Capitol Hill seems to be taking up the pro-consumer fight on two fronts this week with the extension and expansion of the Home Buyer Tax Credit and the sped-up start date of the Credit Cardholder’s Bill of Rights. Today, Obama officially signed off on the Homebuyer Tax Credit extension, which will extend the original November 30, 2009 deadline to April 30, 2010 and also opens up a $6,500 tax credit to eligible repeat buyers. On the frontlines of credit card reform, the proposed measure to speed up the Credit Cardholder’s Bill of Rights, from its original February 2010 date to December 1, 2009 was signed off by the House and is now awaiting Senate approval.

The passing of the revised Homebuyer Tax Credit, coupled with mortgage rates dropping below 5% again for the first time in 4 weeks, has many politicians and analysts hoping for another boom in the housing market to last well into 2010.

As for the credit card reform, if approved, the earlier-than-expected December date would be “just in time for the holidays,” when consumers are likely to more heavily rely on credit cards and could most benefit from the restrictions the reforms will place on the price-gouging practices of the credit industry. Cardholders and lawmakers in support of the proposal complain that since the passage of the Act in May, credit card companies have been abusing the grace period as a last ditch effort to raise interest rates, change card terms, add fees, lower credit limits, and even close accounts in order to recoup losses that the coming regulations will cost them. The reform is needed to help protect consumers by “locking a ban on interest rate hikes on existing balances, and tricks that have kept far too many consumers trapped in a never-ending cycle of debt,” reports CNNMoney.

On the other hand, credit card issuers have contested that the expedited start date would ultimately hurt the entire industry. Making the reforms effective a full two months sooner than planned won’t give their systems enough time, issuers argue, to get acclimated to the new regulations, and they have even gone so far as to defend the recent interest rate hikes—some as high as 30%–as fair considering the current state of the economy. Another lawmaker defended the measure, saying, “They have retained the right unilaterally and retroactively to raise the interest rate on what you already owe them. It is the single unfairest (sic) economic transaction I can think of that doesn’t involve a pistol!”

The CARD Act’s major provisions that will affect cardholders includes prohibiting arbitrary rate increases on existing card balances, requiring customer permission to opt into the ability to overdraw on accounts, and the “reasonable and proportional” penalty fees that require issuers to review all interest rates and reduce it where warranted. The measure awaits the Senate’s vote and Obama’s signature to become law.

The consumer protections and consumer incentives of these two key pieces of legislation are under hot debate as to whether the stimulus measures will be effective enough to spark sustainable activity in the struggling economy.

At Credit Karma Blog, what goes around comes around… So what do you think about this post? Agree, disagree, or have something more to say? We’d love to hear your reactions!

There is a mini-boom in the housing market as September sales, propped up by homebuyers taking advantage of the $8,000 Tax Credit and record-low mortgage rates, beat Wall Street forecasts. But it’s difficult to say outright that the current housing market has made it through the storm of foreclosures, plummeting prices, and deserted markets we’re become familiar with in the last few years. Despite hiccups in the housing market, can we still remain upbeat? Here’s the latest news on what’s happening on the housing front.

On the brighter side

• Last September, home sales rebounded to the highest level in two years with a 9.4 percent increase, reports Reuters. These figures are better than Wall Street expected and overall show a 24 percent increase in home sales since hitting rock-bottom in January. Largely spurred by the tax credit’s looming deadline, sales are increasing also because of greater affordability and an improving economic outlook.
• Low mortgage rates have been maintaining at or below 5% for about a month now, have spurned homeowners to look into new-home purchasing and also refinancing, which was at a 38% demand increase shortly after the rates dropped below 5% in early October.
• Another positive sign: the inventory for unsold homes fell 8 percent to 3.6 million nationwide, which is at the lowest level since March 2007. Home sales are still 23 percent off-pace from the its peak 4 years ago, but if homebuyers keep biting, a decreasing pool of homes on the market coupled with the current increasing demand of home sales will foster a more robust market ripe with plump home values and active sales.
• The First-Time Homebuyer’s Tax Credit has contributed vastly to the pick-up in home sales leading up to its deadline date on November 30th, 2009. Congressional talks about extending the tax credit till June next year and expanding it to encompass all homebuyers is already hotly contested. Realtors and homebuilders state that extending the credit is what the market needs to boost prices and sales to finally get it back on track, while others argue that it will be a $16.7 billion dollar expense that will only be a band-aid on a larger housing crisis.

