Property Management
No matter it be read in a newspaper or an online thread, heard out of the mouth of our president or a talk-show host on the radio, or watched on your TV or PDA, the consensus is that the economy is going to get worse before it gets better. According to one industry-leading watchdog, this economic nightmare is negatively impacting our nation’s homebuilders as a review of 33 U.S. firms with more than $10M in revenue shows that more than 30 percent are in financial distress and in danger of filing for bankruptcy, according to an analysis by Grant Thornton Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Services.
How does the name of your web site fit in with your overall marketing plan? This is important, and I"ve noticed that agents often don"t consider this. Your web site is a marketing investment. It"s not just your business card on the web. It is supposed to make you money. Why wouldn"t you incorporate your successful marketing strategy into your web site name?
Agents News is quickly becoming Helpmegetpaid.com.
How would you go about helping a deaf person buy a home? If you can use the Internet to e-mail listings, load virtual tours, and create CMAs and other documents, you are on the right track. But what happens when it"s time to talk?
Sometimes to get great search engine placement so consumers can find
If you"re like most business people, then you probably haven"t "surfed" your own web site lately in its entirety. However, as things change, and links can become out of date, perhaps now would be a good time to give your site a checkup?
Dear Mr. Internet: I"m hearing a lot of talk about online "Transaction Management" systems lately. Is there some way I can "ease" into using these tools without making such a drastic change in the way I manage my sales?
Being in touch with people by e-mail is so easy. Once you start using it you will be amazed at the results. People love reading e-mail. When you do it right, they don’t even know that you are marketing to them. There are some simple rules that work extremely well for fabulous results.
Here"s some unexpected good news for investors who own rental apartment properties and are having trouble financing or refinancing because of the credit freeze: FHA has decided to step up to the plate and provide more long-term multifamily mortgage money -- at least for the next six months.
Deregulation is a wonderful thing. It allows competition to grow, but it can also mean unnecessary problems for hapless consumers who now have to sort through the offerings by multiple telephone service providers. If you are working out of your home as many REALTORS do, you may be tempted by the telephone solicitors to monkey with your phone service, too, and it could end up costing you. Let me share my experience with you where I learned that switching can be expensive.
If you have a web site, I"ll bet that one of the most common spam (unsolicited) e-mails that you receive is for "guaranteed search engine results". Many, many agents have forwarded me e-mails they"ve received like this over the last few years. Recently it seems like there has been an increase.
Prices in San Jose, CA, met the market throughout 2008 and it"s resulting in buyers elbowing each other off the sidelines in droves. Closed sales nearly doubled in January 2009 compared to a year ago and the surrounding Santa Clara County area was up 51 percent, according to the Santa Clara Association of Realtors.
The continual drop of housing prices is expected to end but not before home prices slide a little more, according to a report by Moody"s Economy. This news along with the tax credit for eligible homebuyers, and further mortgage rate declines could mean now is the right time to buy.
Dear Mr. Internet:I have no difficulty attracting many visitors to my Web site, however I rarely see any business from them even though I do receive tons of e-mail. How can I convert more of these virtual prospects into real customers?
Yahoo! is king of the mountain. It directs the lion"s share of all web traffic. Both Media Metrix and Net Ratings rate Yahoo! as the most popular "search engine" on the web. No surprises there. But guess what? Yahoo! is not a search engine. Yahoo! is a directory.
A computer virus dubbed the "Love Bug"" caused havoc with computer systems worldwide on Thursday (5/4/00), shutting down email servers at major companies and penetrating the Pentagon and Britain"s parliament.
When email notifications were sent out by Websuite to the registered agents who made the cut to become e-PRO 500 agents, they received an unpleasant surprise along with the good news. Seems a common harmless virus called the "W97M.Marker" virus piggy-backed on the attachments.
Dear Mr. Internet:I"m hearing about all kinds of new ways to market myself and my listings online. Is there some way to tell if a particular new method or system is worth trying?
Not all the large listings sites offer Web pages or Web sites to Realtors, but the ones who do provide a special advantage for agents with listings and for those who wish to be linked to the listing site"s databases. That"s where the consumers are, and being close to listings can be a real marketing advantage for any agent.
Signs of a cyclical turnaround for housing are on the upswing. Sales are up sharply in many of the hardest-hit markets, and prices are firming in many others.
Okay, so you didn’t take a typing class in school. You can’t “touch-type,” or type without looking at your keys. Or maybe your skills need a tune-up.
