Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Voila: A Crisis in Real Estate Investing Could Be Ending Momentarily…Attention!!!

As the early days dawn on the new federal economic package, two groups are already pretty stimulated. Real Estate agents and mortgage brokers nationwide are talking about the effects of the $168 billion package that includes new, but temporary, rules for mortgages.

The stimulus package raised the ceiling on the ‘conforming loans,’ those loans that are backed by the Federal Housing Administration and have a lower interest rate. It used to be that conforming loans could be no higher than $417,000. In some parts of the country, San Francisco and other parts of California, most homes sell for more than that so many mortgages were expensive, nonconforming, or jumbo, mortgages. The stimulus package will raise the ceiling to %729,750 for the most expensive housing markets. Other markets could also have their loan ceilings raised.

This means more people will be able to finance or refinance their homes, even if their credit is poor or they don’t have a large down payment. Everybody wants to know what this means for their market.

“In Maryland,” a real estate expert, Ken Montville wrote, “If you don’t buy a home or refinance your home before December 31, 2008 you are at risk of losing a competitive rate...when your friendly neighborhood Realtor tells you that NOW is the time to buy, you may want to listen to him or her…with stable prices, major seller concessions, and low interest rates it is truly the best time in history to BUY A HOUSE!”

Another real estate expert from Orange County, Garry Loss, had this to say: “These fixes will give the financial markets time to heal and restore liquidity to the markets in time. It will also allow thousands of homeowners to refinance their loans to more favorable rates and terms. It will take a few weeks before the change will take effect. As a direct result of the stimulus package, expect demand to increase in Orange County along with a huge refinance boom.”

Real estate experts across the board feel that the government missed a chance to perk up the housing market by tying cash payouts directly to down payments on new mortgages.


Blessings to your Real Estate Investing Business,

Milton B. Yates

www.miltonyates.com

Learn Real Estate Investing in DC

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Sunday, February 10, 2008

Term Insurance...A Good Option for Real Estate Investing Homeowners DC/MD/VA/Dallas

Some homeowners whose mortgages are not covered

by private mortgage insurance (PMI), take out a term

life insurance policy to protect their families in case of

their deaths. According to the New York Times, laddering

such a policy could be a money-saving step. Here is an

example of laddering: For a $300,000 mortgage, three

policies could be taken over time. For the first 10 years, the

policy would be for $300,000. For the second 10, a policy

would be for $200,000, and for the last 10 years, it would be

for $100,000.

Considering the low rates now being offered on $500,000 term

Life policies, a young person who is in good health might

Consider term life to protect his or her family.


Blessings to Your Real Estate Investing Business,


Milton B. Yates

www.miltonyates.com


Learn Real Estate Investing in DC

Learn Real Estate Investing in Maryland (MD)

Learn Real Estate Investing in Virginia (VA)

Learn Real Estate Investing in Dallas, Texas

Monday, February 4, 2008

How are you affected by your FICO score!!!!

Fair Isaac Corporation, maker of 
the FICO credit score used by 90 
percent of banks, says its new 
scores will do a better job at 
predicting which borrowers will 
default on a loan.  Called the 
FICO 08, it will be more forgiving 
of the occasional late payment but 
will take a harder line on repeat 
offenders. They predict that the 
new system will reduce default rates 
by 5 percent to 15 percent.  Banks 
and other institutions use the scores 
to make decisions on loans, interest, 
insurance, cellphones and in some 
cases, employment.  One other big 
change in FICO scoring is the way 
‘authorized users’ of credit cards are 
evaluated. It used to be that children 
could be listed as an authorized user 
on their parents’ cards.  They would 
then acquire the credit history for the 
card, even though they were never actually 
financially responsible for the card.  
FICO 08 will eliminate any advantage to 
being an authorized user. 
 
Lenders hope this change will eliminate 
a legal, but questionable practice of brokering
credit improvement by selling authorized user 
status on credit cards.



Blessings to your Real Estate Investing Business,


Milton B. Yates
www.miltonyates.com


Learn Real Estate Investing in DC
Learn Real Estate Investing in Maryland (MD)
Learn Real Estate Investing in Virginia (VA)
Learn Real Estate Investing in Dallas, Texas