Smarter Market Info

If you own a home, you know mortgage products have moved beyond the basic 30 year fixed option. Reverse mortgages are one such product and here is an overview.

An Overview of Reverse Mortgages

A typical mortgage is created when a lender provides you with a lump sum amount of cash to purchase real estate. In consideration of this, you agree to repay the mortgage on a monthly basis for a defined time period at a particular interest rate. The length of the repayment period and interest rate, whether fixed or adjustable, set the monthly payment amount.

A reverse mortgage works in a similar way, but backwards. It is a fact that the baby boomer generation is moving into their retirement years. A high percentage own homes with significant amounts of equity in them. The problem, of course, is equity is a fixed asset, to wit, you can’t see it in your bank account. Traditionally, the best way to turn this hard asset into cash was to sell the property and move down to something cheaper. You then pocketed the difference in the form of cash.

Many people, however, are attached to their homes. A good portion of your life, including raising a family, may have occurred in your home and it is emotionally difficult to sell it. On top of that, tax issues may take a bite out of the cash you receive. Throw in the pure misery of attempting to move all of your valuables that have been accumulating for 15 or 30 years and selling your home starts to look like a dubious option at best.

Lenders being the ultimate capitalist, they have come up with a solution for this problem. The reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage allows you to convert much of your equity into tax-free cash without having to take on a monthly payment obligation. You don’t have to sell the home, go through the moving process or make any monthly payments to a lender.

A reversed mortgage gets its name from the payment process. Unlike a traditional home loan, a reverse mortgage requires a lender to make payments to YOU! You can choose to receive the money as a monthly payment for the rest of your life, a lump sum payment or even as a credit line. Lump sums are not recommended since home equity is typically your biggest asset, one you should be very careful with.

The amount of a reverse mortgage is dependent on a number of factors. Your age, interest rates, the appraised value of the home, the equity in it and so on all are involved in determining your options.

For many people, reverse mortgage options are of great interest. The tax free aspect of the payments is certainly a benefit.

Richard A. Chapo is with BusinessTaxRecovery.com – providing information on taxes.

Comments Off

Allen Wolford of Colorado came to the conclusion that the only way to qualify for a home mortgage was to die.

The embalmer wanted to purchase a home with his wife, but with $50,000 in debt, he did not qualify. So he made a decision.

His faked death certificate said that he died from cardiac arrest. Wolford is now facing 3 years in prison on forgery, and he still didn’t get the mortgage.

The official arrest affidavit shows that Wolford told police that he faked his death in order to rid himself of nearly $50,000 in debts. In fact, almost $42,000 was from child support he had failed to pay.

He is being held without bail in the El Paso County jail on suspicion of forgery and a fugitive warrant from California for parole violation and larceny.

Wolford, who worked for the Evergreen Funeral Home in Colorado Springs, confessed to creating a false death certificate.

“I didn’t think I’d get caught. I guess it was pretty stupid,” Wolford told police officer Connie Guthrie. He said that he attempted the plan because the lingering debts had disqualified his family from a mortgage loan.

The West Virginia State Child Support Division received an e-mail copy of the phony death with a note saying his wife was not responsible for her deceased husband’s back child support.

Wolford told police that his wife didn’t know anything about the scheme.

Wolford also sent a copy of the death certificate to the Colorado attorney general’s office, since he owed $7,000 in student loans to the state of Colorado.

The agencies that received the death certificate tried to verify it wiht the El Paso County vital statistics office. The office had no record of the certificate on file. They contacted the funeral home listed, who then went to the police.

Wolford will probably not be approved for a mortgage for several years to come, if ever.

Martin Lukac, represents http://www.RateEmpire.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies! Visit http://www.RateEmpire.com today

Comments Off

Refinancing your mortgage can save you money if done properly. There are a variety of mistakes that will cost you money when refinancing your mortgage. Shopping for the best lender will help you find the best mortgage; here is how to do it correctly.

Contact Multiple Lenders

Many homeowners skip the comparison shopping step of refinancing a mortgage. This is a mistake as comparing loan offers will help you determine what fair fees and closing costs are. If you do not have anything to compare your mortgage with, how will you know if you are getting a good deal?

Comparing offers will also help you avoid fraud. If a mortgage offer seems too good to be true, it is probably fraudulent. Predatory lenders are easy to spot when compared to their competition.