In the grand scheme of things, it all seems so insignificant. Does it really matter if you spray a little pesticide on your lawn, or cut down on the amount of water you use? When you see all the consumption and pollution caused by industry, do you wonder if anybody else is trying to reduce the environment impact of their home?
There"s been a lot of talk in the press lately about the security
With constant advances in technology, the most difficult question facing the average real estate agent today seems to be which technologies they should take advantage first, which come last, and which might be a waste of time altogether.
In the world of Internet marketing, the word "hits" seems to mean a lot, but as far as the bottom line goes, it means nothing at all. In fact, focusing on hits can skew your marketing efforts so far in the wrong direction that you will wonder why you ever bothered to market on the Internet at all.
If factors such as time, cost and distance have held you back from hiring your own business coach, you may find that some of the most respected business coaches can assist you via E-Mail. But is E-Mail as effective a medium as the phone or in-person training?
Most metropolitan area median home prices, impacted by distressed sales, trended down in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. At the same time, existing-home sales rose in only six states from the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors®.
Since the Internet is still in its infancy, much of the information that researchers have gathered about
It"s interesting. Technology is often heralded as a servant for
Words on a computer screen look different than on paper, and usually people find it harder to read things on a screen than on paper. (I know several people who even print out their email to read it.) The screen"s resolution is not as good as paper"s, there is sometimes flicker, the font may be smaller, and/or the font may be ugly. Your recipient"s email reader may also impose some constraints upon the formatting of the mail, and may not have the same capabilities as your email software. This means that good email page layout is different from good paper document page layout.
LoansDirect is launching its Internet site today with some paradigm-shifting points of difference. The direct lender is the first to launch an online loan center where consumers can obtain a live, custom-rate quote, gain loan approval, and lock-in a guaranteed interest rate and closing costs within minutes - at no cost and with no obligation. An approved loan is immediately processed and can be closed in as little as four days. Not only is Loan Direct boasting the fastest loan application to date - 15 minutes - but the real news is that their business model represents the first loan application offered online with no money required up front by the consumer.
You"ve heard the outrageous prices being paid for desirable domain names. Drugs.com was purchased for $823,456.00 in September. Question.com sold for $175,000 in August. Real estate-related domain names are doing well, too. One name, eopenhouses.com, reportedly went for $260,000. Great Domains, a domain name brokerage site, has already received an offer of $1.1 million for Loans.com.
Dear Mr. Internet:With more of my clients and associates using the Internet, is there some better way than "chat" to have meetings with people online?
As the first company to offer online listing customization nation-wide, OnlineVisit.com is jockeying for REALTOR® loyalty along with Free Web page and listing aggregators HomeSeekers and HomeAdvisor. The difference is that OnlineVisit.com isn"t offering free Web pages, or asking permission to download your listings from your MLS, - it"s offering free, customizable listing uploads directly to the site. And you don"t have to be a techie to do it.
A new computer virus "Thursday" has been identified that infects Microsoft Word documents and even those who don"t use Word, but attempt to open an infected Word file.
Need to create a fresh, new source of leads? Why don"t you
The housing market is setting new records daily. Consumers by the millions are
Editor"s Note: This is the follow-up to "The Web is No
Dear Mr. Internet:
In the one-two punch of distribution, Jutvision Corporation has secured strategic partnerships with three of
In last week"s column, I wrote about how one can use
Will you be selling real estate in the year 2000?
Now that everybody (or so it seems) is buying notebook computers, it"s a
One of the greatest moneymaking features of contact managers, such as Top
Like your brochures and newspaper advertisements, it"s imperative for your
According to the latest Internet research, more than 35 percent of on-line
Too Many Choices
As by now you are aware, the Internet shines when used as it was meant
Among the first places potential customers go to when searching for
Becoming effective on the Internet can seem at times to
When you walk into any computer store, you"re going to be presented with a myriad of options, some more high-tech than others. How do you, as a Realtor, make the right decision -- purchasing equipment which will prepare you for the years ahead, but which doesn"t overestimate your needs or capabilities, either? Your recommended plan of attack is actually quite simple. Heed the words of real estate technology trainer Matthew Ferrara -- and Goldilocks.
Do you know where your former customers are? One of the real estate basics is that agents need to remain in touch with previous clients to assure repeat and referral business in the future. But it’s well known that sales basics tend to erode in boom markets – such as the one we’ve been enjoying since the mid-’90s.
