Archive for the 'Mortgage Help' Category
What’s Your Appraisal Worth?
December 10th, 2008 categories: Buying Real Estate, Home Improvement & Design, Investment Property, Land & Rural, Market Trends, Mortgage Help, Real Estate News, Selling Real Estate
Bryan, TX -- In a slower real estate season, what good is your appraisal? Verdad Valuation Services owner [caption id="attachment_1844" align="alignright" width="174" caption="Kelly Seaton"]
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Kelly Seaton says plenty. It's still a reliable tool to know when a buyer presents the seller with a low-ball offer or when it's a good deal.
"In June and July when business is booming, sales data was plentiful. Last months sales were a good indicator of a property's present value," Seaton said. "When there is a sudden shift in market, this is not necessarily the case. More research needs to done to quantify the stability of an area's market."
Who should use an appraiser? Usually, Verdad Valuation sees banks and lenders as their client. Seaton also sees home owners as clients, who just want to get an idea of value on their home pre-sales, before they even become a seller. Or an independent FSBO may try to protect himself from a bad deal, seeking the opinion of an independent third party.
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How to get rid of PMI - Part Two
December 7th, 2008 categories: Investment Property, Market Trends, Mortgage Help, Real Estate News
Last time we learned that PMI, like PMS, doesn't last forever. Aside from home owners asking for it to be removed and aside from lenders terminating it when the principal balance of the loan reaches 78% of the original loan amount, there is another way to have it eradicated. [caption id="attachment_1882" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Increase in home value"]
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For people living in areas where their home value has risen, the value could actually exceed the amount of principal owned on the mortgage. In this situation the lender is under no legal obligation to remove the Private Mortgage Insurance. Usually if the home owner has been prompt on their monthly payments and is not an exceptional risk, the lender will agree to remove the extra fees.
The hardest thing for most home owners to know is just when does their home equity rise above this magical 20%? A certified, licensed Appraiser like Verdad Valuation can help. Owner and appraiser, Kelly Seaton, says that it is his job to know the market dynamics of this area.
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Why Did Fannie Mae Fail?
October 10th, 2008 categories: Mortgage Help, Real Estate News
With all that is going on in the mortgage and banking world right now, don't you wonder WHY? Why did this mess begin? What started it? Didn't anyone see it coming?
Yes - someone saw it coming. The New York Times actually reported it coming back on September 30th in 1999. How many years ago is that? Maybe it was while Clinton was President, not George Bush....
In 1999 Steven Holmes from the New York Times wrote that Fannie Mae was under extreme pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans to low and moderate income people. In doing this "Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times.... but may run into trouble in an exonomic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's".
Do you remember the 80's when WE bailed out the savings and loan industry? Often times we forget our past, our history and with that we repeat it over and over. Bailout - something new? NO WAY! We do it over and over and over. As much as I
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Reverse Mortgages: Things You May Not Know
August 8th, 2008 categories: Buying Real Estate, Mortgage Help
Here are some interesting items from the new housing bill that you may not have heard yet....
When reviewing an article on www.BankRate.com, I noticed an article on More Regulations on Reverse Mortgages. A reverse mortgage is an advance against home equity. It's for homeowners age 62 or older, and the reverse mortgage doesn't have to be repaid until the borrowers die or move out.Because reverse mortgages are elderly borrowers, there is concern that dishonest lenders and brokers take advantage of borrowers. Borrowers are required to get counseling first, to learn the pros and cons of reverse mortgages. The law will result in strengthenend qualifications for counselors.
The law limits origination fees on reverse mortgages. They cannot exceed 2 percent of a reverse mortgage of up to $200,000. For a reverse mortgage amount above that, the limit is $4,000, plus 1 percent of the loan amount above $200,000. Origination fees cannot exceed $6,000 in any case. In future years, this upper limit is indexed to inflation.
Thanks to Graham Stiles at www.GrahamStiles.com for sharing this article.
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Changes coming to FHA cash investment requirements!
August 4th, 2008 categories: Buying Real Estate, Market Trends, Mortgage Help, Real Estate News
Have you been thinking about buying a home in the near future? You might want to do that sooner rather than later. A friend of mine in the mortgage business told me today that there will soon be a change in the cash investment required for FHA loans. Currently, a minimum 3 percent cash investment is required for FHA loans. Soon, (more...)| Discussion: 1 Comment »
$7,500 Tax Credit for First-Time Home Buyers in the new Housing Stimulus Bill
July 31st, 2008 categories: Buying Real Estate, Market Trends, Mortgage Help, Real Estate News
Among the many items in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that are designed to help real estate and the overall economic market is a temporary $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. Here is a fact sheet prepared by Gregory S. Brown, Assistant Staff Vice President for Government Affairs of (more...)| Discussion: 4 Comments »
