Feb
5
Thinking of re-financing? Here’s a great option! (for more info or a lender referral, just inbox/text/call me)
Posted by daveking under Uncategorized
As many of you know, Harp 2.0 launches on Monday, February 6th 2012 . To assist in answering your client’s basic questions, we have put together the following Question and Answer worksheet:
How do I know if Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac owns my mortgage?
You can have your client contact me and I can look it up for you, or you can visit fanniemae.com/loanlookupfor Fannie Mae or freddiemac.com/mymortgage for Freddie Mac.
I am really upside down on my mortgage, am I still eligible?
Yes, there are no loan to value limits with the new HARP 2.0 program (some restrictions apply).
I am currently behind on my mortgage payment, am I still eligible for HARP?
No, you must be current on your mortgage for the past 6 months and have only 1 late in the last 12 months.
I put down 20% when I purchased my home, and now my home is under-water.
If I refinance with HARP 2.0, will I have to pay mortgage insurance now? No. If you current loan does not require mortgage insurance, then HARP will not require mortgage insurance.
Can I finance or “roll” my closing costs into the loan with a HARP 2.0 refinance?
Yes. Mortgage balances can increase to cover standard closing costs in addition to other costs due at closing such as escrows and daily interest.
What are HARP 2.0 Interest Rates? Are they higher than normal rates?
HARP 2.0 interest rates are based on a few factors, but are typically very competitive with conforming fixed rates. Contact your local Prosperity Mortgage Consultant for a specific quote.
Can I use HARP 2.0 to refinance an investment home, vacation home or rental home?
Yes, if your mortgage is backed by Fannie Mae, you are eligible.
I rent out my home, is it eligible for the HARP 2.0 Refinance?
Yes. You can refinance your investment property, even if it once was a primary residence.
Are condominiums eligible for the HARP 2.0 Refinance?
Condominiums are already eligible under HARP and, under the enhanced program, condominiums that originally met Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac requirements remain eligible.
Can I consolidate mortgages with a Making Home Affordable refinance?
No, you cannot consolidate multiple mortgages with the HARP refinance program. It’s for first liens only. All subordinate/junior liens must be resubordinated to the new first mortgage. If you have a second mortgage be sure to mention that to your lender as well.
Jan
22
New Years Resolution: Buying a home?
Posted by daveking under Uncategorized
Posted: 18 Jan 2012 01:55 PM PST
1. At minimum to qualify to purchase a home, you will need:
• 3.5% of the home’s price for a down payment.
And once you purchase a home don’t forget about the moving cost and other expenses that typically follow.
2. Hone in. Do your research on different areas you would like to live. This can be as easy as doing a property search online. Eliminate those areas you can’t afford or are too far from work. Narrowing your search will make it easier to gather information about school districts and other things that are important to you.
Helpful tip: Consider reaching out to me before you’re ready to go tour houses. My services go way beyond “showing and selling” houses. I can guide you through the entire home buying process, from well before to well after the actual purchase. If you are open and honest about your time frame you won’t have to worry about being “sold” too until you are ready to buy.
3. Assess your credit. Obtain your credit report now. Don’t wait to be surprise by your credit score when your lender pulls it six months from now. Know in advance if there are some areas you need to improve. Working to bring up your score could save you thousands later on. Also, review your history for any discrepancies. Resolving an error on the report can take some time but may help your score.
Helpful tip: The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, & TransUnion) to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. Here is the website for a free annual credit report. Be wary of other free credit websites advertised on TV. They almost always have hidden fees or gimmicks.
4. Plan. Consider your time frame. When do you want or need to move? What factors will affect your time frame?
Do you have a lease? If so, look into the cost of breaking a lease or extending it month to month. Knowing the cost will help you determined how much “pressure” there is to move by a certain date.
Are your financials in order? Once you have a time frame determined you can work backwards to allow the appropriate time to save or correct your credit.
Are you considering short sales or foreclosed homes? . Short sale homes can run into complications when it comes time to close and may take longer than expected. Consider these few extra months from the beginning.
5. Educate. Take time to learn about the home buying process before you start it. Between envisioning your dream home and the constant media message of “Buy, Buy, Buy!” it is easy to get sucked into the emotional whirlpool of buying a home. Arm yourself with knowledge.
Helpful Tip: There is a lot of real estate information out there and it is easy to get over whelmed. Remember that housing trends should be considered locally, not on a national level. Break away from the generic News headlines and get local with Market Minutes Reports.
In any case – I’m here to help you! Just let me know what I can do… :)
Photo Credit: by ~ggvic~
Dec
12
7 Ways to Have an Eco-Friendly Christmas
Posted by daveking under General Information
G. M. Filisko
With a few conscious choices, your merry Christmas can also be an eco-friendly Christmas.
