Mortgage-Guy.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The mortgage-interest deduction is America’s favorite tax break — and it’s also the costliest.

Between 2009 and 2013, the government will lose out on nearly $600 billion because of it, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.

While there’s no way to stabilize U.S. debt without making tough choices on the tax and spending sides of the ledger, some sacred cows are more sacred than others. And the mortgage-interest tax break is still deemed untouchable.

Case in point: a new bipartisan tax reform proposal that has been gaining currency in policy circles. Co-sponsored by

Mortgage modifications are something both the Obama administration and banks are providing for delinquent home owners in an attempt to help the economy. But as much as banks and the Home Affordable Mortgage Program launched by President Obama are trying to help, still others are weary of how genuine the programs are.

“Sometimes lenders push modifications forward, but often they let them die on the vine,” said David McDonald, a former president of the San Diego chapter of the California Mortgage Brokers Association, SignOnSanDiego.com reported.

McDonald added that loan-servicing agencies “tend to make more money the more

Mortgage preapproval is the first step in looking for a home. Many homebuyers think that the first step is actually going out to open houses and searching the market, but getting your mortgage pre-approved is the smarter decision.

According to SmartMoney, pre-approved letters are prepared even before you’ve picked out your home. This allows buyers to know exactly how much they can borrow based on their current financial situation.

Times have changed, and buying a home today wasn’t like how it was when real estate was at its peak. It’s not like choosing

Homebuyers today can potentially save several times more money in interest costs than buyers who took out a mortgage in early April and claimed an $8,000 homebuyer tax credit.

Yet buyers, who rushed to meet the April 30 deadline for the federal tax credits, appear much less eager to borrow at the lowest interest rates in 60 years.

Mortgage applications for home purchases are 42 percent below the pace seen in April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Home resales dropped 27.2 percent in July from June, according to a report Tuesday from the National

Ken Blaudow has felt the pain of the housing finance industry turmoil.

The owner of Indy Mortgage in Indianapolis had 85 employees originating home loans in 2003. Now he has three and is about to give up his leased office in Castleton and move his company into two bedrooms of his house.

“It’s drastically down,” he said of his industry. “And there are a lot of funky new rules.”

At least Blaudow’s still around.

Most of the mortgage brokers that seemed to populate every office building and commercial street in Indianapolis and many other cities just five years ago have

NEW YORK — Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in decades for the ninth time in 10 weeks, as concerns grow that the economy is weakening.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan was 4.36 percent this week, down from 4.42 percent last week. That’s the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan dropped to 3.86 percent from 3.90 percent the previous week. That’s the lowest on record starting in 1991.

Rates have fallen since spring as