How to Comparison Shop

Compare at least four different mortgage lenders. Using the Internet to shop for a lender makes this step easy. Make sure you request no-obligation quotes that do not require access to your personal information. You do not want to provide personal information to the lender until you have settled on a loan.

When comparing loan offers it is important to compare all aspects of the mortgage, not just the interest rate. Closing costs, penalties, and lender fees should all be compared form one loan to the next.

To learn more about the best way to shop for a mortgage, register for a free mortgage guidebook.

To get your free mortgage guidebook visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below.

Louie Latour is a mortgage professional and the owner of RefiAdvisor.com, a mortgage resource site offering a free gift for homeowners: “Mortgage Refinancing – What You Need to Know.” This guidebook helps homeowners avoid common mortgage mistakes and predatory lending practices.

Claim your free guidebook today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com

Minneapolis Mortgage Refinance

Comments Off

Mortgage Denial – The Facts you Need To Know To Succeed

Often, when your lender scrutinizes your loan application for a new home or piece of property so thoroughly that it is finally turned down, it can be very distressing. If this happens, you should be able to understand just why such a decision was taken and do what you can to remedy the situation. The causes for rejection given below will help you understand just why it happens to some people.

Causes for rejection:

There is a term called LTV, and this means that the appraised value of the property you want to purchase is much lower than the purchase price or loan-to-value ratio.Or it may be just the case that the LTV is just too high for the lender to approve. He may be restricted to a certain ratio and there is nothing he can do about it. Maybe you have applied for 90-95% of the buying price as the loan amount. This will result in a low appraisal having the effect of making your request way too large for the lender.

Another case is that if the price of the property is far higher than comparable properties in the area, then you need to ask the seller to reduce his price in line with the going rate for similar properties in the locality. Any new price negotiated should also be certain to be approved by your lender. If not, the only option open to you is to accept a smaller loan and pay the shortfall from personal funds.

Just not enough personal finances to complete the deal. In this case the lender may decide that you do not have enough capital for the down payment and the closing costs. In this instance you could try asking the seller to take back a second mortgage on the property. This would decrease your down payment or get the seller to help you with some of the closing costs. As a last resort you may have to begin a new savings scheme to come up with more capital for the future.

Then there is the question of your existing income level. Are you earning enough to begin with? You will be turned down if the mortgage payment exceeds 28% of your gross monthly income. Also, in the situation where your total debt including your mortgage repayments and any other installments exceeds 36% you may be turned down for your loan. But if your credit card situation is in good standing and you can show that you have a big household expense including rent or mortgage repayments the lender may consider ruling in your favor. It is so important to be perfectly truthful about your income and expenses in all your dealings.

Up to your eyes in debt: Often, lenders don’t reject applications solely because of the amount of debt they are carrying. It is also the many credit cards they possess and revolving credit accounts with proof of rising account balances that come close to the limit prescribed. Such information is detrimental if you are out to prove your creditworthiness. To remedy the situation, you will need to pay off as many of your debts as possible and then reapply for a loan.

Poor credit history: What can be more devastating than to have your loan request turned down due to a history of poor debt repayment habits? If your lender sees that you have a history of making late payments often, owing amounts to the bank or insolvency, he’s hardly likely to pass a loan application for purchase of property. Your lender is surely not going to be tolerant of a bad credit record. Even if you have had a low loan-to-value ratios and debt ratios, you cannot wipe out a history of poor credit.

Rejection is not the end of the world: Just because a lender rejects your loan application doesn’t mean you can never own property in all your life. You can take corrective steps to improve your chances of acceptance. But if you work steadfastly at it, you can work a way round your problems. Find out why your loan application was rejected and work towards loan acceptance.

Copyright Ben O’Rourke: This article may be reused so long as it is not changed in any way and the resource box is included intact.

For Information On Mortgage Requirements:
Mortgage And Loans
Information On Home Finances:
Home Finance
Life Insurance Explained:
Life Insurance Explained

Comments Off

There are a plethora of mortgage loan options for people with poor credit. You can choose from zero down to interest only loans. You can also be backed by the government for reduced rates. You can even find traditional loans with relatively rates. Picking the right mortgage loan is really about finding what is right for you.

Picking Your Terms

With so many different types of terms, it can be confusing on what to pick. For people with poor credit histories, an adjustable rate mortgage can help you buy the most house. With low payments for the first couple of years, you can qualify to borrow more.

You can also find fixed rate mortgages. If you plan to live in your house for several years, a fixed rate can give you a sense of security about your rates. However, your monthly payments will be higher than an ARM, at least for the first couple of years.

