I was hoping that Jingle Mail could be the start of a holiday greeting at this time of the year, but unfortunately it is someting that we are seeing more of each day in this tough economic time. But people are looking the fact that even though they are able to afford the mortgage payment, they have stopped making the payment. The reason why, the home has lost so much value that they have just stopped paying the mortgage each month.
As with any investment, there are inherent risks associated with the investment and the future value of the investment. One of the things that has to be considered is what the value of the property will be in the near future and whether that will be going up or down. The biggest difference is that often the stock market will rebound a little quicker than the housing market. But the big issue is that the housing market will recover ... it may be 5 years but it will recover and hold consistent value than any other investment.
The biggest concern that I have is that while the banks deny any fraud on their part, there has been some type of underhanded manuvering in the mortgage industry. I know that I had clients where were using loan officers of a less than scrupulous nature that could have gotten them into trouble. I was very fortunate to be educated in real estate and to have a very savvy manager who taught me a great deal about issues related to financing. I was able to ask the pertinent questions of my clients and that gave me the ability to hopefully help them avoid the pitfalls of foreclosure, short sale, etc in their future.
These are the necessary things that we have to do. Our job is to be a consultant and sounding board to our clients. I don't give loan advice, but I ask the questions that my clients need to be thinking about ... such as I am getting a 3 year ARM but we are planning to living in the house for 6 years. Is this a gamble that I'm willing to take that the house will increase in value and not go down ... that rates remain low epsecially the index by which my ARM is adjusted ... etc.
Comments (0)Subscribe to CommentsComment