Today, I attended a seminar by a nationally renowned author and finance expert. I was totally blown away by the concepts that he was espousing because many of these things have attributed to the situation that we are presently experiencing. Now granted, he did make some good comments and suggestions to be able to sell more homes, but here are a few points that I felt were very disturbing, not to mention his demeanor and attitude:
He mentioned that a lot of people should use their VA eligibility to purchase a home instead of going the conventional mortgage route. OK, no real problem there except possibly for the funding fee. But his main contention is that if someone has this available and they do not qualify for a conventional loan, they can go VA. Additionally, if they put 10% down then there is no debt ratio to be looked at. Let's see purchasing a home that they possibly can't afford - do you see a problem?
- Buydowns - Now while buydowns are definitely something to take into consideration, the reason that most use it is not only for the lower rate during a certain period, but also because of the fact that the buyer has to only qualify at the lower rate. Granted, a 30-year fixed buydown might surely be something to consider for both parties if executed correctly.
- Interest Only Loans - both ARM's and Fixed - You're going to love this one. The suggestion is that you should take the savings that you would have paid towards the principal and put it into your company matching 401K and that you will make more than you would have paid in principal and your home will still appreciate. Now granted this is a theory and may sound good on paper, but the reality of it is that the money isn't going to make it into the 401K. This is akin to those hawkers that tell us to use our equity as a checking account and you'll pay off your home in x years. While in theory this may sound good, the reality is quite something different entirely.
OK, so today is February 6, 2008 and this guy is being paid to go around on the circuit and profess these theories. Geez Louise, this just blew my mind. I couldn't stand to listen anymore and stay to the end. Had better things to do with my time, but he was supposedly going to tell us how to raise our credit scores 50 points within several weeks by using a credit card. Hmmm. That sounds scary already.
Have a great, profitable day and let's stay ethically and morally responsible. Hopefully if enough of us do we can run these shysters out of business. I don't have an issue educating the public, but these people make it so much harder.
Additionally, the general public should contact their trained, licensed professionals to better understand the intricacies and implications invovled with mortgages and home buying. We are there to assist and guide you through this process.
For more information on Central Florida and Orlando real estate and Central Florida and Orlando homes for sale in addition to Central Florida and Orlando relocation contact Marc Grossman, your Central Florida Realtor @ 407-463-1034. Additional information is available for Seminole County real estate, Orange County real estate, West Volusia County and South Lake County.
To learn more about Marc and the services he has to offer, visit his profile & website.
Marc Grossman, GRI - http://www.OrlandoHomes-4u.com/ - 407-463-1034
Marc donates 10% of his net proceeds to Hospice of the Comforter.
Marc It Sold!
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There are many slick salesman selling sugar coated crap to the public.....I will agree that many times the theory does sound believable but in reality the people often lose. I have still never found a real live person that has made money based on all the Real Estate Infomercials that are aired every night.