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Open Question: How to pay for home repairs after buying?

I am planning on purchasing a house, however it is in need of some restoration work. The asking price is $590k, however it's been for sale for a few years due to its enormous size and cost to restore/maintain. The restoration work that is needed costs some serious dough, is it possible to add the amount required to the mortgage and instead of financing a $590k house, finance a $690k house so I can get the roofing and siding repaired? Or would I have to take out an additional loan, and if so which has the highest limit with lowest interest rates. Also, to people who think I'm crazy for needing $100k for a roof and some siding, the house is roughly 6700sqft, plus garage that's about the size of a McDonalds. more

Open Question: How to pay for home improvements after buying?

Open Question: I think my landlords going into foreclosure! Shes acting very strange...any ideas?

My landlord has been acting strange lately. She called the other day to ask the names of all my children and a few other questions stating that she was applying for a new variable interest rate on her loan. She said that she had to say she lived here with us and that we were roommates. She also stated that we shouldnt worry if our rent is late because she doesnt need to pay her mortgage right now due to this "loan pending". Yesterday we got mail in our mailbox from her mortgage company and we could see that is said something about foreclosure!! Now we are worried. A few different people have told me that she may be claiming she lives here so that she can be bailed out of her obligation to pay her mortgage based on some new law Obama passed to help homeowners who have fallen victim to the balloon payment problem or something??? But to qualify they have to be living in the home. We dont want to end up on the street. Anyone know what shes up to? What should we do???Do I pay my rent .. or should I just take my money and move asap? more

Open Question: I need advice regarding restructuring a mortgage while filing bankruptcy.?

I have a somewhat complicated situation and would appreciate some serious, educated advice: My husband and I live in Las Vegas, NV in a home that has significantly depreciated since we bought it 4 years ago. We paid $570,000, and it's now appraised at approx. $270,000 due to our lovely economy! We still owe $460,000, and we have an interest only loan that is coming to the end of the 5 year arm in a couple of months, so our mortgage is going to increase significantly! My husband also has a rental home that is worth what he owes on it. (We were just married, and all debts, etc. are in his name only) My husband is in the process of being sued for over $400,000 due to medical equipment that he leased for a Dr. he employed that has skipped town. He must therefore file for BK to avoid paying $400,000 for equipment he cannot use. My husband believes that our only option is to let our home go to the bank (ASC) and move into the rental home, but, we do not want to leave our current home! What are our options? Will a BK court allow us to restructure our current mortgage for the amount the home is now appraised? We haven't missed a payment, and the bank won't allow us to refinance now. And we're afraid that if we stop paying on our current mortgage in order to get the bank to work with us, let the rental home go back to the bank, and file BK, that no bank will allow us to refinance/restructure because our credit will be destroyed, and then we won't have any home at all! Please help! Thank you more

Open Question: Paper work needed for borrower from private lender?

So my fiance and I are looking to borrow 20K from a private lender for investment purposes in a house from a county auction coming soon. And were trying to figure out how we can set this loan up becuase the lender does not have experience with tax sale homes so he does not know the procedure as were new to this as well but are more informed than he is. So the lender is giving some suggestions about the loan. He mentioned high interest, He also knows someone who gives loans, or hes thinking that he even wants in on the deal...like putting his name on the deed once we receive it. I said no, were not looking to ad anyone else on the deed...Should we alow this if it means getting our first home this way for investment purposes?? I dont feel comfortable with this. I would rather pay higher interest for like 2 1/2 years at 11%. SO MY FIANCE AND I DONT OWN A HOME YET, SO WHAT ON PAPER SHOULD BE ON WRITING SO THAT THE LENDER CAN SECURE HIM SELF IF ANYTHING HAPPENDS IF WE CANT PAY OR SOMTHING? What paperwork is needed between the borrower and the private lender? A mortgage, promissory note, title insurance, and hazard insurance policy. LAST. THERE WOULD BE NO MORTAGE, OR ANY INSURANCE BECAUSE HOUSES ARE BEING SOLD AS IS. This is our first time getting a private loan so we want to be careful. Were also going to ask our lawyer for more advice as well. Thanks! more

Open Question: What do you think of this?

I just received this via e-mail. Just thought it might be of interest? Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times. Dear Sir: I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month.. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, --- when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, prerecorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows: IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH #1. To make an appointment to see me. #2. To query a missing payment. #3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there. #4. To transfer the call to my bed room in case I am sleeping. #5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature. #6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home. #7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier. #8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7. #9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. #10. This is a second reminder to press* for English. While this may, on occasion, involve=2 0a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.. Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year? Your Humble Client (Remember: This was written by an 86 year old woman) 'YA JUST GOTTA LOVE ' US SENIORS!!!!! And remember: Don't make old ladies mad. They don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to set them off. more

Open Question: pissed off at contract manager. review letter? too mean? wrong category i know but i need answers asap.?

Dear Mr. Contruction Manager, I asked you for a copy of the appraisal back in May and you NEVER answered my email. If you would have answered my email back in May, I wouldn’t have asked Mr. Michael Anthony of the title agency, and Mr. Anthony wouldn’t have told me that you did owe me a copy of the appraisal, and I wouldn’t have had to ask you again. So thank you for being prompt and professional by answering my email 2 months after I originally asked you. It looks like (yet again) that we are back at square one. Suntrust Mortgage has created yet another big problem for us. We are requesting the $6415.15 (which is the remaining portion of the $13,000.00) to pay the contractor’s bills for work/s they have completed and to also obtain their releases to obtain the “CO” from Hillsborough County. Be aware that I do not have the exact amounts for the contractor’s bills. If you want that information, please call Mr. Chris Braglin from Braglin Builders INC. at 813-695-0685. Again, I do not know the exact amounts for the contractor’s bills, so don’t ask me because you already have my answer. These are the contactor’s that I am aware of that need payment: 1) Sal Electric: Electrical contractor that has performed the electrical work for our house. 2) A/C Contractor: A/C contractor that has performed the A/C work for our house. 3) Euro-Shutters: Hurricane shutter contractor that has performed the work for our house. 4) TECO: Local electrical power supply company. A certain amount must be paid before they do the final connection/meter installation to the house. 5) Hillsborough County Government: They require a certain amount of money to be paid for “Impact Fees” and/or etc… before they provide and/or release the “CO”. 6) Landscaping: Hillsborough County Government requires a certain amount of trees, grass, driveway and/or etc… before they provide and or release the “CO”. 7) Others: If any you can obtain those from builder. Before we started the process/hassle to request the $13,000.00, we had an ending balance of $3,766.03 (according to Ms. Irene Hooper office meeting on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 11:00AM EST) bringing our total to $16,766.03. Your company led us to believe that we were going to receive the $13,000.00 that we had requested, and maintain the balance of $3,773.03. If you, or someone else in your company, would have followed their legal obligation of informing us that we would only receive $6,584.85 (0.506%), and you and your company would be holding the remaining $6,415.15 (0.493%), we would have most definitely went another route. I don’t understand how you and your company, fully knowing that we were approximately $13,000 short of finishing the construction of our home, let us apply for the $13,000 we need to finish our house, only to give us half and leave us in the exact same position (if not worse) then we were in before we applied for the increase. We feel that your company intentionally tricked us. We do not like this situation at all and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end favorable. Like we have said before, and like we are saying again now, we do not have the money to pay out and wait for you and your company to reimburse us. On top of those fiascos, you and your company want inspection after inspection after inspection after each “penny” draw for $500 a pop! We already don’t have the money to pay the electricians, the euro-shutter guys, the a/c guys, TECO, Hillsborough County, and all the landscaping things the county requires to obtain the “CO”, and you and your company wants to make the situation worse by charging us $500 for each “penny” draw? All of these inconveniences are going to cause my builder to pass the extension date of August 1st and then we will have to pay you and your company another $150 to receive another extension. Like you and your company aren’t making enough money off the interest we are paying on the mortgage! You and your company LOANED us the money for the house and most of these delays/problems we have been having were cause by you and your company changing our contract managers every couple of months. It’s become pretty clear that you and your company orchestrated these events to keep on ******* us. We aren’t going to suggest anything. Tell us what you and your company is going to do (or not do) to solve this mess, since no matter what we try to do to get things going and get our house finished, you and your company finds another way to **** us. Like the interest we pay isn’t a ******* enough in itself… Pissed Off, Mr. and Mrs. Anonymousi don't the money for a lawyer btw more

Open Question: Pissed off at my contract manager...is this letter too mean? review please?

