Serious About Buying a Home? Start Gathering the Following Documentation

December 23rd, 2011

If you have been considering buying a home and are serious then you should start gathering some important documents. Getting pre approved and know what you can buy is extremely important before you even start your search. Most lenders will require the same documentation from you to start your loan approval process. You will need your photo ID to start and most if not all of the following sets of documents.

The first set of documents you will be asked for are to verify your income.

  • Earnings statements such as W-2 forms, recent pay stubs and tax returns for the past two years.
  • If you are self-employed, P and L statements and tax returns for current year and previous two years.
  • Verifying any additional income: proof of overtime income, bonuses, social security, additional commissions, rental income, interest income, child support, veteran’s benefits, etc.

The next set of documentation that you will need is used to verify your assets.

  • Checking and savings account statements for the previous 2-3 months.
  • List of stocks, savings bonds, or investments and their approximate value.
  • Copies of any titles to any properties and or vehicles that are paid off.

The lender will be able to verify your debts by reviewing your credit report. However they may require additional documentation from you if there are any discrepancies. For example credit card statements to prove you have paid off a balance if your credit report is still showing a balance. Maybe your report is still showing an outstanding balance on a vehicle, as mentioned in the assets section you will need proof this is paid such as a copy of the title.

If you have no credit history maybe due to your age or being new to the United States you may be asked to bring additional items so that credit can be established on your behalf. Some of these items could include being canceled checks for rent, utility bills and other recurring items you may be paying each month to show good payment history and amount of revolving debt.

If you are going to be making a down payment on your home the lender will also require you to show the source of your down payment. Some loans allow for gift funds from relatives and if you are doing this then a gift letter from your relative will be required also a copy of the check you were given. The lender will also want your relative to state within the letter that the funds are a true gift, not a loan and will not be required to be repaid.

With all of the recent reformation in the mortgage industry most of the lenders now will have the same requirements. What is mentioned above will be pretty standard for most if not all lenders.

Buying a Foreclosure That Needs Work?

December 8th, 2011

Foreclosure ProfitsNot everyone has the time, energy or funds to undergo a complete overhaul of the house they buy as a foreclosure. Sometimes a drastic overhaul is simply out of the question. However it is essential to address certain issues that might be the very first thing a potential buyer will focus in on. Some quick fixes can create a positive and affordable first impression for your potential buyer.

Giving an unattractive home an exterior make-over can really add to it’s perceived value and appeal. Simply repainting some key areas of the exterior will go a long way.
Landscaping the front yard and back yard will also add to the appeal of the home. Of course maintaining the lawn and addressing the shrubs are vital. Adding a some attractive items maybe a garden ornament or two and some nice plants, flowers, strategically placed small trees can also go a long way to make the home more appealing.

On the interior sprucing up things like replacing any unattractive window coverings, old carpet and floor rugs can bring a whole new look and sparkle to the home. Also if the interior paint is in decent shape you might get away with not totally repainting the interior. Instead you can rejuvenate the walls just by painting a single wall in each room a certain color and use that color as a theme for that room.
Adding a few bits of décor here and there can also help and will bring a warm, inviting feel to a home. Make sure also to clean up any left over items from the previous owners. You want no clutter so that the home gives a fresh vibe so that they can envision themselves living there and can imagine where their personal items such as furniture will go. You want the home to feel light and airy.

With these affordable tips the home will take on a fresh new look, making it more appealing which will result in you getting the most profit from your buy and sell venture.

Do It Yourself: Tips to Make Small Spaces Seem Larger

October 24th, 2011

Are you selling a smaller home? Here are a few DIY ideas to help make the home you are selling feel cozy and actually a bit more spacious to your potential buyers.

1.) Paint the walls with lighter hues and textures. Though darker colours may seem appealing, they tend to make a room feel more closed in. You can choose from an entire variety of shades and textures. If you absolutely must have a darker colour, paint only one wall of the room in that colour, and leave the others a neutral shade. A white trim adds a feeling of depth.

2.) Using a variety of patterns around the room keeps the eyes moving, which gives the visual feel of spaciousness.

3.) Mirrors reflect light and help expand the idea of space in a room. Mirrors can be found at great bargain rates at flea markets, and a few of them strategically placed opens out a room wonderfully.

4.) Using multi-purpose furniture, like perhaps an ottoman with storage, which can also double up as a foot rest, or sofa-beds are great space saving ideas. Furniture is a lot more fun when it has more than one purpose! Check out the ping-pong door, book-seat or calypso sofa!!

