Andre's Blog

Nowadays, owning a home isn't easy. It can be because of the recent economic downturn that has left so many unemployed or the increasing number of lenders tightening their lending guidlines. Whatever the reason may be, the fact is, it is now very hard, or nearly impossible, for many to own a home through conventional methods 

However the government has made a way to open opportunities for many in order to own the home of their dreams. If you wish to have a chance to own a house that's priced lower than the actual market value, you can consider government HUD homes. 

HUD  homes become government properties once the homeowners fail to pay their mortgage loan. Consequently, the government will foreclose on the home and sell it thorugh an online bidding process in order to recover the money that the government has paid to the mortgage company. Purchasing a government HUD home can be very worthwhile since they are sold at lower and reasonable prices.  Not to menton, any buyer purchasing a HUD home with FHA financing is eligible for the $100 down payment program.

The HUD or United States Department of Housing and Urban Development contracts a property management company to take care of the repossessed homes. They are the ones who are authorized to put up the property for sale. The government HUD homes are published thorough the property management company's website.  You should contact your local Realtor who's authorized to sell HUD homes in your area for updated HUD homes for sale. 

But before you make the shot, you must first plan and make sure that you are financially capable.

1. The first thing you have to do is to look for updated listings of government HUD homes that you wish to own. The selection can range from a new home where you can move in and start a new life, a summer residence or a rest house, a house which you can resell, or a home that can be rented out.

2. If you are planning to purchase one of the government repo homes that you saw on the listings, then speak to the real estate broker that's assigned by HUD and air your intentions.

3. After getting the information that you need and you want to carry on with your plan to purchase, then be ready for the bidding process. However, before you decide to bid on the particular government HUD home that you want, better visit it first and do inspect it meticulously. You have to know the condition of the home to avoid ending up on a property that isn't worth the price. Be sure that you will not spend more on repairing and renovating it.

4. When you are bidding, it is necessary to know how much you are willing to spend for the HUD home and be sure that you have the required escrow deposit before beginning the bid process and a financing commitment in place that will back up your bid.

There are people who are purchasing a government repo home with the intention to resell it at a higher price later. It is a safe means of gaining profit in the real estate market, particularly in foreclosure market.

To search for HUD homes, visit http://www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

To learn more about FHA, VA, Conventional or Refinance options, visit http://JShambley.ApexLending.com

If you're having trouble making your monthly mortgage payment and the lender has you worrying about how on earth you'll be able afford the subsequent mortgage repayments, it's time to pool your resources together and possibly make some extra cash.  How does renting a room in your home sound?

Here's how you can do it. First, you'll need a place to put the new room-mate. If you have an extra room in your house, this is perfect! Place an ad on Craig's List, on the local college campus, on cork boards around town, or in the newspaper that you are seeking a room-mate. Make the price very reasonable for the market you are living in, so that you will have more than one random person to choose from.

I knew a lady named Octavia who first seeked my services as a Realtor to find a room-mate in the Miami real estate market a few months ago. She had a two bedroom condo which was $1600 a month. Since that was more money than she could afford, she rented out her extra room by advertising as a rental. She listed the room for $900, and within a few days she had 50 replies! Of the fifty she chose to interview a few of them, and on the third one she found the perfect tenant to move in, and rented the room to them on the spot!

If you are going to do this, there are a few things that you should keep in mind. Keep your price a bit below market value, so that everyone will want that room. Renters consider price to be the priority, whereas you consider the right person to be the priority. Make sure you get someone you can trust to be living in your apartment. You'll want to get the most money out of the deal as possible, but you also want to keep the room rented, so you will soon lose any gains from having a higher rent.

Interested in buying, selling or renting a condo, townhome or house, visit me at: www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com   

Ready to refinance for a better rate, visit: www.JShambley.ApexLending.com  

There are plenty of homes to purchase in Miami real estate, and having one in the city is sure to make your stay a fun-filled experience. Inexperienced homebuyers might find it a problem to purchase a home, especially if they have no idea where to find a home in the area. To avoid getting the wrong home, then the best way to tackle this project is to get a Realtor to help you out.

What Realtors Can Do For You?

Licensed Realtors in Miami can help homebuyers a lot in purchasing a home in the city. One advantage of hiring a Realtor is the way they remove the stress and hassle attributed to home purchase. They can use their expertise in the market to find you a home that fits perfectly with your specification and budget. You don't have to visit locations in the city just to find a new residential property to purchase -- they can easily do it for you without problems.

For starters, they can find a home easily using their assorted contacts and affiliations in the real estate market in the area. Using the home specifications you provided before the start of the home search, Realtors can find one for you in the shortest possible time at the right price.

