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florida mortgages: Mortgage Pro Week in Review for 9/1/2008 - 9/7/2008 - 09/08/08 07:58 PM
I was honored when Jeff Belonger asked me to write this week's Mortgage Pro Week in Review (Sept. 1-7, 2008). With the week selected drawing to a close, the biggest news to hit the airwaves was released as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were essentially taken over by the government, a move long time coming, I am going to leave those posts for Tom Burris to handle in next week's week in review as there should be plenty of good ones if you mortgage pros are up to it.
I did a mortgage week in review a long time ago and … (14 comments)
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florida mortgages: Don't FIX It if Your ARM is Not Broken - 09/18/07 11:19 AM
Many homeowners have been rushing to refinance their Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) into a Fixed Rate Mortgage, mostly out of fear.
While it is true that many ARMs adjusting this year will put homeowners into increased mortgage payments, some of which they will not be able to afford. However, I am approached by many ARM holders who want to refinance and they have a while, sometimes a couple of years, before their ARM adjusts. Should they follow the herd?
The answer is a definitive NO! Sounds strange coming from someone who makes money selling mortgages, doesn't it? Well, the reality is that … (5 comments)
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florida mortgages: Equity Harvesting, Money Merge Accounts and the Benefits of Using Both - 08/30/07 12:56 PM
Yes, you heard me right, utilizing both as strategic tools can provide major benefits. I am not talking about using the MMA software per se, but rather the special HELOCS allowing you to use them as a checking account to provide interest cancellation. This strategy is not for everyone, but may provide huge benefits for those who decide to use it.
First off, strat yourself off correctly, lock in your acquisition indebtedness so you stop wasting money. You can do this by utilizing an interest-only loan to stop the "bleeding". Why? Because home equity is not a good investment, so why not … (40 comments)
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florida mortgages: Money Merge Accounts: Are You Dealing With a Professional? - 08/07/07 08:35 PM
OK, I was not going to post anything tonight as I need to get some sleep, but this just had me cracking up. Many of you know that I like this type of product (not a big fan of the seller of the Money Merge Account itself, rather utilizing similar products). The reason I started posting "case studies" was to show how these things are being marketed in a very biased and misleading fashion, without comparing it to other possible solutions. Please keep in mind that there is no "magic pill" nor is there any "one size fits all" mortgage program, … (11 comments)
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florida mortgages: Were Americans Really Saving Less Last Year? - 07/31/07 11:42 AM
You may have missed the report that came out this morning and do not realize there was a revision to last year's analysis. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), which gives out accounts of personal savings rates, made several upward revision's in the personal savings rates for 2004, 2005 and 2006.
In 2004, the revisions were not as dramatic as for 2005 and 2006, but were good to see nonetheless. 2004's revision showed a slight change in the savings rate to 2.1%, up from 2.0%. More impressively, 2005's revision to the personal savings rate rose from negative .4% up to .5%. However, the … (2 comments)
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florida mortgages: How to Borrow Money at 4.875% and Fairly Conservatively Earn up to 12.0% - 07/27/07 11:35 PM
Opponents of proper equity management, as well as those who push mortgage acceleration programs, argue about the ability to earn even 6% tax-free in conservative investments. I will show you how spreading your horizons and investing in CDs based on World Currencies can do that and more, with fairly little risk if you know what you are doing.
I have talked a little about the Icelandic Krona and how a 3-month CD based on that currency is yielding over 12%. Since CDs are about as conservative an investment as they come, I doubt many would argue about using this as a … (13 comments)
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florida mortgages: Heads or Tails: Is Flipping Houses Right for You? (Part 3 of 3) - 07/06/07 11:18 AM
In the previous posts, we have discussed how you need to do your research before getting into flipping houses. This part will continue to emphasize that fact, but also get into how you can get started and if it is really right for you.
At the point you are ready for a purchase, you should have worked hard to find the perfect property and so it is time to get down to business. One of the biggest mistakes that flippers tend to make is buying and renovating to their own personal needs or tastes. As with any other investment, you need to … (0 comments)
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florida mortgages: Heads or Tails: Is Flipping Houses Right for You? (Part 2 of 3) - 07/03/07 02:48 PM
OK, you decided you want to start flipping houses as a side career, or at least for fun. Well, if you are interested, and you must be since you are reading this, there are a lot of things you need to take into consideration.
