Recently in General Real Estate Category
Newly Written Articles
Segmented Real Estate Markets And Taking Advantage of Them The current response to certain kinds of property is very different from that to other types. This discusses how to take advantage of it.
The Sperm Donor Theory of Buyer's Agents. The real estate business is built around the listing agent, and most buyer's agents are pretty much afterthoughts and don't do much for their clients. However, the work a buyer's agent does is much more important to your future happiness than the work of a listing agent.
Updated Articles
Wanting a More Expensive Property Than You Can Really Afford
Some Secrets to Good Transactions
Avoiding Foreclosure in Bankruptcy
How Soon After You Purchase A Home Can You Refinance?
When You Should Not Buy Real Estate
Economics of Housing in High Density Areas
Retroactive Loan Qualification Problems After Recording
Seller's Failure to Disclose a Pending Assessment
Mortgage Foreclosure and Taking of Other Assets
Reserves for Real Estate Loans
Last makeup week. Let's hope I don't let this get behind again!
Newly Written Articles
You Want an Agency That Can Pay ENOUGH Attention to YOU: Just because they sell a lot of properties doesn't mean they do a good job of it. More and more, that is the complete opposite of the way things really are.
Restricted Sale Property: Very Difficult to Find A Loan If your property has restrictions upon who you can sell it to (as low income housing, college housing endowments and other properties often have) then lenders will usually not be willing to loan against the property.
Buying Real Estate Isn't Simple. You've got hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. People are going to try to cheat. Complex issues requiring professional knowledge really do pop up. If it were easy, anyone could do it without problems. Clearly, with the number of people having problems right now, that is not the case.
Student Loans and Real Estate Loans: Default, Repayment vs. Nonpayment and Consolidation Effects student loans have on your ability to afford real estate loans - even when you're not in repayment status.
Debunking the "Record Wave of Foreclosures Coming" Myth This is just manipulating data to make things look worse than they are.
The Measurement Unit For Desirability Is Dollars A good buyer's agent can make a difference, but if you want a property with something extra, you can expect to pay more for it than you would for a property without that extra.
I'm Competing Against Multiple Offers. How Do I Proceed?
Consumer Focused Carnival of Real Estate the once a month roundup of worthy articles submitted for consideration
Updated Articles
Why the Real Estate Buyers Agent's Commission is Paid by the Seller
What Can You Recover From the Title Company When They Miss an Easement?
Efforts to Rehabilitate the Negative Amortization Loan
Can Someone Be Added to an Existing Mortgage?
Buying Investment Property - An Example of the Issues
Practical Examples - Refinance or Prepayment Penalty?
Power of Attorney for Real Estate Transactions
The Seller Always Knows More About the Property Than the Buyer
Full Circle: Back to More Traditional Lending Standards
The "We'll Keep You In Your Property" Scam
Investors Aren't The Only Ones Who Can Fix Ugly Properties
What if Your Partner Refuses to Pay Their Share of a Loan or Mortgage (or Won't Pay on Time)?
Cash Back From The Seller to the Buyer in Real Estate Sales The only reason people want to do this is to commit FRAUD
I've been letting this slide for several weeks due to one thing or another, during which time I've done a few important new articles and republished quite a few important older ones. Therefore, I'm going to limit the review to three weeks and do so more catch up next time.
Newly Written Articles
Shopping For The Best Loan In The New Lending Environment discusses the differences that the new appraisal standards and lender's preferential treatment of their own captive loan officers have made in shopping for a loan.
State of the La Mesa and East County Real Estate Market April 2009
105% Refinancing With No PMI (Maybe) discusses the new loan programs from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac intended to keep them from losing money they don't have to.
Consumer Focused Carnival of Real Estate once per month I link to the good stuff submitted from other sites.
Updated Articles
Variable or Range Pricing of Real Estate discusses what variable pricing does, and what it does not do.
There's Nothing Sacred About Asking Price in Real Estate - Variable Range or Regular talks about the fact that just because you put a certain asking price on a property doesn't mean people will offer that.
Down Payment At Purchase or Wait Until Later To Pay The Mortgage Down?
Good Intentions and Over-Extended Homeowners discusses how well-intentioned efforts to help people can end up hurting far more people far worse than if we had simply let events run their course.
Loans with Stealth "Cash Out": Loan originators using your money to make it appear that the costs are lower than they are.