Realtors can also use their knowledge in the laws of the real estate market in Miami to expedite the process. They will meet the sellers in your stead and process all the necessary documents to ensure that your best interest for a comfortable and problem-free stay in your new home is guaranteed.

Finding The Best Ones In The City

Keep in mind that there are bad Realtors mixed with the good ones in Miami. If you want to have a successful home purchase project in the city, then you need to find the best ones that will address all of your needs.

You can start by looking for them in real estate firms in Miami or you can check out the local yellow pages. Private Realtors are also a good choice, since they can take care of your needs directly without having to stay in line.

The Internet is also a great place to look them up using search engines -- this is perfect for those who don't have the time to get out of the home or is busy with their own careers.

The best way to determine if the Realtor is a great investment for your home, then you might want to meet them personally to know their credential first hand. Inquire about their permits and licenses, as well as their accomplishments in the business. You can also see if they are the best ones for you if they take time to listen to your request instead of focusing too much in sales talk.

Interested in buying, selling or renting a condo, townhome or house, visit me at: www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com


Ready to refinance for a better rate, visit: http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

Apparently it's not all doom and gloom in the housing market this holiday season. The Mortgage Bankers Association registered a 37 percent increase in applications for house loans and a 39 percent increase in home purchases using FHA mortgages. Not only were applications for refinancing pouring in, but also applications for new purchases. In a market that has been stagnant for months, this is big news.

Could this shining star be a sign of something even more significant than an increase in home buying? Perhaps that ever present cloud of reluctance and unwillingness to invest is dissipating? Has the holiday season brought a sense of hope, or shone a light at the end of this dark economic tunnel? It's possible, but more likely the increased interest in the housing market was prompted by the sudden half point drop in lending rates to 5.00 percent.

Apparently, the government backing of Freddie, Fannie and Ginnie Mae gave investors the confidence they needed to reinvest; reducing the necessity for increased mortgage rates. Now consumers are seeing rates reminiscent of 2003 and 2004 levels with fixed five year rates under 5.5 percent.

More seasonal good news arrived with the report that sales of new single-family homes went up by 2.7 percent in early fall. Apparently the percentage of unsold inventory (all those new houses sitting empty), dropped to 4.5 percent for the year. It is hoped that this number will be further reduced with the advent of lower mortgage rates.

In addition, lumber prices have decreased quite dramatically - up to 34 percent for some products. This, including the number of available lots and competitive labor prices has contributed to an increase in sales of custom homes. Building a home in today's market makes sense on so many levels. In addition to great financing rates, increased lot selection and availability of skilled trades, you have builders offering incentives never before included as standard features. In a year or two, the same house may cost thousands more to build.

Santa has indeed brought us a buyers market that has surpassed our wildest dreams. What a welcome change from a very long year of foreclosures, housing gluts and general uncertainty. Low fixed rates and a stimulated housing market - now those are gifts that keep on giving!

Interested in buying, selling or renting a condo, townhome or house, visit me at: www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

Ready to refinance or just looking for a better rate, visit: http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

Question:

I would like to put my home on the market, but have no idea how to determine a fair selling price. Can you help?


Answer:

When deciding an asking price, your initial temptation may be to add to the price you paid until you are satisfied with the profit. In reality, though, this method will probably not put your price at the home's true market value.

To figure out what your home is really worth, you need to try to put aside your personal feelings about the home and ask yourself what homebuyers may actually be willing to pay. Selling a home can be an emotional process, but although it means a great deal to you, homebuyers aren't likely to have interest in the memories and good times you've had in the home or in the amount of time you spent decorating.

Market conditions have the most significant impact on the sale price of your home, so take note of whether the homes in your area are priced high or low and if they're selling quickly. I can help you with this by giving you a marketing consultation and information about property values in your area.

Call me today 305-788-6643 or visit www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com. I am looking forward to helping you get the best price for your home.


Ready to refinance for a better rate, visit: http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

Many homeowners are now finding themselves in a situation where they cannot afford to pay off their mortgage any longer. This maybe because they had taken advantage of the short-term interest-only loans or had their properties valued lower than the loan they have obtained. In such an event, there are some options available to them rather than to go through the whole process of mortgage foreclosure and run the risk of being evicted.

Short sale is a good solution. It involves the sale of your mortgage property at a low price. Keep in mind that banks would rather take the money that your property. As the borrower, you can propose a short sale to the lender so that everybody is benefited. This strategy is getting very common in the U.S.

