FRIDAY - ETC ETC

Eclectic Bedroom by Dallas Media & Bloggers Sarah Greenman

10 Tips for a more peaceful home, debt to income ratios can sink mortgage app, not enough affordable homes to go around despite housing market improvements, foreclosure fade, later half of 2014 expectations, mortgages, 8 ways to dress up a hallway.

Enjoy!

Debt-to-income ratio can sink mortgage application - Debt-to-income ratios (DTIs) proved to be the top answer that credit-risk managers at financial institutions across the country cited when declining to fund a loan request, according to a new survey by credit-score giant FICO. Nearly 60 percent of risk managers in the FICO study rated excessive DTIs as their No. 1 concern factor — five times the percentage who picked the next biggest turnoff. So if you’re in the market for a mortgage, work on your debt-to-come ratio to boost your chances of qualifying.

The Housing Market Is Improving, But There Still Aren't Enough Affordable Homes to Go Around - Homeownership may be slipping out of reach not just for lower income Americans, but working and middle class people as well, as there is not enough affordable housing inventory to go around in most of the country's large metro areas, according to Zillow. This tightness of supply will continue to have an impact on first-time home buyers, as well as anyone trying to buy a low-end home.

The Foreclosure Fade, and What it Means for the Housing Market - An important factor shaping the housing market dynamic right now is that the foreclosure crisis has faded. While foreclosures are not over, so-called “distressed” sales accounted for just 11 percent of sales in June, down from 15 percent last year, 25 percent in 2012, and 30 percent in 2011. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) released new data on existing U.S. home sales that show the market appears to be finding its footing.

What To Expect From Housing In The Second Half Of 2014 - With numbers going up and down and a variety of new headlines each month, the major takeaway for this year so far is that the housing market is steadily on the road back to normal, according to Forbes. Experts predict that the slowdown in prices will continue for the rest of 2014, and inventory will pick up as well. There will continue to be strong demand for apartment rentals as younger Americans delay marriage and the home-buying process.

Standards are Tighter, Sure. But is It Really That Hard to Get A Mortgage? - New economic analysis indicates that mortgage credit is tighter than during the 2000-2002 period, before lenders really relaxed their standard, which could complicate the housing recovery due to its dependence on the availability of mortgage credit. The analysis found that while mortgage credit standards have eased a bit over the last two years, compared to the normal level observed in 2000-2002, “mortgage credit supply is still significantly limited.”

8 Ways to Dress Up a Drab Hallway - Some of my favorites are: