Reverse Mortgage Supplemental Retirement Financing Strategy
Written on 13 August 2008 by Miggy
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A reverse mortgage is a loan for senior citizens. It is often used to cover medical expenses, and is becoming a common way for retired persons to supplement their existing monthly retirement income.
This is a loan that senior home owners may take against their current home. You don’t need to pay monthly installment in this type of loan. Instead, the lender will pay for you. You will pay the loan back from your equity when you’ve left the home either by selling it or passing away. Your children can keep your home by paying the loan back with interest if they don’t want to sell it.
The concept of reverse mortgage is confusing to many and very often analogous with the conventional mortgage but they are quite different from each other. A conventional mortgage is a falling-debt and rising-equity transaction. But in the case of reverse mortgages, you will be given money by the lender and you will not make payment. So, it will result in a rising-debt and falling-equity model. This is a perfect
New Mortgage Lending Rules
Written on 1 July 2008 by Avatar
The Federal Government has drafted and is seeking to implement new guidelines to be adopted by mortgage lenders and borrowers alike to prevent similar housing market problems in the future. Some analysts see this as a step too late and that the market is already in a deep state of disrepair even with the new set of rules and several attempts of the Fed to lower Mortgage interest rates. The new rules aim to improve the current system being used imposing stiffer penalties to lenders and borrowers alike thus demanding strict compliance from both. Many lenders have also suffered greatly from the current crisis who forecast the turmoil to last till 2009.
The Real Estate Business isn’t doing bad!
Written on 1 June 2008 by Avatar
The National Association of Realtors, in it’s recently concluded annual conference challenged it�s members with an important task this year. The association through its president has announced dismay over the tons of bad publicity the Real Estate business has been getting these past few months due to fluctuating interest rates on mortgages. Many media people have said that the housing business is suffering a slow death but they say that it is all speculation and that the business of real estate is doing well and sales are up. They demonstrated this more by saying that the year 2007 was ranked the 5th ever highest season for home sales and that the jobs are getting better with more and more people getting employed. They ended by telling their members that they should straighten the facts in their respective areas of coverage disproving that the ever-worsening news has been the result of a few misinformed industry analysts who are up to no good.
Extremely Low House Prices, Call for Extreme Measures
Written on 5 May 2008 by Avatar
People who have been finding it hard to sell their existing luxury homes for more affordable ones that can keep easily are finding it harder and harder to find prospective buyers. Many have turned to extreme measures for their house selling efforts such as hiring Feng Shui experts to do some adjustments to increase the amount of positive energy entering the home to getting around with fancy nicknames such as Lover’s Paradise, sparkling pool with a view and other outrageous logos just to sell out their home.
FBI Reports Mortgage Fraud Cases are on the Rise
Written on 1 May 2008 by Avatar
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is starting to see a tremendous surge in mortgage fraud investigations that they have diverted agents from menial tasks to help stem the problem. Fraud in US financial Institutions, as well as those associated with lending practices are on the rise as a result of the sub-prime mortgage debacle. There were several incidents of insider trading violations who allow risky borrowers to continue getting loans in spite of the current crisis that has been a result of the same practices. Several companies, though undisclosed, are being investigated for fraud and other crimes related to the mortgage industry. Lenders are some of the worst hit but they are essential for the industry to survive for they provide bulk of finances needed for short-term goals. They are also the ones who fuels the industry but cases of fraud and insider meddling may signify that people are getting desperate in their attempts to survive the crisis. The agency is hard at work to get these people to answer for their crimes in hopes of preventing further loss of confidence in them for they are the lifeblood of the industry indeed.
Sale of Vacant homes Hits Record High
Written on 29 April 2008 by Avatar
The Census Bureau in a report has shown that the volume of vacant houses that are coming up for sale is at a high of 2.9% of all US homes and that figure excludes rental properties. The last highest level was recorded way back 1956 and the figures are sending shivers to homeowners as they too may lose their homes in the coming months. Once exclusive properties have been turned into regular homes with prices hitting rock bottom and much of their allure gone. Doing the math, that amounts to a total of 2.28 million properties that are vacant and for sale in the whole United States from 2.18 million from the last quarter of last year. Global economists are finding the figures quite worrying and they are keeping a close eye on the matter. Figures of low house sales that palaces it at a 16 1/2 year low isn’t helping and people are truly worried. Construction firms who have been hit have cut back on their work in hopes of getting the housing industry to catch up are having to cut back more to remain in business.
Title Insurance Firms Going Down
Written on 21 April 2008 by Avatar
As expected, even the title insurers are now getting to feel the crunch the sub-prime lending market left and the after-taste is sour for as less and less houses are sold, they also lose the ability or market to offer their products and services. Last year, the five companies who hold 90% of the title insurance market posted losses at around 12% and that was just as the flames were getting hot. The flame then has now become a wildfire and further losses that could go as much as 20% is expected this year making it worse for these companies. Losses in the millions have been reported as first quarter profit results are posted and the outlook does not look good. The real estates industry is feeling the strain and common Americans are too, selling off non-necessities, renting, and more are some of the trends being observed as the economy slips deeper into a state of depression.
Freddie and Fannie’s Proposed Fix – Flawed
Written on 17 April 2008 by Avatar
No sooner that the proposal from Freddie and Fannie have hit the Mortgage crisis and after it was hailed to be the next best thing to what had happened to the sub-prime lending industry, experts from all sides are already crying foul even before they have been put in place. Why, the people from the Mortgage Banker’s Association say that the proposed code of conduct they have already made with the federal government is flawed and sketchy at best. The proposed move places Federal agencies to oversee government-sponsored industries is quite difficult and would make already tedious process harder. Lenders are barred from relying on in-house appraisals for those that are done by affiliated businesses. The whole deal would create more haze than clear up the process and many more problems would result from them as previously thought. The problem is that Freddie and Fannie have already signed the deal that is set to go into force this coming year which are only a few months off. They did not consult the industry nor it’s leaders on the move they were going to make and that they acted on their own accord without any representatives of the affected industries. All this to shield appraisers from the pressures of industry which sometimes tries to inflate home values.
More Banks going… going… GONE
Written on 9 April 2008 by Avatar
More banks are expected to be affected by the current credit crunch that has stemmed off the sub-prime lending market’s problems. The ever lowering prices of homes (where many banks, national and local have investments in) is proving to tax on them heavily that if no changes occur, they could fall one by one. The next problematic avenue that is seen to arise from the financial crisis is the credit card sector due again to the effects of the slowing economy that has people scrambling to save and scrounge up all for savings for the uncertain future of the housing market.
House Prices Leveling out – DEEP!
Written on 1 April 2008 by Avatar
The idea that the housing market has started to level out is not accepted for there are not enough house sales to signify such. Imagine a home sale rate of 3.0% for January and that gives you a picture of a housing market that may take forever to recover. The Federal Government has said that they have seen no further slides in the trends that are visible so far yet that remains to be seen as rattled home buyers turn to renting till the smoke settles. To assume that home-buyers would get back on the hunt soon is a very early prediction indeed for as of now, they’re nowhere to be seen.
