Maybe you've heard - the government is coming to help protect you.

For example, on July 30 a new disclosure act became law.  In order to protect you the borrowing, home buying, public, your selected lender must provide you with a Truth-in-Lending (TILA) statement detailing the costs you should expect to face when financing real estate.  You have three business days to review this material.  Add to that an estimated three day mail transit period and you will need to wait SEVEN days before your lender is allowed to collect any fees from you (except a nominal credit report fee) and that includes taking advance dated items such as post dated checks, credit card authorization, etc.

Then, if the fees increase by $100 or more, or if the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) calculation increases by 1/8th% (0.125%), the law mandates a new disclosure must be issued and another 7 days waited before your lender can draw your closing documents.

If your interest rate is floating during this period, and if that floating rate rises above the estimated rate on the initial TILA disclosure, said lender must make another disclosure with another seven day period.

And, if you are doing a refinance transaction, these periodic 7 days waits are in addition to your final 3 day rescission period that has been the law for several years.

So, you start your loan application on August 1, 2009.  Assuming your lender mails the forms the next day, they are forbidden to order the appraisal (a cost) before August 8th.  The initial interest rate estimate comes to you at 5.5% APR.  You choose to float the rate hoping it will come down before you need to commit to the loan.  For the first two weeks, it does float down to 5.25%.  No problem.  No new disclosure. 

Then on August 15th, rates shoot up to 5.63%, just over the .125% limit.  A new 7 day disclosure period starts, even though you are still floating the rate.  August 25th, rates are now 5.875%.  You get a new disclosure and another 7 days.

Finally, it is time to close the financing.  You lock on August 31st at 5.75% by paying an additional fee to the lender of $700, called discount points.  Lucky you.  Good rate, but too much money spent, so another 7 day disclosure period.  Finally, on September 10th your lender requests a final estimated HUD from the closing agent.  Here and there some numbers are a bit off to the total of $250.00  Guess what?  That's rignt, another 7 day disclosure period.

See why getting a 30 day escrow is now just a footnote in history?  Bet you are glad the government stepped in to help you, right?

Yes, getting accurate fee disclosure is important.  Note that lower fees and lower APR's don't cause another 7 day process.  Gee, I wonder if service providers, lenders, closing agents, title companies and so on will just estimate a few bucks higher than they really need just to avoid delays?  Not a lot, mind you.  $100 or so here.  Another $100 or so there.  Pretty soon it is serious change.  Such protective costs have a way of becoming firm and due as the transaction proceeds.

So, the net effect is that buyers and borrowers generally will experience higher overall costs, not lower.

If you are a first time home buyer (anyone who has not owned their primary residence for the past three years) that sound you hear is the expiration date of the First TIme Buyer's Tax Credit.  Could be worth up to $8,000 to you as a dollar for dollar reduction in your income tax liability.

There are lots of rules you need to meet.  Speak with your tax professional about your personal situation.  But, if you qualify for this incentive, there isn't much time left and you don't want to throw away that kind of money, do you?

You can find lots of buying opportunities in most of Orange County, but even in this market, well priced homes are moving quickly.

TAX FAQ answers you need when dealing with clients to buy or finance:

Can the IRS take money from my bank account without permission?

They absolutely can, and will if they start enforced collections.

The IRS has the authority to utilize extreme tactics to collect taxes. Tactics include placing a "levy" against your bank accounts, which allows them to withdraw up to the entire tax amount owed!  Does not matter if you need the money to make payroll, pay your mortgage, or whatever.  The checks you've already written against the funds will just bounce.  Luckily you have 21 days in which to dispute the levy before it begins.

IRS can levy against real estate and other property or assets they find in the taxpayer's name.  These liens can follow the taxpayer until the tax is paid or otherwise resolved.

Usually there are multiple liens even though there may be only one tax amount due.  IRS tends to file against taxpayer, spouse, and repeat in more than one county.  Initial review of a credit report may look really impossible, but can often be resolved to a manageable level with skill and experience.

Tax problems such as this grow and grow, with penalties and interest, until the molehill becomes a mountain.  The solution is to take action to get on top of the problem.  It is not really a do it yourself project.  The IRS does not work to help the taxpayer.  They are not your friend - no matter what the advertisements claim.

Do you know of anyone who has received notice of a pending levy from the IRS?  Email me here right now, for quick and profitable access to a top quality, professional service that will support your client and add to your income.

Can the IRS take money out of my paychecks without permission?

