Free Republic

It’s 100% financing—the same strategy that pushed many homeowners into foreclosure during the housing bust. Banks say these loans are safer: They’re almost exclusively being offered to clients with sizable assets, and they often require two forms of collateral—the house and a portion of the client’s investment portfolio in lieu of a traditional cash down payment. In most cases, borrowers end up with one loan and one monthly payment. Depending on the lender and the borrower, roughly 60% to 80% of the loan can be pegged to the home’s value while the remaining 20% to 40% can be secured by...

[A] program from the Department of Agriculture’s rural development division [...] offers no-money-down loans in certain parts of the country for low- and middle-income borrowers. The Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program is likely to run out of funding next month, just as a surge of buyers are expected to ink deals before the federal tax-credit expires April 30. Originally crafted to encourage home buying in rural areas, it’s become quite popular in some exurbs that have seen rapid development in recent years. Some developers have even created entire communities catering to USDA-backed borrowers. Builders are worried what happens when the...

ABC Primetime has a segment on, now, about a brother and sister who want to marry. First they softened us up with gay "rights" - now, the next rung down the ladder to barbarism. You supporters of Rudy for President - a gay rights advocate - this is what you're buying into: a slippery slope to barbarism.