Single Family home with 1 1/2 car garage. For Sale by Owner.
Lovely 3 BR/2 bath home with a Spanish flair located on 2 large corner lots. This one-owner home has been well maintained. New roof (2yr). Ideal for family with children and/or pets. Property is beautifully landscaped with 3 mature trees, 10 fruit trees and 6 Palm trees. If you like to have family or guests over or cookout the spacious well-shaded back/side yard is fenced and has a 12+ ft privacy hedge and a 12 x 24ft patio area. Parking is no problem as there is an extra-wide concrete driveway with room for 6+ vehicles.
If you like to tinker or are into arts & crafts you'll enjoy the barn/workshop with 220ac, 60 amp service. Office space can be easily converted to a 4th bedroom (if desired). Security System. Beautiful St. Augustine lawn and landscaping is supported by a 100ft private well and irrigation system. 25 miles from Disney. Seller will consider assisting buyer with closing costs to include 1 year home warranty! This is a unique property....call today! Asking only $155,000. Seller phone: 407-933-2094
Earlier this week I received a call from a first-time home-buyer wanting to revisit the possibilities of a home purchase. This client had contacted me about 6 months ago and we had a general discussion about their personal circumstances....they were "credit challenged" then and still are now. While I recalled their names and the fact that we spoke I could not remember the specifics of their situation.
I have always been willing to provide information, guidance, recommendations to consumers about why they may not qualify for a mortgage and how they could get themselves on a "path to homeownership......that is, if they were willing to listen........ and willing to commit themselves to the effort. If they appear sincere in their efforts to improve/correct their circumstances then I am very willing to spend some of my "valuable time" (more later) in counselling them.
More often than not I hear this; "I appreciate what you have done and what you have shared, no one else has taken the time to explain what the problems are and/or what we have to do to prepare ourselves to qualify. Just...sorry but there's nothing that we can do." Although not all that many seem to act on on my recommendations, I do get that occasional call with the voice on the other end stating "Ron, this is so and so. I don't know if you remember me/us but we spoke XX months ago and you counselled us on what I/we need to do to improve or correct our circumstances. I/we have worked on this and think that maybe it's time to try to qualify again." For me this is a great feeling...to know that you may have had a "positive impact" on someone's life!
I subscribe to the concept that "Time Is Money" however, I don't let that override the level and quality of my services. At the end of the day....it's also about life and how you choose to navigate through it.....a golden rule comes to mind!
However, back to my story! In speaking with this client I learned that she was the victim of fraud/identity theft about 3 months ago which further serves to exacerbate her credit issues. Evidently she had been contacted by someone supposedly marketing a satellite/dish network system. As part of the "application process" she provided personal information as well as her bank debit card details. She received a couple follow on calls over the next few days asking one question or another. Nothing happened as far as the application process and she did not hear further from the representative.
In a period of 30 days or so afterward she learned that her bank account had been accessed and other credit transactions had been done in her name. She is still dealing with the circumstances. Her bank ended up issuing her a new debit card and eventually a new checking account.
In trying to collect the facts I asked her a few questions as follows: 1) Did you file a police report? Answer--No! 2) Did you contact the 3 major credit bureaus to report all of this and implement a consumer statement and fraud alert? Answer-----no! 3) Why didn't you do these things? Answer----I didn't know that is what I should have done! .....and the kicker question 4) Didn't your bank recommend or suggest to you that these actions should be taken? Answer---NO! WHOA! Well now I am thinking are these the facts? How could she go through all of this and the bank representative not provide this guidance? Believable....or.....Plausible?
I would like to believe that her bank had a standard procedure or policy in how they handle these type of circumstances with their clients. Do they?... or is it just that the bank representative was not professional, service oriented or just doesn't really care?
Regardless, I have pulled the credit report and will counsel her and provide recommendations for follow on actions in dealing with the fraud/identity theft as well as what can be done to put her and her husband on the path to homeownership. Will they accept my advice and focus their efforts on this path? Who knows? Will I have wasted my valuable time on dispensing my advice? Maybe..maybe not! But it doesn't matter....it is a part of trying to be professional and offering quality service along the way. Hopefully what goes around comes around .......and I will fell good about it!