Start by getting to know the neighborhood you are considering. You need to research several things about the area, starting with price ranges of the homes. Another consideration is how long the is the average a home stays on the market. It also helps to know how the local market is like.
If you are buying a fixer-upper, then … (5 comments)
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florida mortgages: Heads or Tails: Is Flipping Houses Right for You? (Part 1 of 3) - 06/28/07 08:59 PM
You probably have seen the infomercials on late night TV claiming you can get rich quick with real estate. You know the ones, claiming to talk sellers out of homes for next to nothing, buying with no money down and getting someone else to pay your closing costs. While some of these methods may be the real deal, but most are simply scams.
The lines between real deals and scams get grayed by the recent shows airing: TLC's Property Ladder, A&E's Flip this House and Discovery Channel's Flip that House. In fact, Interesting Way to Forecast the Destruction of a Market showed … (5 comments)
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florida mortgages: WARNING: Category 5 Hurricane Approaching Florida (What if?) - 06/25/07 12:56 PM
As most readers of my blog posts know, I am a different kind of mortgage professional. I employ a wide variety of strategies to help Florida families build their wealth over time. One of the ways I differ from most others is that I talk a lot about how a hurricane, or any other distater for that matter, can wipe out your home equity, possibly never to be seen again.
So, are you fully prepared for this hurricane season in regards to protecting the equity you have "trapped" in your home. If you have rushed to pay off your mortgage as quickly as … (4 comments)
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florida mortgages: Without Love, You Have Nothing - 06/12/07 10:04 AM
I know those of you reading the headline think I am about to go off on an emotional trip. Rest assured I am not, at least not a personal one. But, there are many people who may be crying after they read this post.
You have all heard the clichés about how love makes the world go around and so on. Well, one place you don't want emotions to rule is in your investments. Emotional investors lose big time, always. We must trust the technical indicators and facts being released and not get hung up on our emotions.
For instance, I feel that … (4 comments)
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florida mortgages: You Want to Own Your Own Home, But Do You Own it the Right Way? (Part 2) - 06/11/07 11:38 AM
This is a continuation of You Want to Own Your Own Home, But Do You Own it the Right Way? (Part 1). In the previous post, we compared Smart Stan and Timid Tom and how well their mortgage plans played out. We ended at the five year mark with Stan and Tom laid off and looking for new jobs. Stan had plenty of money to hold out for the best job, while Tom was stressed out since he had no money and was potentially facing foreclosure.
In this part, we are going to change things around a bit. Let's assume that they … (1 comments)
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florida mortgages: Realtors, You should be scared right now! - 06/09/07 07:11 AM
Why did I start off with this statement? The recent destruction in the Mortgage Backed Securities market has driven interest rates up significantly recently.
That means one thing. Your buyers cannot qualify for as much of a mortgage as they used to!!!
That's right, if your buyer has not locked a loan (and if they haven't signed a contract yet, guess what) they are more than likely not "pre-approved" anymore. That means you need to rethink your list of homes that you should be taking your client to this weekend.
The fact of the matter is that interest rates have risen as much … (7 comments)
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florida mortgages: Telenovelas Kill the Mortgage Market - 04/15/07 01:27 PM
Ok, I have been away for a while, so it is time to get caught up on my blogging. What a better way to start off than to revisit a post I did in January and a comment I stated 1/09/2007 forecasting the demise of the mortgage markets based on Telenovelas about mortgages hitting the airwaves.
If you missed my post on interesting ways to forecast the demise of a market, click here to read my original post. The article was about how when Hollywood produces a movie or TV show about a particular market, that market has major problems shortly thereafter.
That … (5 comments)
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florida mortgages: Knowing When to Place Limits on Your Business - 01/20/07 11:13 PM
The New Year came in full force for me this year and I am faced with a dilema I am sure most of you would like to have. The problem is that I allowed myself to bite off more than I could chew. Actually all this happened last month which is why my blogging, comments, and free time disappeared for a while, except sporadic appearances. It is also the reason I am posting this late Saturday night.
What happened? While I do not know exactly what caused the rapid increase in my business as the year wound down, but I can say … (10 comments)
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Robert D. Ashby
Miramar,
FL
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Address: 11758 SW 26th CT, Miramar, FL, 33025
Office Phone: (954) 674-6864
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