If you have been having chest pains, increased blood pressure and feelings of anxiety recently, one of the reasons could be due to the number of foreclosures that are on the market. According to a recent study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, an increase of 100 foreclosures in an area contributed to an increase of about 7.2 percent in overall visits to the emergency room as well as hospital stays for abnormally high blood pressure. The study also showed a correlation between the number of foreclosures and the increase of diabetes among people between the ages of 20 and 49. In addition, the rising rate of foreclosures was also correlated with the number of suicides in an area.

The researchers focused on some of the hardest hit states when it comes to foreclosed homes – New Jersey, Florida, California and Arizona. However, the researchers note that it may not be the actual foreclosure that is causing these health problems as the financial difficulties that lead up to the foreclosure probably have a bigger and more negative impact on the homeowners than the final result. By the time they go through a foreclosure, most homeowners are resigned to the fact that they are going to lose their home and they have made other arrangements.

This study corresponds to a recent study that showed unemployment rates are also linked to health problems. For people who do not have any pre-existing conditions, a job loss increases their chance of reporting a health problem by nearly 85 percent! Those who have recently become unemployed showed a 54 percent more likely chance of reporting that they had fair or poor health.

Surprisingly, there is some good news. While these stressful events typically affect those who are impacted directly, there are studies that show that recessions can be good for the nation’s health as a whole. One study conducted in 2000 showed that an increase of 1 percent in unemployment for a state led to a decrease of 0.6 percent in the state’s mortality rate. One of the reasons for this connection is because people reduce their bad habits like smoking, eating bad, drinking too much and other things that can cause health problems.

Are you stressed out about foreclosures and the housing market in general? Don’t let the stress get to you. If you have found yourself feeling anxious or depressed about your financial situation, seek professional help immediately. It’s not worth it to let finances negatively affect your health.

With so many foreclosed homes and properties on the market today, one has to wonder what these homeowners have to go through after they go through a foreclosure. Life can’t be easy for them and the psychological stigma of a foreclosure probably has some negative effects on a person. But the financial effects can be even worse. What can one expect after they have made it through the foreclosure process?

A New Place to Live
In some cases, the immediate problem following a foreclosure is trying to find somewhere to live. Of course, in some cases of foreclosure, the homeowner has already considered this option and made arrangements. This is especially true these days since it usually takes the bank a long time to foreclose on a property – as long as two years. If you think you are going to get foreclosed on, start saving up a rental deposit or some other savings so you can find a new place to live soon after your foreclosure.

Dealing with the Credit Damage
There is no doubt that a foreclosure on your credit history is going to make things difficult for you in the foreseeable future. If you backed out on paying on your mortgage, why would another lender take a chance on you? And why would other creditors offer you a line of credit either? Even if you already have credit cards, your interest rates could skyrocket as a result of the foreclosure. Your credit score may never be the same if you go through a foreclosure.

Problems with the Job Hunt
Many foreclosures occur because a person in the household has lost their job. And since most employers do credit checks on potential employees, that foreclosure could be an obstacle to getting a new job. In actuality, your foreclosure should not be a topic of discussion in the interview unless the job you are applying for involves you handling money. In cases like this, you should be ready to explain the reason for the foreclosure. You could also explain how the foreclosure has made you change the way you handle money and how it has improved your budgeting skills.

Paying the Tax Bill
When you go through a foreclosure, you are essentially being forgiven of the money that you borrowed from a mortgage lender. In most cases, the IRS considers this income for you. You may be at the lowest spot in your life just a few months after your foreclosure and then you might get a bill from the IRS for the taxes you owe on that “income.” There are ways around this so check with a trusted tax advisor before paying that tax bill.

These are just a few of the financial hurdles a person needs to jump over after going through a foreclosure. With some determination and hard work, coming through a foreclosure can be a great learning experience that can motivate you to prevent it from ever happening again.

Refinancing can be a great way to reduce your mortgage payments or get extra cash from the equity in your home. Unfortunately, many homeowners make costly mistakes when refinancing their mortgage. Here are four common mistakes some homeowners make so you can avoid them.

1. Forgetting about Closing Costs

One of the main reasons for refinancing is because current mortgage rates are lower than they were when the homeowner purchased the home. But if you just purchased your home a few years ago, refinancing may not save you any money at all. Closing costs can be a couple thousand dollars or even more depending on a variety of factors. Before refinancing, crunch the numbers to see if you are actually saving money on your refinancing when you factor in the closing costs.

