“We have several rental properties that we own (more than 10). When we were younger, before we got married, we both moved around a lot and bought houses, moved, stayed a year or so and did it again. I of course don’t have to mention why we did this (no money down, low fixed rates, …
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Negative Amortization Loan Issues on Investment Property
Read your article on negative arm loans, and for the person who only owns a residence and most real estate investors it will not work. I own several properties, and the parcel to be refinanced is ocean front…so is going up in value more than the negative arm would be when refinanced after prepay penalty …
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Mutual Funds: What They Are and How They Work
For being the most popular investments in the country, many people have a “black box” picture of mutual funds. Money goes in one end and more money (usually) comes out the other. Mutual companies in general are a very old concept. The Egyptians had them in ancient times, mostly for insurance purposes. For one time …
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Loan Qualification Standards – Loan to Value Ratio
Many folks have no idea how qualified they are as borrowers. There are two ratios that, together with credit score, tell how qualified you are for a loan. The more important of these two ratios is Debt-to-Income ratio, usually abbreviated DTI. The article on that ratio is here. The less important, but still critical, ratio …
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Loan Qualification Standards – Debt to Income Ratio
Many people have no clue how qualified they are as buyers, or borrowers. There are two ratios that, together with the credit score, determine how qualified someone is for a loan. The first, and by far the more important, is debt to income ratio, usually abbreviated DTI. This is a measurement of how easy it …
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The Deposit
A search I just noticed asked the question “Who gets the deposit if escrow falls through?” The theory of the deposit is that here is an amount of cash that the buyer is putting up as evidence of their ability to consummate the transaction. This is a good question. I’ve only dealt with real estate …
Investment Property and Sophisticated Users
The majority of the protections that folks have are aimed at helping non-professionals have a chance in the complex and nearly incomprehensible maze that is real estate. The legal presumption is basically that you are a babe in the woods, and can easily be led astray by the fast-talking real estate broker and the big …
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Annuities, Fixed and Variable
One of the most discounted investments available is the annuity. An annuity can be thought of as the opposite of a life insurance policy. Instead of creating an lump sum of money, an annuity liquidates one by providing you instead with a stream of income. The original idea is simple. Suppose you get a lump …
Libertarians and the Art Of Politics
(Originally written in 2005. Still valid) Of all the political parties, my personal sympathies lie closest to the official platform of the Libertarian Party. Nonetheless, I have never been a registered Libertarian, never sent them money, and likely never will. The Libertarian Party, you see, is primarily interested in ideological purity. They’ve been hijacked by …
Jihad versus Hirabah
Enrevanche sent me an email about a Chapomatic article and his own response on the distinction between Jihad (or “holy war”, a name for war in the name of religion), and hirabah, which to quote The term hirabah refers to public terrorism in a war against society and civilization. In legal terminology it is defined …