photo credit: crimsong19

Let the mortgage games begin seems to be the battle cry of the mortgage lenders, banks, and government. Get as many butts in the seats as possible and well worry about how to keep them there later. Maybe its the disposable attitude our country has adopted, I think it started with the disposable razors. Lets blame it on disposable razors. Razors are the reason we are in this financial mess. Everything used to be permanent and now we view everything, I mean everything, as a temporary or disposable.

When my parents, and certainly my grand parents, bought a house it was to live in and raise a family, which meant at least 18 to 20 years. Thats not so much the case now. Now we use our homes as a way to build a financial portfolio, not that theres anything necessarily wrong with that, its just that we have such a different attitude about our homes as well as everything in our lives. This temporary attitude, I think, has lead us down the wrong road, maybe not personally or individually, but as a country we are on the wrong path, although, it always starts with the individual.

The more we get use to the temporary mind set the more we accept the government and policy makers temporary fixes and solutions to the very real problems you and I face in our lives. Nothing coming out of Washington and the financial sector is sustainable, and the games are being played with our livelihood. Is that a game we really want to play? We need to realize that this is not a game that has winners; there is no victory to be had for anyone playing this game.

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Posted in Headlines, Mortgage, Denver Colorado Real Estate, Blogging, Real Estate Market Conditions, Real Estate Industry Trends

photo credit: jc.westbrook

The FHA now seems to be the only hope for single family mortgages for people with less than perfect credit and those with limited money and savings. The FHA, in 2007, held a mild 7% of Americas mortgages, but now in 2010 they hold a whopping 30%. Thats a huge increase! Were now in a pickle because prior to 2007 the FHA suffered heavy looses on loans, even losses below what the law allows. Now, they need to cut cost and/or increase revenue.

Im sure normally most people wouldnt care, but they are the only ones keeping the middle class afloat at the moment by backing loans that banks wont. Banks simply arent lending to the average person, you have to have stellar credit, a lot of money, or a back pocket full of collateral, which most of us middle class slugs dont have. They also changed the buyer concessions.

The FHA also banned the common practice of having the seller contribute to the buyers down payments through a non-profit middle man, who also took a piece of the contribution for themselves, go figure!

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Posted in Mortgage, Metro Brokers, Denver Colorado Real Estate, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Market Conditions, Real Estate Industry, Real Estate Industry Trends, Downtown Denver Lofts and Condos

photo credit: Apuch

There are so many potential problems with owning a home that you really have to understand the best financial options when buying a home, stay up on all financial options a home owner has once in the home, as well as stay on top of all the maintenance issues after you move into the home. And the thing about owning a home is that you are the maintenance person, you dont call the landlord and have him fix the problem, its all you. Its time to get resourceful.

We all hope these transactions go smoothly, we want to be smart with our money, and we all hope the house runs smoothly, with relatively little structural problems after we move in, but thats not always the case. No matter what stage you are in owning a home its always a good idea to stay informed and gather all the pertinent information you can get your hands on. You may have your dream home, but there may be nightmarish problems lurking around every corner of the dream.

There are websites, friends, and local business that can help with financial advice as well as advice on the best practices to properly maintain your home. The lists of maintenance issues are extensive, but one issue in particular is a biggie, your sewer lines. There could be many potential problems, especially if your house is set back from the street, away from the main sewer line.

With a roof, you tear it off and put it back on, new paint, you strip and paint, but with sewer lines, you may have to dig, and dig a lot. Can you inagine a backhoe in your front yard?  Your tree may be growing into the lines and you have to dig up your whole yard to fix the problem. Here are some tips and advice when it comes to tree roots in your sewer lines. When it comes to the other potential problems you will have to do a bit more research on your own.

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Posted in Mortgage, Denver Colorado Real Estate, Blogging, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Industry Trends

photo credit: TheTruthAbout...

Creativity is the name of the game these days. The old days of getting a loan to buy a home are almost gone. People with near perfect credit are not getting loans, so how do the rest of us with, well, lets just say, "less than perfect" credit get a home loan? Cash is king, as the saying goes, but cash is in rare supply so I hear. Back in the day, you used to be able to get interim or bridge financing to buy a new home until your existing home sold. Thats not the case today.

With unemployment so high today, and the banks getting all this stimulus money, banks arent lending? Wait, that didnt sound right. Well it is though. Despite the banks getting literally billions form the government to help us; they simply are not lending (helping us). So, we are left to take care of ourselves. Thats okay though, we can do it. Seller financing is how we fix that little problem.

Most of us cant afford to buy a home until we sell our existing home first, leaving a huge hole in the repeat homebuyer segment of the market. Seller financing is a good alternative to bank financing, especially if you are an existing homeowner and you just need to be carried until your home sells. Its easier to negotiate the terms of the loan with the current home owner too. Solutions such as these are creative and could end up saving everyone involved.

Read the full article from Inman News

Posted in Mortgage, Metro Brokers, Denver Colorado Real Estate, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Market Conditions

photo credit: NailaJ

The Federal Reserve suggested that the federal government and banks should reduce the mortgage principles of struggling homeowners, known as "principal write-downs," as opposed to reducing monthly payments by lowering the interest rates and extending loan terms.

This arose from a discrepancy of information put out by the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau published a report stating that the national homeownership rate fell from 69 percent in 2006 to 67 percent in late 2009. The FED, completing their own study, disagrees with the Census Bureaus information and said that the numbers are a cause for concern. The Federal Reserve puts the homeownership numbers at nearly 62 percent and said that more needs to be done to help homeowners stay in their homes.

Of course there was opposition from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Their chief economist, Jay Brinkmann said that these "principal write-downs may prevent more people from owning homes. He contends that lenders would have to raise down-payments and tighten lending standards to offset the risk of falling property values. "So principal write-downs could lower homeownership going forward," Mr. Brinkmann said.

This argument sounds more like a banking system unwilling to put them selves out, at all, in order to help homeowners, their customers. Of course nobody is in the business of loosing money; no one argues that, but in order to find long term solutions to problems sometimes you need to tighten your belt in the short term.

Not the banking system though, their so unwilling to loose money that even when they fail in business they still want their money, and asked the very people they refuse to help to bail them out. Doesnt seem like a win-win situation. I guess if its a win-lose situation it doesnt matter as long as you are on the winning side.

Read the full article from the New York Times

Posted in Mortgage, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Market Conditions, Real Estate Industry Trends