Step By Step How Do You Buy A House?

Tuesday, December 16, 2008 | Labels: , , | |

There is no doubt that the market for houses has been on fire recently. More and more people are taking advantage of low interest rates and easy mortgage loan terms to go from being renters to being home owners. With so many people entering the market, it is inevitable that questions will arise.
There are many things to consider when buying your first home. Some of the most important steps to buy a house are:
Learning the home buying process
Start by learning as much as you can about how the home buying and mortgage application process works. Read as much as you can about buying a home. Check out the many books in your local library that offer hints to first time home buyers. Read financial web sites on the internet for tips for first time home buyers. You may even want to sign up for a class aimed at first time homeowners. Many towns and cities offer these kinds of classes, and they can be a great source of information for the buyer looking for his or her first home.
Find out the pre-qualified price range
It is important to find out how much you can borrow before you start looking for a home. Talk with several mortgage lenders in your area and get pre-qualified for a particular price range. The mortgage lender will be able to help you determine how much you can borrow based on your annual income. In general, mortgage lenders recommend that all home related expenses, including the mortgage payment, insurance premiums and real estate taxes, do not exceed 28% of your monthly income.
Get Pre-approved for mortgage loan
The next step is to get pre-approved for mortgage financing. This is similar to getting pre-qualified for a price range, but it is a more formal process. You will need to supply proof of your income for the pre-approval process to move forward. Most lenders will want to see income tax returns from the past two years as proof of the income you are claiming.
House hunting
After you have been pre-approved for your mortgage loan, it is time to actually start house hunting with a realtor (find out why you need to find a realtor before buying a house?). Your mortgage lender will give you a letter stating that you have been pre-approved for a mortgage and the amount you are authorized to borrow. You will need to present this letter to the real estate agent when you get started. It is important to get pre-approved for a mortgage loan before beginning your home search. The real estate agent and real estate company will be much more willing to work with you if they know you can afford the home you are looking at. In addition, sellers will take your offer much more seriously if it is accompanied by a pre-approval letter from your mortgage lender.
Make an offer
Once you have found a home that meets your needs, it is time to make an offer on the property. You will already know the most you can spend from the pre-approval process, and you probably will have your own ideas on what the property is actually worth. In addition, your real estate agent can guide you through the negotiation process and offer procedures. A copy of your pre-approval letter will be presented as part of the written offer. This will ensure the seller that your offer is legitimate.
Negotiation process
If the seller accepts your first offer, congratulations. Your negotiations are over and you're ready to start preparing for your move. More likely, however, is that the seller will come back with a counter-offer. This negotiation process can go on for a short or long amount of time, depending on factors like the motivation of the seller, the local real estate market, and a host of other factors. The real estate agent will be a good guide through the negotiation process. After all, he or she will have been through this process many times before.
Provide copy of Purchase and Sale Agreement to mortgage broker
After the negotiation process has been completed, you will need to present your mortgage broker with a copy of the Purchase and Sale Agreement for the home.
Work to close the mortgage loan
After presenting the Purchase and Sales Agreement, you will need to work with the mortgage broker to ensure you meet all the conditions required for the closing of the mortgage loan.
Home inspection prior closing
Prior to closing, you will want to make sure to have a thorough home inspection performed by a qualified and certified home inspector. A home inspection will protect you from flaws in the construction and condition of the home that are not obvious to the naked eye. Home inspections can uncover things like foundation cracks, termite infestation and other home quality issues.
Hand over down payment
After the home inspection has been performed and the report has come back clean (or all the items uncovered have been repaired), it is time for the buyer to actually hand over the money for the down payment and sign the loan documents.
Collect the house keyAfter the closing of the loan, the fun part of home buying begins. Your real estate agent will hand over the keys to your new home and you can actually move in and enjoy your beautiful new home. Welcome to moving day!
Read More..