Yellow flags

• The housing market is still underperforming as home prices continue to drag due to foreclosures and short sales. The median price for a home in September was $174,900, down 9 percent since last year, and signals an influx in distressed properties which accounted for nearly 30% of sales in September. [But back on the brighter side, these bargain-priced foreclosure sales have contributed to the big boost in home sales.]
• Unemployment, now at 9.8 percent nationwide, is expected to hit 10.5 percent next year. More unemployment leads to more foreclosures as people fall behind on mortgages. So expect the housing market to drop further if unemployment rises.
• Congress is currently investigating questions that a possible 100,000 claims out of the 1.5 million submitted applications for the tax credit may have been fraudulent. People who hadn’t bought a home, already owned a home, were illegal immigrants, or were under the age of 18 committed fraud in trying to take advantage of the potential $8,000 rebate; one taxpayer to claim the tax credit was only 4 years old, the Associated Press reports. This could definitely compromise the possible extension or expansion of the tax credit.

Looking Ahead

There are signs of recovery in the housing market, but its spotty nationwide. The strongest market is the West with a high sales climb of 13%, while the South and Midwest have a lower rate of home sales and lower median prices. In general, metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco are faring better in terms of home sales and home values than rural areas. So while positive trends may be popping up in the home market, it’s happening to various areas to different degrees. To pull the entire home market back up, it’s going to take the solid momentum of sales in all segments of the overcrowded market to jumpstart real and long-term economic growth.

TGIF and thank goodness mortgage loan rates are still at or below 5%! It’s another good house-hunting weekend, but headlines remind us to be weary of homebuyer hiccups in our uncertain home market. Plus, Credit Karma trends have been all over the blogosphere and news. Here’s today’s scoop:

Home & Mortgage

• MarketWatch reports on mountains of modifications.
• Refinancing: when is it worth it?, MSN Money asks.
• Kiplinger writes that there are more troubles for housing: mounting foreclosures.
• Saving to Invest blogs on 10 deadly mistakes buyers make when purchasing a home and how to avoid them.
• 7 red flags for home buyers and more advice from Kiplinger.
• Doughroller brings you a buyer’s guide to rent to own homes.
• The Associated Press delivers some good news: home sales rise 9.4 percent in Sept.

Credit Karma in the News

• Gmail users have higher credit scores than yahoo mail users blogs Mashable.
• MoneyWatch answers the questions, Why should you have to pay for your credit score?
• Finanacial start-ups form “coalition for new credit models” reports Reuters.
• WalletPop takes an interesting look at what your e-mail address says about your credit score.
• Financial start-ups form lobby group @ Finextra.com.

Pre-Paid debit cards are the “Other Plastic”, an alternative to credit cards that won’t rack up interest charges, increase your debt, or give you that queasy feeling of buyer’s regret the next day. If you are unable to pay off your balance and with credit card interest rates sky-rocketing to nearly 30%, you’ll want to curb your credit use this holiday season. Think of pre-paid cards as plastic cash, which will prevent you from spending beyond your means and make you think twice when you splurge because splurging will deplete your money immediately, rather than be just a line item on a receipt to be paid off later.