With each of these types of loans, you can negotiate how large a down payment you want. Zero down lets you move in with no to little up front costs. A larger down payment will help you qualify for lower rates. A shorter term will also reduce your rates.

Looking Into Government Back Loans

You can also find loan programs from the government that help you qualify for lower rates. With the government in effect acting like your co-signer, the lenders rates your loan application with a lower risk level.

You can qualify with most FHA or VA loan programs two years after a bankruptcy or foreclosure. There are more restrictions with such programs, like paying mortgage insurance premiums and caps on how much you can borrow.

Finding The Right Lender

The right lender can mean the difference of thousands of dollars in interest charges. A difference of a quarter percent may not seem like a big deal. But on a $200,000 – 30 year loan it will equal $7,600 or more.

Comparing free APR quotes is the surest way to find the right lender. Within a matter of a few yours you can research lenders from across the nation, settling on the one that can offer you the best APR.

One factor to consider with working with sub prime lenders is that you don’t have to have private mortgage insurance when your down payment is less than 20%. However, conventional lenders can offer competitive deals and should be considered too.

Here are our Recommended Bad Credit Mortgage Companies Online.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of ABC Loan
Guide, an informational website about various types of loans.

Comments Off

Mortgage interest rates may be at their highest levels of the last four years; however, it is not too late to find good mortgage deals.

Mortgage interest rates have been rising due to high energy costs and economic uncertainty due to inflation. Despite these increases the mortgage industry is still booming. Why refinance or take out a mortgage when interest rates are rising? There are still excellent mortgage deals to be found; you just need to spend the time doing your homework and shop for the best mortgage deal.

Here are common reasons for refinancing; even while interest rates are on the rise.

Home Equity Lines of Credit

If you have maxed out your home equity line, refinancing and paying off that debt could save you money. Home equity lines come with variable interest rates and recent interest rate hikes are likely to wreak havoc on your monthly payments. By refinancing and cashing out you can pay off your home equity line and secure a fixed interest rate for that debt.

Combine Your First and Second Mortgages

If you are carrying two mortgages you can simplify your life and possibly save your pocketbook by consolidating the mortgages. By refinancing you can pay off the second. Interest rates are still low enough to make refinancing worth your while.

Lock in a Fixed Interest Rate

Adjustable rate mortgages are high risk loans compared to traditional fixed rate loans. If you financed your home with an adjustable rate mortgage and are nearing the end of your introductory period your monthly payments will go up dramatically. This is also true if your lender will be adjusting your interest rate soon. By refinancing to a traditional fixed rate mortgage you are minimizing your risk and can still lock in a low interest rate.

Pay for Repairs and Renovations

Lastly, a cash out refinance can save you money over a home equity loan. Interest rates on home equity lines of credit are much higher than traditional mortgages. Improvements made to your home after refinancing can contribute to price appreciation in the value of your home.

Even though interest rates are rising refinancing still makes sense if you do it smartly. As a homeowner you need to do your homework and shop around for the best deal on your mortgage. If you skip this step, how will you know what a good deal on a mortgage is?

To learn all you need to know about refinancing your mortgage sign up for a free mortgage guidebook.

To get your free mortgage guidebook visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below.

Tucson mortgage refinance

Louie Latour has twenty years of experience in the mortgage industry as a mortgage broker. He is the owner of Mortgages Refinance Advisor, a mortgage help site devoted to saving homeowners money with a free guidebook “Mortgage Refinance: What You Need to Know.”

Sign up for your free guide today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com

Comments Off

Champion Developments first residential project, Gaslamp CitySquare (City Square), was recently rated three and a half stars from the residents living there. While the building sold out quickly in the hot San Diego condo market a year ago, residents and the city government were a little disappointed when seeing the final product.

Residents at Gaslamp Citysquare (Gaslamp City Square) do have a lot to brag about including their location (one of two condo buildings in the Gaslamp), common patio area with its pool and hot tub and also the low HOA fees. Residents also appreciate the great stores and restaurants in the ground floor retail spaces.