There are mortgage foreclosure specialists and buyers works as facilitators of short sales. If you're lucky, you might even be approached by them and have you sign a release or an authorization form of your property. The specialists would write up all the paperwork involved, including the contract of sale. The contract would contain the offered amount and all the conditions involved in the agreement. You're free to review the document before signing it. Also included in the contract is a hardship letter indicating the reason why you can't pay for the property and how the short sale can be beneficial to the lender.

A short sale of the real estate can be advantageous to the homeowner or borrower because:

1. It can help them save their credit history
2. It can help them find a solution to an otherwise embarrassing situation
3. It could reduce the stress of finding funds to answer a certain financial obligation
4. It is the faster solution to mortgage foreclosure process

In today's housing market, there are tons of property inventories. And that causes the banks to lose a lot of money each day. The whole foreclosure process can be a long and tedious one for the lender. For the borrower, it is a stressful, embarrassing, and dreadful experience. Short sale could actually stop the mortgage foreclosure process involved and benefit all parties involved. Through it, the lender gets his money from the sale and the homeowner can walk just away from the property that he can't pay for any longer. The buyer gains advantage too as he ends up buying a good property at a discounted price.

To find out more about short sales contact me via my website at www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com.

Ready to refinance for a better rate, visit: http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

Home mortgages have gotten a lot of attention in the news during the past few weeks. As home buyers keep hearing about how lenders are tightening the loans they give out, many people are wondering if they'll now be able to get the home they could have easily bought months ago. I've included in this article one of the most common questions we've gotten from home buyers in the past few weeks: is it harder to qualify now than it was 3 months ago before the mortgage crunch?

The short answer to this question is that it's gotten more difficult for lenders to qualify borrowers who have limited down payments. A borrower now needs a clean credit and a few months' of reserves in the bank in order to get qualified. Borrowers also now have to make a minimum of a 3.5% down payment unless they are VA eligible, which requires no money down.

In terms of qualifying, lenders are having to go back to old school methods of qualifying. All lenders (regardless of the company) will require a 2 year history of income, which is a larger time frame than what we were seeing even six months ago. And, lenders are having to be conservative in how they calculate a borrower's income.

For example, some borrowers who work overtime count that overpay as their regular income. Even if a borrower can show that he has a history of regular overtime pay (say 6 months or so), the lender may not be able to technically count that overtime income anymore in the regular income. So across the board, you'll find stricter guidelines for borrowers.

However, it's important to note that even with these stricter guidelines, the changes should not affect most buyers. These guidelines are really only affecting borrowers with a damaged credit history. It's gotten a lot harder for them to qualify in the past few months.

But, if you've a done good job of maintaining credit and have saved up some money, you should not have any more trouble qualifying now compared to several months ago. So, it completely depends on your current financial situation.

If you're considering buying a home in the next few months, it's a good idea to talk with a home loan consultant. Don't think that several months out is too early to meet with a consultant. One of the biggest problems we see with buyers is that look at homes (either in person or on the internet) and don't really know how much they can afford. There's no point in getting your hopes up for a home or a price range of homes that you love but can't afford. So, before you start visiting homes, it's a good idea to talk with a lender about down payments and monthly mortgage payments so you can have a definite price range in mind.

Interested in buying, selling or renting a condo, townhome or house, visit me at: www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com


Ready to for a better mortgage rate? For a complimentary rate quote visit: http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

ClassifiedFlyer owned by parent company Go Smart Solutions, LLC, is an online tool popular with realtors and service providers that allows individuals to promote a product or service throughout the Web. Through the Web site, via a mobile phone or by email, users can create professional flyers, which are then posted on a host of online directories and optimized for maximum exposure on the most popular search engines, to promote their services. Customers are guided through a user-friendly process on the site that allows them to choose from a range of templates where they can easily insert text and upload photos to create a professional-looking flyer. The flyers are then posted on up to 30 of the most popular directories, including those specific to the industry their product represents, such as autos or real estate. All flyers are then optimized for the most popular online search terms to ensure they receive the best visibility amongst the search engines, such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. ClassifiedFlyer offers customers a range of functionalities they can add to their flyers to help capture the most leads. Realtors can upload photos of a home for sale from their phone and create virtual tours which are posted to a variety of video sharing Web sites. Other options include live tracking of views, a click to call feature where views can send their phone numbers immediately to the phone or email of the flyer creator, widgets for promoting flyers in email signatures, blogs and Web sites, and an option to save the flyer as a PDF file for printing hard copies. Click on the link to try it for free: http://www.classifiedflyerads.com/?a_aid=3718cb5b Interested in buying, selling or renting a condo, townhome or house, visit me at: www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com Ready to refinance for a better rate, for a complimentary rate quote visit: http://www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

It's a wonderful time to purchase a new home now that the real estate bubble has burst and pessimism abounds. You might call it crazy, but I call it honesty. For people who have been thinking about buying a new house, this is the perfect time to do so. Of course your current home will not sell for as much money now as it would have a few years ago. On the other hand, it is not hard to find real-estate bargains. You will pay a lower sales commission if your home sells for less money. In Florida, the property tax is determined from the purchase price, so buy your home in a down market to save money on taxes for many years.

