How to Buy a Foreclosed Home

Here's a link to an article I found this morning. I think that it gives a good overview of the foreclosure market and different ideas of how you can take advantage of current conditions.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/06/real_estate/Foreclosure_bargains/index.htm?postversion=2008080811

Have you considered a Reverse Mortgage?

If you are 62 years of age or older, I believe that you are doing yourself a disservice if you don't investigate the merits of a reverse mortgage. If you own your home and have equity, the following are some benefits:

• Eliminate your mortgage payment so you can remain in your house or live with less financial stress in your life
• Cash out equity and use the money however you wish. Some ideas are to invest the money in the stock market or buy an annuity, buy a vacation home, purchase an RV to travel the country, gift money to your heirs, pay for major expenses or pay off debt
• Use the equity in your home to eliminate your mortgage payment and receive monthly income

It's easy to qualify as well! You don't need to provide any income documentation to the bank, you don't need to have a job, and there's no minimum credit score required to qualify for a reverse mortgage. You just need to be at least 62 years old and the property that you take out the reverse mortgage on needs to be your primary residence.

The most popular reverse mortgages are either FHA or Fannie Mae backed.

Check it out. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY YOUR NEW HOME?

The simple answer to my question is YES. It makes sense that people who need to sell their existing house before purchasing a new one are stymied by current market conditions. BUT, this is a great time to be a First Time Homebuyer or renter looking to own again. From all accounts, real estate prices in our area are near bottom. Mortgage rates remain low, at least by historical standards, and it's a buyers market. What more could you ask for?

All you need to do is get yourself pre-qualified by a mortgage broker, which basically gives you the clout of a cash buyer and will let you know the price range that you can afford, get yourself a good realtor, and start looking for your new home! There's plenty of inventory to choose from.

If you aren't concerned with getting settled into a new school district by the beginning of September, you have an even greater edge. It is a very difficult time to be a seller right now and many homes are not priced for this market (they're still priced at last years values). A good realtor will be able to help you with making a fair offer.

If you're a first time homebuyer who's sick of renting or living with your parents, what are you waiting for?

You Can Still Get A Mortgage!

It's been sometime since I last "blogged". I've gone through some serious personal issues with my Dad. I am going to do my best to provide new posts at least on a weekly basis going forward.

Since my last post, the mortgage and credit markets have continued to tighten, the economy has worsened (in my opinion), gas prices have sky-rocketed, mortgage rates have risen, and banks have frozen existing lines of credit due to the declining real estate values. It's been quite a year!

There is good news, though! YOU CAN STILL QUALIFY FOR A MORTGAGE!

That's right! Customers with decent credit can still easily qualify for a new mortgage provided they can document their income, assets, and put down at least 3% of the purchase price. This really isn't too much to ask! Many, not all, of the current foreclosures are due to customers with poor credit qualifying for Stated Income or No Documentation loans that they (in hindsight) should never have qualified for in the first place. It's unfortunate but the customers should also have realized that they couldn't afford these loans.

The people who are being unfairly impacted in this new market is the business owner with great credit, who legitimately makes money but can't show it the way a salary worker can. This is the person that Stated Income loans were originally created for.

The market, while being difficult, is really normalizing back to the way it used to be. When I purchased my first home in 1991, I put down 20% of the purchase price, showed the bank 2 years of W2's along with current pay stubs, bank and brokerage account statements showing my cash reserves and where my downpayment was coming from.This was expected and not considered unreasonable.

Bottom line - salaried workers with good credit can still qualify for mortgages. And, it's a great time to be buying real estate.

Visit my website at http://www.stevehawk.biz or send me an email if you're interested in learning about your mortgage options.

Have a great week!