Dear Mr. Contruction Manager, I asked you for a copy of the appraisal back in May and you NEVER answered my email. If you would have answered my email back in May, I wouldn’t have asked Mr. Michael Anthony of the title agency, and Mr. Anthony wouldn’t have told me that you did owe me a copy of the appraisal, and I wouldn’t have had to ask you again. So thank you for being prompt and professional by answering my email 2 months after I originally asked you. It looks like (yet again) that we are back at square one. Suntrust Mortgage has created yet another big problem for us. We are requesting the $6415.15 (which is the remaining portion of the $13,000.00) to pay the contractor’s bills for work/s they have completed and to also obtain their releases to obtain the “CO” from Hillsborough County. Be aware that I do not have the exact amounts for the contractor’s bills. If you want that information, please call Mr. Chris Braglin from Braglin Builders INC. at 813-695-0685. Again, I do not know the exact amounts for the contractor’s bills, so don’t ask me because you already have my answer. These are the contactor’s that I am aware of that need payment: 1)Sal Electric: Electrical contractor that has performed the electrical work for our house. 2)A/C Contractor: A/C contractor that has performed the A/C work for our house. 3)Euro-Shutters: Hurricane shutter contractor that has performed the work for our house. 4)TECO: Local electrical power supply company. A certain amount must be paid before they do the final connection/meter installation to the house. 5)Hillsborough County Government: They require a certain amount of money to be paid for “Impact Fees” and/or etc… before they provide and/or release the “CO”. 6)Landscaping: Hillsborough County Government requires a certain amount of trees, grass, driveway and/or etc… before they provide and or release the “CO”. 7)Others: If any you can obtain those from builder. Before we started the process/hassle to request the $13,000.00, we had an ending balance of $3,766.03 (according to Ms. Irene Hooper office meeting on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 11:00AM EST) bringing our total to $16,766.03. Your company led us to believe that we were going to receive the $13,000.00 that we had requested, and maintain the balance of $3,773.03. If you, or someone else in your company, would have followed their legal obligation of informing us that we would only receive $6,584.85 (0.506%), and you and your company would be holding the remaining $6,415.15 (0.493%), we would have most definitely went another route. I don’t understand how you and your company, fully knowing that we were approximately $13,000 short of finishing the construction of our home, let us apply for the $13,000 we need to finish our house, only to give us half and leave us in the exact same position (if not worse) then we were in before we applied for the increase. We feel that your company intentionally tricked us. We do not like this situation at all and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end favorable. Like we have said before, and like we are saying again now, we do not have the money to pay out and wait for you and your company to reimburse us. On top of those fiascos, you and your company want inspection after inspection after inspection after each “penny” draw for $500 a pop! We already don’t have the money to pay the electricians, the euro-shutter guys, the a/c guys, TECO, Hillsborough County, and all the landscaping things the county requires to obtain the “CO”, and you and your company wants to make the situation worse by charging us $500 for each “penny” draw? All of these inconveniences are going to cause my builder to pass the extension date of August 1st and then we will have to pay you and your company another $150 to receive another extension. Like you and your company aren’t making enough money off the interest we are paying on the mortgage! You and your company LOANED us the money for the house and most of these delays/problems we have been having were cause by you and your company changing our contract managers every couple of months. It’s become pretty clear that you and your company orchestrated these events to keep on fucking us. We aren’t going to suggest anything. Tell us what you and your company is going to do (or not do) to solve this mess, since no matter what we try to do to get things going and get our house finished, you and your company finds another way to fuck us. Like the interest we pay isn’t a fucking enough in itself… Pissed Off, Mr. and Mrs. Anonymousi can't afford a lawyer man... more

Open Question: getting my lender to cooperate with Obama's "Home Affordable Modification" plan?

We can't afford to pay our mortgage, along with so many other Americans, and our home is now worth about $60-70K less than we owe, so we can't sell or refi. We contacted our lender back in March '09, and they told us that before they'd consider working with us, we had to be late with a payment...so we didn't pay on time for April, then called them again and they took our income statements, a letter that we wrote indicating what happened to create the situation that we're in, along with our estimated monthly expenses. They told us to expect something in the mail in 30-60 days...it has been more like 80 days now, and no word from the mortgage company. We did not pay June's payment, nor can we make July's payment. In the mean time, we've been weighing our options, considering foreclosure, short sale, bankruptcy, etc...and in our research, we've come across Obama's Making Home Affordable Plan, in which if a loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (ours is owned by Fannie Mae), then the lender must cooperate with us to make our payments affordable, because the lender was given government funds for the loan. (correct me if I'm wrong with any of this)... Here are the requirements: • Lenders will be required to reduce borrowers’ monthly payments to a maximum of 38% of their gross monthly income. The government has allocated funds which will then be used to bring the mortgage payments down to a maximum of 31% of gross monthly income. • While the formula for reducing borrowers’ payments will vary significantly, the four elements in the equation are; cutting interest rates to a floor of 2%, maturity extensions out to 40 years, forbearance of missed payments and penalties to the back end of the mortgage, and principle reductions to 90% of appraised value of the home. • Financial institutions will receive $1,000 per modification plus $1,000 per year for up to three years providing the borrower keeps up with the modified payments. For paying on time, borrowers will be paid $1,000 per year for up to five years. • Modifications and refi’s will still require that the homeowner is experiencing some sort of hardship. Only owner occupied, primary residences with a maximum loan value of $729,750 are eligible to participate in the program. • Programs will be implemented first at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While participation in the program by financial institutions is optional, any institutions that have accepted bail-out funds will be required to participate in the programs follows their set guidelines. • Both programs will require documentation that the homeowner will be able to consistently make payments. The programs do require hardship, just not too much of it. As far as I can tell, we should be able to qualify on all parameters, but our lender will not take calls about this, beecause they're so backlogged. My concern is that we're required to be current on our payments, but unless they do something to help us, we cannot stay current, and if we do manage to borrow or scrape together the money somehow in order to keep current, we've heard that the bank is less likely to make us a priority since they're still getting their money. What's the best thing to do that this point?Dawn...thanks so much for trying to dash my hopes of avoiding a foreclosure, but Obama's plan is not gone...it's very much around: http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/Landlord: the reason we can't pay for june or July is because my hubby lost his high-paying job in March of '08. I was a stay-at-home-mom at the time, 8 months pregnant with our 2nd baby. Since then, I got a PT job while grandma babysits, and my hubby's new job pays much much less than the one he lost...so we've been using up our savings to pay our mortgage and to live on, but we're out of money now...and we know that we can get it down to an affordable level within the parameters of the Making Home Affordable plan. Regardless, my question is mostly concerning the fact that if we keep current, the bank won't talk to us, but if we fall behind, we may not be eligible for the plan. Since we can't force the bank to talk to us, and we can't make the government force them to talk to us, what do we do now? more

Open Question: Is this right with load modifications are banks really letting people get buy with this?

