Tag: credit

For a young married couple looking to branch out during this credit crunch, some things couples take for granted during prosperous times may seem harder to attain—including the purchase of a home. These days, many couples are considering putting this dream on hold until the housing market becomes less volatile. The truth is, though, that interest rates are at near historic lows and home prices are dropping, and now is an ideal time to seriously consider purchasing a first home.

Owning your home can be a critical step toward building a sound financial structure for your new life together. Why keep paying rent when you can—hopefully—build equity? There are also important tax advantages linked with buying a home, including the ability to write off mortgage interest and property tax expenses. Plus, there’s now the incentive of the First Time Homebuyers Credit from the federal government.

An ancient Chinese curse proclaims: "May you live in interesting times." Most certainly 2008 qualifies as economically interesting. It’s unlikely that anyone predicted last New Year’s Day the problems destined to befall investment banking firms Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, prominent mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, IndyMac and Washington Mutual Banks, global financial services titan Merrill Lynch, government-sponsored mortgage guarantee enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurance giant American International Group, to mention only the more prominent institutions experiencing distress.