Entries from Searchlight Crusade tagged with 'loans'

Why All The Fuss Over Real Estate Transactions?

Why doesn't real estate just sell for the asking price instead of having to go thru all the paper work...? Wouldn't it be easier to just put a price on it and sell it for that price? We don't...

Lender Paid Mortgage Insurance or Regular PMI?

If I am buying a foreclosed home for 220k of which 200k is being financed, and the home comes back at being valued at 285k from my mortgage company, am I still required to pay PMI? If so, how in...

How to Avoid A Repeat of the Housing Market Mess

Scapegoating mortgage brokers or anyone else is not the answer, nor is prohibiting yield spread. We've been here before (in the early 1990s), congress did something remarkably similar except a little bit more sane. It didn't work then. Why would...

Mortgage Transaction Case Study

Note: This article was originally published November 2007, when rates were higher than currently I had been corresponding irregularly with this gentleman during his hunt. It happens he lives outside of California, and I only work inside California, so...

Payment, Interest Rate and Up Front Costs: Choosing a loan intelligently

Most people tend to shop for a mortgage based upon the payment. They figure the lowest payment will be the cheapest loan. This is the way most people make banks rich. Because they are looking for the loan with the...

Is Your Agent A Cheerleader Or An Analyst?

It's not difficult to see how some of the weakest agents and loan officers I know make lots of money. They work for an office of a well advertised chain, and when they get the walk-in traffic, no matter what...

The Loan Shopping Koan

It's very easy for loan providers to talk about a much better loan when you're shopping than they have any intention of delivering. Then you give them thirty to sixty days after you sign up, and you're put into a...

Can You Cancel After You Sign Mortgage Loan or Purchase Documents?

what if i sign all the paper work for a house at a title agency, can i back off the house? Depends upon the laws in your state. The Federal three day right of rescission only applies to refinancing your...

They Told Me Not To Make My Loan Payment

I've heard this story, in all of its variations, at least hundreds of times. Someone will send me an email and say "They told me not to make my loan payment because I was going to skip one. So...

Bridge Loans

One of the things I'm seeing a lot of these days is blanket advice on bridge loans. A bridge loan is a loan that you take out with the explicit intention of having it be short term. The most common...

Loan Rates for Low Income Families

What is a good interest rate for a house that is for someone with low income? Well, if you make enough to afford the property, your income isn't a factor on the interest rate you get! You either qualify or...

There Is No Fairy Godmother for Loans

Really. I know that most people who read that title are replying "no kidding" but you would be amazed at how many people act like there is such a fairy godmother. I got an email yesterday that said, basically, "Help...

Mortgage Foreclosure and Taking of Other Assets

if our house is being foreclosed, can they take our retirement or make us sell our cars? we both have (1-2 year old) cars that are paid off. Can they take our cars or make us sell them to...

Economics of Housing in High Density Areas

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:...

When You Should Not Buy Real Estate

Okay, I did an article called Why Renting Really Is For Suckers (And What To Do About It). Fairness demands that I do a companion article on situations where buying is not a good idea. There actually are some. First...

Wanting a More Expensive Property Than You Can Really Afford

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...

Don't Rely On Reputation - There Are No Silver Bullets

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...

What if Your Partner Refuses to Pay Their Share of a Loan or Mortgage (or Won't Pay on Time)?

what happens if partner refuses to pay his half of the mortgage? The lender will hold you each responsible for payment in full. That's the long and the short of it. You both agreed to the loan contract, and...

Can Someone Be Added to an Existing Mortgage?

Got a search for that, and it occurred to me that it is a valid question. The answer is yes. The degree varies. You can simply contact the bank to make yourself responsible for payment. They are usually happy to...

Efforts to Rehabilitate the Negative Amortization Loan

The negative amortization loan is a very popular loan with certain kinds of real estate agents and loan officers. It has two great virtues as far as they are concerned. First, it has a low payment, and despite the fact...