Everett Mortgage On Line

Everett mortgage Home Loan Modifications outrageous results

Dec 152009

Well the Obama administration has taken the cake and eaten it and left the dishes dirty. Home loan mods or mortgage mods call them what you will but the taxpayer is getting screwed BIG time.

1) Lets consider SAXON mortgage services. This was the number 1 bad boy on the list that Obama was going to shame into complying with the contract they signed with the government. As of December 10^th these criminals has issued 42 permanent loan mods out of 35,608 trial home loan mods. Do you know how much money Obama offered these crooks to do 42 loan mods? $886,400,000.00. That’s right $886.4 million dollars of your cash.

2) Now lets consider the number 2 offender. That would be Indymac Bank / One West Bank. This is a lender that was once close to the number one subprime lender in America. Right behind Countrywide. OK they did 19,623 trial mods. And lets see just how many permanent home loan modifications did they do? ZERO that’s right ZERO, none nada zip. Now I’ll just bet you are dying to know just how much money Obama paid these guys to do loan mods, right? Well it was $814,200,000.00. Are you thinking like me that maybe I am in the wrong business?

So what do we have here. We have $1,690,600,000 in YOUR TAX DOLLARS. And what did you get (that’s right not even kissed) well the number is kind of hard to calculate- Oh that’s right 42 loan mods. I will let you do the math. PS how is that Hope and Change working out for you now?

So that’s the way Everett’s mortgage market is going.

Jim Johnson and comments are always welcome.

Everett Mortgage: FSBO – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Dec 072009

Yes you can sell your home yourself but do you really save money?

Yes you can sell your home yourself. And yes you can save money doing it that way, sometimes.

There are many services available to help you sell your home yourself. Sites such as ForSaleByOwner.com, Owners.com and Fizber.com offer good exposure for reasonable prices. This exposure doesn’t come free but you can save money this way.

The typical real estate commission is made up of 2 parts. One is the listing commission. This part is for the agent who lists your home and does the marketing for you. Marketing a home can be expensive in a down market. Most experts recommend using online marketing as opposed to newsprint advertising. Newsprint is very expensive and no longer as effective as it once was. Online marketing is much more effective these days as almost everyone starts home shopping there.

The second part of a real estate commission is the selling commission. This is paid to the agent who brings a buyer to the transaction. Offering a good selling commission is essential to a quick sale. Buyers’ agents are “force multipliers” in that each one brings, usually, several buyers with him. By offering a good commission you enhance your chances of a sale. Here’s a note to remember: Almost all buyers hire a buyers’ agent to represent them in a purchase. If the commission on one home is higher than another’s which do you think the agent will show?

Typically both commissions are 3% for a total of 6% of the selling price. REMEMBER commissions are negotiable.

In the past For Sale By Owners’ (FSBO) homes have averaged about 15% of the market. That figure goes up and down during different markets. In a good market where it’s easy to sell FSBO’s go up to about 20% of closed sales. When the market is bad, like right now, the FSBO share can go as low as 5%.

Now lets cover some of the online FSBO sites available. ForSaleByOwner.com offers several plans starting for $81 per month to a full blown plan for $809. Owners.com offers a simple plan for free and then better plans up an agent assisted plan for $695. Fizber.com offers the same very basic plan for free and then better plans up to $495.

Last year was a very tough year to sell any home. Last year the median sale price for a for-sale-by-owner property was $153,000, while it was $211,000 for sellers who used an agent, according to the National Association of Realtors.

So maybe you can save a buck or maybe you might be better off negotiating with a good real estate agent. Remember you have to do all the work. You will also have the expenses and hassles of making flyers, installing yard signs, installing ground signs and open houses. Everything depends on how much time and experience you have. Good luck.

All comments are welcome.

Jim Johnson

Everett mortgage: 5 Things to look for when buying your first Home

FHA Mortgage, Homes for Sale Everett, mortgage, Mortgage Everett, Mortgage Fraud, VA mortgages No Responses »

Nov 302009

The smart way to use your VA mortgage or your FHA mortgage

These ideas work for California real estate and Everett real estate. Before we even start looking for homes for sale Everett I will assume you have done what I call the 3 basic tasks you need to do before buying your first home.

You have found a good loan officer and have qualified for a VA or FHA mortgage. The reason I suggest a VA mortgage is because it is the only true zero down mortgage available without heavy restrictions. Now if you don’t qualify for the VA mortgage you should be able to qualify for a FHA mortgage. The FHA mortgage has the lowest down payment (3.5% of the purchase price) and is the easy to qualify for.
Next before anything else I suggest you see a qualified tax professional. The reason I suggest this is because if you have never owned a home before you will be surprised at the tax benefits of home ownership. Tax planning is always best done before the act not after.
Find a good real estate agent. Be sure that the agent knows the area you are considering.

1) Ask you agent to look for a neighborhood in transition. Usually your best bargains for a home for sale in Everett are in neighborhoods in transition. Now what exactly is a neighborhood in transition? The first thing is how many of the homes look to be rental as opposed to owner occupied? If you really want to know that here is a simple way. Have your agent ask a title insurance company for an area report of owner occupied vs. non owner occupied homes. In the report they will have dates of sales recordings. This way you can get a feel for the way the neighborhood is going.

2) Next really look at the homes in the area. Look for well kept yards, signs of home remodeling, new paint, new roofs, etc. Does the neighborhood have CCR’s? CCR’s are codes, covenants and restrictions. In Everett there is the historic area. In this area you have to maintain your home in certain ways. In an larger area developed by a single developer you will usually find CCR’s. These can be minor to major restrictions. If you are buying a Condo there are ALWAYS CCR’s.

