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Here is a selection of my recent posts:

If you have had credit problems, be prepared to discuss them honestly with a mortgage professional. Responsible mortgage professionals know there can be legitimate reasons for credit problems, such as unemployment, illness, or other financial difficulties. If you had a problem that’s been corrected and your payments have been on time for a year or more, your credit may be considered satisfactory.

If you are currently in excess debt, there are four ways to control it:

If your credit is not in terrible shape, you can reduce your other expenses, even if it means making hard choices or changing your lifestyle to fit your income. Consider selling a second car, taking equity out of your home, applying for a non secured signature loan, obtaining a loan from a relative, selling your home and paying off your debts with the proceeds and then renting, cashing out your 401K/retirement benefits, or selling family heirlooms, jewelry, etc.

If your credit is already damaged or one of the above isn’t an option,     Read more

A reverse mortgage is a special type of loan made to older homeowners to enable them to convert the equity in their home to cash to finance living expenses, home improvements, in home health care, or other needs.

With a reverse mortgage, the payment stream is “reversed.” That is, payments are made by the lender to the borrower, rather than monthly repayments by the borrower to the lender, as occurs with a regular home purchase mortgage.

A reverse mortgage is a sophisticated financial planning tool that enables seniors to stay in their home or “age in place” and maintain or improve their standard of living without taking on a monthly mortgage payment. The process of obtaining a reverse mortgage involves a number of different steps.

The first most widely available reverse mortgage in the United States was the federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), which was authorized in 1987.

A reverse mortgage is different from a home equity loan or line of credit, which many banks and thrifts offer. With a home equity loan or line of credit, an applicant must meet certain income and credit requirements, begin monthly repayments immediately, and the home can have an existing first mortgage on it. In addition, there is no restriction on the age of borrowers.     Read more

Good news for home buyers looking to take advantage of current real estate prices. After a long hiatus, 90% jumbo loans are back in the game for higher-priced homes. Up until recently, a down payment of 20% was mandatory for jumbo loans over $729,750. We at Guarantee Mortgage have an exclusive contract with a small credit union that will lend up to $979,200 with a down payment of only 10%. That means you can purchase a house or condo up to $1,088,000 using a 5/1, 7/1 or 10/1 ARM. The program requires excellent credit and income and monthly mortgage insurance.

Dean Rizzi 
www.deanrizzi.com

It could very well be. Residential rental vacancy rates are below the 10-percent mark, where they had been lodged for most of the past three years. Peggy Alford, president of Rent.com, predicts that by 2012 the vacancy rate will hover at a mere 5 percent.
Since 2002, rental rates have been flat, and down of late (inflation-adjusted). If Rent.com projections are anywhere close to expectations, we could see a rise in rents of 15 percent over the next two years. That would be a significant reversal of fortune: rent hikes have averaged less than 1 percent annually over the past decade, according to Commerce Department statistics.
Pent up demand appears real: More than 1.2 million young adults moved back with their parents from 2005 to 2010, according to John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Many others doubled up together. Now that the recession is over, many of these young people are ready to find new living quarters, mostly as renters. Where there are renters, there must be property owners (even if they are not occupants). As rental rates increase, the capitalized market value of property increases too – that means rising real estate prices.
We’ve frequently noted that opportunities always abound, regardless of the perceived direness of current circumstances. The outlook in the rentals is another reason we think they abound in the residential real estate market.

Dean Rizzi
www.drlending.com

Buying after a short sale, including a pre-foreclosure event, requires the following:

 Short sale due to financial mismanagement:

 1. Minimum of 4 years, and up to 7 years, must have elapsed since the completion of the short sale.

2. The borrower may purchase a primary residence, second home or investment property with the greater of 10% minimum down payment or the minimum down payment required for the transaction.

3. Borrower must have re-established an acceptable credit history.

4. Minimum 680 credit score required.

Short sale due to documented extenuating circumstances:

1. A minimum of 2 years must have elapsed since the completion of the short sale.

2. The borrower may purchase a primary residence, second home or investment

3. property with the greater of 10% minimum down payment or the minimum down payment required for the transaction.

www.deanrizzi.com

Everyone likes real estate, whether what’s constructed on it serves as an abode or an investment. Real estate is tangible. Unlike stocks and bonds, real estate can be touched, handled and improved. Real estate provides “psychic revenue.” There is a pride of ownership that comes with real property that doesn’t come with other property.

Financial media are rife with articles on why owning residential real estate isn’t such a good idea. They point to arguments on how real estate decreases mobility or how much it costs to maintain. The articles have some validity, but they are often marked by glaring omissions. Yes, real estate can limit mobility in a slow economy, but it has always been that way. There is nothing new to this point.     Read more

So what is it that Warren Buffett is right about? “It’s never paid to bet against America . We come through things, but it’s not always a smooth ride.”

To be sure, it hasn’t been a smooth ride for those of us who earn our living from the housing and mortgage markets. But we believe that better days lie ahead and that the bumpiest days are behind us. In fact, we are enthusiastically encouraged about the future of both markets, and for what we think are good reasons: home prices and mortgage rates are at multi-year (and in some instances, multi-decade) lows, the economy is growing, employment is improving, and overall sentiment remains sufficiently dour to suggest any impending bubbles reside far in our future.         Read more

Whether a Federal Reserve action is inflationary or deflationary is difficult to gauge, for the simple fact that there isn’t a definitive definition of inflation and deflation. Some economists argue that rising prices are a measure of inflation while falling prices are a measure of deflation. That’s too simple, though, because there are many variables that influence prices – supply and demand, technology and money supply to name the obvious. It’s impossible to gauge which variable has the greatest impact.    Read more