This really upsets me. in 2002 we bought new construction home, our neighbor Bud bought his home the same time same price of 150k each. I put 20k down and got a interest rate of 6.75%, Bud my neighbor did not put anything down and got a 7.5% apr. In 2006 Bud got a cash out refinance and cashed out 60k but his new rate was 8.75. With that extra income he bought a boat, went on exotic vacations, big pool in his back yard. he tried to convince us to line us up with his lender at Saxon mortgage so we could cash out. I did not feel like it we have nice things as both myself and my wife worked our tails off. A year ago Bud was laid off of his job he then stomped around, well a few months later he got another job that paid him much more and he was back to spending. Three months ago he tried to modified his loan with Saxon mortgage, they came back and said his income is enough to support his payments. He waited six weeks to file again but he made up a check stub showing a lower salary and also threaten if they do not help him he will walk away from the home. The home is worth now 130k. Well the company gave in and agreed to modified his rate to 3% 800 dollars off a month, his payment is now lower then my payment. He is planning on taking his wife to Bali this winter with the savings. In my opinion it is like he stole 80k., is this what banks are doing more

Open Question: Are loan modifications there to help or open it up for people to play games?

Open Question: cosign my daughter's mortgage loan?

I'm a homeowner. My daughter is eligible to receive first home buyer's credit. If I cosign her mortgage loan, would she still be able to claim $8000 credit? Can I deduct some of the mortgage interest on my sched A? more

Resolved Question: mortgage lender problem?

I guess I was one of the ones that rode the bubble ,Heres a brief story ,Im 36 whoohoo ,but in my twenties i got married ,worked two jobs had a perfect score ,duh duh enter the ex wife ,got stupid ,needless to say shes got the house ,filed bankruptcy,blah ,blah same ol american dream story gone awry,fast forward like 6 yrs was getting use dto not havin anything toshow for i guess ,get a lucky break ,a blood sweat and tears job that pays ,buy a house ,but i cant qualify for a regular loan because they cant count my per diem as income ,any ways they set me up on a construction loan ,interest only,until i can get my time in so they can count it ,any ways now it seems like theyre putting it to me ,they sent me a state ment for 48 cents ,for the month of march ,i should have have known better but i paid it .the following month they hit me up with a statement saying i owed for two months of full payments ,which i paid it hurt but i figured i had it coming ,then i get the following months statements now i owe three months ,plus late payments interest if thats what you want to call it. its all on paper they applied a payment to principle .at which this point im still on on a interest only loan,tried calling them,but no suprise no answer,even sent copies of statements with payments but suprise still no answers ,i figure im going to follow the american trend and end up screwed,just wanted to know if theres anything i can do ,or am i just another statistic ,should i pack my shit up and move to another country to pursue the american dream,you know go to work ,come home ,raise your kid and not worry,at this rate i feel like either going to wisconsin and kicking the !@#$%^ out fo some one ,or just like burning the place down ,letting my kid live on welfare and her mom keep milking her cash cow ,and taking my chances in the pen ,i can truly understand the movie falling down now ,sorry to be so melodramatic ,but im at my end more

Open Question: s it wierd that this 40 almost 41 year old woman is interested in a 28 year old male who has a disability?

There is this 40 year old woman that I met on yourube. She has aspergers syndrome as do I as well, For the past 2 months I have sent her emails and text messages. She sends me 10 text messages per day. I currently live in the Los Angeles area and she lives in Portland,or. I'm only 28 years old, She keeps asking me over and over again when I coming to Portland,OR to visit her. Currently I'm unemployed as I have been since May 2008. She has been unemployed since July 2008. Currently I live at home with my parents. This woman lives alone. She said if I come to Portland and we get along she may offer me her living room couch to live on and not charge me. She wants to get me out of my parents house. There are some things that I don't like about her. She stopped going to school after 8th grade. At age 15 she got married and had a child. At age 17 she had another child. She didn't raise her kids. Her grandma and father did. Even though she is uneducated she has been able to have a stable employement history. She worked for Mrryll Lynch for 4 years do home repossesment, In that job she worked at a call center and made $3,300 a month and got health insurance. Her job was to call people who were delinquint with their house payments. She had the people with deliquint payments fax her their checking account statements, credit card statements and car loans. If she felt that the people would be unable to make their mortgage payments she had the home taken away from them. For myself I graduated college with a BA 5 years ago. Becuase of my visable disability employers have descriminated against me. The only jobs I have had are retail jobs. Does this sound like a good or poor match? I have never had a girlfriend before because of my visable disability. This woman sounds very tolerant and feels that my differences don't bother her. My parents think this is a foolish idea to hook up with a woman who is 12 years older than me.My disabilities are mild tourettes, mild cp, aspergers syndrome and a learning disability. I have been driving my own car for 11 years. I have never moved out of my parents house before.My parents don't want me to move to Portland. They think I'm a fool as do my friends.She may be too low class for me. more

Open Question: Is it wierd that this 40 almost 41 year old woman is interested in a 28 year old male who has a disability?

There is this 40 year old woman that I met on yourube. She has aspergers syndrome as do I as well, For the past 2 months I have sent her emails and text messages. She sends me 10 text messages per day. I currently live in the Los Angeles area and she lives in Portland,or. I'm only 28 years old, She keeps asking me over and over again when I coming to Portland,OR to visit her. Currently I'm unemployed as I have been since May 2008. She has been unemployed since July 2008. Currently I live at home with my parents. This woman lives alone. She said if I come to Portland and we get along she may offer me her living room couch to live on and not charge me. She wants to get me out of my parents house. There are some things that I don't like about her. She stopped going to school after 8th grade. At age 15 she got married and had a child. At age 17 she had another child. She didn't raise her kids. Her grandma and father did. Even though she is uneducated she has been able to have a stable employement history. She worked for Mrryll Lynch for 4 years do home repossesment, In that job she worked at a call center and made $3,300 a month and got health insurance. Her job was to call people who were delinquint with their house payments. She had the people with deliquint payments fax her their checking account statements, credit card statements and car loans. If she felt that the people would be unable to make their mortgage payments she had the home taken away from them. For myself I graduated college with a BA 5 years ago. Becuase of my visable disability employers have descriminated against me. The only jobs I have had are retail jobs. Does this sound like a good or poor match? I have never had a girlfriend before because of my visable disability. This woman sounds very tolerant and feels that my differences don't bother her. My parents think this is a foolish idea to hook up with a woman who is 12 years older than me.My disabilities are mild tourettes, mild cp, aspergers syndrome and a learning disability. I have been driving my own car for 11 years. I have never moved out of my parents house before.This woman has aspergers syndrome. She talks in a monotone voice? She is a nice and caring person.My parents don't want me to move to Portland. They think I'm a fool as do my friends. more

Open Question: Is it wierd that this 40 almost 41 year old woman is interested in a 28 year old male?

Open Question: Do you know of any loans that fits this description? If so, what's the name of the company(s) that offers it?

Here's the situation: Imagine you have 8 credit card debts totaling $20k or more and you also have a mortgage. You are thinking about consolidating them all into one monthly bill. And this is what you want from the bank: 1) It has no application fees or any upfront fees to pay (such as appraisals on your home). 2) No PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) 3) An equity builder plan with an interest rate reduction that will accelerate your debt payments and get you out of debt sooner. 4) No prepayment penalties 5) A no fee bi-weekly payment 6) It uses simple interest vs schedule interest 7) It has no escrow (so you would have to set up an account on your own and use it as if it was an escrow). Escrow is used to pay for property taxes. Unfortunately, with a mortgage company, they only pay it once a year. Most of us that own a home pay property taxes on a quarterly or semi-annual basis. 8) It shows you an amortization schedule. 9) No obligation to accept the loan if you qualify. more

Voting Question: DOES ANYONE KNOW ABOUT A CONTINGENCY RESERVE FOR A HUD HOME?

