One of the keys to maintaining the middle class in America is homeownership. In fact, the government takes an active role in promoting ownership through incentives.
Home Loans and Government Websites
The government is famous for influencing the behavior of all of us. Despite the draconian conspiracy theories one hears or reads about, the government usually does this in a passive way. Specifically, it uses financial incentives or penalties to nudge us into certain actions. In the case of homeownership, the government offers a ton of information and incentives to try to get us to invest in our dream home or at least start the process of getting there by buying a first house. In fact, there are a number of government websites that provide all the information you could want.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is one of the key agencies dealing with homeownership. The department, better known as HUD, maintains a website listing the various programs it has, benefits and requirements of the same, and HUD homes that have been foreclosed on and are now for sale. You can visit the site by simply doing a search for HUD.
In the case of HUD,...