How much mortgage can you afford? Keep in mind that your mortgage is only one part of your monthly expenses for a new house.

Paying everything by the month: There are usually four components that go into your monthly payment: principal, interest, taxes, and insurance – often referred to as PITI.

read more: http://www.blanconews.com/news/100709/

It used to be that a homebuyer had to see an agent to get access to The Book — the phone-book style multiple listing service containing lists of nearly all the homes on the market.

Now, online real estate data is so abundant, buyers and sellers can do most of the research themselves, according to speakers at the 45th annual conference of the National Association of Real Estate Editors.

Nonetheless, speakers maintained, the Internet won't replace the real estate agent the way it did the travel agent.

Read More: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/replace-304938-san-agents.html

With foreclosures overhanging the home sales market, weak jobs numbers and looming changes that likely will make getting a mortgage more difficult, many economists and real estate industry leaders are pointing to the rental market as real estate's latest boom market.

“The stage is being set for very strong rent increases,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist of Zillow, who spoke to members of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, which met at the Menger Hotel in San Antonio.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/Multifamily-trumps-home-market-1429437.php#ixzz1PaJMH4BF

Fixed mortgage rates stayed roughly flat after falling for eight weeks.

The average rate on the 30-year loan ticked up from a yearly low of 4.49 percent to 4.50 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinance option, fell to 3.67 percent from 3.68 percent.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/17/RE651JUV8T.DTL#ixzz1PaIIgbkg

While most lenders will ignore medical collections showing on a credit report, unfortunately those collections WILL lower a credit score which will cause a higher interest rate and in some cases will prevent borrowers from being able to qualify for a loan!

Now, a bipartisan group in Congress is sponsoring legislation that would limit the credit-score impact of paid-off and settled collection accounts that sometimes are the product of disputes and botched record keeping by insurance companies, hospitals and doctors.

Titled the Medical Debt Responsibility Act, the bill would require the three national credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — to expunge medical collection records of $2,500 or less from files within 45 days of their being paid or settled. Currently, by contrast, paid-off collections can remain in files for as long as seven years, exerting their heaviest negative impacts on consumer scores during the initial two years. The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) and Ralph M. Hall (R-Texas).

read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/debts-that-unsettle-the-score/2011/06/13/AG2M4fYH_story.html

Due to a slow housing market and delays in the foreclosure process, Mortgage delinquencies are at their lowest level in several years.

"The problem with that, even though it sounds better, is that all of those foreclosure auctions we should have seen this year roll into next year, and that means it's going to take that much longer for the housing market to recover," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.

read more: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/16/137218628/mortgage-delinquencies-at-lowest-level-since-2006

While Washington DC is the number 1 city that has stable home prices, Houston was the only Texas city to make the top 10 list, coming in at number 9.

read more: http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/10-cities-with-rising-housing-market-2011/10.html#top

Using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, Dallas Fed economists looked at state-by-state employment changes since June 2009, when the recession ended. Texas added 265,300 net jobs, out of the 722,200 nationwide, and by far outpaced every other state. New York was second with 98,200, Pennsylvania added 93,000, and it falls off from there. Nine states created fewer than 10,000 jobs, while Maine, Hawaii, Delaware and Wyoming created fewer than 1,000. Eighteen states have lost jobs since the recovery began.

read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304259304576375480710070472.html

No matter how the economy is performing, you always hear that it's a great time to buy!  But when is it the right time for you to buy?

Read here for some perspective: http://www.texasrealestate.com/web/2/21/more/060911.cfm

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Partnership for New York City just published a report ranking 26 global capitals of finance, commerce and culture.

Houston dominated this list, beating the 25 other cities by a Texas-sized margin. Although it did not score highest in any single cost category, a strong combination of factors make Houston appealing for business. Some examples: low real estate costs, high purchasing power and inexpensive business travel expenses.

read more: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/smallbusiness/1106/gallery.affordable_cities_business/index.html