Pre-paid credit cards are especially useful for people with poor credit or no credit history who can’t get approved for a typical credit card. It’s a credit-healthy way to spend responsibly while building positive credit history and a better credit score. It’s simple: you pre-load the card with money, spend as you wish, and you have no bills to pay at the end of the month. You still get the perks of the convenience of a credit card, while avoiding unnecessary fees and finance charges. Best of all, you can still build a positive credit history (but always check with your issuer if they report to the credit bureaus). Your pre-paid card will be your training wheels to help you get the hang of credit without the risk of incurring debt or defaulting on payments. This is also a smart option for younger consumers affected by the upcoming CARD act provisions .

The pre-paid trend isn’t just limited to credit cards; these other pre-paid products can help you monitor your spending and still get what you want:

• Pre-paid cell phones have been around for awhile, and are still the no-hassle alternative to a contract phone. You pay for the minutes you want and load up more when needed; the only catch is that you might run out of minutes sooner than you think. You don’t even have to worry about a credit check, which some carriers do when you sign up for phone. One of Credit Karma’s favorite deals is the T-Mobile’s FlexPay for BlackBerrry Curve 8900.
• Gift cards are the “more personal than cash, less hassle than a present” staple at birthdays. You might have thought these were on the wane, but PlasticJungle.com has revived the gift card marketplace by allowing consumers to trade, sell, buy unused gift cards so you can buy stuff at places where you actually shop. It’s a better answer to retail therapy that won’t max out your credit or damage your score.
• Pre-pay your college tuition? Believe it. Some programs, most notably the Florida Prepaid College Plan in Florida and the Independent 529 Plan for 270 private universities nationwide, are urging parents to consider prepaid college tuition plans to secure their children’s future at a more affordable rate today. How much you can save depends on how soon you start saving, and with the inflating cost of higher education, locking in your costs at today’s tuition prices will save you potentially thousands. Keep in mind that these prepaid plans does not account for books, food, transportation, and lab fees that can add up to nearly half the cost of the entire college price tag.

Bottom-line?
Pre-paid is a good way to go if you are prone to overspending or need to get you back on track to good credit . With credit still tight in the marketplace but consumers showing a growing appetite for spending, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot more gift cards being swiped at the register or showing up under the Christmas tree this year.

If you own a credit card or read this blog regularly, you should be familiar with the restrictions and fees credit card companies have been imposing on cardholders in recent months. Cardholders have been complaining about jacked-up interest rates, sudden fees, lowered credit lines, closed accounts, and unfair penalties. These changes to the terms on your user agreements for credit cards may not necessarily be due to your poor credit management or late payments; another reason is that banks have been trying to increase the profitability of consumer accounts before the reforms of the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights take effect in February 2010.

With the credit crunch and rising consumer defaults, banks are doing what they need to do to stay in business. Consumers need to look out for the fine print on any notice of changes to your credit card from your issuer, like the one that Bank of America customers received, and see what you can do to protect your credit and your credit score.

ATM surcharge and fees

The Cost: As high as $5 per transaction. Every time you go to use another bank’s ATM for quick cash, you are likely to get slapped with increased fees from both ends of the transaction—the ATM’s bank and your own bank. You have to pay an average surcharge of $2.22 to use another Bank’s ATM, up nearly 13% since last year according to Bankrate.com. Then there is the fee your own bank will charge you for using another bank’s ATM, which has risen to an average of $1.46 from last year’s $1.25.

How to Avoid it: You can only plan ahead and be prepared with cash, or you can switch banks. If you want to stick to your bank, the best way to avoid this fee is to estimate how much cash you need for the day and withdraw what you need from your own bank’s branch so won’t be desperate for cash and tempted to use any ATM. If you’re sick of surcharges and fees, opt for an online bank, such as ING Direct, Bank of the Internet, NetBank, and First Internet Bank, that will reimburse ATM surcharges up to amount per month. Charles Schwab Bank and E-Trade off unlimited rebates for ATM surcharges.

Annual Fees

The Cost: Anywhere from $29-99. Bank of America announced last week that they plan to tack on a $29 to $99 annual fee to an undisclosed amount of its credit accounts starting in February. If cardholders don’t voice too much of a protest, other banks may follow in BofA’s steps very soon.