What keeps you from prospecting regularly? A student in one of my classes once answered that question with “just about everything” and there was a loud laughter of recognition from the rest of the agents in the class. I mean, they said things like laundry or dishes might even come first. If prospecting is something you’d rather not do, then you must not be having fun with it.
Last week I got an e-mail from a very unhappy agent. Lamenting the problems that she’s been experiencing with sellers, she wanted me to tell her how to get sellers to be more reasonable and receptive to what their agent suggests to them. She felt beat up and totally unappreciated.
Forbes is known as a financially-oriented magazine for an elite readership, people who are educated, cultivated and wealthy. Their readers choose Forbes for well-researched articles that ring with authority. With its new online publication, Forbes.com, Forbes would love to cash in on dotcom traffic, including the 7.6 million people who visited real estate sites in 2000, according to Media Metrix. But, while it may lead in financial circles, Forbes could have a lot more to learn about online real estate.
If you want to pound a nail into a piece of wood, you don"t reach for a pair of pliers. You choose a hammer, which is designed, weighted and balanced to strike the nail and drive it home with a minimum of exertion on your part. If you want to reach more than 50 percent of homebuying consumers, you choose the Web.
Do you have the skills that will make you massively successful? Are you making the most of them? The people who are compensated the best in life are highly skilled and highly specialized. They perform few functions, but the ones they do are performed exceedingly well, and they are paid handsomely for performing them.
Guerrilla marketing is a phrase coined by Conrad Levinson, author and former advertising agency executive, who wrote the million-copy bestseller Guerrilla Marketing in 1984. Levinson has expanded the Guerrilla Marketing concept into an ongoing empire featuring additional books, lecture tours, and more. Guerrilla marketing means going against conventional wisdom and making the marketing choices that make sense for you and your company as opposed to what works for others. It means investing time, energy and imagination instead of a great deal of money into marketing.
Houston real estate expert, Jan Jackson, is reporting that sales fell 16 percent last month, though this was an improvement from November figures.
We all know the key to more real estate sales is living in a place where everyone knows your name and immediately thinks of you when they hear “real estate.” The term for this sort of name recognition is “top of mind awareness.” The burning question, of course, is how to achieve top of mind awareness. In the past, you did it using the traditional forms of media: newspaper, radio, and television. Those forms of advertising still have their place but as more and more people go online to house hunt, a well-rounded marketing plan must give increasing weight to online promotion.
One of the major challenges facing a new homes sales specialist today is managing leads. Because there are people coming in and out of your models and projects daily, you often are blessed with more leads than you can work. Selecting the right lead becomes critical to your success.
Mortgage originators and Realtors need to work in concert to achieve the beautiful music of satisfied customers. There is nothing more pleasing than a phone call from a satisfied client, except maybe a referral from a satisfied client. If you desire to create the symphonic music of referrals from your clients, you need to have synchronized efforts with your mortgage partner.
You wake up with intentions to spend the morning calling past customers and clients. Today you are going to make 25 calls! Then when you get into the office, you have a message about a problem with the inspection of the First Street property you just put into escrow. You begin to make the calls to speak with all the parties involved and a call comes in on one of your listings from a buyer who is only in town today and wants to see it know.
Everyone knows that referrals are great - it is always better to have business come to you instead of having to chase after it. It"s easier, less expensive, and you enjoy a built in level of rapport with the clients that are referred to you.
Editor"s Note: This is Part III of a four part series: All About Online Classifieds If you missed any part of the series, you can read it here:Part I: Why Classifieds Have Migrated to the Internet Part II: Getting the Most From Paid, Low-cost, and Free Online ClassifiedsPart IV: The Best Classifieds Online
Lee Iacocca once said, "If you want to be the best, you have to separate yourself from all the talk about quality. And put it in writing." What Mr. Iacocca was referring to was offering a guarantee.
The e-PRO is the first new certification to be offered by the National Association of REALTORS® in years. And according to the e-PRO course architect, Michael Russer, it will be among the most challenging to earn. The very visibility of the e-PRO will mean the polarization of the real estate industry separating those who can cut it on the Internet and those who can"t.
Like it or not, FSBOs make up anywhere from 15 percent to 35 percent of available home inventories, depending on individual markets. That"s a lot of homes! Although many FSBO homeowners can be convinced to list with Realtors after receiving a few bad offers or none at all, as long as there"s a sign in the yard, FSBO properties are a hazard to Realtors.
[Note: To follow is an excerpt of an interview with Dwan Bent-Twyford, author of "Short-Sale Pre-Foreclosure Investing." To listen to the show archive or download an MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com/121708.]
