Several people on the political left in the wake of Jacksonville (or any other shooting): Can't we please agree something needs to be done about firearms? Neither I nor any other gun rights activist I'm aware of has a problem...
If you read the papers and the congressional record on the housing crisis, you might think yield spread is the central culprit for the entire meltdown. You would be wrong. Yield spread is a beneficial tool, offered voluntarily by lenders,...
Many people are unaware how profoundly lending policies influence the market for residential property and the various kinds of housing and methods of construction. So I am going to go over the various gradations in available loans for various types...
This article started with another one of those desperate consumer fishing calls a while ago. Loan standards have tightened since then (In my considered opinion, over-tightened and the lenders and Wall Street will figure it out within a couple years)....
One of a long series of emails about this horrid product: (identifying details redacted) Learn How To Make More Money Per Client ($500-$1000) In This Workshop You Will Learn Why The Most Successful Mortgage & Real Estate Professionals Across The...
The answer is "Yes." You don't have to lose your home in bankruptcy. I've done loans for many clients who kept their homes through bankruptcy. But they kept their mortgage payments current, or close enough to current. The condition...
I am an adamant believer in the Non-exclusive Buyer's Agency Agreement. In practical terms, as opposed to the Exclusive Buyer's Agency Agreement, it is so much to the advantage of the consumer that it isn't funny, and it doesn't usually...
I recently got an email from a reader that was coming into a property as I left. I dropped my card and we did the lockbox shuffle thing, then there was an email when I got back to the...
Want to think about gun control instead of emoting? Tell me what law we can pass that someone determined to commit mass murder will follow. Tell me how you're going to keep guns - any gun - out of the...
Here are the facts of the situation, whether you're talking about San Diego or Manhattan, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, or any of the other densely packed, high cost areas where all the employment and career opportunities are. Fact 1:...
Legally, immediately. This also applies to refinance loans. With that said, there are economic reasons why it may not be a good idea for you to refinance. If you have a prepayment penalty, you're going to have to save a...
This is one of the biggest issues with my local real estate market. Because the San Diego market has very high demand and limited supply of property, prices are high. A reasonable two bedroom condo runs around $200,000. A 1200...
On a regular basis, I get emails that ask me what I think of a particular company. When I check out public forums, I see questions about particular companies every time. "What do you think of X Realty, or Y...
pfadvice talks about debunking a money myth and perpetuates one of his own. He took issue with someone refinancing to lower their monthly payment, insisting instead that the term of the loan was all important. His point is understandable in...
How do I keep my home after filing bankruptcy. The Mortgage company wants to foreclose? I want to know if there is anyway to keep the home even after filing chapter 7 bankruptcy. I want to know if there...
The question every good loan officer hates is "What is your lowest rate?", usually the first thing in a phone conversation. People think that this sort of rate shopping is going to help them. The fact is that it almost...
"What mortgage fees can i recover after loan denial" was a search I got. The answer is basically, "None." The only thing that should be charged up front is a credit check, which costs about $20, and you should be...
"I am married but want to refinance my house only in my name. What do I have to do?" Refinancing in one name only is actually pretty easy, and there are at least two ways to potentially accomplish this,...
Every so often I get questions about loan cosigners. The main borrowers do not qualify on their own, so they get someone - most often mom and dad - to cosign. Cosigners are a different thing, or so I understand,...
The most common mistake in real estate (and every other aspect of financial planning, for that matter) is to assume the situation now is going to continue indefinitely. In the stock market, people chase last year's returns. They "wait for...
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