Photo Courtesy: Web.WorldBank.org
Copyright 2008, Ron Withers, All Rights Reserved.
Firstly, this is a post that I have had in the back of my mind for several months and decided that it was time for me to quit procrastinating and just "git-r-done!" For many years I have had "My Three Rules for Obtaining a Mortgage Loan" in which I make a concerted effort to share with all of my clients and is also the subject matter of one of my first posts upon joining the ActiveRain Community. The following meeting inspired/spawned the addition of my fourth rule.
Last summer I had the privilege of meeting with fellow ActiveRainer and Realtor, Allison Stewart for a one-on-one business luncheon. What had been planned as a 1 to 1 1/2 hour luncheon meeting transitioned into a 3+ hour meeting. She introduced me to a quaint little restaurant on Alligator Lake East of Saint Cloud, Florida. The restaurant has a rear deck looking out onto the lake. While it was seasonably warm that day the breeze coming off the lake helped make the luncheon very enjoyable.....thanks Allison!
The subject matter of our discussion covered a myriad of points as it related to the conduct our separate yet closely related professions. I found Allison to be well informed and abreast of the issues and concerns facing Realtors and the mortgage industry as well. Allison is a very engaging conversationalist in that she is very adept or skillful in provoking thought and getting one to express their feelings and opinions.I still have my notes from our meeting (somewhere) and still owe her a personal article on my perspective for buyers, particularly first-timers!
As part of our discussion she posed the following question of me...something to this effect....If you were to put together a written piece of advice for home-buyer's outlining what you felt would be the most important thing that they should consider in purchasing a home right now...what would it be? Thought provoking for me?....absolutely!
After a few days I came up with what I would say....in fact, it became my fourth rule! For continuity of thought I will repost my original three rules and add my fourth rule in bold/italicized print at the end. The more we experience the consequences (mortgage meltdown) of the years of stupidity in the mortgage lending industry the more this rule makes sense! Not for just first-time buyers but all buyers
Whether you are looking to purchase or refinance, you are a first-time home-buyer, a seasoned home-buyer or homeowner I have assembled my basic rules for obtaining a mortgage loan. These rules are based on my many years of experience . It is my belief that they will help you enjoy the many rewards of homeownership as opposed to failing the test of homeownership!
They are as follows:
FIRST RULE: WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN HURT YOU!!
SECOND RULE: WHEN IT'S YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A STUPID QUESTION!!
THIRD RULE: DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!
FOURTH RULE: DON'T LET COMMON SENSE TAKE A VACATION WHEN BUYING A HOME!
So....Ron, You have these four great rules! What are you really trying to say?
First Rule: If you do not have a clear cut understanding of the nature and terms of the mortgage loan that you are accepting then you can unknowingly set yourself for a potential "nightmare" at some future time. A couple of examples would be a prepayment penalty in the event of a future sale or refinance of your home or accepting some form of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) where the monthly payments will reset or "skyrocket" within a few months or years.
Second Rule: Unless you are a very seasoned home-buyer (several purchases under your belt), you may not really know or understand all the "in's and out's" and "lingo" used by those of us in the industry. Unfortunately, there are those "professionals" that will not tell you any more than what you specifically inquire about and nor volunteer information or details that will be important to you.
Third Rule: Prepare for your purchase or refinance by reading and researching information on products and programs and various features/options available in the mortgage marketplace. Again, unfortunately there are those "so-called" professionals that will guarantee and promise you the world (tell you what you want to hear as opposed to...what you really need to know!) and of course there will always be some that practice "bait and switch".. In shopping for your mortgage, assemble a few key questions about getting or qualifying for a mortgage loan. Know the answers already! Play like the sly fox...assemble some key questions and pose these same questions to each and every loan officer/mortgage broker This process will allow you to sort through (short list) the lenders or loan officers with greater ease and effectiveness.
Fourth Rule: Know your personal financial boundaries and stick to them. Don't stretch yourself beyond your current financial means. Don't speculate on future earnings potential or job promotions in considering your affordability. Don't allow a Realtor or mortgage person talk you into more than you can afford. Don't bite the proverbial bullet in stretching your financial capabilities. More often than not this will come back to haunt you! Being a slave to your house payment sets you up for hardships in coping with many other of life's unplanned events.
