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Showing posts from October, 2013

Important FHA Changes

FHA has made changes to how Collections, Charge Offs, Judgments and Disputed Accounts are handled. These changes are effective as of October 15th, 2013. Please see below a summary of the FHA Mortgagee letters 2013-24 and 2013-25 and if you have any questions please contact us. Thank you. EFFECTIVE DATE • These new rules are applicable for FHA case numbers issued on and after October 15, 2013 COLLECTIONS AND/OR CHARGE OFF ACCOUNTS • Medical collections and/or charge offs are excluded from this guidance. • A letter of explanation from the borrower(s) is:  - Not required for loans receiving an approved/eligible from FHA Total Scorecard (DU). - Is required for all manually underwritten loans. In addition to the letter of explanation, the borrower(s) must provide supporting documentation that provides the DE underwriter with evidence that the collection account was not the result of the borrower’s disregard for financial obligation and/or inability to manage debt. • Payment plan

The 6 Worst Mistakes You Can Make as a Buy and Hold Investor!

1.) Paying Too Much There is a lot of emphasis around the real estate investing world on getting incredible deals for wholesalers and flippers – and rightly so. These kind of investors need to get amazing deals in order to make a quick profit. However, just because you plan to hold on to property for the long haul – doesn't mean you can afford to pay too much. Yes – over time, that mortgage will be paid down to zero but that doesn't give you an excuse to pay more than you should. 2.) Adjustable Rate Mortgages An Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) is a loan, but unlike a “fixed rate mortgage” – the interest rate can change with the economy, causing your payment to skyrocket. I understand the allure of an adjustable rate mortgage: low payments at the start. However, although you might lock in that rate for 3 or 5 years… there is no guarantee what the economy will be like in 3-5 years. For me – I want to have the most control over my destiny, and ARMs take a huge chunk of my co

The likelihood that a mortgage application will be approved varies widely by bank.

Home-buyer rejection rates ranged from 11% to 34% in 2012 at the 10 largest mortgage lenders, according to data released this month by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. Those who applied for a mortgage at SunTrust  STI   -0.07%    faced the lowest rejection rate—3,831 out of 34,749 applications were denied—while those at Chase encountered the highest rejection rate, with 26,894 out of 80,036 (a third) not passing muster. Despite the fact that large lenders sell most of their mortgages to government agencies, many require applicants to clear hurdles that surpass federal guidelines, and they do so in degrees that vary by institution, resulting in confusion for applicants. Home buyers who get rejected for a mortgage at one large bank could get approved at its competitor—assuming they know not to give up the search. “It absolutely makes a difference where you go,” says Stu Feldstein, president at SMR Research, a mortgage-research firm.  Since the housing downturn,

Can you put a price on experience? In real estate, you can. It is about $25,000 for the average house.

Can you put a price on experience? In real estate, you can. It is about $25,000 for the average house. Veteran agents sell homes for an average of 12% more than their less experienced counterparts, says Bennie Waller, professor of finance and real estate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. Veteran agents also tend to list more new properties, more townhouses and condominiums and larger properties. "The more experience you have, the more likely you are to sell the properties that you list, the more likely you are to sell it at a higher price and the less time it stays on the market,"   Prof. Waller says.  Prof. Waller, along with Ali Jubran, a student at Longwood University at the time, examined 10,065 real-estate listings in a mid-Atlantic multiple-listing service from March 1999 to July 2009. They divided the listings into three  groups—ones listed by agents who have been licensed for two years or less (called rookies), agents who have been licensed for two to 1
  Pending Home Sales, down 1.6% for August but still  up 5.8% for the year.      Mortgage rate national average  have dropped the last two weeks with the Fed's announcement it would continue buying mortgage bonds. This will help stabilize the the winter market as the average big tickets will drop due to parents needing to buy the GI Joe with the kung fu grip  as well as feed aunt Margaret with her 12 kids at the holiday celebration! As the worship of the of small ticket retail! climaxes on Jan 01. The final day of returning gifts resulting in an upgrade for ones self at an average of  +$10 per item!    New Home Sales up 12.6% year-over-year. There will be desperate builders who hold too much inventory during a low season 10/15-01/15 who will dump prices to stay afloat or out of panic! Either way look for great deals on new homes during this time! Remember this simple rule! Buy when the masses are busy with distractions. I even use large news events to gain advantage when buyin