Call it the "too good to be true" mortgage: Bank of America's new "no-fee plus" home loan program has competitors searching for sleight of hand tricks and gimmicks. But Bank of America says that its new program is for real, and comes with none of the usual grab bag list of origination, processing, title or closing costs. That means no application or origination charges, no credit check fees, no charges for the appraisal, title examination, title insurance policies, settlement fees or even tax service and floor certification.

As anyone who's bought a house can confirm, these fees can add up to big bucks -- 3 to 5 percent of the mortgage amount-thousands of dollars in many cases.

Question: We purchased our home back in 1989. We have refinanced twice, and in neither case did we receive a new title insurance policy. Is a new policy necessary when one refinances? Also, in reading our policy, it appears that there are a large number of exclusions. Is it possible to obtain a new title policy from another company at this time?

Answer: Title insurance -- for a lot of homebuyers -- is a mystery. You go to settlement, and among the many items you have to pay is a large sum of money for Owners and Lenders Title Insurance. You pay it, primarily because the title attorney tells you that you will not get your loan unless the lender has adequate insurance. Several months later, your insurance policy is mailed to you by the settlement company. You tuck it away with the rest of your home-purchase documents, and then forget about it.

Hard times remain for the Big Easy with many of the city’s basic services and infrastructure still quagmired, but the town is repopulating, home values are on the rise and the rental market is strong.
The May 2007 issue of the "Katrina Index" produced by Greater New Orleans Community Data Center in collaboration with the Brookings Institution offers some of the most optimistic news since it was first published in December 2005 to monitor the social and economic recovery of the Gulf Coast region.

According to the National Association of Realtors, more than one million people bought vacation homes in 2006. Industry experts say the NAR data is good news for those considering purchasing a vacation home.
"Their data basically [reported] that vacation-home sales rose in 2006 based on a 4.7 percent increase [over the previous year]," says Christine Karpinski author of How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner, 2nd Edition: The Complete Guide to Buy, Manage, Furnish, Rent, Maintain and Advertise Your Vacation Rental Investment (Kinney Pollack Press, 2007, ISBN: 0-9748249-9-2, $26.00) and Director of Owner Community for HomeAway.com.