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Informative Real Estate Articles and Information
Self-Employed Mortgage Solution - No Doc Loans
Author: Dan Lewis
Small businesses are the pillars of our modern economy. Ironically, the millions of self-employed individuals can have a bear of a time getting financing.
As a self-employed person, you are your own boss and it is great. You set your hours, take home the profits and so on. On the downside, you really don't fit within the parameters of many
financial institutions. This isn't your fault. They just have a hard time evaluating you.
If you are self-employed and apply for a traditional mortgage, there could be problems. Why? The issue is how to evaluate how much money you make. It can be surprisingly difficult. For years, lenders have tried to do this by asking for copies of your tax returns. Tax returns, however, can be misleading. With
fictional deductions like depreciation, they don't really paint an accurate picture of how much money you are taking home each month or year. As a result, many self-employed people have been
rejected for home loans despite pulling in sufficient cash each month.
One solution for the self-employed individual is to consider a No Doc Loan. This loan is also known as the no asset verification adjustable rate mortgage. Amongst mortgage professionals, it is also referred to as the loan of the liar. Why? Well, the name says it all.
A No Doc loan is one of the more unique mortgages on the market. Frankly, it is an oddity. You supply little or no documentation with your loan application. Typically, the only information supplied is your social security number, the address of the property and the amount you want to borrow. The lender then evaluates your credit, the value of the property and approves or rejects your application. As a self-employed person, it is a pretty attractive option since it avoids the income verification problem found with traditional loans.
Before you rush off to apply, you should know there are some downsides to this loan. First, you need pretty decent credit. Second, you may have to put down more than you would expect with a traditional loan. Third, you are probably going to have to pay a point or two on the loan. Fourth, the interest rate is going to be a point or more higher than with a traditional loan. If you can stomach all of this, then there is no problem.
If you are self-employed and tired of dealing with traditional mortgage lenders, you have an option out there. The No Doc loan is made just for you, if you can afford it.
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Buying Strategy in Slow Real Estate Markets
Author: Raynor James
The general rule in real estate is determine your price range and stick to it when buying. In a slow market, however, this rule can be bent if not outright broken.
It happens to all of us. We go house hunting and suddenly see the perfect place. It has everything we are looking for. It is in a great area. It is priced on the low end of the market in the neighborhood. If we have kids, it is in a great school district. There is only one problem. It is prices above our pre-determined price range. We know we shouldn't stress out our finances by overreaching, but it is perfect. So, do you have to walk away from the home? You generally do, but an exception may
occur in a slow market.
One of the key factors in the pricing structure found in the real estate market is demand. When there is a lot of demand, prices go up because buyers are competing against each other for properties. When demand drops, so do prices. The smaller pool of buyers means there is much less competition for properties. In such a situation, buyers can be picky and swing for the fences on home prices.
If you find the perfect home, but it is a bit out of your price range, you might still be able to get it. Since the current market is showing weak demand, a lot of motivated sellers are sitting on properties they cannot move. The longer they sit, the more frustrated and motivated they become. It starts to occur to
them that they are not going to get the price they want. Once this occurs, the price of the property in question can become very flexible.
If you are considering homes above your price range, don't be afraid to make offers on them. When evaluating which sellers might be ripe for a price readjustment, try to get a feel for how long the home has been on the market. If it has been listed for 30 days, you probably are not going to get a bite. If it has been listed for 120 days, it just might be your lucky day!
Go ahead and make that offer. The worst that can happen is the seller rejects it. If that occurs, do you really care? On the other hand, you are going to be mighty happy if the seller agrees to your general price range.
About the author:
Raynor James is with FSBOAmerica.org -
houses for sale by owner.
Should You Apply for a Short Term Mortgage?
Author: Dan Lewis
The traditional home loan market was all about the 30 year mortgage. These days, shorter term loans are available, but should you get one?
The mortgage market was traditionally as stoic a financial market as you could find. Things were handled in one or two ways and that was all there was to it. If you could not find a financing solution that fit the mortgage mode, to bad for you!
In these modern times, the mortgage industry has evolved dramatically. The various loan packages available are vast and there is practically something for anyone. Have horrible credit? There are lenders that cater just to you. Have no money to put down on a property? There are banks that would be more than happy to lend you a boatload of cash. With all the options available, people often fail to consider a key issue - the term of the loan.