Refinancing Out of A Negative Amortization Loan (Or Any Other) Before The Penalty Expires talks about the math of whether such a thing is in your best interest or not.
100% Financing or Low Down Payment or Low Equity: PMI May Be The Only Option Splitting your loan amount into two pieces is generally more desirable than a single loan when you have less than 20% equity. Unfortunately, it's very hard to get second mortgages in such circumstances currently.
Listing Agents Claiming There Are Multiple Offers and other background noise.
What Do Buyer's Agents Do? a basic primer on reasons why you want a buyer's agent - preferably before you start looking.
When Your Offer is Rejected What now?
Should Lenders Be Permitted to Sell Real Estate? A philosophical piece. It's not the tollbooth I'm selling; it's the expertise.
Realtor and Loan Officer Responsibility: Can the Client Afford The Property? If they can't, don't sell it to them. Find something else they can afford.
Will Agents List My Property if I Owe More Than It's Worth? The answer is "yes"
Recording Errors and Title Insurance
Inducements to Use A Builder's Lender for a Purchase Sometimes it actually makes sense, if they offer something others won't.
Saving Money by Refinancing Your Mortgage Make certain you are actually saving money
Low Equity (or Worse!) Relocations in a Buyer's Market How to bring this off and leave yourself in the best situation possible.
I've been letting my weekly article review slide for several weeks due to one thing or another, during which time I've done a few important new articles and republished quite a few very important older ones. Therefore, I'm going to limit the review to three weeks and do so more catch up next time.
Newly Written Articles
Consumer Focused Carnival of Real Estate Once a month, I collect, talk about and link to consumer real estate articles.
Rental Fraud, Landlord Fraud, and Prospective Tenant Scams I don't have much to do with rental real estate, but this is a common fraud going around right now.
How Agents Should Respond To An Appraisal Below Purchase Price This is very important now with HVCC in effect.
Who Has A Legitimate Interest In A Real Estate Transaction? is a philosophy of real estate article, drawing a distinction between who has an interest worth the protection of others, and who's just working for a paycheck and therefore can walk away if they don't think they're getting a benefit.
Updated Articles
The Tradeoff between Rate and Cost in Real Estate Loans This is probably the aspect of mortgages least understood by consumers. You must understand this in order to understand mortgages.
Loan Providers Offering to Pay For The Appraisal is a reprint of an older article, and with HVCC in effect, not as important as previously. Note that there is a difference between offering to pay, and being required to pay.
Why Renting Really Is For Suckers (And What To Do About It) is an important article - understanding the difference a couple of years more renting is likely to make to your financial future.
The Good Faith Deposit for Real Estate talks about the earnest money a buyer puts into escrow.
Developers and Incentive Money to Use Their Lender talks about ways to manipulate this system for your advantage
Competing Offers From The Same Agent For The Same Property
Disasters and the Mortgage talks about some of the hard truths of loan contracts.
What if Your Partner Refuses to Pay Their Share of a Loan or Mortgage (or Won't Pay on Time)? Once you are in this situation, you may be forced to choose between bad alternatives. The time to protect yourself is before it happens.
Option ARM and Pick a Pay - Negative Amortization Loans These have been regulated out of existence, and for good reason. But they might come back, so you need to be aware of the problems with them.
Discovering You've Got A Bad Loan - Don't Panic! Making the best of a sub-prime situation
Listing Agents and Pre-Approvals or Pre-Qualifications Pre-Qualification and Pre-Approval are bad jokes foisted on the public by listing agents who don't understand loans but are trying to play CYA in case the transaction falls apart.
Negative Amortization Loans - More Unfortunate Details More problems with this horrible loan.
Negative Amortization Loan Issues on Investment Property There really were potentially useful niches for this loan. But it was horribly abused.
Option ARMs and Cash Flow debunking one of the standard agent and loan officer rationalizations for putting people into this awful loan.
Should Negative Amortization Loans Be Banned? I didn't think so. I thought the way to fight misapplication of these loans was to insist on full and complete disclosure - something that other loans can benefit from as well.
Loan Qualification Standards - Debt to Income Ratio The more important of the two key measures for loan qualification, for the consumer as well as the lender. This measures "Can you afford to pay it back?" and most of the reason for the meltdown was in playing games intended to frustrate this key measure of loan qualification.
Loan Qualification Standards - Loan to Value Ratio talks about the less important of the two key loan qualification metrics.
