tag:searchlightcrusade.net,2024:/mt//feed/military 2024-04-29T20:03:47Z Movable Type 4.21-en 208 1 208 tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4762 2022-06-13T14:00:00Z 2022-06-13T16:48:24Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Over the last couple of decades, there's been a rising movement, mostly on the part of those who want a piece of real estate agents business, to sell agents as a toll booth. Tollbooths sit there, guarding the entry to... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4993 2021-07-25T14:00:00Z 2021-07-25T12:20:53Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ One of the things that is really helping military families afford good properties is the military housing allowance and the way that lenders treat it, making it much easier for them to qualify with regards to debt to income... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4489 2021-06-30T14:00:00Z 2021-06-30T11:54:13Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ With many people pushing various "cash back to the buyer" schemes in real estate, a note of caution is needed. Actually, it's more like an entire symphony of caution. Because if there is a loan involved, you run the risk... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2008://3.4473 2021-06-20T14:00:00Z 2021-06-20T14:35:53Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I read a lot of the info. you have on your web page ... thank you. I don't live in San Diego so I'm not looking for a home. What I am trying to decide is whether to sell... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2007:/~searchli//3.2776 2021-06-07T14:00:00Z 2021-06-07T11:27:19Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Every so often I run across a reference to a "rate buydown" I don't like to use them because they don't benefit the client, but I should explain them, what they are, and how they work. A rate buydown is... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2008://3.4425 2021-05-22T14:00:00Z 2021-05-22T11:15:39Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ This was a comment on Real Estate Sellers Giving A Buyer Cash Back. The interesting thing is proposing hourly pay instead of commission for agents. That makes a lot of sense. Disclosing (net) cash back to the lender changes the... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2008://3.4407 2021-05-12T14:00:00Z 2021-05-12T13:22:36Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I've found several of your mortgage articles very helpful, and wondered if you could help me find a way to solve the dilemma I've been presented with by a loan officer at my bank. My husband is Active Duty... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4968 2021-05-01T14:00:00Z 2021-05-01T12:41:37Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Quite a while ago, when loan standards were other than they have become, I wrote an article with the title Is a VA Loan a Good Deal? Back then, if you could qualify for a loan that was both... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4955 2021-03-16T14:00:00Z 2021-03-16T12:19:37Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ We read Searchlight Crusade every day and consider your essays a priceless education in avoiding the major pitfalls in the home-buying process. On behalf of all of us consumers, thank you so much for your hard work! Please comment on... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4953 2021-03-11T15:00:00Z 2021-03-11T15:09:42Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ I find it fascinating the number of people who will claim that because no college degree is required to become a real estate agent, that agents can't possibly be worth any significant amount of money. The reason no college... tag:gockel.hmdnsgroup.com,2007:/~searchli//3.2667 2021-02-19T15:00:00Z 2021-02-19T12:56:13Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Been reading some of your informative tips. I am looking at refinancing and getting a $378000 mortgage. Now in the case of having a 3 yr prepay penalty, vs paying 1.5% in points to make it a 1 yr... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4923 2020-12-24T15:00:00Z 2020-12-24T17:03:30Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ With a few lenders starting to loosen their requirements slightly in San Diego, it's becoming increasingly obvious that the bottom is behind us. However, the issue has now become, "I don't have much of a down payment. How do... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4919 2020-12-18T15:00:00Z 2020-12-18T12:25:23Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ For at least the last thirty years, I've been hearing "affordable housing" advocates yammer about the high cost of housing, and how working families can no longer afford "decent" housing, which they apparently consider to be the three or... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4881 2020-10-10T14:00:00Z 2020-10-10T13:58:59Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ First off, let me make something very plain. All a CBB (Cooperating Buyer's Broker compensation) can do is give good agent an incentive or disincentive to look at the property. A high one will not, by itself, sell the... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4867 2020-09-21T14:00:00Z 2020-09-21T16:43:51Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ One of the things I keep telling folks about the real estate market, whatever area you live in, is that it is controlled by the loan market. If you want to understand where real estate in general is headed, look... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2009://3.4862 2020-09-11T14:00:00Z 2020-09-11T14:56:50Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ The same as in every other area of life: Get out in front and stop it from becoming a problem. I do not understand why many people approach real estate transactions like a casual outing. Go window shopping, decide... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2018://3.5218 2018-04-14T20:37:26Z 2018-04-14T21:09:02Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ You want to know what our most precious and limited resource is? Young men and women willing to put their lives on the line in defense of our country. When we run out of them, we will be dust, along... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2013://3.5094 2013-11-25T00:00:00Z 2013-11-25T00:02:25Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Praxeology, or deducing intent by action, is nothing more than reverse engineering as applied to humans rather than machinery. It completely amazes me the number of people who understand that you design a keyboard, for instance, by including the sorts... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2010://3.4987 2013-08-26T14:00:00Z 2013-08-26T13:31:19Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ This saying comes to us courtesy of our military. They use it in the context of ten million peasants armed with stone age weapons will swarm one man, no matter how well armed or how well supported. In my work,... tag:www.searchlightcrusade.net,2012://3.5077 2012-11-08T00:00:00Z 2012-11-08T00:05:44Z Dan Melson http://www.searchlightcrusade.net/ Lessons from last night: Demographically, Republicans can no longer win national elections. It doesn't matter who lied, it doesn't matter how unfair the media coverage, it doesn't matter the amount of cheating. Those are all included in the final result....