Team Thayer Property Servicing

Getting financing for the purchase of raw land is the most difficult loan to get. Buying raw land that has no improvements and getting a mortgage to finance your purchase requires an approach that is different than if you're buying a house. The most direct line of action is found in the locality of the land, meaning lenders and credit sources that know the area and are used to lending locally. Most major national financing institutions do not get involved in land loans. Begin your financing search by preparing your portfolio to include information a lender requests before considering a purchase loan, knowing that financing for raw land is the most difficult of loans to get. 1 Identify the land you wish to purchase and then contact the local governmental agencies to determine the zoning of the property. Get a recent land survey from the seller or hire a professional to develop one for you, as easements and access are vital to the value of the land. Contact the utility...

Fannie Mae ’s gross mortgage portfolio resumed its contraction in February following a rare month of expansion in January, according to the GSE’s Monthly Volume Summary for February 2016 released on Wednesday. The portfolio contracted at an annual rate of 27.8 percent in February, which translated to a month-over-month decline of more than $11 billion down to a value of about $337.2 billion by the end of the month. In January, Fannie Mae’s gross mortgage portfolio experienced a rare expansion, increasing at an annual rate of 5 percent. With February’s contraction, the portfolio has now contracted in all but four months out of the last 67 months (since June 2010). The four months in which the portfolio expanded were January 2016, March 2015, January 2015, and December 2012. At the beginning of that stretch in June 2010, the amount of unpaid principal balance (UPB) of the loans in the portfolio was $818 billion. According to a  report from Urban Institute released last week...

For some of us, it can be intimidating and downright awkward to ask for money. In the real estate business, however, leverage cannot be ignored as a way to generate much better and faster returns than using all “cash.” Have no fear, because private lenders WANT to hear from you, we want to lend to you, and we want YOU to make money, because that’s how we make money. Most savvy private lenders will ask for information that can help us determine whether financing your property is a good investment for us. You can speed up this decision, or underwriting process, by having certain things ready when you call to request a loan. In order to determine funding, a private lender may ask for the numbers on the deal, your investment portfolio, “skin in the game,” market knowledge, and your primary and secondary investment strategies. Show Us the Numbers! The most important number to an asset-based lender is the loan to value (LTV) per...

1. What percentage of your clients are sellers (versus buyers)? Agents who mostly work with buyers will have a different set of skills from those who primarily represent sellers. You want to make sure this person is an expert at knowing how to land a home in your desired neighborhood. 2. In which neighborhoods do you primarily work? You want someone who can spout off neighborhood stats like a true local. Your agent doesn’t just need to know the market valuations in  Eugene, Or,  they also need to know the valuations for each specific neighborhood, from  Oakridge  to  Cottage Grove . 3. Will I be working with you directly? In other words, will your agent handle all aspects of the transaction or will they delegate some tasks to a sales associate or administrative assistant? A knowledgeable assistant can be invaluable, but you want to make sure you can connect regularly with your agent. 4. Do you work full time or part time as a real estate agent...

The U.S. economic picture has been mixed as of late, as job gains were back up in February but the growth in financial markets such as stocks, U.S. dollar, and oil prices, has not been enough to offset the flatness in economic growth. The economy received a slight boost Friday when the Bureau of Economic Analysis ( BEA ) announced that the gross domestic product (GDP)  grew at an annual rate of 1.4 percent  in its third and final estimate for Q4—an increase from 0.7 percent in the first Q4 estimate released in January and 1.0 percent in the second Q4 estimate released in February. “Final fourth quarter GDP numbers showed slight improvement over earlier estimates but represented a disappointment as a close to the year,” Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan said. “The 2 percent growth rate fourth quarter over fourth quarter for 2015 correlates with the majority view in our National Housing Survey that the economy is on the wrong track even though this current expansi...

heavy mortgage and crisis-related litigation and operating costs.” Crisis-related litigation plagued Bank of America in 2014. The bank reached a settlement with the Department of Justice in August of that year for $16.65 billion over the sales of toxic mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis; litigation costs and other expenses related to that settlement took a big chunk out of the bank’s 2014 net income. The $1 With the release of the company’s Q1 2016 earnings statement right around the corner, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said in his   letter to shareholders in the 2015 Annual Report   that the bank is “no longer clouded over by   6.65 billion settlement remains a record for a settlement between the Department of Justice and a single company over matters related to the 2008 financial crisis (it was eclipsed only by British Petroleum’s $20.8 settlement with the DOJ in October 2015 over the Gulf oil spill). “This progress is the res...

Mortgage contract signings began 2016 on a low note,  falling to their lowest level in a year after hitting its highest average year in nearly a decade due to two pressing factors that are keeping buyers out of the market: inventory and home prices. However, despite the rough start to the year, pending home sales recently rose to their highest level in seven months and are still higher than a year ago. The  National Association of Realtors  (NAR) reported Monday that its  Pending Home Sales Index  rose 3.5 percent to 109.1 in February from a downwardly revised 105.4 in January and is now up 0.7 percent from 108.3 in February 2015. The NAR noted that although the index has now increased year-over-year for 18 consecutive months, the annual gain last month was the smallest.  541-543-7287 NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, "After some volatility this winter, the latest data is encouraging in that a decent number of b...

While many housing fundamentals have been nearing their pre-recession levels for months or even years in some cases, the nationwide homeownership rate sank to a 48-year low of 63.4 percent in the second quarter of 2015. By the end of the year in 2015, the homeownership rate had clawed its way back up to 63.8 percent, but the full year of 2015 still represented the 11 th consecutive year of decline since hitting an all-time peak of 69 percent in 2004. Why does the homeownership remain low while other housing fundamentals continue to improve? An analysis from the  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis  titled “ If Housing Markets Are Recovering, Why is the Homeownership Rate Still Falling ?” provides some of the answers. According to one explanation, the sharp increase in homeownership during the 10-year period prior to 2004 played a role. “Perhaps this period represented an unsustainable shift of many financially weaker families out of rental housing into homeowne...

The steep decline in the number of REO properties in the last five years or so since the foreclosure crisis peaked has been one of the buzz topics in the mortgage industry. As more jobs are added each month and the unemployment rate has dipped to pre-recession levels, the number of foreclosed homes has seen a corresponding substantial decline. Just how many fewer REO properties are out there now compared to the total of REO properties at the peak of the crisis? The  FHFA’s Foreclosure Prevention Report for Q4 2015  said that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owned a combined total of 72,783 REO properties as of the end of the fourth quarter—less than a third of their peak total of slightly more than five years earlier—in Q3 2010, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owned a combined total of approximately 242,000 REO properties. That quarter, property acquisitions outpaced dispositions by the count of 124,000 to 74,000. The 72,000-plus REO properties owned by the GSES represen...

Flipping houses   is a great way to get your foot in the door of the real estate investing industry. While it can be frustrating at first, with the proper systems in place – and of course practice – you will be turning over properties and making profits in no time. In fact, according to RealtyTrac’s 2015 Q4 Home Flipping Report, the number of active home flippers is at its highest since 2007, with the average gross profit yielding 55,000 dollars. However, it is crucial to remember that investing in a property should be solely based on hard numbers, not emotions or hope. This is not to say that the process shouldn’t be enjoyable or fun, just be sure to avoid becoming too personally invested – it’s always about the bottom line. With that being said, what happens if your well thought out plan does not pan out the way you hoped? Most Common House Flipping Mistakes | And What To Do If You Make Them Even the most seasoned investors will make mistakes from time to time. Howeve...