The new consumer article for today is Rental Fraud, Landlord Fraud, and Prospective Tenant Scams. As with everything else out there concerning larger amounts of money, there are rental frauds that renters need to be concerned about, more and more as things like online ads take over from more traditional alternatives of newspapers and rental agencies. To be fair, most of the online venues do as much as they reasonably can about fraud, but they can't do enough to prevent it; they can only ban the fraudster after the fact (and the fraudster can then get a new account). You need to be careful out there.
Newly Written Articles
Buyers: Stretching Your Budget Means Compromise talks about how to make your dollars go further, and the thin line between "challenging" and "not going to happen"
What Are The Note And Trust Deed And What Is The Difference? This is a basic article on these two loan documents of very different function.
The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (New Appraisal Standards) discusses the effects that the new appraisal standards will have on the loan market after May 1. I have been informed that NAMB, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, has filed suit to prevent it from becoming effective. On behalf of consumers and loan officers nationwide, here's hoping they are successful.
Updated Articles
One Spouse Qualifying For A Loan on Their Own
My Loan was Denied - What Fees Can I Recover?
Finally, I have just re-done The Tradeoff between Rate and Cost in Real Estate Loans. This is such a critical article that it really belongs in a category out by itself. You cannot understand real estate loans until you understand the subject matter of this article. Read it. Understand it. Remember it. Every interaction you have with a loan provider should center about this trade-off.
Newly Written Articles
The Difference Between a Reliable and Unreliable Prequalification or Preapproval Letter
Online Real Estate Photographs
Loan Fall-Out And The Effects Upon Consumers
Top Twelve Things That Help You Buy a Bargain Property
Updated Articles
Whatever the New Trick in Loans is, It's an Attempt to Keep From Really Competing On Price
You Must Be Willing To Act In Order to Get Any Benefit
What Are Your Options If You Can't Make Your Payment?
"We'll Beat Any Quote" in Mortgage Loans
Investment Property and Sophisticated Users
Preapproval and Driving off Qualified Potential Buyers
Financing Tricks and Calculating What You Can Really Afford
Why You Want A Buyers Agent To Deal With Developers
Sorry I didn't have time to do more entirely new articles. I'll try and improve the number this week.
Newly Written Articles
State of the San Diego Real Estate Market March 2009
Updated Articles
Investment Risk and Paying off the Mortgage Early
Special Restricted Loan Programs Means Potential For Special Problems
Loan Cosigners in Real Estate - A Lot of Risk For Not Much Gain
Newly Written Articles
Finding a Good Buyer's Agent (And Eliminating Bad Ones).
Games with Mortgage Loan Rate Locks (Games Lenders Play Part 10) Talks about issues relating to the rate lock.
Barack Obama's "Help For Homeowners" Proposal Like President Bush's proposal before him, not much help for a high price.
Lipstick on a Pig: Selling the Property You Should Never Have Bought
Confusing Past Performance and the Present Situation with Future Planning talks about the housing market and why you shouldn't try to time it.
Title Deeds And The Form They Should Take talks about what the title deed needs to say.
Why It May Be Costly to Reject Paying Points goes over the facts and the math of getting loans done. Would you pay 1% of loan amount to cut your interest rate by 2% per year? If you're smart, you will
Consumer Focused Carnival of Real Estate is a collection of the best articles submitted that help consumers.
Updated Articles
Real Estate is More Local Than Most People Think Make sure your agent makes a habit of working your area
Considering Condos, Townhomes, and PUDs The basics of common interest developments.
Loan Documents - Contracts of Adhesion. They're offering you a "take it or leave it" but you do have some protections.
Just Because Compensation for a Loan Isn't Disclosed Doesn't Mean It's Free, and just because you don't know what it is doesn't mean it's cheap. Evaluate loans by the bottom line to you.
Improving your Credit Score and Tradelines The credit score folks have taken steps against gaming the system.
Truth In Lending and APR is an update of one of the more important articles I've written. Don't evaluate loans by APR.
How Easy Scams Are talks about how easy it is for someone to get taken off their guard and scammed for tens of thousands of dollars.
Once per month, I link the best articles that are submitted containing information for the consumer. February's Consumer Focused Carnival of Real Estate is now live. My favorite article has to do with spot approval of property for FHA loans.
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Rediscovery 4 novel set
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The Book on Mortgages Everyone Should Have!
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What Consumers Need To Know About Buying Real Estate
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