Copyright 2008, Ron Withers, All Rights Reserved.
On 02-27-2007 I made a post on this subject matter here on ActiveRain. USDA Rural Housing Loans....The Most Under-Utilized Mortgage Program In America! As of this posting date the story has not really changed.....it is still the most under-utilized mortgage product in the United States!
I just received a product update memo from one of our investors. Considering the so-called "Mortgage Mess" and our governments effort to step in the help ailing homewowners I will share an idea and recommendation in the last paragraphs of this post. Here is a short excerpt on what was said.
"HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS STILL AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE FOR USDA GUARANTEED RURAL HOUSING FINANCING. With 12 business days remaining in Fiscal Year 2007, over $825 million is still available for USDA GRH purchase loans and ample funds for USDA GRH refinance loans".
P.S. This postscript/edit is added at this location to draw your attention to the last few paragraphs of this post as I solicit your feedback on my opinion/recommendation that is offered. Maybe I should have modified the title of this post to better identify my larger intent of this post.
Every real estate and mortgage professional in keenly aware of the drastic changes in the mortgage marketplace over the past several months. Lenders have closed shop, withdrawn products from their portfolio, eliminated certain aspects of their operations and more. Sub-prime and Alt-A products are all but eliminated or have undergone major changes such as, increased credit score requirements, reduced loan-to-values (LTV's), eliminated short term ARM's, eliminated reduced documentation programs. Yes, some remain but I detest having to quote anyone an interest rate on one of these!
There is spillover or a flight to quality in the FannieMae/FreddieMac conventional/conforming products with the high LTV mortgages tightening up on standards/credit requirements. This tightening will get worse before there is improvement. IMO, I think that this problem may be exacerbated further as Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) companies tighten their belts i.e., refuse to insure a loan even though there may be an lender underwriting approval and even further cost increases in an effort to compensate for losses as foreclosures spiral upwards.
I would greatly encourage every real estate and mortgage professional who does not have a good fundamental knowledge of this mortgage product to hone up on it as it will continue to be an excellent program for those borrowers needing 100%+ financing, zero down, seller concessions and even financing of closing costs. This need for consumers, particularly first-time home-buyers (FTHB) will never, ever go away. For that matter, it is not just for FTHB's.
I am by no means suggesting that USDA GRH is a panacea for borrowers that may be perceived as sub-prime or Alt-A in status, however, IMO, this product will get the job done for some of them!
Don't let the Agency/Program name deceive you. Rural housing does not mean that the subject property must be located in a "rural area" or that it must involve small acreage, etc. USDA GRH does use demographics as part of determining geographical areas for property eligibility. To get an idea of those areas of eligibility in your City/County/State click on this link....you may be surprised! http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do?pageAction=sfp&NavKey=property@11
In my second paragraph of this post I made reference to the following idea and recommendation which now follows:
At the end of August 2007 President Bush announced the FHASecure Initiative which was then published by HUD's Mortgagee Letter 2007-11 on 9-5-2207. I am still "out to lunch" on my opinion as to just what good this initiative will do over the long term. I have a recent post on this and working on continuing comments to it. See:
FHASecure Initiative: Is There Room For Improvement
While this FHASecure initiative may help some mortgagors...... much, much more will be required to get us out of this mess! This includes lenders and investors doing some great heart and soul searching as to how they can be a part of the solution and strive to minimize foreclosures, short sales, etc. for those borrowers in their respective loan portfolios.
Currently, USDA GRH only provides for refinancing of existing Rural Housing Loans. Considering that funding for this program is not fully utilized nationally at $825 million still unused for Fiscal Year 2007 which ends in just a matter of days, I would like to suggest the following knowing that there will be a surplus of these funds carrying over into Fiscal Year 2008 and most likely that USDA's new funding allocation for FY2008, most likely, will not be fully used.
I suggest/recommend that USDA join HUD's Initiative to providing for refinancing alternatives to those homeowners/mortgagors that are at risk due to ARM resets. Expand their criteria for refinancing to non-USDA GRH loans! If there is this unused surplus ($825 million) that will be carried over to FY2008 what better cause could there be for becoming a part of the solution that we all seek.