1. Light up with LEDs. LED lights use at least 75% less energy than conventional holiday decorations, according to Energy Star. That saves the average family about $50 on energy bills during the holiday, says Avital Binshtock of the Sierra Club in San Francisco. Or douse the lights and use soy-based or beeswax candles; their emissions are cleaner than those from paraffin candles.
2. Make your own decorations. Save money and keep your kids busy by hand-crafting eco-friendly decor—strings of popcorn or pine cones—instead of buying mass-produced holiday flare.
3. Wrap with stuff you already have. Get creative with reusable shopping bags, magazines, and newspapers instead of using wrapping paper. Even gift bags that recipients can pass on make for a more eco-friendly Christmas, says Brian Clark Howard of The Daily Green.
4. Buy a real tree. Real Christmas trees, wreaths, and garlands are renewable and recyclable, Binshtock says. Real trees mean an annual cost, but that may be a wash if you tend to buy a faux tree several times a decade.
5. Say “no” to glossy paper decorations and wrapping. Shininess and color come from chemicals not easily recycled. Alternative: Decorations or wrapping papers that use soy inks or natural dyes.
6. Package it in cardboard. Plain, corrugated cardboard is good for packaging because it’s easy to recycle. If plastic factors into your holiday plans, look for No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, the easiest to recycle, says Ben Champion, director of sustainability for Kansas State University.
7. Create precious moments that don’t leave a trail of debris.
- Do something experiential like taking the family to a museum.
- Give a gift certificate or donation to an organization meaningful to the recipient in the receiver’s name. Happy holidays to you: No sales tax.
- Buy fair-trade, organic, or locally made products, which are often one-of-a-kind and may not need as much packaging and shipping, Champion says.
Nov
9
Some benefits of buying a new home….
Posted by daveking under For Buyers
From Guest blogger: Connect Utilities
Whether buying new or resale homes, choices abound in today’s home buying market. Buying a newly constructed home may be top of mind as many factors come into play.
Choice: One reason buyers go the new home route is that they are given plenty of choices and options in the level of customization of their home. These options may range from being able to choose color schemes, upgrades like trim moldings, kitchens finishing’s, selection of flooring options throughout the home, home automation and more. New home buyers can have their builder add their personal touches that satisfy their personality, personal tastes and needs.
Home repair cost: This is a significant factor when buying new. Home repairs on a new home are kept at a minimum. And even if repairs are needed, today’s builders include warranties for certain period of time. Most builders cover home repairs for the first year you live in the new place. Resale homes in other hand, can offer warranties, but often are limited in the items it covers. Many times these warranties need to be purchased separately by the buyer.
Up-to-date features: Home automation also makes buying a new home that much more appealing. In the case of a resale home, implementing today’s new technologies may be cumbersome and not necessarily cost effective. Since more and more builders are integrating new technologies on new home designs, the costs savings can be dramatic. Technologies such as wireless internet access, intercom systems, and surround sound are just some of the aspects of new home technologies that can be expected in the today’s new home designs.
Stringent building codes and safety requirements : From lead-based paint to asbestos insulation, the materials found in resale houses can be costly replace, many times impossible to replace. New homes are subject to more stringent building codes and safety requirements than what older homes have. In addition, materials used in new construction, asbestos and lead have been eliminated. This in turn benefits the new homebuyers and their families from hazardous materials or unsafe environments. Then there is less risk of fire in today’s new home construction. Wiring systems have improved as well. In addition, most of today’s new homes have hard-wired smoke detectors with battery-powered backup.
Energy efficiency: As home buyer become more conscious of the environment, having a home that is energy efficient, has become an important factor when buying new. The appliances available today are far more energy efficient than they were 10 years ago. Energy efficient solutions found in today new homes can help greatly reduce overall energy cost. This in turn helps to save in utility bills. Improved heating and cooling systems and better insulation techniques in new constructions offer greater efficiency than older homes. This can in turn offset the cost of a new home.
New home buyers after having considered all the hidden costs of resale homes, may actually save money by buying new. The level of customization, home automation, energy efficiency and construction durability as well as safety, are among the many benefits that buying a new home would bring.
Oct
25
Using a Real Estate Agent: Do’s and Don’ts
Posted by daveking under For Buyers, For Sellers
Do: Be honest.
Real Estate agents work best when they can tailor their services to each buyers unique situation. Hiding important information will only slow down the process. The most common factors buyers tend to hide is representation (they already have an agent), timing and financing. All of which are more beneficial to the buyer to disclose upfront since all will be revealed during some point of the transaction anyway.
For example let’s say buyer Jan already has a Real Estate agent but she doesn’t like Agent’s 1 service and finds a new agent. She doesn’t tell the new agent 2 about agent 1. She buys a house with agent 2 and now agent 1 is hitting buyer Jan with fees for breaking their buyer’s agreement. Had Jan told the second agent from the beginning they would have advise her to review the contract, offer advice on what grounds she had to exit the contract and then assisted her with finding a home.
