Posted on February 7th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
Important advice to anyone planning to contact their lender directly for a loan modification: The key here is to be tenacious. These lenders and servicers (lenders) are large with hundreds, and even thousands, of employees. Whenever you call your lender, you should plan on being on the phone for a long time (figure an hour [...]
Filed under: Foreclosure, Investor Words, Mortgage, Real Estate Market, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on February 2nd, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
Faster Sales Coming For Foreclosure Buyers
Foreclosure buyers got a Christmas Eve goodie from Fannie Mae, a new strategy that’s likely to make foreclosure purchasing very much quicker. The catch? A bunch of lenders are about to be very unhappy.
Until the recent real estate meltdown, foreclosures were a problem but not too much of a [...]
Filed under: Commentary, Mortgage, Real Estate Market, Short Sale, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on February 2nd, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
The latest idea bubbling up in the world of real estate is the use of principal reductions to stem the foreclosure tide, the theory being that if we lower mortgage balances then homeowners will have smaller monthly payments and fewer foreclosures. It sounds great, but don’t look for lenders to gleefully cut mortgage balances anytime soon. In fact, principal additions rather than principal reductions are the rule of the day.
Filed under: Commentary, Economy, Foreclosure, Mortgage, Politics, Real Estate Market, Selling, Short Sale, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on January 27th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
Mortgage interest rates change as often as two to three times in one day. Securing the lowest rate possible is every borrower’s goal. However, it’s impossible to time the finance market, just as it’s impossible to predict exactly when the housing market will peak or slide.
Filed under: Buying, Current Events, Finance, Money-Saving, Mortgage, Real Estate Market, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on January 24th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
DEAR BENNY: I am shopping for a new mortgage (I will refinance about $160,000 remaining on a condo worth about $300,000) and discovered my mortgage holder wants about $2,200 in closing costs. I just financed with this bank three years ago and have stellar credit. There seems to be no [...]
Filed under: Commentary, Credit, Finance, Money-Saving, Mortgage, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on January 24th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
With all the rules now available, here’s the action message to potential tax-credit seekers: Speed up your search for the house you want to buy. Get moving. There are only 14 weeks to sign a contract and just five months to go to closing.
Filed under: Buying, Commentary, Current Events, Money-Saving, Mortgage, Real Estate Market, Tax Issues, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on January 24th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
As millions of Americans begin to realize that it will be years if not decades before their houses are worth what they owe on them, there has been lots of talk about whether it’s okay to just voluntarily walk away from your mortgage.
Filed under: Commentary, Current Events, Economy, Foreclosure, Mortgage, Real Estate Market, VRN | No Comments »
Posted on January 16th, 2010 by Carlo Capomazza
The purpose of the new Good Faith Estimate is to level the playing field for borrowers comparing loans to be able to make apples to apples comparisons for loan scenarios.
Filed under: Business Services, Current Events, Finance, Mortgage, Real Estate Market | No Comments »