They can and they will.  And they don't ask you first either.

Often the most destructive of the tactics the IRS employs in order to collect owed taxes, wage garnishment laws allow them to take up to HALF of your total paycheck per pay period!  Imagine what that would do to your ability to care for your family.  Could you still make your mortgage payment?  Buy gas for your car?  Buy groceries to stay alive?

Tax problems do not just go away.  If your client ignores the tax collection letters, the process accelerates until what may have begun as a small problem is now a major financial tsunami.  Added penalties and interest mount quickly.

If you know of anyone who in danger of having their wages garnished by the IRS?  Email me here right now, for quick and profitable access to a top quality, professional service that will support your client and add to your income.

In a departure from most highly regarded authors, Robert Kiyosaki, has a new book that he is creating on-line.  You are invited to participate in the development by commenting through links provided in the process.  So far the initial Introduction to the book and Chapter One are available for anyone to read for free.  More chapters will be added over time until the entire twelve chapters, plus the Afterword are finished and posted.

You can read and comment on this project in process at Conspiracy of the Rich.com

Already there are thousands of posts to just the first two sections of information.  It is, apparently, an active interest area.

Robert has already had enormous success with his books, beginning with Rich Dad, Poor Dad and his many other projects, including seminars, CD's and the like.  He and his wife are also successful real estate investors and entrepreneurs who have chosen to give back by explaining how millionaires think and how they do things differently from the rest of the citizenry.

Check it out.

When potential buyers call on a real estate sign, what is it they want to know?  The price.  A few details about the house.  Oh yes, and the price.

What do they not want to share with you?  Their name, contact information, phone number, and so on.

You probably have Caller ID on your business phone line, which can often provide a caller's number.  But, that fails if the number is blocked or not listed.  Many industry pros, like you, use 800 numbers to capture caller information.  800 service provides information regardless of blocking, unlisted status, using a cell phone, etc.

Your 800 number call report lists all incoming calls showing the time they called, how long the call lasted, and the phone number used.  Great.  Your service may provide these data on a daily basis, or even instantly on the web.  But, who was it that called?  The name.  We need the name!

For that data you need a reverse number listing source.  You can easily discover the information you need for nearly every caller.  Information that is usually, but not always, the same as the person who called.  Sometimes they call from the office.  Sometimes from a friend's house.  But usually from the cell phone while sitting in front of the sign, which gives you exactly the data you need.

This happens with your personal information whenever you call an 800 number too.  It is possible to opt out and make your data private, and there is generally no fee to do that.  It can be a little tedious as there are at least 44 databases to remove yourself from.  Or, you may choose to use the service I recommend below and get the whole job done for less than a cup of fancy Starbucks.

This recommended service helps you discover information on your callers.  What kind of information you ask?  You can get all your questions answered on the website here.  But, for example, enter your own phone number in the screen and see what is available on you, such as:

• Phone owner name and current address
• Line type - landline or mobile
• Household members
• Phone company and carrier
• Possible neighbors and relatives
• Issuing location
• Satellite maps
• Other phone numbers belonging to owner
• Owner's address history
• And more!

Check out this top of the line people finding tool today.  You may wish to use it to opt out your own data.  If you think it will help your business to be able to discover good information, then you too can increase your income with this best of type service.  Check out your own number today.

An "officer of the court", calls saying you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest.  You say you never received a notice.

To clear it up, he'll need some information for "verification purposes"-your birth date, social security number, maybe even a credit card number. The scam's bold simplicity is what makes it so effective. Facing the unexpected threat of arrest, victims are caught off guard and often will reveal information to resolve the situation.

Just hang up the phone. IT IS A SCAM.  Check it out with the FBI

Jury scams are years old, but are becoming common again.  Real court officers never ask for confidential information by phone.  Neither does the IRS, but that's another scam concerning refunds supposedly due you.

In recent months, communities in Florida, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, Oregon, California, Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Hampshire reported scams or posted warnings or press releases on their local websites.

The jury scam is a simple variation of the identity-theft ploys to gather personal information from good credit individuals that have become thieves' preferred prey. Scammers may tap your information to make a purchase on your credit card, but more likely will just sell your information to the highest bidder on the Internet's black market.

The fact is ID Theft is much more than just about credit or credit cards.  Learn how to protect yourself here.  ID Theft is booming in medical theft leaving victims with tens of thousands in bills and possible life risks, financial theft which destroys your credit and costs hundreds of hours of your time to correct, social security theft leaving victims owing thousands in taxes and penalties, along with other risks.