Don’t: Think you are bugging your agent.
How many houses will your agent be willing to show you? Can you text them questions throughout the day? What if you want to see a house when the agent is on vacation?
All the questions above should be address from the start when a buyer signs the buyer’s agreement. By clearing the air early buyers won’t have to question boundaries. The last thing an agent wants is for their client to go to another agent or broker because the client thinks they are “bugging them”.
Do: Do make sure the agent represents your interest.
Going the “easy” route and using the agent that is selling the home is not in the buyers’ best interest. The agent selling the home was hired by the owner to represent their best interest not the buyers. Also be weary of those agents who refuse to show certain properties like foreclosures or short sales. They could be trying to get out of doing a little extra work that may benefit the buyer.
Don’t: Go with your mom’s friend’s son, unless you actually trust him.
Using a family friend is fine, if the buyer is doing it for the right reason. Using a friend simply to get a cut of their commission could cost a buyer far more in the long run if the agent is under qualified. The family friend may not be the best negotiator and may miss an opportunity to shave thousands off the price, or never completed a short sale before and drag the process on for months longer than a short sale certified agent. Is your biggest purchase and the next 10 years something you are willing to gamble with?
Photo credit: By Visionello
Sep
16
10 Tips to make you move easier.
Posted by daveking under For Buyers, For Sellers, General Information
Here are 10 tips to make your move easier:
1) Condense. All of your packing into one or two rooms, rather than having boxes spread out all over the house. Reducing the sense of scale for the move goes a long way in reducing stress.
2) Start early. Don™t wait for the house to sell and you™re rushed. Pack things like seasonal clothing and holiday decorations right away. The more time you have to prepare, the less frantic your move will be. Having a moving sale to eliminate some of the things that you really don™t need or want to move to another location can help decrease the amount of possessions that travel with you to the new home.3) Label boxes clearly. List contents whenever feasible and designate their destination on the other end. It will make unpacking a whole lot easier. The labeling will also allow friends and family to be more helpful should they choose to volunteer their services for packing or unpacking.
4) Pack light. It™s tempting to use fewer boxes in an effort to save space and trips. It will be a lot less work in the long run, though, if you keep the size and weight of each box to a minimum.
5) When moving dressers, trunks or armoires, pack clothing back into them to conserve space. You can tape over the drawers and carry them separately on and off the truck.
6) Use towels,and wash rags as padding for wrapping fragile goods. Place pillows and blankets around furniture and boxes of fragile items to keep them protected in the moving van.
7) Make a list of all contacts you will need to send a change of address, and fill out a change of address form with the post office at least 2 weeks prior to your move date. Specify what date you wish to begin having your mail delivered to the new address.
8 ) Pack an overnight bag. In the rush to get packed, it™s easy to forget those items you™ll be needing right away in your new home. Don™t forget necessities like a roll of toilet paper for your first night in the new house.
9) Contact utilities ahead of time to advise of shut-off and turn-on dates for each home. Allow yourself enough time in the old home for cleaning before shutting off the water and power.
10) Prepare directions and have cellphones for all parties, when making a move in more than one vehicle. It ensures that everyone knows where they™re going, and can communicate during the transport phase of your move.
A little preparation and planning goes a long way in making your move go smoothly.
Photo Credit: by Mbtrama
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Sep
13
Renovation Loans. Seeing the “could be” beyond the “as is…”
Posted by daveking under For Buyers, General Information
œSold as is or œneeds work. These terms are becoming common place in today™s housing inventory but too often buyers dismiss these properties; whether it be out of fear of a large renovation project or the unknown of cost and time. They see what is and not what could be.
So how does a buyer bridge the gap between what is and what could be?
With a 203(k) loan. 203(k) or renovation loan, is a loan in addition to your mortgage, for renovation projects. For example if you need to borrow $100,000 for the home and a contractor estimates $50,000 in repairs, you could get a combined mortgage and 203(k) loan of $150,000. And typically the mortgage and 203(k) loans are both qualified for the same interest rates and down payment percentage, conventional or FHA. The borrower does need to be able to qualify for the full loan amount, not just the mortgage amount.
Great! What™s the catch? Well, the catch is actually to the buyers benefit with the Prosperity Mortgage™s Purchase & Renovate Program. With this particular program, the contractors have to provide an estimate (bid) to the loan officer prior to determining the loan amount. Once a bid is accepted and the loan is originated, the contractors are required to complete the repairs in 6 months or less and the lender then signs off on the work to make sure it is completed correctly.
From the very start the buyer knows 1) how much the work will cost and 2) that the work will be completed in 6 months or less. Renovation doesn™t get much easier than that.
When housing inventory is looking slim, 203(k) loans are a great way to open doors and seize the opportunity to make a home your own.
