One of the consumer attitudes I encounter constantly is the feeling that if you cannot afford the loan, the lender will not loan you the money. This safety zone common sense sort of reliance upon lender policy as a backstop is not only false, but one of the best ways to get in trouble with …
Continue reading “Changes in Lender Attitudes: The Push Towards Bigger Loans”
First off, let me say that your site has been very informative and helpful. I stumbled across your blog looking for information on ARM vs. 30 year fixed loans and ended up reading every article. One issue I have never really seen addressed is joint loans. When a couple, married in this case, gets a …
Continue reading “Joint Loans for Couples: How Does the Qualification Process Work”
I have repeatedly advised my readers to sign up for a back-up loan if they can find somebody willing. So every once in a while, I get email like this: Hi! Would you be willing to do my backup loan? I’m already signed up with my brother-in-law but you tell people to get a backup …
Continue reading “Getting a Loan Provider to Agree to be a Backup Loan”
(This was originally published September 29,2005) Here’s another advertisement that I got in the mail: “Pick a Pay, Any Pay!’ The Revolutionary Option ARM!” “Start rates as low as 1%!” Loan amount $100,000 Payment $321.64$200,000 $643.28$300,000 $964.92$400,000 $1286.56Could this help save you money? Let’s see, given the real rate on these, there is negative amortization …
Continue reading “Games Lenders Play Part II More Misleading Advertising”
You see it all the time at open houses and elsewhere. People who desperately need buyer’s agents, but think of Buyer’s Agents in the same way they think of automobile sales folk, and that’s the complete opposite of the way it is. They don’t want to deal with an agent, because an agent will use …
Racial Gap in Loans Is High in California. I can give a variety of reasons for this. First off, especially in Los Angeles but to a lesser extent throughout the state, there is a huge “Spanish speaking only” community. When you limit yourself to speakers of a language which isn’t the nation’s primary business tongue, …
what happen when 401K leave blank on beneficiary Nothing unless you die, and it’s not covered in your will or other documents. Then the state’s intestate code takes effect. Each state has a law for how the estates of those who die intestate will be divvied up. These laws were typically made generations ago, and …
Continue reading “Naming Beneficiaries – Do It, and Keep Them Current”
This is definitely not a “Who you gonna call?” I’ve done a couple articles on the two ratios, debt to income and loan to value. These are the basic and most important parts of loan qualification. Nonetheless, there exist a plethora of reasons why someone can be turned down for a loan even though they …
Continue reading “Loan Qualification Standards – “Loanbusters””
I refinanced my house and an existing lien was not discovered Now the important question: Is it a valid lien, or has it really been paid, and just not released of record? If it has been paid, you don’t owe money simply because the lien on your property was not properly paid off. If you …
There is no such thing, of course. The perfect time to buy would mean that you have all kinds of leverage, and can make sellers give you pretty much the deal you want, but prices are nonetheless rising rapidly so that you will have a large amount of equity the first time you need or …