5.) De- clutter, de-clutter, de-clutter! Slowly and slowly your house will start filling with objects, but you can’t have everything on display. The answer for this is storage, and make sure you throw away items that serve no purpose at all, items that are classified as junk.

6.) Buy small scale furniture, which is innovative and being produced in bulk by furniture giants nowadays. You don’t need a king size bed in your bedroom when a queen-size one will do! But buying too many tiny pieces will also make a space feel cluttered, so buy one large piece, like a sofa, or a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and arrange your other pieces around them.

7.) Don’t block windows. They add perspective to a room. Opt for flowy, sheer curtains which let light in.

8.) Low-legged furniture does not give you a feeling of being boxed in, helping to keep an open traffic pattern in a room. Also, don’t push all your furniture against a wall; island-furniture gives a free-flowing air to the room.

9.) Lighting can really open up a room. White light works better sometimes than the soft yellow lighting. Placing lamps carefully around the room can make them visual art as well.

10.) Last, but not least, give your home items a bit of structure by color coding them.

Hopefully these tips will go a long way making your home feel more spacious and more attractive to all your potential buyers despite being smaller living space.

Is a real estate agent essential when it comes to buying a home?

September 16th, 2011

A real estate broker also commonly referred to as a real estate agent is a person who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate and property. If they are assisting a client who wishes to sell, then they help marketing their property and selling it for the highest possible price under the best terms, and if they are assisting buyers of property, then they help them purchase property for the lowest possible price under the best terms. Even an owner looking to put his home for sale benefits greatly from the assistance of a broker.

The entire process of purchasing a house is a complex and lengthy one, but with an experienced broker by your side, it is relatively simple. A good broker will typically know how to go through the various phases of hiring home inspectors, negotiating which party should pay for what repairs, have good contacts with mortgage brokers, and keeping in touch with other various agents.

Also, a real estate agent is sometimes the only way to get the current up-to-date information about property that has sold, or is for sale, and they have the required knowledge about what may be considered appropriate behavior and practices in your geographical area. There are times when you need the most current information about what has sold or what properties are for sale, and the only way to get that is from an agent, as the data on available listings is not 100% accurate due to the fast changing market. What’s more, they also help out with tasks bordering on legal ones such as preparing home contracts. So we see that with the assistance of a broker, the entire home-buying or selling experience becomes more effective in many respects.

If you are buying a home from a seller who has representation then it is a MUST to have your own buyer representation. In most cases when a seller hires an agent to represent them they agree to pay a set commission to both their agent and the agent that will represent the buyer. In many cases this is 6% of the final sales price. If you do not employ your own agent then the seller’s agent receives the entire 6% and often will not have the buyer’s best interest in mind. It is often said that buying a home in this situation is like you going to court as the plaintiff and using the defendant’s attorney to represent you also. Who’s best interest would they have in mind?

For all these reasons, it is essential to find a quality agent who can act on your behalf when it comes to buying property and providing you with advice and guidance to help you buy or sell a home.

What if however you are buying a home for sale by owner where the seller has no representation and has not agreed to pay a buyer agent? This is a bit more complicated and the answer is not cut and dry. We will discuss this in future article.

Points to Remember : Foreclosure Properties

August 26th, 2011
Are you facing foreclosure? If yes than its important to know what you should do and how you should do it so as to find a way around and be able to avoid foreclosure. The tips given here will help you save a lot of money and even you home. Don’t let your home go to foreclosure but follow these tips here and save yourself from the trouble.
If you cannot afford your mortgage payments because you’ve recently lost your job or don’t have a regular income than you will probably face foreclosure. Though it’s a big reason to worry as the effects of foreclosure can be disastrous and emotionally challenging, fortunately there is a way out of this.
The first thing that you need to do is immediately after receiving a letter from your lender about foreclosure is to call your lender’s loss mitigation department. Tell them about your concern and explain to them the situation that you are in. Remember they’ll also need your financial information including the details about your income and the expenses. That is the only way in which they can offer to help you. The next important thing is to continue staying in your home. Never abandon your property because then you may not quality for their assistance. Another possible way is to contact a Hud-Approved Housing Counseling Agency as they are well aware of the Government programs that could be of tremendous help to you. Also their services are free of charge. Now, you can even file bankruptcy to stop foreclosure.
Points to be noted:
  • Never sign a legal document without fully understanding what it entails.
  • Make sure to get everything in writing.
  • Always consult a good lawyer while dealing with your home issues.
  • Home for Sale: Homeowners can also sell their house to avoid the foreclosure. But before you do that just make sure you are signing up for the best possible deal.
  • Never leave your home.
  • Losing a home can damage your credit history so do all you can to avoid foreclosure.
  • Do not ignore the letter from your lender. Act immediately.

