Free Republic

Home sales are slowly climbing back, thanks to investor demand, improving consumer confidence in housing, and the surprising return of former homeowners who once walked away from their commitments. These so-called, "strategic defaulters," some of them investors and some owner-occupants, are coming back to the market, despite damaged credit, and apparently the market is welcoming them back. (snip) Crashing home prices and sketchy mortgage products caused millions of Americans to default on their loans and eventually lose their homes. For some, it was a tragic fight to the end to keep their single investment; for others it was a conscious...

WAMU: NO WAMPUM EXPERT SAYS BANK MAY COST TAXPAYERS $24B By TERI BUHL Posted: 4:31 am September 14, 2008 US taxpayers could be on the hook for as much as $24 billion to rescue embattled Washington Mutual, the country's No. 1 savings and loan, a top banking analyst is warning. The jaw-dropping tab would come in the form of federal mortgage loss guarantees needed to coax a buyer into purchasing WaMu, according to Landeburg Thalmann's Dick Bove, whose view on the need for a federal backstop is shared by an official with the Office of Thrift Supervision, WaMu's regulator. Bove,...