Making Advertising Pay Its Way
Many Internet users choose other means besides the large real estate sites
As condo sales continue to hit bottom on resales in metro area after metro area, New Jersey water front is still all the rage across from the Big Apple. A piece in the Hudson Reporter states that "the resurrection of Journal Square, the possible rise of an 80-story office tower near the Hoboken train station, two new luxury hotels near the Hudson County waterfront, and the long-awaited opening of the retail and entertainment complex Xanadu in the Meadowlands will be the main topics of development discussion in 2009."
Turn to the back of any business opportunity type magazine and you"ll see
Your business card is one of the most important tools of your profession,
In the midst of foreclosures and short sales, one of the submarkets of the Washington, D.C. area has entered near-sellers market levels. Springfield, VA, just 12 miles from the White House and site of one of the busiest cross roads in the country, has experienced amazing growth in sales in 2008.
Since 1994, RE/MAX Hall of Famer Melinda Duncan with RE/MAX Creative Realty Group in Lexington, Kentucky, has watched her sales skyrocket from $5.9 million to over $10 million per year. By the end of August this year, Duncan has already completed 66 transaction sides for over $9 million in sales, earning her Platinum Club status (those RE/MAX associates whose commissions top $250,000 within a given year.) once again.
What is personal marketing? It is the means by which you get your name, your specialties and your reputation known. It is how you become the go-to expert in your particular sphere of influence.
The time will come when you or your broker will have the opportunity to showcase one of your listings in the newspaper through a front-page or inside news story. This is an opportunity that you can really maximize with the right editorial and the right follow-up. And who knows? The buyer for your property might be reading the paper that day. Or you might meet some potential buyers who will want to work with you, or sellers who like the way you present a home.
If you are a new agent, it is a great way to jump start your career. If you are a seasoned pro, it is a great way to capitalize on the "equity" of your name and experience.
Just as having a permanent office address enhances your professional image, having your own domain name on the Internet is just as important, especially to those who choose you to do business based on your ability to use technology and long before they ever set foot in your office. Whether you are part of an international brokerage or a sole proprietor, having your own domain name is an asset to your business.
You are a new agent. Your company is introducing you to the marketplace with a feature story in the papers and adding your bio to the company Web site. And you don"t even have your first client yet. What are you going to say about yourself?
Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey in which Mortgage Rates fell for the ninth straight week. Frank Nothaft, its vice president and chief economist said, "Inflation in the economy in the first three months of the year was contained and upward price pressure in the near-term seems unlikely."
The Orange County Register and Realty Times announce the completion of a distribution agreement in which the newspaper will publish Realty Times" dynamic Market Conditions Report as well as its consumer real estate news.
Realty Times, the premier consumer and industry real estate news service online, as recognized by Yahoo! Internet Life, announces a new site design. With new features for its content partners that spell more lead generation opportunities for its members, Realty Times is putting its unique Market Conditions Reports(tm) front and center.
Have you ever read a news story and wished you could instantly share your
After weeks of turbulent news capped by the announcement that revenues may have been overstated by as much as $95 million in a nine-month period, Homestore is making a fresh start.
Another well known MLS vendor is merging into another high-tech Internet
The real estate Internet company HomeSeekers.com has signaled its intent to
Seven months ago, RE Webcom, an ISP and Web host company and OpenMLS, an
A study first published on Real Times showing the listing claims on some leading
Realty Executives International announced today a partnership with Mobile Callback® - a Realty Times company. This partnership was developed with agent safety in mind, which will allow Realty Executives agents to utilize Mobile Callback® at open houses, home showings and in other cases where safety is a concern.
“Today we are joining forces with the real estate industry to build on our shared commitment to enforcing the fair housing laws and educating individuals of their rights,” said Martinez. “Over two-thirds of the new households being formed this decade will be minority and immigrant and we must recognize that a strong commitment to fair and equal treatment in the housing market will become even more urgent.”
The firms were added as defendants in a securities class action suit brought by the California State Teachers" Retirement System against Homestore and its top officers.
Homestore expects third quarter revenue of approximately $64 million, down 3 percent, or $2 million, from the second quarter of 2002. The expected decline in revenue from the second quarter is a result of certain non-recurring revenue items in the previous quarter. Gross profit margin is expected to show improvement over the 68 percent the company reported in the second quarter 2002.