The most important thing is to obtain excellent assistance from a first class real estate professional. You should not try to economize by trying to get out of paying a commission. You may be able to find websites that give you estimates of a home's market value, but these are only computerized generalities. In order to provide an accurate assessment of your home's market value, your Realtor must be experienced and be familiar with the local market. In addition, there are companies that offer reduced commission rates. If your Realtor is unable to negotiate a full commission, what makes you think that he or she could negotiate the asking price of your home? Seek quality advice; you will save lots more money in the long run if you avoid cheap answers.

A skilled real estate professional will give your home maximum market exposure by using the multiple listing service, personal connections, e-mail marketing, online sites, and the appropriate use of open houses. This professional will be able to provide advice on how to properly stage your home to make the best first impression. It takes skill, patience, and extra effort to sell in a weak real estate market. Your ability to make the right choices and pay attention to all the details of your home will get it sold when cheaper vacant houses just sit on the market.

It is just as important for home buyers to have representation as it is for home sellers. FSBO (also known as For Sale by Owner) is the way to go if you're looking to avoid paying a realtor a commission; however you may wind up paying too much for a home, though, because of the ever-changing market.

Buyers and sellers need to make themselves aware of all the negotiating techniques that a realtor is knowledgeable of in order to make the best deal for the home they are buying or selling. It is a good idea to check with friends and neighbors for recommendations when you are trying to find an outstanding agent. Make sure to find out if they would consider using the agent they are recommending should the need arise for them in the future. Before selecting an agent, sellers should interview at least three, with each providing a competitive market analysis and a sales presentation for their home. Choose a real estate agent who makes you comfortable and confident.

I wish you luck and keep in mind that this is a wonderful time to purchase a new home!

Interested in buying, selling or renting a condo, townhome or house, visit me at: www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

Ready to refinance for a better rate, for a complimentary rate quote visit: www.JShambley.ApexLending.com

It's a wonderful time to purchase a new home now that the real estate bubble has burst and pessimism abounds. You might call it crazy, but I call it honesty. For people who have been thinking about buying a new house, this is the perfect time to do so. Of course your current home will not sell for as much money now as it would have a few years ago. On the other hand, it is not hard to find real-estate bargains. You will pay a lower sales commission if your home sells for less money. In Florida, the property tax is determined from the purchase price, so buy your home in a down market to save money on taxes for many years.

The most important thing is to obtain excellent assistance from a first class real estate professional. You should not try to economize by trying to get out of paying a commission. You may be able to find websites that give you estimates of a home's market value, but these are only computerized generalities. In order to provide an accurate assessment of your home's market value, your Realtor must be experienced and be familiar with the local market. In addition, there are companies that offer reduced commission rates. If your Realtor is unable to negotiate a full commission, what makes you think that he or she could negotiate the asking price of your home? Seek quality advice; you will save lots more money in the long run if you avoid cheap answers.

A skilled real estate professional will give your home maximum market exposure by using the multiple listing service, personal connections, e-mail marketing, online sites, and the appropriate use of open houses. This professional will be able to provide advice on how to properly stage your home to make the best first impression. It takes skill, patience, and extra effort to sell in a weak real estate market. Your ability to make the right choices and pay attention to all the details of your home will get it sold when cheaper vacant houses just sit on the market.

It is just as important for home buyers to have representation as it is for home sellers. FSBO (also known as For Sale by Owner) is the way to go if you're looking to avoid paying a realtor a commission; however you may wind up paying too much for a home, though, because of the ever-changing market.

Buyers and sellers need to make themselves aware of all the negotiating techniques that a realtor is knowledgeable of in order to make the best deal for the home they are buying or selling. It is a good idea to check with friends and neighbors for recommendations when you are trying to find an outstanding agent. Make sure to find out if they would consider using the agent they are recommending should the need arise for them in the future. Before selecting an agent, sellers should interview at least three, with each providing a competitive market analysis and a sales presentation for their home. Choose a real estate agent who makes you comfortable and confident.

I wish you luck and keep in mind that this is a wonderful time to purchase a new home!

Interested in buying, selling or renting a condo, townhome or house, visit me at: www.OnePlaceOpenHouse.com

Ready to refinance for a better rate, for a complimentary rate quote visit: www.JShambley.ApexLending.com