THE HOME IS EXACTLY 30 YRS OLD OLD... NOT SURE WHAT ALL THIS MEANS BUT I WONDER IF IT MEANS THAT WE COULD GET THE EXPENSES COVERED ATLEAST ENOUGH FOR A CONVENTIONAL BUT THE HOME DOES HAVE OVER $5,000 OF REPAIRS? E. Contingency Reserve. At the discretion of the HUD Field Office, the cost estimate may include a contingency reserve if the existing construction is less than 30 years old, or the nature of the work is complex or extensive. For properties older than 30 years, the cost estimate must include a contingency reserve of a minimum of ten (10) percent of the cost of rehabilitation; however, the contingency reserve may not exceed twenty (20) percent where major remodeling is contemplated. If the utilities were not turned on for inspection, a minimum fifteen (15) percent is required. If the scope of work is well defined and uncomplicated, and the rehabilitation cost is less then $7500, the lender may waive the requirement for a contingency reserve. The contingency reserve account can be used by the borrower to make additional improvements to the dwelling. A Request for Change Letter must be submitted with the applicable cost estimates. However, the change can only be accepted when the lender determines: (1) It is unlikely that any deficiency that may affect the health and safety of the property will be discovered; and (2) the mortgage will not exceed the appraised value of the property less the statutory investment requirement. If the mortgage exceeds the appraised value less the statutory investment, then the contingency reserve must be paid down on the mortgage principal. If a borrower feels that the contingency reserve will not be used and he wishes to avoid having the reserve applied to reduce the mortgage balance after issuance of the Final Release Notice, the borrower may place his own funds into the contingency reserve account. In this case, if monies are remaining in the account after the Final Release Notice is issued, the monies may be released back to the borrower. If the mortgage is at the maximum mortgage limit for the area or for the particular type of transaction, but a contingency reserve is necessary, the contingency reserve must be placed into an escrow account from other funds of the borrower at closing. Under these circumstances, if the contingency reserve is not used, the remaining funds in the escrow account will be released to the borrower after the Final Release Notice has been issued. F. Mortgage Payment Reserve. Funds not to exceed the amount of six (6) mortgage payments (including the mortgage insurance premium) can be included in the cost of rehabilitation to assist a mortgagor (whether a principal residence or an investment property) when the property is not occupied during rehabilitation. The number of mortgage payments cannot exceed the completion time frame required in the Rehabilitation Loan Agreement. The lender must make the monthly mortgage payments directly from the interest bearing reserve account. Monies remaining in the reserve account after the Final Release Notice must be applied to the mortgage principal. B. Cost of Rehabilitation. Expenses eligible to be included in the cost of rehabilitation are materials, labor, contingency reserve, overhead and construction profit, up to six (6) months of mortgage payments, plus expenses related to the rehabilitation such as permits, fees, inspection fees by a qualified home inspector, licenses and consultant and/or architectural/engineering fees. The cost of rehabilitation may also include the supplemental origination fee which the mortgagor is permitted to pay when the mortgage involves insurance of advances, and the discounts which the mortgagor will pay on that portion of the mortgage proceeds allocated to the rehabilitation. more

Resolved Question: Pre-approval for a home loan, do we need to go with the same lender for the loan as we do forthe pre-approval?

We are currently in the process of getting pre-approved through a private mortgage company, but we do not want to necessarily borrow the loan from that same lender, we would like to shop around more to see competitive interest rates. We feel like this broker is making us sign a lot of documents so we don't want to lock ourselves into anything other than the pre-approval. So my question is, can we just pick any lender to do the pre-approval, or do we have to actually decide who we want to borrow the loan through before we get pre-approved? more

Resolved Question: Why is home mortgage loan considered a tax benefit ?

I am planning to buy a home and wanted to know why everyone thinks that home mortgage loan is tax beneficial. Example:- If we are paying around $15,000 a year in interest+property taxes and in tax refund( 15% tax bracket) we get back around $2K-3K and we are happy. Its like paying government $100 and getting back $15 and we are happy with that. Correct me if I am wrong more

Voting Question: Help with closing mortgage questions !?

29) Match the information to where you will find it in the closing documents (you may use answers more than once): A. Errors and Omissions Complience B. HUD1 C. Mortgage D. RESPA Servicing Disclosure E. Promissory Note F. Truth In Lending Statement (A B C D E F G H ) Cash from borrower The total dollars you have to bring to the closing to buy the house. (A B C D E F G H ) Where you promise to pay back the money You also pledge to pay it back no matter what happens to the house. (A B C D E F G H ) Rate Disclosure The lender confirms on this document if the rate is fixed or variable (A B C D E F G H ) Mistakes at the closing? This says if there are clerical errors you must sign new documents with the correct information after the closing. (A B C D E F G H ) Transfer Estimates The lender discloses what the chances are your loan will be sold to another entity or that someone else will process your payments. ( A B C D E F G H ) Pre-paid Interest Money you will pay at the closing for interest in advance so that the payments will come due on the first of the month in the future. (A B C D E F G H ) Estimated Payments How much you will pay over the life of the loan, total payments and total finance charges. (A B C D E F G H ) Security Document This document pledges the home as collateral for the loan and says the bank can take it back if you default on payments. more

Resolved Question: Is the mortgage interest rate based on the primary buyer or the joint buyer?

A friend of mine is trying to finance a home with her dad as the primary buyer. His credit score is 817 and hers is 610. They are putting $90,000 in cash down and will only be financing $42,000. The house appraises for $154,000. The first bank they went to told them that the only way they coud get a fixed mortgage was if they went through Fannie Mae (nobody else offers fixed rates?). A broker told them that the only way they would get a good interest rate was if he were the only person on the loan. This sounds strange to me. Can somebody shed some light on this situation? more

Resolved Question: Qualifying for a mortgage loan?

Qualifying for a mortgage loan? My fiance and I would really like to purchase a home in the next few months (preferably before December 1st to get the first-time buyer rebate), but I need to know what our options are. Currently my credit score is 650, but is rising slightly every month. The only debt I have is federal student loans (about $8500), which I pay on time and more than minimum every month. My car is paid off, I have no CC debt, etc. I also don't have any open accounts other than the student loans, so my credit to debt ratio is bad. My fiance went through a divorce and his credit is all but destroyed. His score is 559, and I've just begun to start helping him repair it. I'm positive we can raise it in the next few months, but not enough for it to be considered "good." My documented gross income is about $28K (I also have some under the table income, but no way to show this). My fiance's income has taken a big hit this year--on last year's tax return, his gross income was $59K, but as of now, it's looking like he'll finish this year at about $44K. Still a lot more than mine. My credit is better than his, but I don't think there's any way I can be approved for a loan with my lower income. I need his income, but with his horrible score is there any loan we can be approved for? I know we can be approved with a 20% down payment and high interest rates, but we just won't have 20% ready before December 1st. We can for sure have 5%, and perhaps 10%. What are my options? more

Voting Question: Obama says - "While I'm not spoiling for a fight, I'm ready for one."?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090620/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_consumers What in the world?!?! He's trying to MAKE the people in Washington do what he says??!! Isn't this ILLEGAL?!!? Don't the people in Washington have a LEGAL RIGHT to NOT do what he says?!?! I'm not asking if what Obama is wanting is right or wrong, good or bad. I'm just asking if it's illegal, him trying to MAKE them do what he wants. WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Saturday that current financial rules exploit consumers and he put critics of his proposed overhaul on notice: "While I'm not spoiling for a fight, I'm ready for one." Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to defend his recent proposal, which is intended to prevent a repeat of the breakdown that has sent the U.S. economy reeling. But such major changes face a fight in Congress and opposition from some leaders in the banking and insurance industries. In the address, Obama focused on a consumer watchdog office that he wants to set up. "This is essential," Obama said. "For this crisis may have started on Wall Street. But its impacts have been felt by ordinary Americans who rely on credit cards, home loans and other financial instruments." The Consumer Financial Protection Agency would take over oversight of mortgages, requiring that lenders give customers the option of "plain vanilla" plans with clear and affordable terms. "It will have the power to set tough new rules so that companies compete by offering innovative products that consumers actually want and actually understand," Obama said. "Those ridiculous contracts — pages of fine print that no one can figure out — will be a thing of the past. You'll be able to compare products, with descriptions in plain language, to see what is best for you." More broadly, Obama's changes would begin to reverse the easing on federal regulations pressed by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Democratic leaders in Congress are promising legislation will get passed this year, but that depends in part on how Congress answers big questions about the overhaul, including the role of the Federal Reserve. "I welcome a debate about how we can make sure our regulations work for businesses and consumers," Obama said. "But what I will not accept — what I will vigorously oppose — are those who do not argue in good faith." By that, Obama said, he meant those who defend the status quo at any cost. He didn't name any people or organizations, but said special interests are already mobilizing to fight change. He called that typical Washington. "These are the interests that have benefited from a system which allowed ordinary Americans to be exploited," Obama said. The president said he would stand up for his plans, saying: "While I'm not spoiling for a fight, I'm ready for one. The most important thing we can do to put this era of irresponsibility in the past is to take responsibility now." more

Resolved Question: Does Private Mortgage Insurance change yearly?