How to Avoid it: BofA calls the annual fees an “experiment”, so complaining might get some results. If you have an excellent credit score in the mid 700s range, you are in luck. You can try and negotiate with your issuer and even mention that you will take your business elsewhere; chances are they will want to keep a reliable customer like you. If you have poor credit, you can close your account to dodge the fee, but your already-low credit score will take a hit. If the account happens to be your oldest credit card, you might want to consider paying the fee because your credit score will take a big drop with closing your oldest credit line.

Reduced Limits

The Cost: None, but you will have lowered credit limits and a potentially lowered credit score. About 20% of U.S cardholders between October 2008 and April 2009 saw their credit card limits slashed involuntarily, and in some cases, their accounts arbitrarily closed, according to a FICO study. However, 73% of the cardholders complained that they were penalized with no apparent credit problem. Lowered credit limits means higher credit utilization (a ratio of your current credit balances against your total available limits) which unfortunately also means an average of a 20 point drop on a credit score; that could be the difference between being approved or not approved for a loan.

How to Avoid it: You can fight back, or at least make the most of it. Try calling your bank and asking to have your credit limit increased, especially if you are in good credit standing. Otherwise, you can minimize the damage to your credit score by lowering your credit utilization accordingly and paying down your balances. Make sure you don’t go over your new credit limit or maintain a high credit utilization rate—your funds and credit score will shrink.

Overdraft fees

The Cost: As high as $35 per overdraft. If you make several purchases on an overdrawn account in a single day, banks often charge more for repeat overdrafts. That means that you don’t just pay an increased fee on overdrafts—you’d pay it several times over in a single day. Some issuers, including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, are planning to reform overdraft fees following criticism from Congress over the exorbitant practices.

How to Avoid it: Monitor spending on your debit card or stick to using a credit card. When you do get overdraft charges, especially if it was multiple charges in a short amount of time, call your issuer and try and pare it down to a single fee–sometimes issuers will do 4 overdraft fees in a single day while the customer doesn’t even realize they overdrew on their account. Avoid using this by using a credit card so you can’t overdraw your account–however, make sure you pay off your balance in full each month and don’t exceed your credit limit or else you’ll be paying fees all over again.

Interest rate hike

The Cost: As high as a 29.99% interest rate hike. Issuers have been squeezing in interest rate hikes for the last few months and will continue to do so in the upcoming months to profit as much from consumer accounts before the credit card reform legislation sets in. Rates rose by 20% just in early 2009, which is already taking a big financial toll on consumers who rely heavily on credit cards or with outstanding balances.

How to Avoid it: If you have good credit, try calling your issuer to have the interest rate dropped. Doing a balance transfer to another credit card with a lower interest rate is another option to ease your payment charges; make sure you don’t get hit with a transfer fee on the new card. However, the best, long-term way to avoid getting burned with these ever-increasing rates is to pay off the debt you have and to hold back on spending so you don’t carry a balance from month to month.

If you want to know more specifically the changes on credit cards each issuer is taking, check out Credit Card Changes by Issuer and Date for a good list of the fees that you might be unaware you are being charged. As banks look for ways to make a profit on plastic while they still can, these fees and hikes might be a red flag to ease up on your credit usage to avoid unnecessary charges all together.

A sunnier forecast of our stormy recession

The thought of today’s stagnant economy is enough to make consumers tighten their wallet, throw credit cards in the freezer, and brace for more fiscal hard times as we push through the U.S’s worst recession since the Great Depression. But forget the doomsday reports and take a closer look at the good and bad of the recession headlines right now because an understanding of our economy can help you change your personal economy –how you handle your finances– for the better. Let’s take a look at various segments of the economy that are rebounding.