So USDA GRH, please consider opening up the refinancing options to non-Rural Housing borrowers. Your help could make a huge difference. I am go to email this blog or separate email to my local Congressman, Senators and USDA Rural Housing contacts encouraging them to look into this as part of the overall solutions to the "mortgage mess". I would encourage of you do do the same! What say ye?
Firstly, there have been other posts within the past few months that touch on this particular subject matter, however I will go into more detail to outline why this resource may be very worthy of consideration for parents with college bound children. I was first exposed to this concept back in the late 1970's when my wife and I sold a home located about a mile from the Ball State University Campus in Muncie, Indiana. Our buyers used this resource to purchase our home for their college bound son. If I am not mistaken, they had another child that was also college bound within the next 2-3 years. Absolutely a brilliant strategy!
Without question, college and career planning is one of the most difficult issues for most American families to deal with. Like many things in life, the cost of a college education has soared over the past few years. Even if your child is fortunate enough to obtain scholarship assistance paying for their education can still be out of reach for many families.
Annual tuition and fees can range all over the board depending on the College or University, whether it is public (in-state, out-of-state) or private. Probably $10,000 to $30,000+ annually. If your child has obtained scholarship(s) you are further ahead than most American families. Tuition and fees, for the most part, are going to be what they are going to be. Housing expense will be the primary expense that may be more controllable for you.
Housing expense will range all over the board as well. For discussion and illustration purposes in this post I will use $6000 a school year or annualized...$500 monthly. Quite often the school year will be nine months. Other numbers or calculations will be rounded to facilitate discussion.
The whole point of this post is to generate thought on your part on how you may be able to use a FHA "Kiddie Condo" loan as a resource to make your childs' college education more financially palatable or even possible for you to manage. The child/student could obtain a FHA loan with the parent(s) signing as non-occupant co-borrowers. The following example or scenario is presented. You can substitute your own numbers to any of this based on your own research.
Single Family 3/2 home, purchase price $160,000, interest rate of 6.25% fixed for 30 years, 2.25% down payment. A calculation of 5% of purchase price for total required investment (down payment and settlement costs) or $8000. This will obviously vary somewhat based on the typical costs for the area.
Using the above terms the monthly housing expense is $950 principle and interest, estimated $350 for taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance premium for a total of $1300 monthly piti. Since your child will not be in dormitory housing we will add $300 monthly for utilities bringing the total monthly housing cost to $1600 a month or $19,200 on an annualized basis. Yes, quite a chunk of change! But let's do a stubby pencil drill and tweak the numbers to further explore the possibilities.
In this scenario we are purchasing a three bedroom home which would house from 3 to 6 students depending on how you choose to set up your concept. Let's use 5 (your child and 4 tenant students) which would probably give your child a bedroom/study area to themselves. Let's assume that you set the student tenant rents at $4800 per year in an effort to attract tenants with the affordability. $4800 x 4 is $19,200 per year in gross rental receipts. This means that you have saved $6000 a year, $24,000 over the span of a 4 year college degree and your child has lived there for free. Not to shabby....right? Right.....But wait....it gets even better (just like that TV offer that encourages you to break out that credit card....right now!)
Let's review your accomplishments which can be any one thing or any combination of things. Your child has lived there for free, you have used this savings to offset the cost of tuition and fees, you have eliminated or reduced the amount of student loans required to get your child through college, etc, etc.,.....and you have increased the the equity position in the home. First by approximately $8000 in principle reduction and using a modest appreciation rate of 4% year over year an additional $25,000+/- for a total of $33,000. You have helped your child to start a credit record which will pay many dividends down the road, So what now:
At the end of the day there is nothing absolutely new about this concept....but focus can be lost or information doesn't always continue to flow steadily....or it just never crosses the mind!
FHA has made some revisions that makes it more "User Friendly" and easier for Sellers to accept a purchase offer from a buyer looking to purchase with a FHA Loan. For more information check my post: Its Time to Re-visit an Old Friend...Hi Mr FHA..
So as a consumer with college bound children...explore these possibilities! As a Real Estate professional or a mortgage loan officer did you really know and understand the "Kiddie Condo" concept? Is it a tool or resource that you can use to help your clients? Could you more readily market yourself promoting this product and concept?
What say you?
Copyright 2007, Ron Withers, All Rights Reserved
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
