Avoid The Traps Of Finance

Most consumers are told where to get their mortgage because few people personally know and trust a mortgage or loan officer or correspondent (the same thing). It used to be agents would take their buyers out to find the house they wanted, then to their favorite mortgage company. Now things are so fast and better organized. It is common practice to have the purchasers prequalified and preapproved before searching for their new home. Most agents don't know much about finance, they leave it to the mortage company to explain it.

Probably the most important thing is comparing. I don't understand this, unless it is young people who just don't know. Most people compare prices of other thing; cars, gas, food. It's not only important to check interest rates but also APR or annual percentage rate. This takes all of the mortgage company charges and breaks it down into a rate that many times is published by several in the newspaper. You can see 5.49% v 6.11%. It sounds like a little but it means a lot!

Different types of financing are available. This is something your agent should be well aware of as well as the mortgage company. I remember a time I was working with a young couple. I knew the best loan for them was a combination of FHA and a state subsidized loan. This gave them the lowest down payment and interest rate. The people at this very well known world wide mortgage company said "you can't do that" to which I REPLIED, here is the number. I was surprised. The couple did get the house with exactly that financing. Please rate and tell friends.

More to come later: http://www.freewebs.com/realestatenews.

Suzie is a licensed real estate broker and certified residential appraiser with twenty years of experience with hopes of changing the industry for the better one step and one person at a time. She has other professionals in the field who are contributing their expertise as well. http://www.freewebs.com/realestatenews

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.