JOBS

The national unemployment rate has been teetering at the 10% mark for some time now, but its primed for change. The federal government’s near $500 billion stimulus plan is powering up for a new media blitz to promote job growth and policies that the administration says will create 20 million new jobs over the next 10 years. The White House reports that stimulus spending has helped create or save 1 million jobs so far, new jobless claims have dropped to lowest levels since January, and economists say the willingness of companies to begin adding jobs is getting close. While the current unemployment rate is still a dark cloud hovering over Americans, job creation efforts hold the possibility of brighter prospects.

HOUSING MARKET

The mortgage rates dipping below 5% is a promising gauge of a stabilizing housing market. Refinancing has been on the rise, the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit has spurred traffic in house sales, and the Federal Reserve’s continued purchases of mortgage-backed securities has been keeping the housing market afloat in spite of foreclosures and dropping home prices. Also, buzz of Congress possibly expanding the $8,000 tax credit to apply to all homebuyers may jumpstart the housing market back to pre-recession activity. “The most fundamental argument for the Credit is that nothing works in the economy if housing is falling – it hurts household wealth and credit becomes tight,” writes CNN Money.

RETAIL SALES

Before you cringe at these numbers, this is actually good news. Retail sales in September were down 1.5%, but that’s better than the expected 2.1% fall economists predicted. Outside of auto sales, which plummeted about 10% after the Cash for Clunkers auto sales incentive expired, retail sales are actually up 0.5%, which is also higher than economists projected. And when consumers spend, everyone profits. Stronger-than-expected gain in retail shows a boost in consumer confidence, which is a great omen for the coming holiday season. More spending is both an effect and a cause of a slow, gradual recovery, and may be reflecting broader progress in other areas of the economy.

STOCK MARKET

Even the average consumer has reason to be excited about the Dow’s highest close in a year. Better-than-expected retail sales and strong earnings from some big-name companies have helped drive climbing index points, and continued upward market trends indicate a strengthening economy on a larger scope. Analysts say that while the 10,000 point threshold isn’t a significant technical milestone, it is “meaningful on a psychological level” and will bring more confidence in buying and selling on the floor. While the ongoing problems in the financial industry and a potential stock market pullback make some economists skeptical, growth on Wall Street is a general precursor for good things to come.

CREDIT DEBT

Trends of decreasing credit debt reflect an overall healthy shift in consumers’ financial lives and more responsible credit use in the economy’s current credit crunch. Better consumer management of debt suggests that consumers will also be better customers in the marketplace by being more creditworthy and thus less at risk of defaulting and throwing the economy into another credit spiral. On top of that, credit scores are on the rise for 39% of consumers. Healthier credit for consumers spells more liquidity in the market, more consumer activity, and a healthier, more productive economy.

FUTURE FORECAST

The coming holiday season may be the clearest temperature check on the state of our economy—it may explode into a spending frenzy or it might be another conservative Christmas for many of us, but there is hope for significant growth in a better-than-expected end to 2009 and a recovering 2010 if spending keeps up. By no means is this a concrete financial analysis of our economy, but step back and look at the bigger picture—economic recovery may not be smooth sailing but at least consumers are beginning to look forward. People are gaining back their appetite to shop as the U.S economy slowly but surely emerges from deep recession. Sure, credit is still tight and rising unemployment could stall a full recovery from recession, but consumer demand is up, markets are stabilizing, and there is more reason to hope that darker times could give way to sunny skies in our economy.

Becoming a millionaire seems like an impossibility since the past decade’s get-rich bubbles in real estate, dotcoms, and stocks have burst and left most Americans worried about earning a regular salary, let alone millions.