Home Loans – Repair Your Credit Before You Buy

| Labels: | |

Before you take out a home loan or make any major purchase, you should be aware that any prospective lender will want to take a look at your credit report. Your credit report is a record of all of your past financial dealings, and any loans, credit cards, judgements, bankruptcies or other major financial transactions are listed there. Along with your credit report will come your credit score, which is a three digit number between 300 and 850 that represents a distillation of all of the above. That score represents your entire financial life, and your ability to obtain financing for any major purchase depends on having a good one. What if you don’t have a good record? Should you go to one of those companies that promise to repair your credit? What you should do is repair it yourself. The idea of credit repair is a myth. There is no magic solution to fixing problem credit, and any company that promises to do so is only interested in your cash. Your credit report and score are maintained by three separate credit bureaus that keep pretty accurate accounts of all financial dealings done under your Social Security number. There is no way to quickly “fix” a faulty credit report. You can, however, fix it yourself and fix it for free. It just takes time. The way to repair your credit record is to start paying your bills on time and paying off your debt. More than one third of your credit score is determined by your past ability to pay bills and to pay them on time. Start doing so now. It may take a year or two, but steadily paying your bills without making any late payments goes a long way towards repairing a credit score. Another third of your score is determined by your ratio of debt to available credit. If your credit cards are maxed out, you need to pay off or pay down your balances. It’s tough to obtain a loan when you are already in debt to the gills. Stop using your credit cards, if possible. Don’t cancel them; just stop using them, particularly if you have a balance to pay off. You want to reduce your debt. Pay cash when you can. And check your credit report for problems. You can obtain a copy for free from the free credit report Website. Repairing your credit record takes time and discipline. There is no quick solution other than paying your bills, paying them on time, and waiting for the damage to heal. After that, you should be in good shape to obtain your home or car of your dreams.
Read More..

Home Loans – Repair Credit Errors In Three Days!

| Labels: | |

Most consumers are aware that a history of paying bills late or not at all can hurt one’s ability to obtain a loan. All financial transactions are recorded by three credit bureaus and offered to lenders upon request in the form of a credit report. That report contains the all-important credit score, which determines whether or not the borrower is a good risk for a loan. If you have a poor payment history, you could be out of luck when you try to obtain a loan. The same applies if there are errors on your credit report that suggest that you may pose a greater risk to the lender than you really do. Traditionally, it has taken months to straighten out problems on a credit report, and borrowers who are eager to close on a mortgage or home equity loan may not have months to wait. What can be done? A relatively new mortgage-related product known as rapid rescoring can, in some instances, fix problems on a credit report in as little as three days. We have covered the topic of credit repair in previous articles. The notion that there are companies that can fix bad credit reports is a myth. If you have a history of not paying your bills, no company you can hire can make that particular problem go away. The only way to fix that is to become responsible, pay your bills and retire your credit card balances. On the other hand, if you find yourself ready to buy a home and suddenly discover that there is an error on your credit report that will impair your ability to qualify for a loan or your ability to obtain a good interest rate, there may be a solution. Companies that specialize in rapid rescoring work with both lenders and the credit bureaus to expedite the process of removing errors from a credit report. It’s not magic; you will need to provide written proof that the error is legitimate, but once you submit it to your lender, they can pass it on to the rescoring company, who will handle the rest of the transaction. The process is often completed in three business days, although it can sometimes take as long as two weeks. Still, that’s a tremendous improvement over the one to three months it may have taken in the past. Rapid rescoring has turned out to be a lucrative business for the companies that specialize in it, and lenders love it because it helps more buyers qualify for loans. While it is a nice service to have available, most consumers would be better off preventing such errors in the first place. The best way to do that is to regularly check your credit report for errors and keep it up to date. You can obtain a copy for free from the free credit report Website. In a pinch, however, rapid rescoring has been a tremendous last-minute tool for saving borrowers from being turned away from the house of their dreams.
Read More..

