Any guarantees in investing is a good thing! Why not invest in your future with real estate!?
Showing posts with label investment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label investment. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Record number of real estate transactions are ALL CASH......Do "they" know something YOU don't?!
With interest rates low and home prices down, appreciation of real estate is inevitable! If you can buy a home or real estate investment now, you will be rewarded in the next 5-10yrs. You have to live somewhere, so why not take advantage of this opportunity! Be a leader in your social circle, not a follower, you will be happy you did.
Phil Missig
310-844-6434
All-cash home sales hit record highs
All-cash home buying is surging across the United States, including in Orange County, as lenders tighten mortgage standards, middle-class buyers are sidelined and investors see opportunity.
Nationwide, cash buyers grabbed 33 percent of all used homes sold in February, the National Association of Realtors reported March 21. The figures, based on agent reporting, do not include foreclosure auctions on courthouse steps, which are usually cash-only.
In Orange County and California real estate, DataQuick Information Systems reports similar trends based on county recordings that do not show any purchase loan.
Cash-only sales have more than doubled in Orange County, from a monthly average of 10.4 percent in the past 23 years to a monthly average of 24 percent in the past 12 months, DataQuick statistics show. In January, all-cash sales hit 28.3 percent in the county – the highest for any month since DataQuick started tracking the figure in 1988.
In Irvine, 31.6 percent of the 393 homes sold so far this year were paid for in cash, real estate broker Cathy Haney said. The average sales price of the all-cash deals this year was $657,854, while the median price for all the Irvine homes sold was $535,000, she said.
Across California, mortgage-less home purchases have doubled from an average 14.7 percent in the past 23 years to 28.3 percent in the past 12 months, according to DataQuick. Cash deals hit 32.9 percent in February, the highest for any month since at least 1988.
"You're seeing an increase in cash deals at both ends of the price distribution curve," said Sam Khater, chief economist for CoreLogic Inc., a real estate information company. "You're seeing it in the hardest hit areas, where investors are coming in and picking up low-priced properties. And you're seeing higher cash activity at the upper end as well."
The "lion's share" of all-cash purchases nationwide are from investors, according to Walter Molony, a spokesman for National Association of Realtors. Real estate investors seek rental income, long-term appreciation or a quick profit.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Self Employed - Have some cash but can't refinance due to your tax returns - Read this!
A Little-Known Strategy for Cutting Mortgage Payments
By LYNNLEY BROWNING
Published: December 30, 2010
HOMEOWNERS looking to lower their monthly mortgage payments and also save some on interest may be able to do so without all the hefty fees and daunting credit requirements of refinancing.
A little-known strategy, called “recasting,” or “re-amortization,” is available through some mortgage lenders and servicers.
It involves paying off a lump sum of the principal amount and asking to have the monthly payments reset according to the original interest rate and loan terms. The lump sum reduces the principal, so your new monthly payments decrease slightly and you save on interest paid over the life of the loan.
Lenders typically charge an administrative fee of $150 or more for this service, though borrowers are not required to pay closing costs or submit to another credit check, because they are not asking for a new loan.
Recasting works well for those unable to qualify for refinancing amid the ever-toughening credit guidelines — perhaps because they are self-employed or have less-than-stellar credit — as well as for those with extra cash, like a year-end bonus.
“People don’t really know about it,” said Alan Rosenbaum, the founder and chief executive of the Guardhill Financial Corporation in New York, “but it’s become more common recently.”
Although the term “recasting” is often used by the mortgage industry to refer to interest-rate resets on adjustable-rate mortgages, here the interest rate and loan term stay the same.
Here’s how it might work. Let’s say that as of late December, you had just over $230,449 of principal left on a 30-year fixed-rate loan for $300,000 taken out at 7.93 percent in 1995. You have been paying just under $2,187 a month in principal and interest. But if you put in $20,000 toward that remaining principal and asked your lender to reamortize your payments over the remaining 15 years on the loan, your monthly payment would drop by $184, to around $2,002. Putting in $100,000 would save $945 a month and bring payments to $1,241.
Making extra payments toward the principal while not asking the bank to recast a loan keeps monthly payments the same and merely shortens the time it takes to pay off the loan.
There are a few caveats to recasting, however. The first is that you may need to have a large sum on hand. JPMorgan Chase, for example, charges a $150 fee and requires a minimum $5,000 payment toward the principal.
Another issue is having a lender, or loan servicer, that offers the service. And even those that do may impose restrictions. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America exclude loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and loans that were sold off and securitized may also need investor approval.
While few if any lenders advertise recasting, “they are trying to become more customer-service-oriented, and they will do it on a case-by-case basis,” Mr. Rosenbaum said. Homeowners should contact their lender’s customer service department.
Lenders, which would probably rather earn thousands of dollars in closing fees from refinancing your loan, are not obliged to recast mortgages. And certain types of mortgages, for example interest-only and adjustable-rate loans, usually aren’t eligible. The borrower will also need to have been current with all mortgage payments to qualify.
Edward Ades, the owner of Universal Mortgage in Brooklyn, says recasting can be especially useful to recent buyers, for whom it makes little financial sense to refinance but who expect to receive a tax refund or other substantial money after closing on their property, like proceeds from a relative’s sale of property, stocks or other assets.
If your interest rate is 5 percent or lower, Mr. Ades added, it may not make sense to recast a loan, because the extra cash could be put into an investment with a higher return. “At the end of the day,” he said, “I always tell people they have to do whatever makes them sleep better.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: January 7, 2011
An earlier version of this article included an incorrect calculus of the monthly savings of re-amortizing a loan.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
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