Because this was the developers’ (Champion Development) first attempt at a residential project they made some mistakes with regard to the design of the buildings exterior and lobby. For the buildings exterior faade they paid dearly, almost a million dollars to put the right look on the outside, with pressure from the City. One resident described the lobby as looking like a “sterile Soviet era hotel”. They also did not understand they types and amount of equipment needed to adequately supply a residential fitness center. The developer after receiving several complaints from residents about the fitness center is going to add more equipment. Look for a revised comment on this in early 2006. One resident said she did not like the parking situation. Here there are 3 levels of parking, the first level is public parking operated by ACE and cost from $10 – $20/day. The lower two levels are for residents. The “HOA effectiveness” rating is low because three of the five seats on the Board are held by people employed by the developer the other two are realtors who do not live in the building. Therefore one could surmise that the Board and residents have two different objectives. The entire Board is made up of non-residents a very bizarre situation that will improve over time.

Champion Development has certainly learned its lessons getting its feet wet in the residential market. Two other projects they have under way are being played “safely” by not building any common areas or putting their own faade on the buildings outside. They believe its less risky to redevelop an existing structure than to try and build an architecturally satisfying building on their own.

Resident’s information and opinions were gathered from surveys provided by Mark Mills, RE/MAX Realtor who regularly surveys the downtown residents in order to share insightful information with his clients looking to purchase condos in downtown San Diego. Survey results for other buildings can be found at http://www.LiveAtTheTop.com.

Comments Off

Planning home improvements necessarily involves addressing numerous practical matters. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the fun stuff!

The Fun Stuff

The first thing to plan for in home improvements is the practical stuff. The second thing you need to talk to family members about is the fun stuff.

Most people have colors they like and colors they don’t like. They have things that interest them and things that don’t. Get your family to talk to you about those things. Each person’s bedroom, or bedroom area, should reflect his or her taste and interests. A boy who likes green, football, and backpacking can easily have a sage green (it “reads” as more neutral than many shades of green if re-sale of your home is a concern) room with cream woodwork, cream interior shutters, and cream ceiling. Framed football posters and wilderness scenes might be pleasant. Bedding with a rustic motif (rows of stylized pine trees?) from L.L. Bean or Plow and Hearth would work right in. Add a touch or two of a bright color like red or yellow.

Does he need a desk in his room? A chest of drawers? A bookcase? Would he enjoy having a bulletin board? Even if they’re small, most rooms need at least three lamps so that illumination is general and even. The shades are usually best in warm, neutral colors. (Light coming through green shades tends to make people look sick.) Lamp shades should be level and the seams should be toward the wall so they’re not visible. When the bottom edge of most lamp shades in a room are the same height from the floor, the room tends to look serene and cohesive.

Hanging pictures usually look best if the bottom edges of the frames are the same height from the floor and level with each other, too. There are exceptions to this and every generalization of course. A grouping of pictures can have the bottom tier follow the “rule” while all of the other pictures are higher. A picture over a fireplace often looks good higher than the other pictures in the room.

Pictures usually look best when they have a relationship to furniture or an architectural feature. Pictures centered over a chest, bed, bookcase, or fireplace are good examples. Pictures don’t tend to look good if they’re scattered willy-nilly around a room, or if they’re up near the ceiling (unless they’re part of a grouping), or if the height at which they’re hung varies wildly with no rhyme nor reason.

A girl who loves pink, the ballet, and swimming can have woodwork the same cream as her brother’s while her walls are a soft pink (a pink with a hint of yellow in it tends to go well with cream), and her art work reflects her interests. If she loves to read, make sure she has a good reading lamp near her bed, or near a comfortable chair, or both.

A cream colored dust ruffle with widely spaced pink stripes and a quilted plaid coverlet in pink, green, yellow, and blue on a cream background might look nice. Add cream fabric window shades with large pink polka dots and I’ll bet she’ll smile.

The bigger point is to simply have fun with some of your home improvements. There is no need to look exclusively at practical matters.

Comments Off

When buying a house in Spain, there are numerous aspects which require a lawyer’s expertise.

You know the dizzying moment, after endless house-hunting, when you walk into a place and know it’s the one. When that place is in Spain, add to that ecstatic feeling a huge dollop of sunshine, beaches and cheap wine – and suddenly all sorts of thoughts can pop into your head, such as ‘Why spend money on a lawyer? This all looks simple enough to sort out myself’.

Well, you wouldn’t dream of buying a house without a lawyer at home. So why would you even consider it in a country where you are probably unfamiliar with the legal system, the language (even if you speak Spanish, who really understands legal jargon?) and the ins and outs of local property culture.

Perhaps the single most important consideration, when buying a property abroad, is to have a good, independent English-speaking lawyer lined up so that they can get moving as soon as you give them the nod.