I'm planning on buying a home and can only put 10% down. We are thinking about going with an CHFA loan, however there is an upfront fee of 1.75% of the principal balance that can be factored into the loan. This loan also has 1 point; so basically we are paying a 5% interest rate on 2.75 points. My question is will a CHFA loan be worth it if we are still paying 2.75 points and will the PMI remain at around .500% of our loan until we have 20% equity in the home? more

Resolved Question: I can pay off my existing mortgage which is 6.5% interest using our home equity line of credit at 4% int.?

The equity loan has a 10 year payoff limit but can normally be extended and our mortgage is for 30 years. I was just thinking how much money we could save in interest if we do it this way but let's face it, interest rates could go up on the equity. It's fixed at 1% below prime. more

Voting Question: Where to spend surplus cash?

I have about $60,000 in my cash accounts (banking and savings). Some of this money is in a savings account that I would consider my emergency funds. I have a very generous retirement program of about 12% of my salary, which has been established for about the last 6 years. I am 33 years old, with a wife that has a job and a generous retirement plan and 1 baby. I have some other small mutual funds that I started from savings which are 3-10 years old and have a current value of approximately 12,000 dollars. I have a mortgage. We purchased it for $579,000, and we put down 10%. The first loan was a 7 year arm at a rate of 6.5%, and the second loan was a home equity line of credit for $ 57,900. The second loan is a variable rate, pegged to the prime rate. When I first started that loan, it was at 8.5 %, but it is now as low as 4.2 percent. This, of course, changes with the prime rate. The first loan I pay on principle, and the current debt service is $ 448,000. The second loan is interest only, and still has a principle balance of $57,900. The down turn in the housing market has left me with only about 2-4% equity in my home as the latest appraisal was only $520,000 My only other debt is a car loan which has a balance of 15,000 and a rate of 5.25%. What should I do with this extra cash? Do I: 1. Pay down that line of credit? (obviously this has a variable rate that can change, and is currently taking up 100% of my line of credit which impacts my credit score) 2. Buy a second property? There are some good deals out there for a second home (i.e. condo in Florida) or a rental property. This would be an investment property since we can get something very cheap, but the downside is managing the property. 3. Put it in an invest vehicle? A mutual fund, bonds, etc. 4. Leave it in my savings account? 5. Or something else? How much of that cash should I keep in my account versus investing or paying of my debt? more

Resolved Question: If I am current on my 1st mortgage loan but default on my 2nd loan ..can the 2nd lienholder foreclose on my ..?

home? The 1st mortgage is current I owe them $250k. The property value is only $215k. The 2nd lienholder are "private investors"; and they have sent me a trustee sale notice which has no opening bid. I matched the recorders office instrument # and it belongs to another property which is not even my property! to me it seems like they are faking the notice of trustee sale becuase it is not recorded? I have been getting advice out there and Ive been told I can file a bankrupty ch13. What to do ? help? Can they foreclose even though my 1st mortgage is being payed current ? and plus there is no equity? ps I stopped paying because I couldt afford to pay these private investors anymore an interest rate of 13%. also the property is in California, LA county more

Resolved Question: Mortgage Loan from Parents?

There are two options here, I would like some advice on which is the best option. I want to borrow the money from my parents for buy my house, then they will just charge me a 2-3% interest rate on the home. I plan to pay it off in ten years. Should they buy the house and I pay the mortgage and escrow and then when its paid transfer the title to me, or should they loan me the money at interest and I have the house in my name and pay them mortgage. I would rather give my parents interest than the bank. more

Resolved Question: Does the Obama Refinance Stimulus Package only apply to upsidedown mortgages?

I recently applied for the Obama Refinance Stimulus Package through the Citibank Hardship Assistance Program for my mortgage. Since I'm medically disabled, my total income is only $919.00 per month, and I owe $60,000 on a condo property valued at $120,000 at a 6.75% interest rate on a 30yr fixed rate loan. I have never ever missed a payment and have a reasonable credit score. However, since I'm not upside down on my mortgage plan, Citibank tells me that I don't qualify for the Obama Refinance Stimulus Package. Are there additional Obama programs which may still apply to me? Other people with double my income and double home values who default on their payments are getting lower interest rates than me through the Obama Refinance Stimulus Package. Yet, I'm told by Citibank that I don't qualify for the Obama Refinance Stimulus Package because I'm not upside down on my loan payments, even though I've never ever been late or missed a payment. Is there no help for me? more

Resolved Question: Please help me understand a mortgage with a balloon payment.?

Ok, first of all I no nothing about a mortgage. The mobile home I am currently renting went into foreclosure so I went to the bank today to discuss financing options. My credit is not good (586). This is what the bank offered me - and I don't really understand. It seems like after 3 years I am going to have to be worried about financing all over again. The bank offered me a loan for $59,000 with interest rate of 8%. My payments would be $545 for 3 years then I would have a balloon payment for the remainder (about $53,000.) Please help me understand this - I don't know if that is good or not :( more

Resolved Question: I have a 1st and 2nd mortgage should I refinance into one?

My 2nd mortgage will be paid in 3 years, I have been paying an extra 100.00 a month to get it paid off quicker. Would it be wise at this point to combine the two or wait until I pay the 2nd off.even though the interest would be a lot less to combine them. If I combine the two it will make my value close to the total loan and will take years to build up equity again. I am worried if something would happen to me that my daughter would get stuck with a mess if the house could not sell for what is was worth if I refinance to save interest now. I keep thinking I would be better off to wait and refinance later on just the 1st so I would be refinancing and also havin equity in my home because I would not be borrowing less that what the house is worth. more

Resolved Question: I asked a question on getting a loan and have received 5 or so answers that.....?

