Entries from Searchlight Crusade tagged with 'payment'

Fear and Greed, or How Did The Housing Bubble Get So Big?

(This was originally written February 16, 2006, but it's relevant still) One of the occasional questions I get from people has to do with why the housing bubble got so big (or if you're one of those still in denial...

Forty and Fifty Year Mortgages

For a while there, the forty year mortgage had started to make a comeback, and a few lenders started introducing the fifty year mortgage. The reason, straight from the horse's mouth, the lender's representatives, is lowered payments. In an uncertain...

Should I Buy A Home? Part 2: Process

Continued from Part 1: Preparation I am considering buying a home, although I have not made up my mind on the subject. This is not due to indecision, but rather due to a lack of necessary information. There are many...

Should I Buy A Home? Part 1: Preparation

I am considering buying a home, although I have not made up my mind on the subject. This is not due to indecision, but rather due to a lack of necessary information. There are many factors to be considered...

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...

Games Lenders Play, Part V - Selling a Low Payment

Hello, I've been reading your website for awhile now, and have found it very helpful as I'm learning to navigate this crazy loan process! I had a question I was wondering if you could write about/answer. We currently have...

The Consequences of Not Shopping Multiple Lenders

Minorities get higher rates. They add that the fact minorities are more likely to borrow from institutions specializing in high-priced loans could mean they are being steered to such lenders or that some lenders are unwilling or unable to serve...

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...

The Lender's Rule of Mortgage Payments

Every so often, someone who thinks they're a wit sends me a copy of The Rules For Relationships According To Women. Unlike those rules, which might have been funny around the time Nefertiti was a debutante, there are very few...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Investors Aren't The Only Ones Who Can Fix Ugly Properties

A couple years ago, I took a look at a lender owned property a few miles from my office. It was ugly. I mean ugly. The yard was a mess, there was a deck that was rotting. The facade looked...

The "We'll Keep You In Your Property" Scam

This is a pure scam throughout, but it's legal as far as I know. I'm not going to go into more details than I can avoid. The universe knows there's enough people pulling this right now, but the bad guys...

Full Circle: Back to More Traditional Lending Standards

When things went south in the real estate market, I saw more changes in the lending industry in a few months than the previous five years. But those changes mostly restored us to the place we were a few years...

Student Loans and Real Estate Loans: Default, Repayment vs. Nonpayment and Consolidation

This is one of those things that trips up people to buy a house or refinance it: student loans. First off, Form 1003, the Federal Uniform Residential Loan Application has the following relevant questions on page 4, among the...

Low Equity (or Worse!) Relocations in a Buyer's Market

Hi, Dan! I just came across your website and you strike me as the type of guy who has answers for our situation: My husband and I built our home 2.5 years ago. We took out a second mortgage...

Saving Money by Refinancing Your Mortgage

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...

Avoiding Foreclosure in Bankruptcy

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...