2. Not Refinancing at the Right Time

When mortgage rates are at record lows like they are right now, refinancing could be a good idea. But some homeowners wait too long in hopes that mortgage rates will drop even lower. If today’s rates are substantially lower than they were when you bought your home and you would save money be refinancing, you may not want to wait for them to go lower. Rates could start steadily increasing and you could miss your chance to save money. The mortgage market is like any market. I cannot be timed perfectly and rates are already much lower than anyone ever expected they would go.

3. Choosing the Wrong Mortgage Loan

There are several types of mortgage loans to choose from and you should choose the type that is right for your financial situation when you refinance. You do not need to refinance to a fixed rate mortgage loan like many people suggest. And if you are only going to stay in your home for a few more years, an adjustable rate mortgage may be ideal for you when you refinance. You may want to consult with a mortgage advisor to determine which type of mortgage loan is ideal for you before refinancing.

4. Sticking with the Same Mortgage Company Blindly

When refinancing, you do not need to go through your existing mortgage lender. You can shop around and look for other mortgage lenders for your refinance if your current mortgage lender is not offering you the best deal. It is always best to shop around for better mortgage deals when you refinance so you can save as much money as possible.

These are just a few common mistakes that people make when refinancing their mortgage loan. By taking some time and shopping around, you can find the best refinancing deal for your particular situation.

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There are many reasons why a homeowner would want to pay off their mortgage early. One of the most common reasons is the emotional benefit that you would feel when you own your home. There are also financial benefits for paying off your mortgage early because you can save thousands of dollars in interest. But how do you save the most money on paying off your mortgage? Here are a few tips you can use.

Start Early
If you are going to pay off your mortgage early, start as early as possible. The sooner you start sending in extra payments, the faster you can whittle down the interest that you are going to pay over the term of the mortgage loan. Most mortgage loans are designed so the first few years are “interest heavy,” meaning that most of the money from your payments is put towards the interest on the loan, and very little towards amortization. By making payments early on in your loan, you also build up equity faster which is ideal if you didn’t put down a sizable down payment.

Know the Prepayment Penalties
Many mortgage analysts boast about the benefits of making bi-weekly payments on your mortgage. This means making a half payment on your mortgage twice a month instead of making one monthly payment. The idea behind this concept is that you would be making what equals 13 monthly payments instead of the normal 12 payments. But before you start making your payments this way, check with your mortgage lender. Some lenders will charge you a fee for making bi-weekly payments. Some lenders only apply the payments once a month when you make bi-weekly payments so it would make no difference anyways.

Mark Your Extra Payments
If you do decide to make extra payments each month or some one-time payments throughout the year, make sure you mark your payments. Mortgage payments are set up on a monthly cycle so when a lender receives unexpected payments, they may not get applied to your account appropriately. When making extra payments, be sure to use a separate check for the payment and write in the memo line that the extra payment is for principal reduction.

Be Informed
Keep up to date on the latest news in the mortgage industry. If you have been paying on your mortgage for a few years, you may qualify for a lower rate if you have improved your credit score. Or mortgage rates may be lower today than they were when you first bought your home in which case it may make financial sense to refinance (click here to check rates where you live). Check with a qualified financial advisor for more specific information about your individual situation.

By keeping these things in mind, you can start paying down your mortgage and save thousands of dollars over the term of your home loan.

A flood of new paperwork created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has many bank workers upset. The new regulations, which went into effect last July, has doubled the amount of paperwork needed in order to get a mortgage loan and, according to some bankers, the new regulations provide no extra benefits to the consumer.

Alesia Harlan is one such banker who has seen her load of paperwork double since the new regulations went into effect. She works at City State Bank in Norwalk, Iowa and she is unhappy that the new regulations created about two extra months of work for her last year just to review the 455 mortgage applications that came across her desk.

But that’s not the end of it. The bill is 2,300 pages long. It is expected to be twice that size once legislators put specific instructions and mandates in it in the next few years. Banks and financial institutions will have to implement these new regulations which will increase paperwork and likely “choke community banks,” which could cause many of them to close their doors permanently.

Jim Schipper, the banking superintendent for the State of Iowa, says that larger banks will not feel the crunch as bad as the smaller community banks will feel it. He says that the big banks can hire as many attorneys as they need to help them comply with the demands of the new regulations. He also said that many smaller banks may just stop making mortgage loans because it is too much trouble to comply with the new guidelines.

Smaller banks closing their doors would be nothing new, though. In the last 25 years or so, big banks have gone from controlling less than 30 percent of the banking industry in the United States to controlling nearly 80 percent of the industry in recent years. In 1984, about 40 percent of the smaller banks controlled the market compared to today’s figures of just over 10 percent.

