Category Archives: buying

buying, Communication, education, Short sale, Team work, tips

Mortgage fraud affects all of us

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piggy bankJust opening the email this morning and again I read about another Real Estate “ring” that was broken up. This time this ring was apparently helping individuals who would not qualify for mortgage relief by showing them on how to falsify their income, employment, and assets to qualify for mortgage relief.

The heat is being turned on any type of mortgage fraught by calling the lender to task. Lenders themselves now have created and fine tuning on proactively detecting, spotting and preventing fraught.

Bad news for the fraudsters!

Also not to hot news for any borrower who is looking to borrow money at this time. Now every loan, proof of income and employment is being scrutinized, checked, double checked and triple checked. The mortgage approval process has moved from taking in some cases from 4 to 8 weeks and in some cases to 12 weeks especially when the loan is an insured loan.

In short!

When you are looking to buy a home anytime soon make sure you first get a mortgage approval not a pre-qualification before looking at homes. This will make the home buying process a lot less stressful and you will make the process a lot more enjoy full.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Define your target market to reach your goal.

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We all have goals, personal or in business and for us to be able to reach our goals we need to define and narrow down our target market.

At many networking events I am finding that many individuals are falling in to the trap of using the words like “anybody who”, “anybody with”, or “somebody who”…to define their target market. All what they do is give a generality of their target and never give a specific target for the listener to work with.

A specific target market could be a specific person within a company you would like to meet and introduced too or a specific portion of our society like women over 40, new college graduates, recently retired military personal. This will help your listeners to hone in on what you are exactly looking for and it is much easier for them to find just that person.

You also need to educate your audiences on what you exactly you are doing and what to look for when reaching your target market. Give them specific speaking points to help them sell you and your services specifically.

When you are more specific, narrow down your target market and educate your audience you will reach your business or personal goal a lot quicker.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Demand of rental units are still at an all-time high

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apartmentI had a blog coming over my desk that reminded me about a phone call I had this week alone with several housing authority agents who are working with section 8 and low income housing clients.

Most of the housing agents are scrambling to find enough affordable housing for families who need them and anytime there is an available unit they have more than enough applicants to fill them within less than a few days. During the conversation I mentioned that investors I was working with are looking to make homes available to the low income sector and asking them what and where their greatest need is. Most of them did not even let me not even finish my question. Each and every one of them told me they can fill housing with 1 bedroom as easily as homes with 4 or more bedrooms within a few days.

The other wall the housing authority runs into is the availability of fund for the families who need them. Many areas now have a lottery for the money the families need and the families need to count on the luck of the draw to receive money to help them. Now with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHA) pledging to decrease the flow of money into multifamily housing by 10 percent this year, it will put a huge damper on the multifamily housing market in a very short period of time.

buying, Communication, education, Inspiration, planning, tips

Top 10 Foreclosure States in May 2013

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Real Estate is selling much better than in recent years and the interest is starting to go up but still on the low end.

Still there are states that have homeowners who are going through foreclosure. Let’s keep the kidding aside; there always will be homes and homeowners who might look down the foreclosure barrel.

The current top 10 states where there are still an abundance of foreclosures are:

  • Florida
  • Nevada
  • Ohio
  • Maryland
  • South Carolina
  • Illinois
  • Georgia
  • Delaware
  • Arizona
  • Wisconsin

The first thing I notice is the California is missing on the top ten lists and that is great news.

This does not mean that there a no great deals to be found in any of the other states. I just had within my neighborhood several homes come up through the Bank listing avenue that were great deals for owner occupant and investors alike and my state is not in the top 10 list.

You just need to get with your Real Estate Professional and run your personal numbers to find out if the deal you  are looking at is the deal for you.

buying, commitment, education, planning, Team work, tips

Which is better? Mortgage Pre-Approval or Pre-Qualification letter?

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This is a question I am constantly asked by buyer and sellers alike and when it comes the time to make an offer on a home I always suggested to my buyers to have a pre-approval letter ready and not a pre-qualification letter before we even start looking at a home.

 

There are some key differences between a pre-approval and a pre-qualification.

Pre-qualification is most of the time done over the phone or online by answering simple questions about the income and credit rating of the potential borrower. Many times the lender will not ask for any qualifying documentations of income and spending.

The pre-qualification is a determination on whether the prospective loan applicant would likely qualify for credit under a lender’s programs and standards, or a determination on the amount of credit the prospective applicant would likely qualify for.

Usually a lender will give a determination of pre-qualification usually with in less than 48 hours

On the other hand the pre-approval can take a little longer and it is more complete.