Moral: Never give out personal information on an unsolicited phone call.

The Mortgage Bankers Association provides a useful "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008" (HERA) Resource Center.

"As you know, on Wednesday, July 30, 2008, President George W. Bush signed major housing legislation, Public Law 110-289, the "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA)."

HERA includes reform of government sponsored enterprise (GSE) regulation that will dynamically affect FNMA and FHLMC, and modernization of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  These are, of course, the essential sources of most of the home mortgage financing in America.  Unless you only deal with all cash buyers, you need to be up to date on HERA and understand how it will affect your business - which it certainly will

This new center is the complete HERA resource for the real estate finance industry. This collection of resources houses the latest information on this major piece of legislation.

Among the little discussed areas of HERA is the requirement for national licensing and/or registration of all loan origination personnel.  This will include fingerprinting, background checks, education requirements, testing, and annual continuing education hours.  So, if your real estate practice is one of the 70% or so that has an internal finance division, pay special attention to these requirements.

One of the first things you learn to help improve your writing is the use of personas. Before you write a single word, you must decide who your audience is.

do you want to connect through your ad with Harry the handyman or Suzie the soccer mom?  If you have a wide audience, consider using different ads and landing pages for each persona you want to visit your site.

You could create separate sales messages for men and women. First time buyers, investors, and empty nesters. Separate messages for starter homes, move-up homes, condos, and so on.

While it is extra work, if you talk directly to the needs of small targeted groups, you'll increase your sales and conversions.

What taxes you ask?  Wasn't there a law passed to eliminate tax on the debt reduction from a short sale?

Well, yes, but ... (a pretty standard answer from government "benefits" as you know)

If the home is a primary residence, and if you have no more than $2,000,000 in this type of "income", and if the loan qualifies, and if you did not retain the property through a loan modification, then maybe you can get this benefit eliminated.

This is not a do it yourself project either.  You need to review your situation with a qualified tax professional.

There are rules of ownership; rules as to loan type and how the money was used; date rules; and much more that can affect the tax results for you or for your clients if you work as a real estate professional or lending professional.

The point?  Don't just believe the headlines.  Get the facts as they apply to your specific situation.  Get them from the tax professional of your choice.  But get them before you file your return for the affected year.

Based on an email received from a friend today, here is a horse racing analogy for you.  Just add the appropriate number of zeros to these figures and it will be a closer, though still not a perfect match to the banking situation.  Still, I think it is closer than what Congress is using to explain the problem to the public.

George is at the race track and bets $2 on a horse to win.

Two guys observe this bet and Fred says to Samuel, "I'll bet you $5 that George wins his bet."

Nearby are William and Bob.  William says: "I'll bet you $10 that Fred welshes on his bet if he loses."

Next to them is Sally. Sally says: "For $3 I'll guarantee William that if Bob fails to pay off, I'll make good on the bet."

Sally goes to Mary and borrows the $7 she'll need in case she has to ever pay off, promising to pay back $8 to Mary. Sally doesn't expect to pay as she believes Bob will make good. She expects to net $2 no matter what happens to George's original $2 bet.

A quick calculation indicates that there is now 2+5+10+3+7 = $27 riding on the outcome of the horse race.

Question: how much has been "invested" in the horse race?

Answer: $50,000 by the horse owner who expects to profit on his investment as the horse wins and future deals. 

Everyone else is gambling (speculating), not investing.

In the housing market, the only "investor" was the person who bought the property.  Buyers of the meaningless derivatives spun off from this are gambling. The face value of all these side bets quickly exceeds the underlying investment. Who holds these side bets?  Not the homeowner.  Customers of the failing investment banks, hedge funds and similar enterprises hold these bets. Notice that the bailout is being directed at them not the homeowners.

The real world is more complicated. For the past 30 years, people placed bets almost anything, starting with the value of stock averages. While there is nothing wrong with this activity, they might as well bet on the temperature in Newark at 8:00 AM.  It only becomes "wrong" when congress gets involved and decides to steal more money from the suffering homeowners to "bail out" these financial market speculators.

So when you hear everybody saying this is a crisis caused by the housing collapse, be skeptical. We are in the midst of a classic pyramid or Ponzi scheme and people will lose a lot of money.  If the losses remain where the hoped for gains would have gone, that is a market transaction.  But, what is really happening with the bailout is that it is the taxpayers who are being milked for the cash - AGAIN!