howto: Should Rental Properties be Titled in My Personal Name? - 02/15/08 03:27 PM
Great question posted on LinkedIN Answers today.
The scenario is that a military serviceman has been purchasing homes as a primary residence, with primary residence mortgage terms. In 2-3 years, the military relocates him and instead of selling that house, he keeps it as investment property. But now he is at a point of needing some real estate investment strategy and asking a very good question.
Perhaps you or someone you know is in the same situation or plans to start investing in rental real estate.
As can be seen from the responses so far, the answer varies depending on the perspective of … (0 comments)
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howto: Gift Getting and Mortgages – A How-To - 07/20/07 11:32 AM
So you are going to buy that first home. You found the right house, a little fixing up and painting required, but the layout and location are just right. The sales price is in your range and you know you can handle the new payment. Now it's just a matter of calculating the cost of buying.
You sit down with your lender to understand clearly the closing costs on your transaction. Title company fees such as escrow settlement, recording, warranty deed, tax stamps, and courier expenses. Property survey, home warranty, homeowner's association transfer fee, it seems the list goes on and on. … (2 comments)
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howto: The difference between Alt-A and subprime? Understand where they go after closing - 03/14/07 12:18 PM
Mortgage Backed Securities PRIMER - to understand where the different 100% financing programs go...
A Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) is essentially a group of loans (often called a pool) that have similar characteristics. 500 Fixed-Rate, FHA loans would be pooled together and issued into a MBS but you wouldn't see a couple of JUMBO loans thrown in just for fun. The MBS is then rated by a third party company who audits the files, writes up a prospectus of the history of the company issuing the MBS and the type of MBS issued by that company in the past. The MBS then gets a rating which tells investors … (8 comments)
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howto: Waiting on that new home to be built? 5 things you should do - 03/12/07 12:24 PM
For many home-buyers, a new property is an exciting way of going into a new home. There has been a tremendous increase in first-time homebuyers who started with new construction homes. Because of this, you may not be sure of what to do while the home is being built. Here are 5 steps you need to take during construction:
1) - Call homeowner's insurance companies. You have the extra time, so shop around for your homeowner's insurance. I'm in Texas and that is especially good advice here. Many companies got out of the homeowner's insurance business 4-6 years ago during the "black … (3 comments)
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howto: What If I Have No Credit Score? - 12/19/06 09:21 AM
Credit scores, primarily FICO scores are the predominant method of making a CREDIT decision on a mortgage loan applicant. Some loan programs rely specifically on the credit score, such as:Alt-A or Expanded Criteria Loans: These are loans for people who can't verify income or employment80/20 loans: programs to buy a home with no downpaymentSub-prime or Non-prime loans: programs for people with less than perfect creditNote that what is missing from the above bullet-points are the majority of mortgage programs written in the USA:
FHA - government insured loan which only requires 3% down-payment. There is no score requirementVA - government entitlement for … (2 comments)
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howto: Interest Rate DOES Matter - 12/14/06 05:21 PM
I was inspired to write this blog after reading Scott Gormley's "Going Beyond 'The Rate...'" post from earlier today. Scott's point is that there is much more to selecting a lender than determining the interest rate that lender has to offer. And I agree...up to a point. The problem is that there's a flawed assumption in Scott's closing argument.
"Working with a mortgage professional that understands this concept and works towards understanding your needs will make the entire loan process much more enjoyable."
The flaw is that while the process may be more enjoyable, the process only lasts a few weeks and … (15 comments)
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howto: FHA Sales Special on Existing HUD-owned Homes Through December - 12/10/06 09:09 PM
During the "FHA Brings the Holidays Home" sales event, homebuyers who purchase a HUD-owned home and finance the purchase with an FHA-insured loan will be entitled to valuable sales incentives including: $2,500 Holiday Home Improvement Allowance $500 Selling Broker Bonus Minimum Required Downpayment of Only $100 The sales promotion runs from December 8th through January 5th, 2007. Eligible buyers cannot currently have an FHA loan and must stay in the home for 12 months following purchase.
