Mortgage Refinancing

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Real Estate Pro — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 05:04:01 +0000

Some mortgages have fixed rates for the entire term, some have variable rates that can change monthly or yearly, and others have a fixed rate for a certain number of years followed by a variable rate. You'll want to know the interest rate and the annual percentage rate (APR). The APR adds in points, fees and certain other charges, all expressed as a yearly rate to help you compare loans.

Tagged: Mortgage

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Real Estate Pro — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 04:56:18 +0000

Mortgage interest rates remain at 30 year lows. One thing to remember is the rates one sees on TV or in print ads generally reflect 'perfect' borrowers; 20% or better equity, single family residence, fully documented income, debt ratios under 38%, credit scores 720 or better, loan amounts less than $417,000 on purchase loans and with no cash-out for refinances and maybe paying points.

Tagged: equity

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Buying a Home Can Make You Rich Slowly

Real Estate Pro — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:11:39 +0000

You're not buying a house just to flip it and make a quick buck. In the beginning, Bach explains the Philosophy Behind the Automatic Millionaire Homeowner: You can't get rich renting; you don't need a lot of money for a down payment on a home; you don't need good credit to buy a home; you should buy a home even if you have credit card debt; you can build a fortune by buying just a few homes over the course of a lifetime.

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Buying a Home Can Make You Rich Slowly

Who Wins: Discount Brokers or Six Percenters?

Real Estate Pro — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 18:11:37 +0000

As far back as 2004, the smartest realtor I know told me he wouldn?t pay IAC for client leads because RealEstate.com referrals were always for buyers, and he had all the buyers he needed. The much more ominous thing for highly paid brokers is that now nearly a quarter of buyers, according to the head of one discount brokerage I interviewed, buy a specific home they found online themselves.

Tagged: equity

Who Wins: Discount Brokers or Six Percenters?

Housing Market: Double Agents

Real Estate Pro — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 18:01:12 +0000

Kenneth Harney at the Washington Post brings us a tale of realtors playing both sides of the transaction in an effort to get their precious commission. If you don't trust them to mess up your Big Mac order, why would you trust someone with even less training--and more incentive to pad their own pockets--to ensure you sell your home and buy for the best price possible?

Tagged: Mortgage

Housing Market: Double Agents

Buying and Selling: How To Trust Your Realtor

Real Estate Pro — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 21:58:01 +0000

Do they have any reports on them from the Better Business Bureau? (Yeah, yeah, I know these may just be rubber stamps, but it's better than trusting Joe's Chicken Shack Realtor!) Check the news, public records, anything and everything you can find to get proof your realtor is legitimate and honest. Know your realtor like you know yourself, and don't be afraid to ask questions, find out data, and play the skeptic.

Tagged: equity

Buying and Selling: How To Trust Your Realtor

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Real Estate Pro — Wed, 12 Jul 2006 04:21:02 +0000

With the changing housing market, the topic of "Short Sale" is being brought up on Realtor message boards. Here's what a Short Sale is....
They put the house up for sale and get an offer that, when all costs of selling the home are deducted, is lower than what they owe to the lender. Instead of going into foreclosure, the lender accepts the lower amount.

Tagged: Mortgage

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Real Estate Pro — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 20:22:08 +0000

The Risks of Being a Realtor Just in the past few days, there have been 2 incidents of Realtors being assaulted. If a Realtor asks you questions before agreeing to meet you to show properties, don't think that all they are doing is trying to see how real of a Buyer you are. Sure, they don't want to waste their time if you are already working with another Realtor or have not talked to someone about a mortgage to see what you qualify for.

Tagged: Mortgage

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" Things are seldom what they appear to be ". ...

Real Estate Pro — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 17:24:31 +0000

Have you heard of Cash Back mortgages?
If you are considering a cash back mortgage you owe it to yourself to understand what the real cost of " giving " you money is.
To calculate the cost of the cash back you will need to find out the lenders Best Rate and Cash Back Rate for the term that you are considering.
Compare the dollar value offered as a cash back to what you have calculated above.

Tagged: Mortgage

" Things are seldom what they appear to be ".
...

Greenspan: Cause the bubble - check. Then warn about asset prices collapsing? Weird.

Real Estate Pro — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 19:20:38 +0000

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned on Wednesday a global glut in liquidity would result in a fall in asset prices. "A good part of this expansion is a direct function of the decline in real equity premiums," Greenspan said.
He said asset prices would begin to fall, but did not predict when that would happen.

Tagged: equity

Greenspan: Cause the bubble - check. Then warn about asset prices collapsing? Weird.

HUD extends hurricane foreclosure moratorium

Real Estate Pro — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:08:45 +0000

HUD has just issued Mortgagee Letter 2006-05, extending its moratorium banning foreclosures in certain areas that sustained heavy damage in the 2005 hurricanes. The Housing Bubble Blog — known last fall as “The Housing Bubble 2″ — brought up some tough questions about Katrina damage and reverse mortgages in late October 2005, linking in turn to an analysis at AccountingWeb that was also much quoted elsewhere.

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HUD extends hurricane foreclosure moratorium

A case study of the trouble executors face

Real Estate Pro — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:08:45 +0000

It seems especially important to consider that a reverse mortgage debt might continue to increase until the house could be sold to pay it. Reverse mortgages do generally limit the borrower’s liability to the amount of equity in the house itself — but if a reverse mortgage keeps on eating into that equity after the payments to the original borrower have stopped, then that’s a pretty serious waste of money.

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A case study of the trouble executors face

Some detailed reports on HUD?s HECM program

Real Estate Pro — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:08:44 +0000

A fall ‘05 article in HUD’s ResearchWorks journal points us to a big-picture report prepared last spring on “Home Equity Conversion Mortgages and Long-Term Care” by the Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project. Reverse mortgage laws and business practices have changed a lot since then, but HUD does have available a 2003 update on some of the 2000 report’s findings.

Tagged: equity

Some detailed reports on HUD?s HECM program

Buying and Selling: Family Valuations

Real Estate Pro — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:02:57 +0000

Now, it's human nature to want to gravitate towards communities that share your physical makeup, religious beliefs, social standards, etc., but I'd like to think it's also human nature to want to meet new people and have new experiences, and it's just unsettling to think of developers quizzing potential buyers as to their political persuasions, so as not to match a red-state gun nut with a blue-state nancy boy.

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Buying and Selling: Family Valuations

Buying And Selling: Seesaw Sales

Real Estate Pro — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:02:57 +0000

"A lot of consumers have been having affordability problems, which is why a lot of them have been taking out ARMs," said Chen. "But with ARM rates rising, fewer people have been able to afford a home, which was also behind last week's decline in applications."
Note the fact that things are still considerably less than sunny in South Florida, and you can get the picture.

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Buying And Selling: Seesaw Sales