Noemi Chavez, President of the Colegio de Abogados de Marbella (Marbella’s Law Society), cannot stress enough how crucial it is that foreign buyers find an independent lawyer. “Do not use a lawyer recommended by a developer or a vendor who has different interests to yours. It is also not advisable to use legal representatives based in the UK as they are not qualified as a Spanish ‘abogado’ and do not know Spanish law,” says Chavez.

“Property purchase regulations, formalities and searches vary considerably from one country to another and only someone with a proper degree in Spanish law – and only an ‘abogado’, not a solicitor- can provide advice on contracts and deals done under Spanish law,” Chavez adds.

Your lawyer’s work begins with ensuring the property is legitimately owned by the vendor, that it is free from debts or charges and that it has the valid title deeds. A lawyer will negotiate with the other side over trickier elements of the transaction, register the title deeds and sort out all relevant transfer taxes. The double taxation agreement between the UK and Spain means you shouldn’t be taxed for the same things in both countries, but if you own property in Spain you lawyer must advise you on wealth tax, local taxes and – when it comes to sell – capital gains tax.

They can also tell you how to get an NIE, a tax ID number, which is essential for all home-owners. And, finally, you should consult your lawyer about drawing up a Spanish will separate from your UK will, to cover your Spanish assets.

The Spanish laws on inheritance are strict and complicated, so you will need expert advice on the taxes involved and the other financial implications of your purchase in the future. Even the way in which your set up the purchase of your property at the start will affect how your estate is dealt with and taxed in future – and inheritance tax can be as high as 34-per-cent.

To draw up the document to cover a straightforward estate and register it in Madrid, your lawyer should not charge much more than about 200 euros. When looking for a good lawyer, ask for personal recommendations, as you would at home.

Alternatively, ask your Lighthouse Customer Service Consultant, who can recommend lawyers with whom Lighthouse has good, longstanding relationships. Or if you are looking in the Malaga province, contact Noemi Chavez at abogados@inverius.com for a list of members of Malaga’s Colegio de Abogados. Local newspapers also carry adverts for conveyancing lawyers. In Costa del Sol see Sur In English or Euro Weekly News, or in Costa Blanca the main English-language paper is Costa Blanca News.

Make sure your lawyer speaks good English and is well practised in helping British property buyers. And always obtain an estimate of costs in advance. For property conveyancing, fees will be calculated as a percentage of the sum involved – usually 1%. Only in the case of conveyancing for very low price properties will the lawyer charge a fixed fee.

Comments Off

It was a simple real estate formula. The ads ran in our small-town newspaper for years before I realized exactly what was going on. They were always the same: A house for sale with 5% down and payments of 1% of the purchase price. Maybe a three bedroom home for $90,000, for example, with $4,500 down and $900 per month payments.

When a friend started doing the same thing he explained the process to me. It was a way to get a great return on capital, and it was the opposite of buying with no money down. There is no down payment at all when you buy, because you buy for cash.

The Simple Real Estate Formula

You probably know that when you buy for cash, you can often get a much better price. With no financing contingencies in the offer, and the promise of a faster closing, sellers are willing to sell for less. You can offer $95,000, for example, on a house that might be worth $108,000. If you can’t get it for less than, say, $99,000, you walk away – there are always other opportunities.

Once you buy the house, you put few thousand into high-return repairs and improvements. These might include paint, carpet, and maybe asphalt for a dirt driveway. For our example, we’ll say you spend $5,000. Let’s suppose the house is worth $116,000 now. You’re ready for the next important step in this real estate formula.

You put it up for sale, targeting buyers who can’t get financing easily. You provide the financing. Because you are making it easy for the buyer, you can get more than the $116,000 value for the home – and do it without paying a realtor’s commission. Let’s say you sell it for 123,000. The buyer needs a down payment of just 5%, or $6,150, and makes monthly payments of $1230 per month. You charge higher interest than the going rates at the banks, of course.

This is a win-win situation. Your buyer is able to buy a home instead of renting, and you get a capital gain of perhaps $16,000 after expenses, plus good interest. Your total rate of return will often be over 20%!

In our town, the first to do this consistently were a father and son team of lawyers. They saved money by doing their own foreclosures when necessary. Once they foreclosed, they raised the price and sold the home all over again.

They made millions. Did you know that if you can get an average return of 18% on your money, you’ll turn $75,000 into more than one million dollars in about fifteen years? That’s the power of a good real estate formula.

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. To learn more, get a free real estate investing course, and see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

Comments Off