AVOIDING BUYER HEADACHES: Lesson 1-”Yes, You’re Approved… Just Kidding”

Okay, you have done your homework by watching HGTV, reading various blogs and even consulting a real estate agent on what you need to do to purchase a home.  Among the prerequisites you were given, you were told to get a lender to pre-qualify you and you did.  Now you are excited and ready to look for some real estate.  But wait, not so fast!  To avoid any headaches after you have found the home of your dreams, you should help your lender examine if you are really ready to shop for a home.  “What are you talking about, Lee?” you maybe wondering.  Well, believe it or not, with the restrictions that have been placed now on the mortgage industry to curtail the number of future foreclosures and distressed homeowners, what you think is your income may not really be. 

Homeowner Help: How to Avoid Foreclosure

With various events in the economy, do you, or someone you know, feel like it is difficult to afford your home?  Have you tried to sell your personal home but cannot based on the current real estate market?  Well this maybe just the thing to give you relief.  Beginning April 5, the Obama administration will encourage under-water mortgage borrowers to avoid foreclosure and instead alleviate their financial burden by short selling their home in a new, (what we hope to be) streamlined process.

How to Get Money to Purchase AND Renovate Your Home

The Federal Housing Administration is encouraging use of its little-known 203(k) loan program.

The 203(k) lets an owner-occupant borrow money for both the purchase and renovation in one loan, and put down only 3.5 percent.

Lease Purchase Tips

As a Buyer, if you are not approved for a mortgage either due to credit or low savings, you can still purchase a home with a lease-purchase agreement.  Usually, the terms of the deal include a lease and an option to buy with part of the rent going toward the downpayment. The forced savings helps buyers amass enough to buy the house in the specified timeframe, usually three to five years.

5 Tips for Saving on Your Mortgage Loan

Purchasing a home does not have to empty out your bank account, especially if you know the following ways to save, save, save!  Here are some things that buyers should know as they go through the mortgage loan application process:

Are You Able to Refinance? Find Out

With rates being the lowest they have been in nearly half a century, customers are anxious to refinance. Here are three things that might prevent them from being able to do so.

U.S. to Offer Incentives to Modify Seconds

The Obama administration is announcing incentives today for mortgages servicers to modify home equity loans and other second mortgages.

Servicers must agree to modify second mortgages when the first mortgage has been modified. They must extend the term of the second mortgage and match the rate of the first mortgage. Then the government will share the cost with the servicer of cutting the rate to 1 percent for amortizing loans and 2 percent for interest-only loans.

Guard Against Mortgage Fraud

Mortgage Fraud is on the rise, with seniors and first-time home buyers most at risk.  Here are the red flags to watch for. 

READY TO BUY? REOs Expected to Flood Market

Mortgage lenders are likely to put their growing supply of repossessed homes up for sale in the months to come.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, 10 percent of home loans was either delinquent or in the foreclosure process at the end of September. Plus, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw repossessions grow nearly 25 percent to 15,196 homes from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2008.

4 Tips to Getting a Real Estate Loan

These days one of the biggest impediments to closing a real estate sale can be the buyer’s ability to get a mortgage.

Here are some tips for anyone who hopes to land a home loan: