Ready for a positive sign about how home buyers are financing their homes?

And does it make sense to liquidate a stock market investment in order to make a down payment on a home?

Get answers to these questions by listening to this week’s episode of the Ilyce Glink Show. You can click the audio link below to listen to the full show, or download the podcast via iTunes.

This week, I interview Dan Goldstein, real estate and personal finance reporter for Marketwatch. He’s got a couple of interesting stories to share from reporting on the housing market. First, we’ll discuss the positive trend in home financing. Friends and family aren’t being enlisted as lenders of last resort in quite the same numbers we’ve seen since the recession. So I’ll ask him to share what he’s learned about how many home buyers are receiving assistance from family and friends when making a down payment on a home. Then Dan’s got a warning for homeowners on so-called “mortgage acceleration” scams. If you’ve been listening to the show, you probably heard my recent report on how to pay off your mortgage more quickly. And the technique is free. But companies are currently being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that have charged consumers for that service, and Dan will run through the details.

Then I’ll answer a question from a 50-something divorcee who hopes to buy a home and retire within the next 10 years. But in order to be able to afford the monthly mortgage payments, he’ll have to make a sizable down payment. And he wants to know whether it makes sense to sell off some of his stock market holdings in order to gather the cash necessary to make that down payment.

Finally, I’ll take a moment to remind everyone that mortgage closings are not the time to skimp on due diligence. While we’ve probably all been guilty of scrolling to the bottom of an online agreement and clicking “accept” without having read every word, when it comes to a mortgage loan, you simply can’t afford to be inattentive.

More About This Show

Glinkonomics Report [0:47]

Retail sales and GDP figures might be showing some underlying strength in the economy.

Good News for Home Buyers and Financing [6:30]

Dan Goldstein has the latest scoop from the Federal Reserve Board’s 2014 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) and Zillow. So I’ll ask him to share what he’s learned about how many home buyers are receiving assistance from family and friends when making a down payment on a home. Then we’ll discuss his report on mortgage acceleration scams.

Q&A: Stock Market or Real Estate? [14:01]

Investing is a tricky business, whether you’re buying and selling stocks or property. So check out my answer for someone trying to decide whether he should sell stocks in order to be able to afford the down payment on a home.

How to Nail Your Mortgage Closing [16:39]

You’re agreeing to a lot when you sign your mortgage documents, and it bears repeating that you should be wary of signing anything you haven’t read carefully. So check out this segment for a reminder about why it’s so important to read your mortgage closing documents carefully before you sign them.

If you have any questions about this show or in general, email me at [email protected].

Thanks for listening!