3) Another source of information is the local police records. These records can show which way crime is going. Usually owner occupied homes will have a lower crime rate than rentals, for obvious reasons. Look for bars on windows and doors.

4) Just because a home for sale in Everett isn’t listed doesn’t mean you can’t buy it. When I go shopping for real estate bargains I look for homes owned by very long term owners. Retired people who may be snowbirds or simply not able to keep a home up anymore just might be open to an offer.

5) How about expired listings, there are plenty in California real estate. In this market many homes haven’t sold for various reasons. Here is when you can find so interesting bargains. Here is when creative financing can occur. If the seller is wiling you can actually buy a home without a formal loan. I don’t recommend this unless you have the help of someone experienced in this. This is true sweat equity. This is the way I bought my very first home in West Lynn OR. I bought it then fixed it up and got formal financing later.

You are allowed only one VA mortgage at a time. The same is true with an FHA mortgage. Use them wisely and they will make you a lot of money.

Comment and suggestions are most welcome.

Jim Johnson

Everett mortgage: Why is my interest rate higher than going interest rate

mortgage, Mortgage Everett No Responses »

Nov 282009

Why is my interest rate higher than going interest rate

Why it that the TV and newspapers say the mortgage rate is 4.85% for a fixed 30 year loan but I am getting 5.25%? It seems like that is false advertising.

I contacted my Everett mortgage lender and he said that interest rates for a fixed 30 year loan were 4.85%. Then we met at his office and all of a sudden I am at 5.25%.

What I didn’t know was that rate is for a fixed 30 year mortgage with certain parameters. They are;

At least 20% or more equity in my home. So if my home has a value of $300,000 and my loan amount with costs is less than $240,000 I just might get that 4.85% rate.
But wait there are a few more hooks involved. How is my credit? If my credit score is under 620 I might not get any mortgage. If my score is between 620 and 680 there will probably be a few “hits”. What do you mean hits? Usually these are charges to the borrower because of a higher risk involved. There will probably range around .25% to .5% of the interest rate you receive.
If I have had late payments on my credit I will probably have a combination of increased interest rate and additional fees.
Even if I have these “dings” on my credit I can still get that very low rate but I may have to “buy” my rate down. If I have enough equity in my home I can use that equity to pay the fees and then I will get that super low interest rate.

Unless my credit is 720 or better and my total loan amount is less than 80% of the value of my home I can expect a few extra charges. So the next time I contact my Everett mortgage lender I will need to remember a few things. Do you have a comment?

Jim Johnson

Mortgage Everett: The Life of a Mortgage

mortgage, Mortgage Everett No Responses »

Nov 262009

How Does the Financial Market Really Work?

The Fools March On and we pay for it.

An Everett mortgage originated right here in Everett doesn’t stay here. Wow what a surprise. Here is how it works.

Lets say I have am a mortgage bank. I don’t have my own money so I borrow $1,000,000. I am paying 1.5% on that money. Now I go and originate 4 mortgages each for $250,000.

On each of these mortgages I am charging 5%. You might think that’s the end but really it’s just the start. I sell these mortgages to an Investor. That investor may be another bank, a real person, some kind of institution or right now FHA. Because right now the only one buying these mortgage is the federal government. PS they have said as of next March they will stop buying these mortgages.

But back on track. I made 4 mortgages and now I’ve sold them to FHA. I get my $1,000,000 back and a bit of profit. Let’s say I got $12,500 for each loan. That’s a profit of $50,000. I can do this every single day of the week. Remember these mortgages will have an average life of about 5 years and produce interest for that time. At 5% if each loan produces and stays current FHA will make ($1 Mil X .05% X 5 = $250,000) $250,000 less the $50,000 FHA paid to me.

OK if I am a banker and I have my own money at risk I check to make sure that I am making good mortgage. But if I am lending out your money (tax dollars, bailout bucks) I might be a bit more lax about it.

This is how the market basically works until you get politicians involved. Once you get elected idiots involved they screw everything up. You see they don’t care how the market works all they care about is getting reelected.

So how can Mr. Politician use this to get reelected? This is were it get Machiavellian. If I can change the rules and get more people into homes then I have more people who will vote for me. This is a simplified version but it all boils down to more votes for Mr. Politician. But here’s the problem Mr. Politician can’t keep the rules bankers would use because most of these new home owners will not qualify for an Everett mortgage. So what does Mr. Politician do he lowers the standards. Now when this all blows up what does Mr. Politician do he blames the bankers and gets reelected. I give you Barney Frank and Chris Dodd.

Do not think for one minute that I am absolving Mr. Banker here because he went along for the ride and got rich doing it. Tim Geithner is the Secretary of the Treasury. He is a Wall Street banker. He made deals with these banks that the US taxpayer will be paying for for years.

You my fellow taxpayer will be in debt over this until your grandkids are old.

I have simplified this down. There are parts I have left out because they only obscure the end.

I have left out how Mr. Politician forced the banks to lower their standards under Bill Clinton and Janet Reno. I also want you to know this problem has been in the making for almost 30 years. It starts with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1976 and Jimmy Carter. It builds steam under Clinton. In Bush 2 second term it was recognized that problems were occurring. At least 8 different times Bush administrations officials tried to rein this in. Chris Dodd and Barney Frank railed against any tightening of the rules. You can see this for yourself on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxMInSfanqg&feature=PlayList&p=8B1B870D4C95652C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37

Here is John McCain trying to rein in FANNIE MAE but stopped by Democrats Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63siCHvuGFg

In business if you fail you lose and are out of business. In politics if you fail you get reelected. Go figure.

Jim Johnson