Home Mortgage Loan Refinance – Benefits To Refinancing Your House Online

| Labels: , , | |

Here are some of the benefits to doing your home loan refinance online:
Everything seems to happen faster - Online, when looking for a mortgage loan you can search around, fill out an application and a few minutes later, you can be receiving a pre-approval letter via email. There was no calling, no driving & no waiting on hold for an answer. The mortgage company will usually contact you quickly and give you all the information you need to move forward.
You will be more informed and make better decisions - People nowadays that use the internet as consumers, use it primarily to make better purchasing decisions. If you are sitting at home on the couch with your phone book calling every mortgage company listed, you are not going to know what the current interest rate is. You aren’t going to know what your contacted companies competitors are like. All you will know is what that loan officer tells you.
Online, you can view a lot of information very quickly. - After looking at a few mortgage loan websites, you will know quickly that when you refinance you have many options. Do you want to get cash out of your home? Do you want to borrow more than your homes current value? Do you want an interest only loan? And, you will know right away which mortgage companies offer these options. There are many different kinds of refinance loans, and all of these options can be learned after a few minutes of searching online.
Deal with large, reputable companies – When applying online, you should quickly be able to spot the larger, more reputable mortgage companies. I always prefer to use the companies that will submit your application to multiple lenders. That way, your credit is only pulled once, and you can receive multiple offers from up to 4 lenders. For a list of these recommended mortgage companies, see the link below.
Save money – Many online mortgage service companies can save you money by cutting out fees like origination fees and underwriting fees. You will also save money using mortgage services where more than one lender competes for your business. When you can receive multiple offers, you will know that you are choosing the loan with the lowest rate possible and the best terms you can qualify for. I usually recommend applying with about 3 different mortgage companies that will submit your application to multiple lenders and give you multiple offers. That way you can really maximize your options.
Less Commitment – You can search around online and apply to 2-3 different lenders without feeling guilty for working with more than one company. That way you make can make sure you are getting the best deal. Often when you start working with a mortgage broker in person, even if the person isn’t doing the best job for you, you start to feel obligated to continue to work with the person. This is not so online. If you aren’t getting what you want, you are free to move on with no guilt.
Read More..

Foster Home Uses Pay Option Mortgage Loan For California Refinance

| Labels: , | |

“We recently received an application from Angela P. who needed to refinance her California home. While finding out her specific goals for the refinance I learned that she was a foster mom and cared for multiple "crack" babies that had been taken away from their mothers at birth because of testing positive for an illegal substance during labor,” states Gary Rees of GoldMedalMortgage.com“She was trying to utilize the equity in her home to remodel and add a bedroom to make it more comfortable for the two teenage and two newborn children her and her husband care for. ” “For their situation I decided that a Pay Option mortgage loan program would give them the cash flow needed to cover shortfalls. It also lowered their mortgage payment over 1500 a month,” continues Rees.A Pay Option Mortgage Loan allows the complete flexibility to decide, every month, which of four mortgage payments you would like to make.This program is ideal for anybody that has fluctuating income such as the self-employed. Pay Option is also an excellent choice if you are looking to buy a new home and want the lowest possible monthly payment, or if you simply just want to lower your existing mortgage payment.The Pay Option Mortgage is a relatively new product that allows you four payment options each month.1. 15 year payment- Pay your loan off and build equity faster as well as save thousands of dollars in interest2. 30 year payment- This option will let you know how much to pay to have your home free and clear in the standard thirty years3. Interest only option- This option allows you to pay only the interest portion of your monthly payment so you can increase monthly cash flow4. 1% Minimum payment-This option allows you to pay your mortgage at a 1% rate of interest for maximum savingsThe Pay Option Mortgage is the absolute best adjustable mortgage product available today. It has built in features that protect you from the typical worries associated with an adjustable rate mortgage. One is the fact that your payment cannot increase more than 7.5% above the previous year for the first five years. Another gives you the option to convert to a fixed rate mortgage after the first three years. With these features in place you can rest easy with your new adjustable mortgage.Here is an example of what a Pay Option Mortgage could for youEstimated Current Monthly Payment - $1663.26New first year payment - $833.13Estimated increased monthly cash flow- $830.13Estimated increased yearly cash flow - $9961.52Disclaimer-First years interest rate 1.25%. Interest charged at 3.45% for the first month. APR 3.74% subject to increase monthly. 30-year loan.This loan may have negative amortization. Max increase/decrease in monthly payment is 7.5% per annum for the first five years. This is an ARM product.Example payments based on 7.0% interest rate and $250000 loan.“During the loan process I got a chance to visit her home and was really impressed by the cleanliness of both her home and all the kids. I have three of my own and I can tell you it’s a challenge to keep up the house and the kids and the homework.”“Clearly a great family! We decided to waive our fees and pick up the costs involved in this transaction for Mr. and Mrs. P who are providing love and shelter to the innocent children victimized by addiction." “It was the least we could do for this amazing family that breaks even after buying clothes and food for the kids. For Angela and her husband, this is truly a labor of love!” concludes Rees.
Read More..