Becoming rich won’t happen overnight, but it can happen over time. It takes good, consistent habits and before you know it, you’ll be a lot closer to millionaire status than you were before reading these 7 tips:

1. Finally get rid of your debt! Your credit card debt is a black hole of interest and never-ending, unpaid debt for all your hard-earned savings. The average American carries a $6,000 balance on their credit card and a typical credit card APR is 14.9%, so if you paid the minimum payment of $100 a month, it would take little over 9 years to pay off your balance. On top of that, you will have racked up $5,074 in interest charges! Start focusing your current cash flow on paying off your debt now so you can avoid potentially paying double your original debt in interest charges in the long run.
2. The old piggy-bank method, reinvented - Let’s take out the calculator again, but let’s focus on saving rather than debt reduction. If you saved $500 a month and put it in a savings account like Ally Bank’s high-yield 1.75% APY online savings account, in 10 years you will have $60,553.84 saved up! If you keep this up for the next 45 years, you’ll be sitting on a $270,000+ nest egg when you retire. Or you can opt for a CD with an even higher interest rate, like Discover’s 3 year CD with 2.75% APY, which will yield a whopping $430 in interest with an initial deposit of $5,000 by the end of the CD’s term.
3. Trade your credit card for a debit card, secured card, or cash - There is nothing evil about a credit card, as long as you know how to use it responsibly. For consumers overspending on credit or paying late or not at all, sticking to credit card alternatives like a debit card, secured card, and cash is the best way to avoid the debt and interest charges and keep up a healthy credit report. And seeing your spending directly shrinking your bank account might make you think twice about your purchases.
4. Shop around for loans – Not all loans are alike, and with a little bit of research and comparing, you can save a substantial amount of money by looking for a loan with the best terms and rates that fit your needs. If you are a student, use SimpleTuition to do all the loan searching and work for you. For any other type of loan—from opening up your first restaurant to paying off your car—check out Prosper and Lending Club for a person-to-person lending platform that has reduced rates for lenders (as opposed to going to a bank) and are perfect for short-term and smaller loans.
5. Invest! – On that note, you can also invest in the P2P platform of Prosper and Lending Club to get a high rate of return, ranging from 8-20%, while also helping out fellow consumers.
6. Cut a little, save a lot – Start making coffee at home and deposit the $4 you would’ve spent every weekday morning in a savings account, and within a year you will be $1,008 closer to becoming a millionaire. If you usually eat out for dinner and opt to go out 2 times a week and cook the other 3, that adds another $3120 a year to your savings. If you want to take this saving thing seriously and cut out your annual Tahoe ski trip and New Year’s Las Vegas trip, your “staycation” could save you another $3,500+ or more. With these three suggestions, you could savea possible $7,628 to deposit to your piggybank.
7. Sell on eBay! – Think you have nothing to sell, it’s too complicated, or it takes too much time? Millions of people buy and sell on eBay and millions of dollars are exchanged because it can be profitable and effective if you do it right. Check out this blog, “Sell it Now—how to make hundreds of dollars in 37 minutes,” and see how to make your mint-condition Beanie Babies collection can help make you a millionaire.

Start Today
Getting rich slowly may not be your ideal way to hit seven figures, but it’s certainly the most practical and realistic. Building your personal wealth is hinged on simple ideals of saving more, spending less, dealing with debt, and being financially responsible over a longer period of time.

Buying a house is probably one of the most exciting purchases you’ll make in your lifetime. Maybe you feel that it is time to buy because the housing market is stabilizing, your family is growing, you need an extra tax deduction, or you are just ready to own your own property.

The process can be complicated, long, and sometimes difficult, so before you set out to explore different neighborhoods to stroll through open houses, think first about how much money you have for a down payment, what you can afford in a monthly mortgage payment, and how your credit score may affect the financing fees your lender will charge to help determine your affordability in becoming a home owner.

For starters, you’ll need to determine how much savings you have to put towards a down payment on your new home. Typically Home buyers deposit a down payment, or payment from the buyer’s savings that goes towards the home’s purchase price, and the rest is financed through a home mortgage loan. Now, the larger your down payment, the smaller the loan you’ll need to purchase your new home. It’s important that you are realistic on what size of down payment you can afford so you can get an accurate sense of what you can pay comfortably every month for the next 30 years.

