Personal Finance Advice and Commentary

Investor activity and rental demand are playing big roles in the housing market.

With interest rates near record lows and rising rents, real estate can be a good investment these days — depending on where you buy and how you pay for it.

Victims of the storm are getting a little more help with the cost of renting.

Prospective renters found fewer places available for rent in the third quarter. Yet monthly rents barely changed.

Despite low mortgage rates and home prices, the first quarter of this year saw the rate of homeownership fall …

Landlords are asking for higher rents, and why not? Fewer rentals are vacant.

Part of the fallout of the housing crisis means that rental demand is up – and so are prices. As home prices have been dropping and supply increasing, it’s a cruel twist for renters who are blocked from getting a mortgage because of bad credit to see their monthly payments go up. It’s also frustrating

One promising piece of news in the housing crisis for developers and investors is rental property, which has seen a surge as homeownership rates have fallen off. As builders seek ways to tailor rental units to the needs of renters, the Wall Street Journal reports that they are increasingly looking at single mothers. Census data

Home prices and mortgage rates are low, the number of potential renters is increasing and the stock market is in the midst of bear-market gyrations. So is this a good time to invest in rental real estate? Investors seeking ways to diversify their stock portfolios are eyeing real estate-buying opportunities ahead of potentially higher borrowing

Normally it’s the renter who needs to prove their creditworthiness to the landlord. But with the current state of the housing market, it may be time for the landlord to prove to the renter that their credit is not in the toilet. With so many homeowners going into foreclosure each and every month at outstanding