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Aug
23
Is trying to time the market worth it? You decide…
Posted by daveking under For Buyers, For Sellers, General Information
The KCM blog recently put out the InfoGraphic below. What do the numbers in the chart say to you?
The biggest difference in monthly payments from the highest to the lowest in the last 11 months was $75.01. Is $75 dollars a month worth playing the timing game?
Some may say yes, it is. Others find more value in buying a home on their schedule. According to the graphic; if someone has been waiting for the housing market to œhit bottom since September of last year, they didn™t wait for much avail.
Either way the silver lining is that over the course of the last 11 months national home prices and interest rates haven™t fluctuated much. And with the most recent policy commitment from The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to keep rates low, we don™t foresee huge spikes coming anytime soon.
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Aug
17
What types of loans are out there?
Posted by daveking under For Buyers, General Information
Quick answer; yes but only in very few cases. This post will cover the 4 most popular loans and the restrictions on each.
FHA- an FHA (Federal Housing Administration) loan is a government backed loan. The FHA insures mortgage loans so a lender can offer a buyer better terms, alleviating risk to the lender allowing them to be more lenient. You can learn more about what an FHA loan is here.
Restrictions- The only restriction to which houses a buyer can select from is the price range. FHA loans tend to be small and may not offer enough for a pricier home. Click here to find the FHA lending limits for your area. FHA loans are also a bit stricter when it comes to fixer uppers; a buyer may not be able to get an FHA loan on a home in poor condition.
USDA- A USDA guaranteed loan, known as the Rural Housing Direct Loan or a Section 502 loan, is primarily used to help low-income individuals or households purchase homes in rural areas.
Restrictions- This loan does significantly limit a buyer™s choices. Because the program was created to help stimulate growth in rural neighborhoods buyers are restricted to the only USDA approved neighborhoods. Click here to find USDA location eligibility.
VA- The Department of Veterans Affairs offers a 0% down government back mortgage loan option for veterans.
Restrictions- Similar to an FHA loan, there are loan limits depending on where you are planning on moving. Those can be found here.
Conventional “ Conventional loan are loans that are not government backed.
Restrictions- These tend to be the least restrictive. No matter which bank or lender the buyer chooses, they are able to look at any home, even if the home is owned by another bank.
With all loans buyers are free to choose a foreclosed or short sale property, as long as it falls under the other the other requirements. Also in all cases condos make financing a bit trickier; particularly with FHA or USDA loans. In those cases the condo buildings themselves must be FHA or USDA approved. So buyers should ask whether a building is approved for financing before bothering to go for a showing.
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Jul
29
Helping Your Child Buy a Home…or not
Posted by daveking under Ask a REALTOR, For Buyers, For Sellers, General Information
Helping Your Child Buy a Home
As a parent of an adult child, you have been around to see the market go up and down more than once. But indisputably you know that there has never been a more affordable time to buy than now; especially for those who are not tied down with a home to sell. So how can you help your child take advantage of this opportunity? Consider their situation.
Can qualify for a mortgage but does not have enough savings:This is where the œBank of Mom and Dad comes in. If the only barrier between them and a house is the down payment, you could œgift the funds; gift meaning that you do not expect the funds back. Before you give a gift of money, remember that the*1 IRS limits the amount of money you can give to an individual to $12,000 per year before you have to deal with tax consequences.
If you give the money as a loan, not a gift, there are two things to consider. *2 One, many lenders will not approve a mortgage knowing the down payment is a loan. Two, the IRS requires that you document the loan. The interest portion of the payment is considered taxable income to you the parents, and your child cannot deduct the mortgage interest unless the loan is secured by a lien on the home.
Can qualify for a mortgage but not for the rates or amount they want: This is when co-signing is beneficial. Your good credit and history will help your child be approved for better interest rates and possibly a larger loan amount. But larger amounts may mean higher monthly cost. Can your child afford the larger mortgage? The lender didn™t seem to think so. Take this time to step back and take an unbiased look at your child finances and stability. Remember, as a co-signer you take on the responsibility if your child defaults.
Cannot qualify on their own: Buying a home out right for your child is an option but may not do much for your child in terms of equity. Alternatively, you could create a rent-to-own agreement where the child can save funds over time to purchase the home. OR you can add them to the deed and plan to have them buy out your share of the house in time. Both cases do come with some *3 significant tax and legal implications.
As always, you should consult a trusted lender and tax professional about your particular situation.
Sources:
*1 œ5 Ways Parents Can Help Their Children Buy a Home. Hall Financial Corp.http://hallfinancialcorp.com/home-buying/5-ways-parents-can-help-their-children-buy-a-home/
*2 œTax Implications When Parents Gift Down Payment. The Wall Street Journal.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704007804574574114204199896.html
*3 œShould You Buy a Home To Rent to Your Child? The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121381161750885197.html
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