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| Refinance Your Mortgage The opportunity to refinance your mortgage is still here. Interest rates are low. The national average for a 30 year fixed is at a respectable 4.52% and the 15 year is at 3.66%. So what's holding you back? My homeowners are concerned about their credit and the equity in their homes. Both have turn southbound in recent years. Your credit will take some time to rebuild. Put away the credit cards and put a lid on the impulse buying. Try to pay more than the minimum each month, and by all means pay on time. House values are a different story. Values have fallen more than 50% from a year ago in some markets. There is nothing you can do about the comparables that the appraiser will use to establish the value of your house. But there are a few things that you can work on immediately to improve your house value. Start outside by cutting the grass, plant some flowers, and trim the hedges. Inside you can do the small repairs that you have postpone for the last two years. Make sure all the knobs are on the stove. Check the lights. They should all be working. And the plumbing...stop all the dripping and leaking. The wastes water is costing you money. Be confident and have a chat with your banker. Good luck! Watch the video. |
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| Don't Be Afraid Of Second Mortgages There is nothing shady about second mortgages. There is no loan shark that will be looking for you to break your legs. It is a business transaction, plain and simple. Someone lends you money. She expects to be paid back and with some interest. A second mortgage is useful in two situations. The first is to consolidate bills. If you are sinking in debt and you are late every month paying all your bill, then consider a second mortgage. Add up the bills and if you are paying $2,000 a month, as an example, and the second mortgage is $600 a month, then go for the second mortgage. The second situation is investment. Real estate is a good investment if done correctly. Buy a rental property. Spend the extra money and have the tenants screened by a professional company that does background checks, and get a credit report, and a job letter. Offer a fair rent and set a high standard for the upkeep of the property, and of payment of the rent on time every month. You will have no problems with your tenants and the monthly rent goes a long way to paying off the second mortgage. Warning: If you try to gouge your tenants with high rents and penalties, your property will sit empty for many months. Watch the video. |
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| Shadow Inventory Continues To Baffle The Experts Just how big is the shadow inventory? Not even the expert economists know for sure. But they all agree that it is too big, somewhere around 2 million houses. The effect of a shadow inventory on house prices is devastating. When the banks do release some of this inventory, the houses are selling for 20% less than "normal" MLS listed homes. How is a seller to compete? Many homeowners are taking their house off the market and hoping that prices will get better in 2012. That is a high risk strategy because it could take as long as two years to clear the backlog of distressed properties. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association there are over 2 million Americans who are seriously delinquent. Florida leads the nation for the second year in a row with over 441,000 distressed homes. Shadow inventory, falling house prices and thousands of distressed properties have help many real estate investors make a good living. Watch the video. |
| Negative Equity Forces Homeowners Into Foreclosure The problem with negative equity is not while you are living in the house. It is when you are so far underwater that you want to sell and simply become a tenant somewhere. Just to refresh, negative equity is when you owe more on your mortgage than your home is worth. For example, if you owe $450,000 and the house is worth $300,000, you have negative equity of $150,000. Many homeowners didn't expect this phenomena to occur. They expected their homes to appreciate to the tune of about 5% each year. When they retire, they would then tap the equity in the house and get a reverse mortgage and travel the world. It just didn't work out that way. Lax underwriting, shady deals and greed led to the crisis as we know it today. Some of the homeowners were to blame. They had no money and therefore should never have purchased a house. So as they cross the threshold of the door, they were already at negative equity. The creative and daring souls among us went as far as to get HELOCs with what little equity was in the house. Now when they are trying to sell the house and start life anew in some other location, they can not sell the house. The HELOC is a lien. This has to be paid after the first lien, the mortgage. Watch the video. |
| Community Land Trusts: Lower Delinquencies And Foreclosures People living in houses in Community Land Trusts are less likely to be delinquent or end up in foreclosure. A study was recently conducted by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Community Land Trusts provide low income families with permanent, affordable housing. They own the land and lease the land to the homeowner. There are about 200 Community Land Trusts across America. Some that are located in urban centers, like the Bronx, NY, focus on growing food. There are community gardens in the neighborhoods that produce fresh tomatoes, squash, beans, turnips and peppers. Watch the video. |
| Foreclosure Homes With Mold Might Not Be Worth The Money You might be tempted to go out and by a foreclosure home even if the home has mold. Don't be so fast! Mold is hard to get rid of. And it could be a costly process if you bring in a professional to do the dirty work. Think of your family's health. They could suffer for years with headaches, skin rashes and breathing problems. Watch the video. |
| States Need Relief From Housing Crisis The housing crisis has hurt some states worse than others. We have looked at the following states and hope that there comes a solution before the summer of 2012. Nevada California Florida Michigan Arizona South Carolina Illinois Georgia They have three things in common. There are high unemployment, high foreclosure rates and falling home values. Watch the video. |
| Get A Reverse Mortgage Before Your Home Loses More Value If you are considering a reverse mortgage, you better act fast. Home values are falling and interest rates are getting lower. There are hundreds of plans to choose from so be careful. Always work with a reputable reverse mortgage specialist, and have an attorney review the contract before you sign it. This is not the time to make foolish mistakes and lose money. You are too old! There is little time to recover and recoup your money. Opting for a monthly check is the best way to go. It keeps you on a budget. A lump sum payment is risky. As soon as family and friends learn that you have some money, they will be coming around with sad stories and looking for a loan. Do not lend any money unless you are 100% sure that the loan will be repaid. Watch the video. |
| Foreclosure: Our Children Suffer More Than We Think Losing a home to foreclosure is devastating to an adult. But our children also suffer. The financial upheavals that we go through now, will have long term effects on our children. Children do not fully grasp why there was a foreclosure. Robo-signing, mortgages adjusting upwards and interest rate are all foreign languages to them. They feel guilt and remorse. Maybe the brand name jeans and shoes were not really necessary. A new cell phone every six months, maybe this was asking too much. Children will make sacrifices to help the family. They will give up sports and music or other activities. Some might even get a part time job. However, being uprooted due to foreclosure affect the children emotionally and academically. Watch the video. |