Some of the new guidelines require banks to track the businesses they loan money to and to track overdrafts and “near-overdrafts” of their customers. Most of the small banks in this country do not have the technology to meet these guidelines and it would be too expensive for them to implement the new software and train employees on how to use it.

Not everybody is upset with the new regulations, though. Neil Stanley is a former bank president who is now in charge of the Omaha consulting firm Bank Performance Strategies. He says that the new regulations are not uncommon and every industry, including banking, goes through changes. This is one of those changes that banks must go through and if they can’t face the challenge, they simply won’t survive.

Do you know anything about the new bank regulations when it comes to mortgage loans? If so, how do you feel about the situation?

Click here to compare mortgage rates where you live.

With mortgage rates continuing to fall to record lows, the number of homeowners who are refinancing has spiked. According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage this week was 4.32 percent. That’s the lowest that figure has been all year. And the rate for a 15 year fixed rate mortgage was at 3.5 percent, another record low.

Amid all the concerns of the stock market plummeting earlier in the week, these low mortgage rates provide a bright side to today’s uncertain economy. Unfortunately, low mortgage rates enough to help the flailing housing industry come out of its hole. Mortgage rates have now been falling for the last three years. Their decline hasn’t created a housing boom that many commentators have been expecting and these days many are hoping that housing prices will just stabilize.

The number of homeowners who have applied for a refinance on their homes has increased by 30 percent for the week ending on August 5, hitting their high for the year. The high number of homeowners who want to refinance is no surprise, however, when you realize that more than 60 percent of outstanding mortgages nationwide are still above 5 percent and were initiated before rates fell. Many homeowners have improved their credit scores and they would likely qualify for a lower rate. Even if they don’t qualify for rates as low as 4.32 percent of a 30 year mortgage (or 3.5 percent for a 15 year mortgage), they will likely qualify for a rate that is lower than they are paying now. However, nearly half of all homeowners who are paying a mortgage right now have less than 20 percent equity in their home. This will make it difficult for some to refinance unless they want to pay private mortgage insurance along with their monthly mortgage payment.

Another interesting trend right now is that many homeowners who are refinancing are opting for shorter payback terms. During the first quarter of this year, nearly 35 percent of those homeowners who chose to refinance switched from their 30-year fixed rate mortgage to a 20 or 15 year fixed rate mortgage. According to Freddie Mac, those numbers are the highest they have been in about seven years. Frank Nothaft, the chief economist with Freddie Mac, predicts many more people will choose to do that in the months to come.

Have you been thinking of refinancing your home with mortgage rates as low as they are? If so, are you planning on choosing a shorter term? Or what’s your strategy?

Click here to see mortgage rates where you live.

We have heard about people paying their credit card bills before paying their mortgage payments in recent months. Many homeowners have forgone their mortgage payments in an effort to keep other bills current because they have felt it was more important to pay those bills on time rather than their mortgage payments.

But as we enter the second half of 2011, it appears that is slowly starting to change.

According to TransUnion, one of the main three credit reporting bureaus, the number of people who are at least 60 days late on their mortgage payments has decreased for the sixth consecutive quarter. In 2010, the percentage of homeowners who were 60 days or more late on their mortgage payments was 6.67 percent (that number was at its all-time highest in 2009 at 6.9 percent). The current percentage of homeowners who are at least 60 days late on their payments is 5.82 percent.

Tim Martin with TransUnion’s housing market division attributes part of this decrease to the stricter lending policies that banks are following these days. Banks and lenders are being much more cautios about who they give mortgage loans to and only those borrowers with higher credit scores are qualifying for the loans. Theoretically, the higher the borrower’s credit score, the less likely they are to default on their mortgage payments.

The study included more than 27 million consumer records that TransUnion has in its database and indicated a broad improvement across the entire country. The research showed that the number of late mortgage payments was down in 49 states since the beginning of 2011. In Vermont, late mortgage payments increased, but that was not a cause for concern as the percentage of mortgage payments that are late in that state remains well below the national average.

While the numbers are improving, the four states that were hit the hardest by the mortgage crisis continue to have the highest percentages of mortgage delinquencies. They are Nevada (13.04 percent), Florida (13.91 percent) California (7.83 percent) and Arizona (7.78 percent). Nevada still leads the nation in the number of foreclosures with about 1 in every 115 households getting a notice of foreclosure. On the opposite side, the mortgage delinquency rate in North Dakota is the lowest in the nation at just 1.45 percent. South Dakota’s delinquency rate is only 2.31 percent and Nebraska and Alaska’s delinquency rates are 2.43 percent and 2.64 percent respectively.

TransUnion predicts that the delinquency rate across the United States will continue to drop throughout the rest of the year.

Please click here to see the current mortgage rates where you live.