You know your down payment, now it’s time to sit down and do some monthly budgeting. How much money do you have for a mortgage monthly payment? A good rule of thumb many lenders use for budgeting cost of a home mortgage is around 30-35% of your pre-tax income. This is a good place to start, but you’ll need to do some extra math to include the property tax and homeowner’s insurance that you will also be paying for along with your mortgage. Your actual monthly mortgage payment is generally a combination of your loan payment, property taxes, and home owners insurance. You’ll have to consider all of these pieces to make sure a new home fits within your budget.

Now that you’ve got an idea of your down payment and what loan size you can afford, make sure you can qualify for that type of loan. When you go to a lender to get approval for a home mortgage, your credit score will have a large impact on the APR the lender charges you for your mortgage. Generally speaking, the better your credit score—the better your loan terms. Consider getting pre-approved for a home loan so you know the APR you may have for your loan. The difference between a 750 and 650 credit score can be as significant as a change of one percentage point on your APR, such as a 5% APR to 6% APR. That 1% change in an APR may not look like much, but for a $200,000 home, a 1% APR increase can cost an extra $1,300 every year of a 30-year mortgage.

If you find the homes you want simply aren’t affordable, think outside of the box. Some interesting ways to make or save money include: renting out a room in your home, turning it into a duplex, living near a subway or public transportation station to trim transportation costs, using casual carpool to cut commute costs entirely, doing gardening or home maintenance and improvement projects yourself, growing your own fruit and vegetables, being conservative about heating and electricity, considering buying furniture on craigslist or at twice-used stores and fix it up, pledging to have a garage sale every season, and more! There’s lots you can do to afford your dream home—a little financial planning, ingenuity, and creative thinking can make any place go from a house on the market to your very own home.

There is a new trend developing due to the sagging housing economy where a homeowner who is underwater with their home, acquires a new bargain priced home and then walks away from the overvalued property. This practice, known as “Buying and Bailing,” has been a hot topic for homeowners looking for an escape route from paying a mortgage on a home that has lost significant value.

It sounds too good to be true; mortgage rates are still very low and you’ll be able to get a great deal on a home which is more affordable than your current home. More real estate and mortgage brokers are becoming familiar with the ins and outs of these transactions and are more than willing to coach you through this type of endeavor. However, accomplishing this in reality is difficult, you will need to be able to afford a new down payment as well as support both loans in order to qualify for the loan on the second home. Some consumers have set up a short sale, put the home in a spouse’s name or told the bank that they plan on renting out the first home as work around to help qualify for the second loan.

This type of exit strategy will only work in markets where the home values have dropped considerably. At first glance this may appear as a miracle from above, but consumers need to understand the repercussions of a buy and bail. Specifically, their credit score will be battered once they start missing mortgage payments which will ultimately end in foreclosure. Once they have a foreclosure on their credit report they won’t be able to get a Fannie Mae loan for up to four years. Additionally, anything requiring a credit check like insurance, new credit cards, employment screening will present your past misdeeds and likely affect pricing of other financial products or even cost you a job.

No one really knows how much this will affect consumers’ credit as this is the first time homeowners have made this type of risky and possibly illegal maneuver. One thing is for sure, consumers attempting a buy and bail will always have a looming uncertainty around if a lender or worse the police may come after them. At minimum, lenders can put a lien on the new property; as well as sue for fraud if you misrepresented yourself on your loan application. Many are rolling the dice that most lenders are severely understaffed and hoping their situation may get lost in the shuffle and never be addressed.

Predictably, lenders are calling this practice unethical, deceptive and fraudulent. They are quickly looking at ways to close this loophole to reduce future risks in their portfolios. For many it’s comical to hear the lenders call something “deceptive” when only a few years ago, they were creating variable rate mortgages with complex minimum payments and negative amortization, as well as 100% financing programs that contributed to the housing collapse. Regardless, lenders are now adopting stricter underwriting conditions when evaluating new purchase loans for borrowers with existing home mortgages including producing an executed lease agreement or requiring documented income to verify the consumer will be able to support both mortgages. Both of these are precautions to help weed out Buy and Bailer’s before they take ownership of that second property.