How to buy a foreclosed property?

August 9th, 2011

Are you planning to buy a perfect home? Well…not everyone can afford to invest huge sums of money and if you are looking at a foreclosed or a bank owned property than that’s not even necessary. Such properties can easily fulfill your requirements of a dream home without you needing to worry about your budget. But before you put in any money buyers need to be well informed about the current market price. Furthermore it’s important that you thoroughly investigate the property that you intend to buy. If you end up buying a house that calls for a lot of repair and renovations than all the money that you managed to save is lost. Don’t forget that cheap deals can ensure huge profits but a careless deal no matter how expensive can actually bring in more losses. So what important is to be careful and wise before investing any amount of money while purchasing foreclosed properties.

Now, there are two things that buyers always need to consider:

  • Foreclosed properties are to be found everywhere, in and around the city. For this very reason it’s impossible to check every single one of them. But there are ways to look into these properties. Internet is the best place as it offers a number of sites with foreclosure listings. This helps save your time as well as money. After going through these properties you can compare properties as well as contact the owners from home. If your interest in the property still remains you can than go out there and have a look at it yourself. These sites also offer photographs to help viewers get a general idea as to what kind of property they are looking at.
  • The next best way is to find a trusted real estate agent who can help save your time and energy while purchasing a foreclosed property. All you need is to look for such an agent who can give you the kind of service that you need. Once again internet comes in handy. There are many company sites where they offer well informed and professional agents. These agents can successfully negotiate with the sellers to get you the best deals.

Foreclosure and its effects

July 22nd, 2011

While foreclosure means crisis situation for the homeowner it also means wonderful opportunity for the buyers. Foreclosures occur when someone who has taken a mortgage loan to buy a house is unable to pay back the loan in time. To retrieve their capital money lenders than foreclose the mortgage loan and file a foreclosure case against the defaulter. It is important that the defaulter respond quickly to the letter because the home is sold immediately after the due notice. Foreclosure home are also auctioned and once this happens borrowers cannot do anything to get back their home except wait until the new owner asks them to vacate the place.

Now, there are huge numbers of foreclosure home and to a buyer choosing one from the many can be daunting. Buyers can choose a home depending on many factors such as size, style and location, after all buying a home is real investment no matter what the situation. As one can buy a foreclosure home at an extremely low price it is also a profitable investment if one can choose to buy a home that doesn’t require much repair or renovation. Sometimes there are brand new foreclosure home on sale, if this be the case than buying this home would be most lucrative. Also a buyer can give the house on rent and keep getting returns for his investment.

Since the focus is to sell the house quickly so that lenders or the bank gets their money back on time buyers profit the most from the kind of deal they offer. The only time consuming factor is searching for that particular house which would be the most profitable investment for the buyer.

Foreclosures can have adverse effects especially on those who cannot afford another place to stay.  There are no words to describe a homeless situation so this is actually a time of great crisis for those who experience this situation. Every member of a family has to suffer and bear with all the humiliation as a result of foreclosure. It is especially sad for children who are too small to understand and make out what’s happening and why.

Understanding the key feature to avoid Foreclosures

July 5th, 2011

Foreclosure is a common phenomenon in the United States. According to a report represented by the New York Times, the foreclosure rate in America have been experiencing an all time high recently which might lead to issues related to economical recessions. During 2007 in America, mortgage non-payments hit a record high in the third-quarter signs which catapulted the situation of economic meltdown.

On the contrary, the report represented by Mortgage Bankers shows 0.78 mortgage cases falling into the category of foreclosures in three months during 2007. However, the figure rose up to 0.65 percent in the second quarter during the same year which is considered to be more than double the 0.32 percent rate a year earlier. This appalling statistics of foreclosures represent that how prevalent foreclosure in today’s life is. Government and other authorities of the country have made possible efforts to successfully overcome the issues related to foreclosures. However, there are several uncontrolled factors associated to this phenomenon that make it quite impossible to work upon. Hence, there are several institutions across the countries which offer free guidance to homes for sale. First of all understand what actually the foreclosure is and options it has in it? If you considerably fail to pay your mortgaged payments then you incur foreclosures which allow a lender to use legal means to take over your home. Add to this, if your mortgage loan is less than your property then you are likely to be pursued by deficiency judgment. Leading to this will only add to your most terrible nightmares. You lose your home and now you owe an amount to HUD too. By incurring foreclosures and deficiency judgments, you simply make your future credit chances a little pathetic. So to avoid them, first of all make sure that you are not ignoring the letters from the lender. If you are facing any kind of problems making mortgage payments then discuss it right away over phone or by writing a letter to lender’s Loss Mitigation Department. There is possibility that there are other options with your lender to help you out. Simply avoiding the letters will only add to the woes. Don’t stay out during this period because you may not be qualified for the requisite assistance that can be given to you if you abandon the property. If you need any kind of help or assistance with housing policies then you must contact HUD at 1-800-569-4287 or TDD 1-800-877-8339. They have loads of information on services and programs offered by Government agencies. They often have information about private agencies which can help you during the foreclosure crisis. More importantly, these services are generally free of charge. Besides, you get other alternatives too but that entirely depends how you proceed with steps that can help you avoid the foreclosures. The lender, in this situation, can offer you special forbearance plan. It actually means arranging repayment plan that is based on your current financial situation. In many cases, lender can offer special discounts and deductions on payments too. However, you are qualified only if your salary has suddenly dipped and your expenses has increased. You have another option for Mortgage modification. The mortgage modification plan helps you reduce the monthly payments to your affordable level. You can also qualify for partial payments from FHA insurance.