Tell me to contact a person with a yahoo email address and say they got a great loan with a 2% interest rate. Does this seem like a scam? Here are some of the replies.. "I am Joy Anderson i was in need of a loan of $100 000 USD and was scammed by those fraudulent lenders and a friend introduce me to Mr John clarke,and he lend me the loan without any stress,you can contact him at clarkeloanscompany12@yahoo.com" "I applied and was approved for one of your loans yesterday and I wanted to write and tell you about my experience. My loan agent, Mark M. was amazing! He handled everything very professionally and quickly. He was extremely patient, helpful and very courteous at ALL TIMES. There was NO STRESS or pressure what so ever. He walked us through the whole procedure and made sure we understood each step before moving on to the next one. I ended up having to call him back with a correction and he took care of it immediately. He was just a true joy and I just can't say enough. I hope you will give him the recognition he so deserves because it has been a very long time since I have had wonderful service like this! This was a totally stress free and wonderful experience! here is there email, john108023@yahoo.com.hk Thank you Mark!! Yours Truly, T Matthews Sr." Here is one from him himself..... "I am Mr. John Clarke, a Reputable, Legitimate, Certified, Reliable & an accredited money Lender. I loan money out to individuals and corporate bodies in need of financial assistance. Do you have a bad credit or are you in need of money to pay bills? I want to use this medium to inform you that i render reliable beneficiary assistance as I'll be glad to offer you a loan at 2% interest flat rate. What did your bank say concerning having a loan from them???? Don't feel disappointed if they refuse granting you a loan. I hate what the banks do when customers/consumers are willing to lend money even with collateral and valid documents. I look forward permitting me to be of service to you. Send me an- E-mail me by replying to my email clarkeloanscompany12@yahoo.com and I'll do my best to help you out in your bad finances situation. Regards, Mr. John Clarke." It just sounds fishy to me. I'm looking for a home equity loan or 2nd mortgage to help pay off some medical bills and for some extensive dental work for my son. Would also like to have some in savings for emergency. My wife and I have a low credit score due to a injury about 4 or so years ago and not being able to work. Most of our income go towards helping our son receive services to help him succeed as he has a disability. I am now back to work and my wife continues with her job as a teacher. We also have our house paid off in full and have no credit cards. The only debt we have are some medical bills. It just seems weird how some people have replied with a few different email address about this guy in my other questions. I guess if I read the paperwork thourougly and have a attorney look at it I should be alright if legit, correct?Thanks for the answers. I emailed the person with a email address I just created. It is someone from nigeria asking info such as name, address, phone number, and ssn if applicable. It is a total scam for sure. I also read other questions on here similar to mine with the same sort of responses. If it sounds to good to be true, it usually is! That's kind of what I figured but thought it was worth asking. I'm going to talk to my local bank, explain my situation, and hopefully they can help or point me in the right direction. Thank you everyone!The name of this guy's company is... Clarke Loan Firm located in Nigeria. Millions of spammers from there!Here's a link to my original question if anyone is interested....... http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlrCA7GWy7HTSNzeEl7kTHvsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090611233627AA801O6 more

Resolved Question: What are typical closing costs on a home loan?

I am now on a 5 year adj. rate interest only mortgage @ 5.25%, Balance is $177,000. House is worth approx. $320,000. Loan company says to get into a 30 year fixed principal and interest loan at 5.25% will cost $8,800.00 closing costs. Is this higher than normal? more

Open Question: First time home buyer who paid way too much for a townhouse!?

So I bought a town house in a newly built townhome community in San Diego, Ca about a year and a half ago. When I purchased my home, my wife and I went through the BOA Accorn program, and we were told this was "an up and coming" neighborhood that was receiving a lot of attention/$$ to improve, and would be a great investment. We got a fixed mortgage rate loan for 40 years, the first 10 of which only pays for interest. Here is the problem, I am realizing that we paid entirely too much for our home. Many townhomes are selling in my same community complex (same construction company, model, etc.) for about HALF or Less than what we bought ours for!! Further, my wife recently lost her job (4 months ago), and I am struggling to make the mortgage payments. Although I still make them every month, they are ALWAYS late, and I am getting constant calls. My question is, is there any way to reduce the cost of the house to match what other homes are selling for in the same complex, or is there anything I can do, aside from losing the house to lower the ridiculous amount I agreed to purchase at? I realize that I was an idiot for buying at the price I did, but I was a trusting idiot, and was under the impression that I was being dealt with honestly by the selling agent/representative of the townhouse builders. I know, stupid. Anyways, any help, guidance, suggestions, etc. would be greatly appreciated, as I have been told that there may be a way of salvaging some of the damage I have done. Please advise and thanks!Thanks to all who have responded. For those of you that continue to say that I was in over my head....ummm I was not at the time i purchased the home....my wife was working then!! She has since lost her job, due to lay offs, hence my struggle to make payments. So although I appreciate the input please read the email thoroughly before judging. Also, I am here to ask a question and see if there is any possibility for help, I am not here for insults or ridicule. I am not welching on my debt, and in fact am still making payments, even though I have become a single income family. So again, for those of you providing valuable opinions, insight and suggestions, thanks! All others such as Ryan know what they can do with themselves. Thanks! more

Resolved Question: Refinance with HOPE government program?

My wife and I are looking at all options for us to somehow refinance or adjust an upside down mortgage on our home here in California. We love our home & neighbors and would like to stay in it. Ive read too many stories where people have spent thousands of dollars with lawyers, only to lose their money becuase nothing happens in the long run (KFI-640am in Los Angeles has one shady advertiser with a D- rating on BBB). Ive done a bunch of research... there doesnt seem like too many options out there besides going directly to my mortgage company and pleading for help. Which through phone calls have said they arent interested in helping us "at this time". The "Obama Plan" doesnt cover my situation since my mortgage is upside down too much. Lastly, the HOPE program reduces the loan amount to the current house value, then does a refi, but also requires the home owner to give up 50% of any future equity in the house. The governments website of the HOPE program does not have much information on it. One glaring question I have that no one can seem to answer is: What if we pay off our loan within 30 years... do I still owe the government 50% equity after I pay off the loan (and if I sell the house)? Does anyone have any good info about the HOPE program or any other options available to me? Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks!Ryan... do you want to know why I'm looking into this? BECAUSE I CAN ! Because the stupid politicians made these programs. The same stupid politicians that raped our country and gave all of our money to the Feds, to the Chinese, and to everyone else. The same idiots that nationalized our private companies.So if we never sell, we never give up any earned equity? more

Voting Question: Question about mortgage payments?

My husband and I purchased our first home in January 2009. Our mortgage was for 113,897 @ 5.5%. We used the VA loan with zero down and no PMI. My question is... we paid 5 months of payments at 810 a month and our new balance is 113,394. Does that mean out of the 810 a month... 160 goes to escrow for house insurance and taxes, 100.60 goes to the actual mortgage payment and the remainder 549.40 goes to interest? more

Resolved Question: Is mortgage loan tax exempted ?

Hi, I want to apply for a Home loan to renovate and do some repairs in my house. For which i require 5-6 lakhs. I want a home loan as the interest rate is high and its tax exempted. But most of the banks say they will approve a mortgage loan and not a home loan. Is mortgage loan tax exempted ? and which would you suggest a Home or a mortgage loan ? Please advise. Thanks.I reside in India, and plan to take the loan in India.That still dosen't answer my question, Can mortgage loan be used as tax exempted ? more

Resolved Question: Way behind on mortgage.... trying to decide what to do?

Was laid off over 2 years and now behind about 18 months on mortgage and HOA fees. I just got another job about a month ago, but making a lot less than before. I can't seem to get any answers from CW. They seem to busy to foreclose, but won't even accept a payment from me. Say I need to try to qualify for home modification loan and basically requalify for my mortgage. I almost feel it's best to walk away rather than try to pay back... what would be worse paying for all that interest and late fees, etc... or the damage to my credit which can't be much worse than already. Any advise from professionals that know? HELP! more

Resolved Question: Ok Liberals what went wrong?