Lender will ask at the time of application for the last 2 years income tax returns, bank statements, W2’s, etc. You also will be asked about employment and you will have to agree to have a credit report ran. Pending on your personal income, willingness and ability to have a down payment and past credit history it could take up to 4 weeks for you to receive an answer. When approved the lender is willing to give borrower a mortgage commitment letter because the loan has already been submitted to underwriting and they are only waiting for you to find your dream home.

Difference between Pre-Approval and Pre-Qualification:

Pre-approval

Conditional approval given within 48 hours (average)

Borrower needs to issue following items after an offer on a home is accepted:

•             W2’s
•             2 Years Tax return
•             Bank Statement
•             Employment verification
•             Pay stubs
•             Additional documentation if needed maybe due to name change, self-employment etc.

Home possible needs to pass following inspections:

•             Home inspection
•             Acceptable title insurance binder
•             Certification of clear termite inspections
•             Other inspection based on area

Pre-qualification

Conditional approval given within 4 weeks (average)

Borrower needs to issue following items after an offer on a home is accepted:

•             No change in the applicant’s financial condition or creditworthiness prior to closing.

Home possible needs to pass following inspections:

•             Home inspection
•             Acceptable title insurance binder
•             Certification of clear termite inspections
•             Other inspection based on area or lender

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, planning

Are you ready to hit your personal reset button?

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Within the recent years many of us have taken the road many traveled. Some would call it we failed and others would say we just took a detour to the goals we would like to reach.

Denis Waitley said it best:

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”  Denis Waitley (American motivational Speaker and Author of self-help books. b.1933)

I took my personal detour and had decided to hit my personal reset button and take my personal detour. During my scenic travels I have learned a lot what I now can utilize in my daily Real Estate business.

The Real Estate market is starting to return to a new “normal” and is ready for the buyers who have hit their personal reset button a while back and now are ready to buy for their personal investments. This market is best for the investor who is a cash buyer at this time. Who has either has personal experience in rehabbing properties or has the cash flow to hire a contractor to help with the rehab.

Sure, currently the interest rate for a mortgage is low right, but why are you wanting your investment to pay someone else but you? I mentioned this in my blog called “Are your investments paying you or do your pay for them?”

There will be always good deals in real estate even later, when you are not at the point to pay cash for any investment you would like to buy today.

Here are some Ideas on how to get you to the point to pay cash for a real estate investment:

  1. Pay off your credit cards, house and toys.
  2. Save for your emergency fund and when you have kids start their college fund if needed
  3. Start saving for your investments plus keep the repairs and upkeep and other expenses like taxes insurance in mind when creating the fund.

Will you have your bills paid and your funds in place over night? No!!! This will take time and a bit of personal sacrifices.

buying, Team work, tips

I only work Real Estate Monday through Friday 9 to 4

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I am looking for a Real Estate professional to work with in certain areas because I am looking to buy more investment properties.

 

Before I make my calls to meet with them in person I do a little due diligence on each of them I am planning on contacting and low and behold I ran across several personal websites ( not the company) where the agent posted their personal work hours on their website.

 

Monday – Friday 9 AM to 4 PM (no nights)

Saturday and Sunday: Closed.

 

Nice….

 

I know for certain that this agent and their office will not be on my list to represent me in the purchase of my investment properties.

 

Not sure if this agent understands the most of the buyers and sellers are only available during the week in the evening or on weekends….that is when I drive by and look at potential investment properties I would like to buy.

buying, education, planning, tips

Are your investments paying you or do you pay for them?

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I have many investment properties coming over my desk where the investor has gotten themselves into trouble. Many times when I speak with the investor I find out that they blame their property troubles on tenants who don’t pay the rent or the constant upkeep of the buildings.

When looking at their financing situation I can see that 100% of their investments have been bought, while times where good, and secured with some type of 100% financing.  Nothing out of pocket….

They truly don’t own their investment 100%, they still own the right to make the payment to an investor who gave them the money to invest into their investment!

So who is the true investor?

The one who signed the paperwork to buy the investment or the one who gave the money that is secured by a property and who might not lose much when foreclosing on the other guy’s investment?

buying, education, planning, tips

Are you ready for the next waive?

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The real estate market has so slightly is showing signs of a turn around and it might be a good time to think again of investing in real estate. Actually there is no bad time when it comes to investing in real estate. It just might in a different area or different product.

With any type of investing you yourself need to be ready for the opportunity and you need to be able to jump on the opportunity when it knocks and presents it self’s.

Many investors are not ready for the opportunity and counting on loans and other forms of secondary financing to be able to close and finalize the deal.

Nothing wrong with this type of financing, just keep in mind that you should get paid. Now, will it be you 100% of the time or do you need to share a percentage of your potential personal income with another party?