Understanding the concepts of Short Sales

June 15th, 2011

Before we go ahead with integral details on short sales, it is better to learn what actually this ‘short sale’ thing is? To be precise here, short sale in real estate is referred to a sale which falls short of the balance owed on the property’s loan. Suppose, an individual fails to pay mortgage loan on a particular and the lender decides to rather sale the property at loss then pressing this individual who has drastically failed to pay. This kind of sale is generally termed as short sale. The important thing here is that both parties have to agree on this sale process alike so as to avoid foreclosures. Any discrepancy may lead to foreclosures which mean high fees for the bank and poor credit records for the borrowers.

The bank agrees to show leniency by providing discounts on loan-balance due to economical problems faced by the borrower. Then, the home owner decides to sell the prospective mortgaged property at loss by selling it for less than the outstanding balance of the loan which in future turns over the proceeds of the sale to the lender. Practically, nobody’s bothered to do favors on each other; this is just a simplest most possible economical solution to the very problem. By doing so, the bank will comparatively incur less financial loss than by continuous non-payments of the borrower. In fact, the process of short sale is faster and economical than a foreclosure. It does not extinguish and, more importantly, it does not render expensive settlement like foreclosures. Therefore, it is considered to be a most frequent and important aspect of real estate and for sale by owner.

The time frame of short sale depends on various factors such as files, banking policies, and states jurisdictions. Apparently, lenders have their procedures for short sales and the amount of the required documentation. Not to mention, the response time will depend upon the number of files handled by the lender. The financial situation of the concerned person is reviewed by the lender to determine if it is going to be a traditional of HAFA short sale. There are other options if the borrower has available balance or funds to cure delinquency.

Tips about Renting after Foreclosure

May 27th, 2011

Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of goods and services to a property owner. A large percentage of people who rent houses nowadays are actually former home-owners, who have given up on the belief that owning a home is a bad idea as compared to renting one. For homeowners who are unable to secure a good price for their homes, renting could be the way to waiting out a lagging housing market. But, taking up the role of a landlord involves far more than just handing over a set of keys to your tenant and waiting for the monthly rent to come in.

Renting is a difficult task, especially if your previous home was foreclosed. A lot of landlords might worry that you will get behind on the rent and refuse to let out their houses to you. Here are a few tips you should keep in mind, so it is easier for you to rent a house after a previous foreclosure:

Try looking for a home which doesn’t have too many credit checks. Large apartment complexes or those which have a lot of office space are more likely to run background checks, and find out about a previous foreclosure. Look for single apartments, townhouses, duplexes or condos, which are usually listed about in local newspapers’ and renting sites like craigslist, etc. If an apartment in a large office-type space is what you absolutely MUST have, then try to find a co-signer, who can act as a sort of guarantor, should the crisis of damaged property or unpaid rent arise.Paying a higher deposit always helps. It is a universal, (although unfortunate) fact that money talks, and a tenant who pays a higher deposit is one that is usually accepted without much negotiation and questioning.

All these tips and more should help you find a place to rent even after a foreclosure, but remember to be upfront about it with your new landlord, because lying may even lead to eviction! Remember to also let your future landlord know that you have managed to turn the fate of your finances around since, in case it was you being behind on your rent payments which lead to foreclosures. In case it was a one-off incident, it may still be easier to rent, although anything which makes the landlord feel that he may not get his payments on time makes him feel like he is taking an extremely risky step.

Hopefully these steps will help you land a dream home even after a previous foreclosure on rent. Always remember to be up front about your renting history, whatever it may be, and your new rented home could be just around the corner!