OBAMA'S MORTGAGE RESCUE PLAN IS A FAILURE By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN Published on DickMorris.com on June 9, 2009 The data for April and May prove that Obama's plan to rescue those facing mortgage foreclosure is a dismal failure. Since this issue was the cornerstone of his economic program during the campaign, its abject failure is a significant setback for the Administration's economic plan. In the month ending on May 26th, 464,983 foreclosures of subprime and Alt-A mortgages (out of a universe of 3.2 million studied). So 15% of all subprime mortgages were foreclosed in May! Only 19,041 -- a paltry 6% -- were modified during this period. And of those modified, only 11,200 involved any reduction in the monthly payments! Only 12% involved any write-off of interest, fees, or principal and 27% of the loan modifications actually increased the monthly payments due. Alan M. White of the Valparaiso Law School, who conducted the study, noted that the data showed that "the Administration's plan to stimulate mortgage modifications does not seen to have had much effect yet, at least in this market segment" [i.e. subprimes]. And the trend lines are all bad: • The number of loan modifications dropped 11% from April to May. • The ratio of foreclosure losses to modification write downs (the amount lost in foreclosure: the amount rescued by write-downs) doubled in the past month. For every dollar saved in modifications, $150 was lost in foreclosure. When Obama launched his mortgage rescue plan, he promised that it would help five million households. So far, he is about 4,969,000 short of his goal!! When will the subprime foreclosures stop? In about a year when all of these unfortunate people have lost their homes! Why is Obama's plan falling so far short of the mark? The fault is its own restrictions. You cannot get a loan modification if: • You have lost your job • You owe more than 5% above what your house is worth • You are already in default • You have not yet missed at least one payment • Your lender does not want to participate • Your mortgage is not one of the half of all mortgages insured or owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac • The reworked mortgage payment would come to more than 31% of your income • Your mortgage is over $759,000 • The home is not your primary residence The number of beleaguered homeowners who can slip through the eye of this particular needle and qualify for a mortgage modification is tiny. (We discuss failure of Obama's mortgage relief program at length in our new book Catastrophe, due out on June 23rd. Pre-orders of signed books are available at DickMorris.com) And yet there is an easy remedy at hand. Obama should simply say, as they did in Sweden, that the government will simply buy the distressed mortgages from the banks and adjust the payments to make them possible for the homeowners. Then, when the economy comes back, the homeowners could either pay back the government what they owe for the postponed payments or sell the house and repay the feds from the proceeds. If they won't do either, the feds could then seize the house and get their money back. Cost to the taxpayers: zero. In f act, they would likely make a profit. Why won't Obama do this? It's because a Democratic administration cannot throw people out of their homes. Better to let them default and make the big, bad bank do the dirty work. All these facts underscore how cynical was Obama's campaign in predicating so much of its economic message on an appeal to help those facing foreclosure. You don't hear Obama talk about foreclosures any more do you? That's because he knows he has no solution and that he won't offer any. more

Resolved Question: Is this another failure of the Obama administration?

The data for April and May prove that Obama's plan to rescue those facing mortgage foreclosure is a dismal failure. Since this issue was the cornerstone of his economic program during the campaign, its abject failure is a significant setback for the Administration's economic plan. In the month ending on May 26th, 464,983 foreclosures of subprime and Alt-A mortgages (out of a universe of 3.2 million studied). So 15% of all subprime mortgages were foreclosed in May! Only 19,041 -- a paltry 6% -- were modified during this period. And of those modified, only 11,200 involved any reduction in the monthly payments! Only 12% involved any write-off of interest, fees, or principal and 27% of the loan modifications actually increased the monthly payments due. Alan M. White of the Valparaiso Law School, who conducted the study, noted that the data showed that "the Administration's plan to stimulate mortgage modifications does not seen to have had much effect yet, at least in this market segment" [i.e. subprimes]. And the trend lines are all bad: • The number of loan modifications dropped 11% from April to May. • The ratio of foreclosure losses to modification write downs (the amount lost in foreclosure: the amount rescued by write-downs) doubled in the past month. For every dollar saved in modifications, $150 was lost in foreclosure. When Obama launched his mortgage rescue plan, he promised that it would help five million households. So far, he is about 4,969,000 short of his goal!! When will the subprime foreclosures stop? In about a year when all of these unfortunate people have lost their homes! Why is Obama's plan falling so far short of the mark? The fault is its own restrictions. You cannot get a loan modification if: • You have lost your job • You owe more than 5% above what your house is worth • You are already in default • You have not yet missed at least one payment • Your lender does not want to participate • Your mortgage is not one of the half of all mortgages insured or owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac • The reworked mortgage payment would come to more than 31% of your income • Your mortgage is over $759,000 • The home is not your primary residence The number of beleaguered homeowners who can slip through the eye of this particular needle and qualify for a mortgage modification is tiny. more

Resolved Question: i neede legal help with real estate.?

in 2000 my wife and i went through a terrible experience we trusted a mortgage broker to find us a cheaper interest rate, well what happened is forgery, fraud, embezzlement, and what is worse she set us up to get our house taken away from us. i need a lawyer or someone who knows what they are doing to contact us. if she did nothing wrong then why did she and the home appraiser file for bankruptcy the same day and my loan was the first thing on there list i tried going to court but the judge was paid off he would not even listen to my side of the facts. and i have it all on paper with two loan doc. one with false info and trumped up charges and forged names. more

Resolved Question: Underwater mortgage what do you do with a situation like this?

I have a mortgage that is 82,000, with the 6 foreclosures on my street my home is now worth 39,500-- What in the world does someone do in this situation. The home I purchased WAS in a great area, 1 yr after purchase the town built 2 section 8 apt complexes, closed down the school district to the south and sent them all to this district. In other words I bought the house in 1999 and in 10 yrs the city went to the dogs. Now what are my options- I dont want to rent the house (that is a sheer headache), I had a loan modification (to avoid foreclosure)done last yr @ 4% interest but that resets to 8.5% next June and I do not want to pay that. What the heck is to be done here any one have an idea-- I know I am not the only one in this boat. Thank you for your help. more

Resolved Question: How will tax laws, etc. affect my boyfriend and I when we buy a home in my name?

I'll be putting in an offer on a home this afternoon. My boyfriend and I would be moving in and splitting the costs. My parents will be funding this by arranging for a private loan from them to me. One of their restrictions is that everything be under my name since we're not married (we're engaged, but planning a surprise wedding.) My assumption is that what we'd have to do is that I would claim all property taxes, mortgage interest payments, etc. on my taxes, and he would have to do his taxes as a "renter." I would have to claim his half of the payments as rental income. Is this correct? To keep things fair, since I would end up coming out better on the tax front, I would be putting all of my refund money (including the 1st time home buyer credit) into improving the house, since it does need some work done. Luckily, we've known each other long enough and lived together long enough to know that neither of us would ever try to cheat the other- I have no worries that he'll pay his half, and he has no worries that, if the worst happens and we split, I wouldn't arrange for him to receive his half of the proceeds of the sale, so no advice needed on that aspect (my parents even felt bad about the clause and were afraid of offending us with their practicality :-p) more

Resolved Question: Refinance vs foreclosure of ex's house?

Long story, please take the time to read. My ex-husband and I have a home mortgaged in both of our names. We have been divorced for five years, but he is unable (or unwilling) to refinance the home on his own (or with his new wife he married in March). On Friday the wife called me and said that they were contacted by someone who could help them lower the house payments by re-modifying the mortgage to give them a lower interest rate. They were contacted because he has been late on the payments and is a few months behind. The only catch is that I would have to sign the re-modification papers with him. The wife said that if I don't sign these papers, he will have to file for bankruptcy. Then he will keep the house anyways because it is his primary place of residence and the courts will lower the payments to something that he can afford. The thing is, we just signed re-modification papers is November to put the unpaid past due balance back onto the principle so that he would be considered current on the mortgage. And before that in February of last year I loaned him $1400 to help him get current and pay past due payments. When I gave him the money in February, I thought that it would be the end of it, then I found out in September that he had had some kind of surgery and had missed some payments because he had to miss work. So that is when I agreed to sign the re-mod to get him back out of the negative. I thought that when I signed the papers that that would be the end of it. Now here it is only six months later and he still can't make the payments (they are about $730/month now). I have done everything I can to try and help him keep this house. He doesn't want to loose the house, but I don't think he should keep it if he can't afford it. I am not unwilling to sign the re-mod, but how is this going to look on my credit when I go to but a home for my family? I currently live with my husband and three children in my father-in-law's house, rent free. I have all three children (6 year old girl, 3 year old boy, and 4 month old boy) in one room. I was planning on buying a house sometime in the next year. My current husband's credit is not going to help since he filed bankruptcy and has a home foreclosure on his credit from his divorce in 2004. The best solution in my opinion would be for my ex and his wife to refinance the home and get my name off of it all together, but she has bad credit (from her previous marriage) and an unstable work history (she won't keep a job). So my question basically is: Which is better? Having a mortgage already on my credit (one that may be delinquent), or having a foreclosure? Should I sign the re-modification papers or not? more

Resolved Question: Mortgage obligation/rights to deed with boyfriend/girlfriend on VA loan?