The company generated net income from operations totaling a record $584 thousand during the quarter ended September 30, 2002. Similarly, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization ("EBITDA") of just under $1.1 million recognized during the nine-months ended September 30, 2002, set another record for the company.
Parsippany, NJ, May 22, 2002 - A strong U.S. housing market has resulted in
After purchasing Webtop from Prudential California Realty"s Ed Krafchow, FNIS has signed an agreement to provide a "unified Internet product suite" to Prudential Real Estate Affiliates.
Ken Galpin, President of MarketU Inc. is pleased to report that effective immediately, MarketU Inc. (OTCBB:MKTU) has changed its name to Most Home Corp. (OTCBB:MHME). The name change reflects the company"s recent developments and focus on its core competency of lead generation, lead qualification and lead management technology solutions for the real estate industry. The company"s new products will provide the opportunity for the company to expand its products and services to the entire real estate industry.
Americans are staying put more then ever, but when they do move many of them do so for housing-related reasons, say, to buy a new home or find a better neighborhood.
Buffalo (NY)-based Hunt Real Estate Corporation and Rochester (NY)-based Judy Columbus, Inc., two of the country’s leading family-owned brokerages, today announced their affiliation with ERA Franchise Systems, Inc. Both local firms are owned and operated by Hunt Real Estate Corporation.
HomeBuilder.com(TM), and the Builder Homesite Consortium, two of the
Stuart Siegel, the original founder of eNeighborhoods, Inc., has
Best Image Marketing, Inc. is so confident in the effectiveness of its web
On Dec. 21, Nasdaq halted trading of shares in Homestore.com, the operator
Milberg Weiss
Housing starts declined 1.3 percent in October to a
Estate Research Corporation (RERC), the deteriorating economy exacerbated by
Jacelyn L. Botti, senior vice president, announced that Jo-Ellen Ashby has
Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Jack Kemp extolled the
HomeSeekers.com (OTC Bulletin Board: HMSK - news), a leader in online real
Apartments.com and Match.com have created a co-branded site that
BuildNet,
Homestore.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:
The Council of Real Estate Brokerage Managers (CRB) elected the 2002
Sales of existing single-family homes slipped last month from the
MonsterDaata, Inc.
The NAR has awarded
New Web site Builtforus.com provides sellers, landlords and real estate
Sure you can lose weight, get in shape, launch a business or find a new job.
Ultraprise Loan Technologies,
Houston Association of Realtors® (HAR) and 360Training, a leading provider
The Real Estate Division of Cendant Corporation posted a 12% year-over-year
Fidelity National Financial,
Gomez, an e-commerce research and
Can"t wait "til this guy becomes a homeowner.
According to a recent review written by syndicated real estate columnist Bob
The latest results of the FDIC"s Survey of Real Estate Trends
The latest report from the National Association of Realtors is reporting that pending home sales eased against a deteriorating economic backdrop but remain in a stable range.
Results of the latest home buyer preference surveys, unveiled at the
Prudential California Realty (PCR) today announced its expansion in the
Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, wrote that "figures don"t lie, but liars figure." He also credited Benjamin Disraeli with the quote: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
Many real estate agents were contacted recently by a company that claimed
The Golden Hammer Awards will be presented at the 1999 COLDWELL BANKER International Business Conference during a General Session. These new awards celebrate the company"s relationship with and support of Habitat for Humanity. Alex Perriello, president and CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation will present the Golden Hammer Awards with conference emcee and daytime television personality, Leeza Gibbons. The company anticipates that approximately 10,000 COLDWELL BANKER sales associates, brokers, managers and employees will attend the annual conference, to be held March 7-9 in San
The ads will target the 25 to 54 age group, and will utilize humor and unusual settings, according to creative director David Rea.
The company attributes its success in the local market to providing branch offices with managers who are also underwriters whith the authority to approve home loans locally.
Crye-Leike Realtors, the 14th largest brokerage firm in the U.S. has
The Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. (PREA) announced superior results from its Affiliate Assistance Hotline (AAH), during its first eight months of service. Designed as a primary source for information and service, the call center augments the specialized service teams supporting more than 37,000 members of the Prudential Real Estate Network.
The interactive nature of the broadcast eliminates an objection some state real estate commission have had to accredited satellite programming - no contact between instructor and students. RSN has offered CE courses via satellite for over a year, but the December 15th broadcast is the first in a series of live, interactive programs.
The world has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. There has been more innovation and more technological progress in the last 80 years than there were in the previous years added together since the beginning of time.