More information about this initiative is available by calling 1-800-CALL-FHA, or on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.
… (0 comments)
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howto: Can You Get a Loan For This? "For Sale: Fantastic 5/2/3 with Ferrari in Garage!" - 11/22/06 02:25 PM
WASHINGTON - In the eyes of lenders, the new cars and other "concessions" that sellers are dangling in front of buyers have a dollar value that should be accounted for by the appraiser when determining the true market value of the property. If the appraiser does his work properly, the mortgage company may not be willing to lend as much as the buyer needs to make the deal work. And if that's the case, the buyer will have to come up with some extra cash he didn't expect he'd need, or walk away from the deal altogether. click here for the … (1 comments)
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howto: Is There a Mortgage Loan For People With No Credit History? - they exist and they are affordable - 11/22/06 02:03 PM
Mortgage Loan Programs for people with no credit history do exist and many of these programs are very affordable. This article was written to explain what options you have for buying a home today, even if you have not established a credit history or credit score.Home buyers may fear qualifying for a home loan if they do not have a credit history or have a very limited credit history. The main reasons for not having a credit history are:Too young to have established credit - new college graduates or young professionals may fall into this category Fear of credit from prior experience - some people who … (2 comments)
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howto: REALTORS® - 4 ways you can help the closing go smoothly - 09/29/06 04:39 PM
I’m often pleasantly surprised to hear Realtors tell me how smoothly the loan closing was when attending one of my mortgage closings. As a mortgage lender we are responsible for getting the loan documents and funds to the closing table. When brokering a loan, the loan officer doesn’t have control over the actual lender sending the documents to the title company. From witnessing many successful and seamless closings and also participating in a few fiascos, there are 4 key areas the Real Estate Agent is essential to assisting the mortgage lender in making the closing go smoothly.
1) Loan Closings work best when a Real Estate Agent schedules the closing time and sets client expectations
Loan closing … (1 comments)
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howto: Pay Option Arms - Suicide in a Mortgage Loan - 09/05/06 09:54 PM
An article on the Pay Option Arm appeared on-line today at BusinessWeek Online and it sheds some light on this loan program. Pay Option Arms came into vogue in 2003 and 2004 when fixed interest rates started to increase but these loans were still offering low introductory or initial fixed rates. How? The Pay Option ARM uses what's called a lagging index, also known as a trailing index. For example, to determine the interest rate you would take the AVERAGE of the past 12 months of the COFI (Cost of Funds Index). So even if the COFI was starting to increase somewhat … (17 comments)
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howto: Shopping for a mortgage on-line, a how-to guide - 09/05/06 08:09 PM
Mortgage "SPAM" is the junk e-mail marketing approach of my industry, the mortgage lending business. As owner of AMC-TradeMark Financial it pains me to see the direction our competitors are taking with their marketing. The effect is an overall diminishing respect for mortgage professionals in addition to increased confusion of the general consumer. My purpose for writing this is to help explain why you are being "spammed" so that you understand what to do with these e-mails.
"Click Here to save over $200 per month on your mortgage"
To understand why you are bombarded with mortgage spam in your e-mail inbox, one must understand … (6 comments)
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howto: Buying a home in a mandatory Homeowner's Association? What to ask - 09/05/06 07:39 PM
I visited with Ben Capelle who is a real estate attorney in Dallas, TX. Among other clients, Ben represents several Home Owner's Assocations so his knowledge in this area is very extensive. Many people in north Texas purchase homes that are subject to mandatory HOA guidelines, membership and restrictions. Unfortunately, few of these buyers investigate the HOA before getting under contract and investing earnest money. In some cases, buyers have closed on the home without knowing anything about the HOA.Ben Capelle put together this helpful list of what to look for when buying a home subject to a Homeowner's Association. Thanks … (0 comments)
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