May 2007
Monthly Archive
18 May 2007 06:18 am
Mortgage Fraud Spreading, Blamed For Housing Bust
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[tag]Mortgage fraud[/tag] rose 30 percent last year; it is spreading nationwide, and it’s getting the blame for the housing bust. Once concentrated in relatively few state, “incidents of mortgage fraud are now more evenly distributed across nearly all states,” according to the institute’s “Ninth Periodic Mortgage Fraud Case Report To the Mortgage Bankers Association.” The report says most fraud comes from so-called “[tag]liar loans[/tag]” where applicants (either on their own or because they are cajoled) are not truthful about their employment history and clamed income — a crime punishable by up to 30 years in jail or fines of up to $1 million or both, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations which, in recent years, has gone after mortgage fraud for what it is — organized crime. |
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17 May 2007 06:57 am
One Mortgage Offer That’s Easy to Refuse
| In many areas of the country, the real estate downturn grinds on longer than the housing economists had been predicting (go figure). According to a recent teleconference with numbers crunchers from the National Association of Home Builders and the Joint Center for Housing at Harvard, spending on remodeling is also dropping, but just 1.5 percent after adjustment for inflation. According to NAHB chief economist David Seiders, the slower growth of remodeling this year and next would be more evident in highly discretionary jobs like remodeling kitchens and baths and adding rooms. So now I know why the bank made the offer and suggested adding a room. |
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16 May 2007 06:45 am
Free Yourself, Others From Mortgage Morass
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The [tag]AARP[/tag] says taking the appropriate measured steps to [tag]save your home from foreclosure[/tag] includes avoiding scoundrels who would take advantage of your vulnerability and reporting the frauds to the authorities. Nowhere is the need for consumer activism more obvious now than in the mortgage arena. Because of over-selling loans to borrowers with a questionable ability to repay them, millions are losing homes and criminals who prey on them would like to add to that trend. |
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15 May 2007 06:53 am
Strategies, Not Plans, May Slash Mortgage Interest Costs
| [tag]Mortgages[/tag] are one example among many where plans — and the intentions they spawn — may prove expensive. The longer it takes to repay the amount originally borrowed — the principal — the greater the total interest charge. According to a survey released this year by the federal Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, “Three-quarters of all respondents to the [tag]2006 Mortgage Consumer Survey[/tag] indicated that their goal is to pay off their mortgage as quickly as possible.” This is a common plan, but paying off the mortgage in fifteen years or less is not commonplace. The financial complications of raising a family, establishing a career and living today’s have-it-all-now lifestyles derail many plans and add to the cost of borrowing. |
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14 May 2007 07:24 am
You too can learn the language of home mortgages
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If you’re a creditworthy customer known as a “prime” borrower, you should qualify for a [tag]mortgage interest rate[/tag] less than the prime rate, which is 8.25 percent. In the middle is not-so-prime-time lending — or the “Alternative-A” mortgage world. These loans are made to people who are considered less risky than a [tag]subprime borrower[/tag] but aren’t as creditworthy as someone in the prime category. Then there’s the subprime market. Such loans are typically made to borrowers who have spotty credit records. The interest on these loans are usually at the prime rate or higher. Generally you enter subprime territory when you have a credit score in the low 600s. But a low credit score isn’t the only factor. You might only qualify for such a loan if you have a low downpayment or you can’t accurately document your income.
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13 May 2007 06:27 am
Buy your next home for nothing down
| Today’s [tag]mortgage lenders[/tag] have become very savvy about the profitability of making low- and [tag]no-down-payment home loan[/tag]s, even to borrowers with poor credit. Last year, according to the National Association of Realtors, over 30 percent of home sales involved 100 percent financing in one form or another. In real estate “[tag]nothing down[/tag]” means zero cash from the buyer’s pocket. However, it doesn’t mean the seller won’t receive 100 percent cash for the home. Personally, I bought several [tag]zero-down-payment house[/tag]s where the sellers walked away with all cash. Nothing down really means the buyer is borrowing the entire purchase price. |
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12 May 2007 07:10 am
Do You Have 1st and 2nd mortgages, but need cash
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I am considering either [tag]refinancing[/tag] or taking out a [tag]home equity line of credit[/tag] ([tag]HELOC[/tag]). Currently, we have a first and a second mortgage on our home. The first is for $246,500 and the second is for $46,500. We took out two loans initially because we wanted to avoid [tag]private mortgage insurance[/tag], or [tag]PMI[/tag], which we would have had to pay since the down payment on the house was less than 20 percent. Can I open a HELOC while having a first and second mortgage? Or do I need to refinance the two loans into one and then take out extra cash within the refinancing or then open the HELOC? |
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11 May 2007 06:36 am
The 800: What Numbers Really Matter
| The [tag]“800″ section[/tag] on any lenders [tag]good faith estimate[/tag] is reserved for [tag]lender charges[/tag]. That’s where you compare one lender to the next. Some lenders have a lot of little fees and some don’t. Some have processing charges while other lenders do not. Ditto for tax service or administration or commitment or whatever. The final trick in evaluating a good faith estimate is to also pay attention to “missing” fees or the names given to a particular lender charge. If a charge is not there it doesn’t mean you’re getting a discount on anything or having a fee waived. If one lender charges an administrative fee that doesn’t mean every lender does. It’s simply a junk fee. |
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