Buying and Bailing may be a way out for those who have the means to pull off such a complicated transaction and simply get lucky that lenders are understaffed and unable to properly follow up, but it requires a perfect storm of having the funds on hand, adequate employment/income to satisfy the underwriting, and a family member or spouse that can assist in securing the second home by being the primary applicant. Realistically, while this option does provide a viable, albeit difficult escape route for some, it’s very questionable of its legal and the long term ramifications are unknown at best.

The Class of 2010 is probably all too familiar with hearing doomsday-esque warnings about Graduation Day from everyone including the guy sitting beside them at Starbucks to close relatives and even their nosy neighbors, saying, “We’re in a recession”, “Unemployment is still on the rise”, “Your liberal arts degree isn’t very useful, is it?”, and, “What are you going to do after you graduate, in this economy?”

Getting ready to graduate and move on to the “real world” is not as promising as it seemed when this year’s soon-to-be college grads were eager freshmen back in the day. And in the face of fears like unemployment, large student loans, and nosy neighbors, there are lots of reasons to think this year may be the worst time to be a college senior.

Don’t let these reasons depress you–these are five reasons why you should see the college senior’s half-empty glass as, actually, half-full:

1. Jobs– Yes, the unemployment rate will probably hit 10% by graduation next June and you will probably experience the average 6-8 months of unemployment that many young professionals are currently going through. No, you do not need to despair. First off, unemployment is a natural part of the cycle of a career; it is not a failure and it does not stall your life–looking for a job is still actively progressing towards your career. What is going to be important five years from now isn’t that you were unemployed at this time, but how you handled being unemployed. Remain persistent and ambitious about the job you want and keep sending out resumes daily because you will come across opportunities. For many it may be better to settle for a lower-paying job in the field you actually want, instead of getting stuck in a career path you have no interest or passion in. As a college graduate, you do have a job right after you graduate and that is to look for a job, so approach your job search with as much work ethic and dedication as you would your first job.
2. Housing– You might be homeless post-graduation when your college apartment lease expires, but fear not! You could move back into your parent’s house and save yourself some money; its the life of “being taken care of” and blowing your money on things like shopping and entertainment, but just remember that Mom still makes the rules. Opting for rentals is expensive because no one is buying new homes, but you can cut costs by doing what you’ve been doing for the last four years—rent with roommates. Sharing appliances, furniture, utility bills, rent, and space will be beneficial to all of you and will help your household adopt a frugal and cost-conscious mindset.
3. Student Loans– Student loans will begin repayment period within 6 to 9 months of graduating, so be prepared to pay by then. Regularly budgeting it into your monthly expenses will make it less of a stress and more of an accepted part of your finances and your life to be dealt with as efficiently as possible. As long as you pay at least the minimum payment (more if possible!) on-time, your credit report will stay healthy.
4. Budgeting– It will no longer be as simple as budgeting for eating out, movies, clothes, and other fun stuff. Graduating takes away Dad and Mom’s monthly checks; you will soon be responsible for rent, utilities, car insurance, food, internet, transportation, and more. Since this will take some help and getting used to, check out personal finance management sites that can do all the work for you: they automatically pull your accounts together and calculate your spending so you can see how you’ve been spending your money and where to cut back. If you want to keep it simple, sit down with a pen and paper and write your monthly income, subtract all necessary expenses like bills (don’t fool yourself—eating out twice a week is not necessary), and whatever is left over after is what you can spend or save.
5. Debt– The average college student graduates with just over a $3,000 balance on their credit card, and tack on student loans in a few months, and you can end up spending most of your 20s trying to dig yourself out of debt from college instead of saving up for your first house or investing in a 401(K) plan. The best way to start dealing with the burden of debt is to start paying it off NOW so you don’t have to fear dealing with it later when more interest will have accrued. Another plus side to paying off debts now is that your credit report will become healthier and healthier, which means a healthier credit score that will help you when it comes time for a home mortgage, auto loan, or new credit card.