Hi, My boyfriend and I have decided to purchase a home together. We are both residents of the state of Wyoming. There was a program put out a few weeks ago that had a 2.5% interest rate, but the income cap was 63K/year, and with both of our incomes, that put us over the limit. Also, we wanted to use his VA eligibility, but the VA would not let me on the mortgage because I am not his spouse and do not have VA rights of my own. We made the decision to get the Spirit of Wyoming! loan program and use the VA loan to save the extra interest and not have a down-payment required. Now, we're in a bit of a dilemma ~ My stance: I am 100% okay with being financially obligated to the house. Originally, we had planned to mortgage the house together, and the only reason we did not was because we saved thousands using the special Wyoming program (About 15K the first five years alone!)and the VA loan. I have said, however, that since I am paying equally into the mortgage, I want to make sure that I have rights to the property, rights to the equity if/when we re-sell the house. We're talking about a lot of money, here, and I don't want to have some unforeseen falling out (I don't anticipate it, but you never know), and then have to walk away with nothing, and have invested years into this property and have no return. If I wanted to just throw my money away and invest for someone else's benefit, I'd rent. His stance: He is hesitant to put me on the deed after closing because he does not want me to be able to have 50% claim to the house if it is sold but no real legal financial obligation to the property since I am not on the mortgage. I have offered to sign a lease, but a lease is not the same as the 30-year obligation he is tied to with the mortgage. Again, he doesn't see us breaking up, but with this kind of money on the line, I think we would both sleep easier knowing there were safeguards in place. So ~ Does anyone have a solution to how I can have rights to the property, and he can have the assurance that I am going to be held accountable for paying my share of things? I know it's no big deal to put me on the title, but we have no idea how or what kind of papers to get drawn up to say that I will be financially liable. The only option I would see would be to re-finance, but I'm NOT loosing this amazing mortgage rate. There were only a limited # of mortgages available through this program, and we were very lucky to get one of them (there were roughly 100 mortgages available at this rate and they were practically gone by the end of week 2 of the program being started). The big problem is that it's a VA loan, and I know they get weird about renting or having an agreement that entitles me to equity since that would be like 'selling' the VA loan to a non-veteran. Help!!!~ Per the VA website, you can add a name to the deed. ~ Per the VA website, you can rent out a VA mortgaged property. more

Resolved Question: How to tell realtor I'm no longer interested in purchasing a home?

Last month I contacted a realtor about a home for sale (he was the name on the sign). That property was no longer available, but he showed me other, similar homes. I didn't like most of them (bad neighborhoods, old and needing a lot of repair, way too small etc)--there was only one that I really liked and was considering making an offer on. Yesterday, I called my bank about getting a mortgage and found out that the amount they'd be willing to loan me is far less (about $50,000) than the price of the home I wanted. Now that I know this, I don't want to look at any more places. I didn't like any of the homes I'd be able to afford with the loan, and I don't see the point of buying something I don't like, or even continuing to look. What is the best way to convey this to the realtor? I don't want to be rude or burn bridges, and he seems like kind of a "hard sell" type person. What is the best way to handle this? Thanks!I did not sign any kind of contract. I saw a home in my neighborhood for sale and wanted more info about it. He was the contact person. That property was not available, so he showed me some others. There was one I liked, but I did not make any kind of offer. Thanks for your responses, they are very helpful! more

Resolved Question: Is it a good deal for loan Modification?

My lender has approved my loan modification application. They are saying workout loan a 40 due in 7 balloon with impounds @ 4% with alternative payments for 24 months. What this means is your 1st and 2nd mortgage will be combine into 1 loan @ 4 % for 7 years and amortized over 40 years the balloon note comes due at the end of 7 years . The alternative payments will be Interest and Impounds only for 24 months. If you choose to accept the offer please let me know by responding to my email and I will have your loan assigned to a 1st mortgage processor. Could you please tell me is it a good deal? or do i need to contact any attorney so they can reduce more? Please advise me. I asked them to make it 3.5% for 40 years fixed and do not need 7 balloons but if I have not accepted this then they will short sell my home. I was paying as below Purchased price and year - $405,000 in Year May 2004 Current FMV - $306,000 First loan Balance - $296,000 at 4.5% (till June 2009)(30 YR 3/1 ARM) Refinanced in year 2006 2nd loan balance - $110,000 at 7.25% fixed for 15 years more

Voting Question: How can I get off a loan with the ex husband when he won't let me?

Short version: Got a divorce last year but it was finalized end of March 2009. We agreed to keep the house until the market was better and sell it and we both would pay half for the house and we both agreed that the ex would look for a roommate to help pay for the mortgage. House has 3 bedrooms and a basement with a full bath. We rented out the basement for 3 years to a friend, so it is very livable. He has a daughter who has one room. The other 2 are his. We rented the basement out for 600 before. When I decided to leave him for many reasons, I was jobless. I got my accounting certification but he told me to stay home and be a housewife. So when I left him, I was jobless, tried to find a job to help pay for the mortgage. Now Im working 2 low paying jobs to try to pay him for our credit cards, his car payment, the mortgage, etc as agreed on the divorce papers. I just wanted to sign the papers to get out peacefully. The divorce wasn’t ugly but his friends were mean to me. I am not allowed in the house, so he says. I own half of the house. I told him to find a roommate, sell it, move out and I’ll move in cuz I have 2 roommates. I am having an extremely hard time making the payments. For the month of May I only could pay him half of the requirement. I have to pay my own bills, pay rent, etc. So Im really struggling. He communicates with my parents. He told my mom that I didn’t pay him last month. He shouldn’t involve my parents in OUR problem. He wont communicate with me about money or the roommate situation. I know of 2 interested roommates that would move in but his daughter (15 years old) is living with him because her mom kicked her out cuz she ran away TWICE in 2 months and dropped out of school 3 times at 3 different schools all in 3 months. She got arrested for smoking dope and shoplifting. This is one of the reasons why I left, he wasn’t taking responsibility. SO no one wants to live there because they don’t trust her. So why am I getting punished? People are telling me that I shouldn’t be paying HIM. BUT my name’s on the house, if he doesn’t pay mortgage then I’m screwed too. He wont buy me out. He tried to refi by himself, couldn’t get approved. He wont sell because the market is bad and we owe 340k on the house. It was appraised for 390 in Oct 2008 but the houses around our house is selling lower than 340k and they are nicer than ours. So he’s afraid that we will have to owe money after selling for much lower. I want OFF the mortgage, the loan, OUR bills together. My name is not on any of the credit cards anymore, that’s what he says. He did offer me an offer IF he got approved for the Refi himself which was to sign the house off and pay him $6500 for all the bills – my part. And walk away with nothing. But he wasn’t approved. So now Im stuck with paying half of everything and im not even “allowed” in the house. What do I do?? ThanksI dont want to get lawyers involved because it costs $$ and we both agreed at the start that we wanted to do this in a civil way and Im trying to avoid lawyers at all cost. more

Resolved Question: VA loan mortgage rates?

My husband and I are thinking of buying our first home using his VA loan benefit. Our friends used theirs in Jan 2009 and they received 5.5% interest rate, they have really great credit and we dont, my husbands score is 635. When I called around today (i called 6 places mortgage companies and banks) I was told the VA interest rate has gone up, 2 banks quoted me 6%, 3 said 6.5% and another said 6.75%%.. These numbers have nothing to do with credit as I never provided any info for them, only asked what the current VA mortgage rates were... I thought rates were dropping...Im confused now more