

Politicians intentionally set up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to fail so they could reform mortgage finance without fear of voter backlash.

You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.
Rahm...
Politicians designed a future crisis to facilitate mortgage finance reform

OCHN: States struggle to help Millennials screwed by inflated house prices

Since high home prices can no longer be overcome by financial innovations in lending, state and local governments are trying their own market manipulations to sustain inflated home prices.

The federal reserve’s zero interest rate policy is fraught with unintended financial consequences. The p...
States struggle to help Millennials screwed by inflated house prices

OCHN: Scummy payday lenders bought the support of Democratic Party Chair

Lobbyists for payday lenders gained the support of the Chair of the Democratic Party in their efforts to rip off the poor and keep them in debt servitude.


Many lenders are contemptible scum, particularly those who make consumer loans to poor people. Payday lenders are the worst of the worst....
Scummy payday lenders bought the support of Democratic Party Chair

OCHN: Raising minimum wage enriches landlords in low-supply housing markets

Competition for limited housing stock will prompt low-income workers to allocate any pay raises to securing better housing, enriching landlords.

Advocates for raising the minimum wage have lofty aspiration. Many working-class Americans barely make ends meet earning minimum wage — and some...
Raising minimum wage enriches landlords in low-supply housing markets

OCHN: Homebuilders painfully transition from move-up sales to entry-level market

Homebuilders change their focus from move-up to entry-level buyers as sales wane in the move-up market and more Millennials buy entry-level homes.


Homebulders typically provide product for all levels of the housing market. However, after the housing bust, most homebuilders completely abandoned...
Homebuilders painfully transition from move-up sales to entry-level market

OCHN: Conforming loan limits inhibit higher home prices

Conforming loan limits create intense buyer competition at under-limit prices and restrict home price increases need to bail out underwater borrowers.

The FHA and the GSEs exist to provide subsidized mortgages to lower- and middle-income Americans. The conforming loan limit is put in place to...
Conforming loan limits inhibit higher home prices

OCHN: Story of a self-reliant Gen-Xer’s first time home purchase

We’ve all read stories about the challenges first-time homebuyers face in today’s market. First-time homebuyer participation is hovering near 30-year lows, and showing little sign of improvement. Rather than describe the effects in another post, I thought it would be informative to...
Story of a self-reliant Gen-Xer’s first time home purchase

OCHN: Why Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States (redux)

The populist revolt brewing is stronger than most realize, and Donald Trump taps into this populist anger better than any other candidate.

With Donald Trumps wins in the Super Tuesday primaries, it’s looking increasingly like he will be the Republican nominee in 2016. Today I repost the...
Why Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States (redux)

OCHN: Will banks can-kick bad loans for as long as it takes?

All delinquent borrowers living in properties worth less than the outstanding balance of the loan will be offered a loan modification in lieu of a foreclosure because the banks can’t absorb the losses.

Prior to the housing bust, lenders always foreclosed on delinquent borrowers — always. T...
Will banks can-kick bad loans for as long as it takes?

OCHN: What would need to happen to increase for-sale home inventory?

For the missing MLS inventory to return to the market, borrowers need debt forgiveness, and house prices need to move even higher.

The financial media inundates us with stories about the “problem” of low MLS inventory that supposedly holds back first-time homebuyers, who are buying...
What would need to happen to increase for-sale home inventory?