The term simply refers to how long it will take to pay off the loan. The traditional 30 year fixed mortgage had a term of 360 months or 30 years. While this is still a common mortgage used by many, 30 years is a long time to be making payments. If you are looking for financing, you might be wise to consider a
shorter term loan of 15 or 10 years.
The first reason to consider a shorter term loan is the interest rate. The lender is taking less of a risk on you. You will be paying back the money quicker. As a result, you should be able to get a lower interest rate on the loan. Many people mistakenly think the rate will be higher, but it should definitely be lower than a 30 year version. How low? It depends on the lender, but a quarter to half a percent is common.
The second reason to go short is the savings. You will pay much less total interest on the loan. Why? You are paying more of the principal off each month. It may sound obvious, but the difference between a 30 and 15 year term is usually tens of thousands of dollars. If you can afford the increased monthly
payments, it can be a huge savings.
The obvious issue with a shorter term loan is the monthly payment. Yes, you are going to pay more. The amount, however, may surprise you. Remember, you are getting a break on the interest rate and it can amount to a lot. You will have to run the calculations on your specific loan, but a general guideline
is you will pay a couple hundred dollars more for every 100,000 borrowed. Don't rely on this, however. Do the calculation first to figure out the exact numbers for your situation.
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Preparing Your House For Sale
Author: John Pawlett
If you're selling your house, you have to do several things to ensure its ready for a smooth and easy sale. You can hire an estate agent, interior stager or complete sales teams to sell your house - or you can do it yourself. Houses are considered to be easiest to sell when they are clean, tidy, free of clutter,
and the walls are neutrally toned - some sites and experts suggest painting your walls white, others suggest that you should paint them with pale, neutral, matching colors. If this isn't possible, it is important to make sure your walls are clean - removing clutter and cleaning woodwork and painted
walls, can give your room a much needed lift.
If you're de-cluttering, you can also begin packing whilst doing so, but considering some houses sell up to three months before you're planning on moving OR up to a year after you've moved, its also important not to plan to sell straight away, unless your house is in a highly sought after area, and you've got a
good, competitive price. If not, you might be in for quite a wait on selling your house - and you also have to find a new place to move to yourself.
Estate agents, and Realtors do a great job of selling houses, but in an ever increasingly competitive market, you have to do very unique things to sell your house - it has been reported that some people are offering new cars, or paying the tax on your house for the first year of your stay in the new house. The housing market is always expanding, but you can't sell just anything - dilapidated houses can't simply be considered 'fixer uppers' and all houses for sale have to meet ever increasing stringent codes - or have new owners that will fix these to meet those codes.
Painting and Decorating
Painting, decorating and other ways to make sure your house is in a good condition to sell.
House selling has become a very competitive market, and though people are desperate in some areas to buy a house, its important you take care to ensure that the you've done all you can to make
your house as attractive, safe and saleable as possible.
It is said that the average house buyer has no vision which means you need to make their 'envisioning' themselves within the house as easy as possible. Dark paintwork is a definite turn off, as are stained, worn or smelly carpets, both of which need to be taken care of.
On the latter, you could offer an 'allowance' or remove a fraction of the house costs for carpets or, if you can, invest yourself and replace them, to allow a possibly higher sale price. Walls should be painted off white, or antique white or possibly very pale and pastel shades if you're planning on redecorating you may have no option if your walls are stained, marked or damaged.
Its also a good time to ensure that everything that you've been meaning to repair is taken care of is actually done a faulty stair tread, banister or fence in the garden may only be a minor annoyance to you, but can be a danger to anyone looking at the house.
Its hard to sell your house without help, but one of the biggest tips you can take to ensure your house sells is to make sure you've removed your 'imprint'. Looking at the house impartially, remove anything that screams 'my personality' and 'my personal space'.
Things like photos, pieces of unique artwork, and ornaments and more can be removed before people come to view the house. Remember they want to buy the house, not feel how you lived there, so if you haven't finished boxing up your non essentials by the time you start showing them the house, its time to consider whether you really need the clutter still unpacked or whether its time to put it in the bin.
About the author:
Sell My Own House is an informative resources site on everything House Selling related.