Weichert, Realtors" 7,500 sales agents have shattered all previous company sales records for the summer with an unprecedented $4.25 billion of real estate during the months of June, July and August, 27 percent more than the value of homes sold during the same months in 1997.
The Employee Relocation Council is pleased to announce its 1999 officers, recently elected by its Board of Directors, and its full slate of board members for the coming year. The new officers, who comprise the Executive Committee for the Employee Relocation Council are, as 1999 President: Steven E. Rogers, SCRP, DuPont Company; as 1999 Vice President: Kevin Lanagan,
Allen Sabbag, president, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Service has selected June D. Slusser, as the new senior vice president, franchise development, Eastern region.
By Blanche Evans
With tens of thousands of lenders and brokers each offering as many as dozens of different loan programs, it"s helpful to find an unbiased source to give you the wisdom to make the right choice.
Just how expensive is housing in San Francisco?
Hindsight is indeed a wonderful gift. Practically everyone sees much more clearly looking into the past than they do when peering into the future. But it"s a luxury few of us enjoy.
Top federal housing officials are promising a “consumer-friendly” overhaul by this summer of the current rules on disclosures of mortgage-related fees and closing costs. In an interview, HUD Secretary Mel R. Martinez said the reforms will touch virtually every new loan transaction in the U.S., and will bring “far greater clarity and transparency than ever before” to home purchases and mortgage refinancings.
Long- And Short-Term Rates Ease Back Slightly This Week
An everyday, paperless, all-electronic mortgage remains little more than a mortgage originator"s dream, but using information technology to spread the word about mortgages and to originate loans is going gangbusters.
Question: We are in the process of purchasing a home and we are very close to ratifying a contract. Our settlement wouldn"t be scheduled until 60 days from now but must obtain loan approval in two weeks. We are trying to decide whether we should lock in our interest rate for 60 days or take our chances and float our rate until we are closer to settlement. If interest rates drop by a quarter percent or so, it will add up in the long run. Here"s my question: Since we are 60 days out, is it a good strategy to float our rate under the assumption that rates will fall?
Question: Last November, I refinanced my property to a lower interest rate. At the time, the new lender required that my 2001 2nd half real estate taxes be paid. So the settlement agent collected six months of taxes to pay the county plus an additional two months to start the lender"s escrow account.
The biggest financial fear about so-called "1031 TIC" real estate investment deals appears to be turning into reality: One of the largest "tenants in common" or "TIC" firms -- with 8,300 individual investors and office and retail properties valued at $2.4 billion -- has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Making good on a pledge from his election campaign, President Bush"s budget for fiscal year 2003 will include $200 million in grants to help would-be home owners with downpayments and closing costs.
If the home you"re looking at is just a little out of your reach, at least in the lender"s eyes, or you want to gradually work your way up the monthly payment ladder, there"s a little known mortgage program build just for you. It"s called the buydown.
When you shop for a mortgage loan -- which is something every potential homebuyer should do -- you will be given a lot of information. One item which you must understand is the concept of "points".
Mortgage rates are moving down this week, pushed by mixed economic signals as mortgage experts cautioned consumers to lock in a mortgage rate and avoid the mistake many made waiting for the mortgage rate market bottom late last year.
A weakening economy and poor home economics have been pushing up
Question: I recently settled on a home and obtained a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) at 6.375 percent. In looking over my papers, I realized that at the time of application my loan officer gave me a Truth-In-Lending (TIL) statement that showed my annual percentage rate (APR) to be 7.548 percent. Then, at the settlement table, I signed another TIL that indicated an APR of 5.687 percent. My note says that my interest rate is fixed for five years at 6.375 percent. So I have three very different rates to look at. Can the mortgage people get it together and tell me what"s going on?
The Senate has passed the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act, legislation that would increase the "guaranty limit" on mortgages backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the first time in seven years.
Question: We currently have a mortgage balance of about $180,000. We are in the ninth year of a 30-year term and our rate is 7.50 percent. I think we should refinance our balance to a lower interest rate but my husband thinks it would be a bad idea because we would have to start from scratch on a new thirty-year term. Wouldn"t it always make sense to refinance if we can get a lower interest rate?
Question: My wife and I are
Part of the national fabric is the necessity to deal with a succession of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, droughts, and blizzards -- natural disasters that impact states and whole regions.
Sub-prime lending -- and the possibility of predatory lending activities -- are widespread nationwide. This is the conclusion of a study entitled "Separate and Unequal: Predatory Lending in America" just released by ACORN and the ACORN Housing Corporation, (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).