Time for Listing Agents To Earn Their Money

One of the most common things I’m seeing as I roam about the East County looking for bargains: Agents not doing their jobs. Now single family detached homes that are priced appropriately are selling, and for appropriate prices, even at 37 sellers per buyer. Condominiums aren’t moving unless they are brand new with lots of …

Variable Annuities: Debunking the Ignorant Press

Found an annuity article in the local paper with an error so glaring that I had to debunk it. Here’s the article:Income for Life And here’s the critical error, conveniently in the first two paragraphs: Interested in annuities? The type known as an immediate annuity may pique the interest of some investors. But the first …

Unpaid Liens After The Sale, and Subrogation

I sold my house in (state) in august 2001 I hired a title attorney whose (local company X) acted as a agent for (national company Y). The facts are that there were errors and omissions which led to negligence in the performance at the closing of the property. The property taxes for the year 2000 …

Is This Supposed to be Helpful Legislation? (A bad example from Illinois)

A reader named Terri at Educating the Wheelers sent me an email giving me a heads up on the antics of the state of Illinois. here is the link. Here is the original article at blackprof. The link to the original source is broken, but here is the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, …

Forty and Fifty Year Mortgages

Recently, the forty year mortgage has started to make a comeback, and a few lenders have started introducing the fifty year mortgage. The reason, straight from the horse’s mouth, the lender’s representatives, is lowered payments. In an uncertain and unstable market, investors are getting nervous about 100% interest only financing, and so the lenders are …

Flexible College Plan – The State Run 529

Of all the investments out there available to be made, the 529 is neither best or second-best, but it is right up there near the top. Back when I was actively working in the financial planning business, it was one of the easiest to sell, as well. It holds one of the best sets of …

Facts Of Life On Buying and Selling “Without an Agent”

I saw your article on on Searchlight Crusade about exclusive buyers agents and I have a couple follow up questions pertaining to my own situation that I am hoping you could shed some light on. I don’t have any buyers agent (currently). However I have spotted 2 houses in an area that I think I …

100% Financing: Buying A Home With Zero Down Payment

Is there any program that i can qualify for a home with no down payment? Lots of them. We may not be talking number of grains of sand on the beach or drops of water in the ocean, but there are more ways to get get into a property with no down payment than most …

Straw Buyer Fraud

I’ve gotten several emails to articles recently having to do with straw buyers, and more search hits. Red flags preceded home-fraud lawsuit and Fraud case hits home seem to cover one of these weasels particularly well. A “straw buyer” is someone whose credit is used to purchase a property and secure financing. Sometimes they cooperate …

Multiple Mortgage Inquiries Do Not Drop Your Credit Score

>broker incurred 19 inquires in 1 week dropping my score. B.S. I’d go the full Penn and Teller on this one if I wasn’t trying to stay family friendly. The law is clear on this one, and practice is fully compliant with the law. I’ve seen thousands of credit reports, sometimes with dozens of recent …