The Mortgage Man
Get more out of your mortgage experience!Archive for May, 2008
How Do You Choose The Right Realtor?
How Do I choose the right realtor?
I am not the first person to write about this, and will most certainly not be the last. Here are some simple things to look for.
We are in historic and interesting times in the real estate business. There are more choices, and at better prices for buyers than have existed for decades. This creates a problem whether you are a buyer or a seller as to who you choose to help you in the process. For buyers, the first thing you should know is that you need your own “Buyer’s Agent”. This is important for 2 reasons: 1) the agent that has the home listed represents the seller, and the seller is their primary responsibility, and 2) the seller pays the fee for both Realtors whether you get one yourself, or use theirs.
For sellers, the chore is more daunting. Finding a real estate professional is the most important part of selling your home. If you get the right one, they could potentially have it sold for you in weeks. And, if you get the wrong one, you might go into foreclosure without ever even getting an offer. As a seller, the relationship between you and your agent is complex, but it must be open minded to work. If you are unrealistic about the price or willingness to negotiate, you will not sell your home. If your agent is so hungry that they will tell you whatever you want to hear, rather than stick to hard market data, you also will not sell your home. Take a look at a few simple suggestions for choosing the right agent for your situation.
- First, steer clear of the inexperienced agent. You may have a brother-in-law that is an auto mechanic, but just got his real estate license, and you feel more comfortable dealing with family. As you prepare to sell the largest asset that you and your family own, you need a professional in the same way that you would not go to a family practitioner to get open heart surgery.
- Find someone who knows your neighborhood better than anyone. There’s an old saying in real estate that is “Live where you sell, and sell where you live”. If you find the “super agent” in the Sunday paper, but he lives 40 minutes away from your home, you will be dissatisfied with his service regardless how many awards he has.
- Be open minded about the price, and decide if you want to “list” the property, or if you want to “sell” the property. The typical home owner may ask “what’s the difference?”, and someone in the business knows exactly what I am talking about. If you look at the comparable sales that have taken place for similar homes in your immediate area, and you are priced 20% above them because you refuse to accept less than “X” for your home, then you are wasting everyone’s time, including your own. You don’t dictate the price, the market does, and if the market is not in the right place for you right now, you need to either change your mind about selling, or change your mind about needs and wants on the price.
There is a lot more to selling your home than these simple pointers. But, the most important thing you need to take away from this article is to trust your Realtor and his(her) judgment. If you don’t….you have the wrong Realtor.
Friday May 16, 2008
The Bond Market Rallies Leading The Way For Mortgages Rates To Plunge.
Strength in today’s mortgage bond market could lead to a great opportunity for home owners looking to refinance.
As usual, what is good for the economy is good for stocks and bad for bonds and vice versa. And, what is good for bonds is also good for mortgage rates. This morning, the bond market was lumbering along without much going on…and then the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment report came out with the worst reported numbers in 26 years. This triggered a buying frenzy in the bond market, and mortgage bonds are currently trading at 70 basis points higher than the open.
On the surface there was good news in the housing market with Housing Starts for April up to 1.038 million, up from March’s 932,000 and significantly higher than the projected 940,000. I say on the surface because even though housing starts and building permits are up, it is yet to be seen how oil prices hitting record highs on a daily basis will affect the costs to build later. (Oil hit a new high again this morning at $127.43 per barrel).
Goldman Sach’s (one of the world’s leading securities firms) said today that they expect oil to hit $141 per barrel by the end of the year, and as much as $149 in 2009. If this is true, you better dust off the solar panels and check the air in the bicycle tires because this may be a bumpy ride.
As far as mortgages go, the bond has soared past resistance levels at the 25, 50 and 100 day moving averages. With strength like that, we may see push in the refinance market soon. If you are even considering refinancing, get your ducks in a row as movement like this will correct itself quickly, and the window of opportunity will be short.
What Do You Do If You Have An Adjustable Rate Mortgage Coming Due?
Hundreds of thousands of adjustable rate 3/1 ARMs were originated in 2005, and will be resetting this year. So what do you do if you are faced with this?
Millions of home owners nationwide are concerned about the economy, the real estate market, and the rising energy costs. As if that weren’t enough, many of them have a ticking clock on their mortgage rate that will be adjusting soon. Like sands through the hourglass, that day will eventually come and you can bury your head in the sand and hope that it goes away, or you can be proactive.
So, what are your options if your ARM is coming due?
- You can allow the rate to adjust if the difference in the new payment is negligible and you can still afford the payment after the adjustment. this will depend largely on the index that your loan is based on. If you have a treasury index loan, it is likely that you will have a larger adjustment than if you had a LIBOR index loan. This of course was just the luck of the draw at the time you got your loan as to which one had the better rate at the time. But, the LIBOR loan is more likely if you were in a non conforming type underwriting scenario such as “stated income” or “interest only” or both. If this is not a problem, you can sleep better at night knowing that your payment adjustment will not be the end of the world.
- If you can not afford the new payment, you may need to refinance into a fixed rate loan. Fixed rate loans are still very competitive right now, and as I write this, the national average is 6.05% for a conventional 30 year fixed rate mortgage (there is a lot of fine print with that quote that includes primary residence, 20% equity, no cash out at closing, etc.). If you have an adjustable rate, and you have equity in your home that will allow you to refinance, it may very well be worth it even if you take a higher rate than you have currently. For example, if your current rate is 5.5% and it will adjust this year with a maximum adjustment cap of 1%, you may consider refinancing at 6% for the long term security of knowing that the rate will never adjust again, rather than wait for the adjustable rate to move to 6.5%.
- If your overall financial situation has changed, and you can no longer afford the payment regardless whether you refinance or not, you have to sell. The government is not going to step in and save you, and neither will your mortgage company. All of the consumer protection discussions going on have nothing to do with changes in lifestyle, they directly address mortgage practices that took place at the time your loan was originated. So be aware, you have to be proactive, particularly if you are past due on your payment already.
- If you have no equity in your home, and you can no longer afford the payment, you have 2 choices: 1) Foreclosure, or 2) a Short Sale. A short sale is no easy task, and not everyone qualifies, but it is worth the hassle to not have a foreclosure on your record. A short sale, simply put, is getting a buyer to pay less than what you owe on the property, and convincing the lender to accept that as payment in full. This is not a new program, but it has exploded in popularity in the last year. This option will affect your credit in about the same way that a credit card account would where they agreed to settle for less than the amount owed. it is not a glowing recommendation on your credit, but it is significantly better than a foreclosure.
There are obviously more details involved in your situation than what I have covered here, but hopefully this helps to put your options out on the table.
The Mortgage Man 
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