Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to refinance. For example, say that you will be paying 2 points on $115,000 ($2,300) and total closing costs are around $5,000. You may be considering paying this to get some temporary relief in your monthly budget. So, paying points when you plan to be out of the house in a year raises the effective rate on your mortgage interest to over what you’re paying today.The points aren’t spread out over 30 years, they’re spread out over one year.

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search for : paying points, mortgage interest

Rooted in many myths is the tiniest grain of reality. Listed below are a few, read the entire list on MSN : * Myth No. 1: You can float a check longer if you write in red ink. The theory is that a bank’s equipment can’t scan red ink, so it takes longer to process the check. * Myth No. 2: You don’t have to pay income tax — it’s illegal. Only foreign income is subject to Uncle Sam’s cut, the story runs, and there’s a form you can file to exempt yourself. But no one will tell you about it.

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At issue is when a mortgage can be modified if it is part of a pool of securities that includes subprime adjustable rate mortgages made to borrowers with a poor credit history. Lawmakers and federal banking regulators are seeking ways to move subprime borrowers into mortgages with fixed long-term interest rates, but the accounting rule might prove to be an accounting or legal obstacle. The lawmakers said they want to know if a loan might be modified at a point when default is reasonably foreseeable or at a time when default or delinquency has already happened.

search for : subprime adjustable rate mortgage, subprime borrower, fixed long-term interest rate

This is a 1031 Exchange Income Property.

39.4 acres with 360 degree view of Blue Ridge Mountains.

5,200 sq. ft. main house built in 1990 on 1.24 acres.

Five cottages each built in 1996 on approx. 1/2 acre sites.

No restrictions and no zoning offer many other options:

* Family compound
* Corporate retreat
* Religous retreat
* Horse farm / Dude ranch
* Recording studio
* Cottages can be sold separately
* Land can be further subdivided if desired

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During the height of the real estate bubble, mortgage lenders were often shameless in how they pursued new business. Whether it was jacking up hidden closing costs to make loans appear cheaper than they were or using absurdly-low teaser rates on option- or interest-only ARMs to get customers in the door, lenders made owning a home seem easy. Many mortgage lenders all across the country are heading for financial trouble because they have made too many questionable loans. Some lenders may even go out of business. And what will become of the people who trusted those lenders if that happens?”

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search for : real estate bubble, mortgage lenders, hidden closing costs

As discussed in The Post, there is talk of coming up with a new way to provide mortgages to the credit-impaired borrowers the subprime market serves. The Federal Housing Administration is the only plausible substitute. But converting the FHA into a viable substitute for the subprime market would require a number of far-reaching changes. A core feature of the subprime market is risk-based pricing over a very wide range. On the price sheet of a typical subprime lender, the interest rate on the worst risk is seven to eight percentage points higher than the rate on the best risk. For the FHA to operate effectively in this market, it must do the same.

search for : subprime, Federal Housing Administration, subprime lender

Areas of the U.S. with greater house-price appreciation last year tended to have lower delinquency rates on subprime mortgages. Distressed borrowers in a strong housing market may have also been better positioned to pursue alternatives to delinquency. Those borrowers could have built up more home equity and been better able to sell back their home to pay back the remaining principal or to refinance existing mortgages to ones that would offer lower, more affordable payments.

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search for : house-price appreciation, delinquency rate

Baby boomers with discretionary dollars to spend have fueled an increase in the number of vacation home sales in recent years. In fact, the National Association of Realtors reported that a record 1.07 million vacation homes were sold in 2006, a 4.7% increase over 2005. While the majority of buyers, 79%, said that they bought the home to use for vacation or as a family retreat, 34% said a reason for buying was to diversify their investments, according to the Realtors’ survey. Twenty-eight percent said they planned on using the home as a primary residence in the future, and 25% said the tax benefits were a reason to buy. And 21% bought because they had extra money to spend; 18% of buyers planned on renting out their homes.

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search for : vacation home sales