How To Back Out of a Home Sale Contract

By Marcie Geffner - HSH.com

You've finally gone to contract on your home, and now you're sorry you have. How can you get out of the contract?

"A seller is best-advised to be absolutely firm about wanting to sell real estate," says Joanne Fanizza, an attorney in Farmingdale, N.Y. It's indeed good advice since, as Fanizza explains, sellers face high hurdles if they want to back out of a contract to sell their home

"I've seen situations where sellers thought, 'I'm just not going to sell.' They think the house just isn't for sale anymore. You can't do that after you're in contract," she warns.

Read on: http://library.hsh.com/articles/homeowners-repeat-buyers/sellers-remorse-how-to-back-out-of-a-home-sale-contract.html

Why a Home Equity Loan Is Hard To Get

By Marcie Geffner - Bankrate.com

Many homeowners long to hear the magic words, "your home equity loan is approved." But for most, this type of loan, which allows a homeowner to borrow against the equity in the home, is hard to get.

The typical barriers are lack of equity, impaired credit and inadequate income to support additional borrowing.

Of those, negative equity, also referred to as being "upside down" or "underwater," may be the most daunting hurdle to jump over.

More than 27 percent of U.S. homeowners who had a mortgage were in a negative home equity position or had less than 5 percent equity in their home as of Sept. 30, according to CoreLogic, a real estate data service in Santa Ana, Calif.

Read on: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/home-equity/why-a-home-equity-loan-is-hard-to-get.aspx