How to Make Money With Real Estate Options : Low-Cost, Low-Risk, High-Profit Strategies for Controlling Undervalued Property Without the Burdens of

Sunday, November 23, 2008 | Labels: , | |

Spend like a miser, profit like a mogul Who says you have to spend money to make money?Savvy real estate investors follow the examples of Donald Trump and Walt Disney, turning substantial profits on properties without incurring the debt, risk, and maintenance costs of ownership--and now, so can you! In How to Make Money with Real Estate Options, real estate expert Thomas Lucier introduces you to the low-risk, high-yield investment vehicle that can earn big bucks even for small investors. Lucier explains what real estate options are, how they work, and why they are the tools of choice for thousands of successful investors. Step by step, he shows you how to: * Locate potential option properties using the Internet, want ads, and "bird-dogs" * Contact and negotiate with property owners * Perform due diligence and avoid options pitfalls * Prepare an option agreement that protects you * Insure real estate options with title insurance * Package and sell optioned properties for optimum profits Packed with no-nonsense advice on how to identify the most profitable properties and manage every step of the option process, How to Make Money with Real Estate Options is a practical guide to one of the secret weapons of savvy investors.
pass: ebooksclub.org
How to Make Money With Real Estate Options : Low-Cost, Low-Risk, High-Profit Strategies for Controlling Undervalued Property....Without the Burdens of Ownership! by Thomas Lucier ISBN-10 / ASIN: 047169276X ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780471692768 Publisher: Wiley Number Of Pages: 264 Publication Date: 2005-02-04 .
Read More..

Finance Your Real Estate Investment Properties

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 | Labels: , | |

Unlike traditional residential real estate mortgages, real estate investment financing is way more creative and offers more options than you think. The golden rule in real estate investment is OPM (Other People’s Money).
I have enough money; shouldn’t I buy my real estate investment for cash? No, I absolutely advice against investing large sums of cash into a single real estate investment. There are two reasons why not. First, you give away most of your profits by not leveraging your real estate investment. Second, it is far too risky to put every egg into one basket.
Let me explain the leverage issue for a moment. I will give you an example of a $100,000 investment property that typically increases its value (appreciates) by 7% average a year. Maybe more, maybe less depending where you live. Paying all cash for this property will yield in a 7% appreciation profit plus the net profit from renting the place. Now you’re looking at roughly 15% of returns.
If you’re conservative with your investments you might be satisfied with this kind of a return. These days you might get equal or better returns with other conservative investments minus the hassle of being a landlord. But you don’t mind being a landlord, because you understand and utilize the leveraging method with financing your real estate investment.
With the example above you will make roughly $15,000 a year in profits from your investment. Now let’s take a closer look at what leveraging can do for you. Today a typical real estate investor can get financing as high as 95% - 97% of the purchase price. Occasionally 100% financing is available as well. But this would be totally unfair in this example to compare this with all cash purchasing.
15% return sounds like a lot, but wait till you see this. Let’s assume that the rental income will cover all your expenses including the mortgage payments. Taking the same example from before your net return would be the 7% appreciation profits of your property. This would translate into a $7,000 a year profit. With a 95% financing in place you would get $7,000 return on $5,000 (your 5% down payment) invested. This is a whopping 140%
return on investment.
With the same $100,000 you can go out there and get 20 investment properties, finance 95% of it and make an amazing $140,000 profit a year. This beats the projected $15,000 profits with an all cash transaction any day.
Of course you will have a lot of trouble to get financing for 20 properties in a single year. Typically 5-6 new rental property mortgages are the maximum lenders will allow these days. This is the signal to get creative with your financing structures.
In this case sellers financing would be your key to achieve your goal of maximum leverage of your investment dollars. Despite the message from all these late night infomercials, seller financing is harder to get than they want you to make believe it is.
It all depends on the seller’s ability to offer seller financing and the seller’s motivation. Only about 1 out of 20 properties for sale are able to get seller financing. That means that there’s no mortgage balance on the property. From this narrow selection the seller must be motivated to sell under these conditions. This could be tax reasons, time constraints, personal reasons and many more.
As you can see this translates into a lot of work to achieve your goals. But let me tell you one thing. This separates the tire kicker real estate investors from the real go-getters. Wouldn’t you agree that a little bit of hard work and determination is well worth it to build a real estate empire?
I think it is well worth the trouble and hard work. At the end of the day you keep building your real estate investment portfolio and sooner than later you will be able to cash in.

Read More..