April 2007
Monthly Archive
30 Apr 2007 07:02 am
Understanding Why Reverse Mortgages Are All The Rage
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Roughly 78 million equity-rich baby boomers are heading towards their retirement years, and a new breed of flexible reverse mortgages is expected to provide important financial tools for them. Reverse mortgages, which currently are restricted to seniors 62 years and older, permit homeowners to convert their inert equity into cash for the balance of their lifetimes as long as they reside in the house. The money, plus interest, need not be repaid to the lender until the borrower sells the property, dies or moves out. Whereas FHA’s HECM plan limits total payouts to strict statutory maximums, private plans such as Seattle Financial’s allow loan amounts into the millions. The top players in the fields currently are Well Fargo and Indymac Bank Corp’s Financial Freedom. With its acquisition of Seattle Financial, Bank of America would take over the number three ranking, but officials make no secret of their long-term objective of becoming the biggest reverse mortgage source in the U.S. |
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search for : reverse mortgages, HECM
29 Apr 2007 08:37 am
Fixtures, stay or go?
| During this peak home sales season, when thousands of houses and condominiums will be sold, buyers and sellers need to be aware of what is legally included and excluded from their sale. Most experienced real estate agents have horror stories about “fixtures,” which the seller removed but the buyer thought were included in the sale. To illustrate, my mother was a mild-mannered woman. Only once did I ever hear her raise her voice. I was helping mom and dad move into their condominium. As I walked down the hallway to the condo carrying some boxes, I heard her scream as she entered the condo, “Where is the chandelier?” The seller had removed the dining room chandelier. Even my dad was surprised. Fortunately, a phone call to the real estate agent resolved the problem, the seller sheepishly restored the chandelier, and everyone lived happily ever after. |
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search for : real estate agent
28 Apr 2007 05:57 am
An unusual mortgage company that puts you in charge
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Usually, when borrowers want to restructure their mortgages - go from a fixed-rate to a variable rate, for example - they have to refinance, an onerous, expensive process. There are new closing costs, legal fees and title search and insurance fees that could add thousands of dollars to the mortgage principals. But the new product from Washington Mutual (Charts, Fortune 500) (WaMu), called Mortgage Plus, gives customers the ability to switch the type of loan they have without going through a refinance. Say that originally, a family is planning to spend only a few years in their new house - they may choose a low, variable rate loan. They plan to sell the home and move before rate resets to higher one. |
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search for : closing costs, Washington Mutual, variable rate loan
27 Apr 2007 07:59 am
The more common forms of mortgage fraud
| Mortgage fraud can take countless forms, says Ann Fulmer, an attorney, mortgage fraud investigator and founder of the Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition. Homebuyers can run afoul of the law under a broad category called “fraud to qualify” or “fraud for house.” In these cases, the borrower typically provides false information, such as income, source of down payment, employment or intent to occupy the property. |
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search for : Mortgage fraud, Homebuyers
26 Apr 2007 07:16 am
North Carolina transfer tax subject of much debate
| It’s confusing that the North Carolina real estate and contractor lobby is fighting what seems like a very logical alternative of benefit to North Carolina residents as well as themselves. For example, do agents really believe a one-time 1% tax is worse than not having funds for enough good quality schools, water, sewage treatment, roads, police, fire, libraries, courts, etc? Don’t prospective home buyers think about these things in addition to just home price? |
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search for : North Carolina real estate, quality schools
25 Apr 2007 03:22 am
Becoming A New Developer? Start Small.
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Q Washington: A friend and I are thinking of starting our own real estate investing/development firm. What are the basic things we need to do to get started? Do you know of any good sources of information that could help us?
A Jim Abdo, chief executive of Abdo Development: Start small. The biggest mistake most people make when they want to enter real estate development is trying to take on too much, too fast. Know that you are going to make mistakes. It is better to deal with mistakes on a smaller project than on a larger one. As your confidence and knowledge grow, so can the size of your projects. |
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24 Apr 2007 08:25 am
Mortgage loan bailouts: How they work
| Many programs to help those facing foreclosure are being launched, with the aim of moving borrowers out of high-interest, variable-rate loans and into lower-rate, fixed ones.Maryland launched one of the first such plans, called Lifeline, a year ago. Say you’re a homeowner with a 2/28 hybrid ARM due to reset next month from the initial two-year 5.25 percent “teaser rate” to 8.25 percent. It will reset again every six months up to as much as 12 percent. The difference in monthly payments between the initial rate on your $200,000 mortgage and the first reset is nearly $400 ($1,502 versus $1,104). That’s bad enough but after another year or two, your mortgage payment could come to $2,057. You can’t afford it. |
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