Author: bmadmin

More Americans Confident They Can Get Mortgages

The housing slowdown may have been accompanied by an inability for potential homeowners to obtain mortgages, but the latest Fannie Mae National Housing Survey shows movement on the mortgage consumption-front.

For the month of November, 51% of survey respondents said it would now be easier to obtain a mortgage. This larger vote of confidence suggests tighter lending standards may be easing enough to grant more credit access.

Overall confidence in housing is up somewhat, with 14% of those interviewed believing home prices will go up in the next 12 months, a four-percentage point hike from the previous month. Twenty-three percent of survey respondents believe it’s a good time to sell a home, up 5-percentage points from October.

This is the highest rating of confidence since the survey’s inception more than a year earlier, the GSE said. In addition, 67% of the survey respondents said they would buy if they had to move in the near future.

The Fannie Mae November survey, which is the result of 1,001 interviews with Americans, concluded that consumer attitudes towards the economy and housing market are improving.

Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae, noted that 11 of the national housing survey indicators evaluated by Fannie Mae are “at or near their two-and-a-half-year highs.”

About 44% of Americans believe the economy is now on the right track, and only 50% say it’s on the wrong track, which is 25-percentage point decline over the past year. The small gap between those two indicators suggests more improvement in overall economic confidence.

The number of survey respondents who foresee an increase in mortgage rates jumped 4 percentage points to 41%.

Respondents expecting home prices to fall over the next year rose by 4 percentage points to 14% over the previous month, while the number who expect home prices to go up over the next 12 months edged up to 37%.

Americans also seem more confident in their own financial situations, but remain worried the fiscal cliff will put them in worse shape next year. 18%, up 5 percentage points, felt that their personal financial situation would get worse over the next 12 months.

56% of respondents expect their household expenses to remain the same when compared to a year earlier.

Originally posted at HousingWire.com.

Opt-Out of Receiving PreApproved Credit Card Offers

by bmadmin

Are you tired of having your mailbox stuffed full of unsolicited mail, including preapproved credit card offers or personal loan applications?

Are you fed up with telemarketing calls just as you’re about to sit down to dinner?

There is help out there!

By visiting one website you can stop all that junk for 5 years.

Opt-Out of Receiving Credit Card Offers

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) are allowed to include your name on lists used by credit card companies and insurance companies to make offers of credit or insurance that are not initiated by you – also known as “Firm Offers”. The FCRA also provides you the right to “Opt-Out”, which prevents Consumer Credit Reporting Companies from providing your credit file information for “Firm Offers”.

If you decide that you would rather not receive preapproved credit card offers and insurance quotes, you have two options to stop them:

You can opt out of receiving them for five years.
You can opt out of receiving them permanently.

To opt out for five years: Call toll-free 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com. The phone number and website are operated by the major consumer reporting companies.

To opt out permanently: You may begin the permanent Opt-Out process online at www.optoutprescreen.com. To complete your request, you must return the signed Permanent Opt-Out Election form, which will be provided after you initiate your online request.

When you call or visit the website, you’ll be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out.

Again, to opt-out of preapproved credit card offers visit http://OptOutPrescreen.com.

Mortgage Lenders See Tighter Credit Under New U.S. Rules

by bmadmin

Mortgage bankers and Realtors are warning that it could become even harder for borrowers to qualify for a home loan early next year as the industry faces a barrage of new rules.

Regulators are preparing to release the language of two rules taking effect in January to set standards for non-abusive lending and require banks to hold a slice of risky mortgages on their books. In addition, U.S. banking overseers must also complete new capital standards mandated in the international Basel III accords next year.

The housing rules, coming almost simultaneously, may overlap or conflict, creating what National Association of Realtors President Maurice “Moe” Veissi called a “perfect storm” of regulation.

“There’s this intersection of policies that are absolutely not being considered by this massive array of institutions, all involved in deciding the future of homeownership and rental opportunity,” David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in an Oct. 22 speech at the association’s annual conference in Chicago.

Mortgage credit is already tight. U.S. regulators including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, have expressed concern that banks are preventing qualified borrowers from taking advantage of interest rates driven to record lows by the Fed’s quantitative easing strategy.

Crisis Correction

James Parrott, a member of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council who advises on housing issues, told mortgage bankers that the administration is still concerned.

“How do you correct for what happened in 2005, but not do so in such a way that we’re stuck where we are today, where there’s not nearly enough liquidity?” Parrott said at the MBA conference. “We clearly haven’t threaded the needle yet.”

Borrowers whose loans closed in September had an average credit score of 750, which would place them in the top 40 percent of Americans, according to Ellie Mae (ELLI), a Pleasanton, California, company that provides automation solutions for the mortgage industry. Those buyers made down payments averaging 22 percent. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.37 percent in the week ended Oct. 18, according to Freddie Mac.

The housing market has been gaining steam in recent months, with online real-estate listing firm Zillow Inc. (Z) reporting yesterday that home prices jumped 1.3 percent in the third quarter, the largest gain since 2006. At the same time, about 28 percent of existing-home sales are all-cash transactions as investors snap up distressed inventory.

Fears Overblown

Consumer advocates, who question whether high credit standards are really just a response to regulation, say the industry’s fears are overblown.

“All of these rules are reactions to the failure to regulate at all over the last decade,” said Alys Cohen, a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “The rules don’t need to be in lockstep in order to provide reasonable oversight.”

The next few months will usher in a new implementation phase of the government response to the financial crisis of 2008 as regulators begin to unveil exactly how they will set limits intended to prevent another housing bubble.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is briefing other regulators about its plans for the qualified mortgage rule, which will require lenders to determine borrowers’ ability to repay loans. If banks meet the standards for a non-abusive mortgage set in the rule, they’ll be offered a degree of legal protection.

Safest Mortgages

Lenders say they’ll probably make only the safest mortgages as defined by the rule, commonly known as the QM regulation, after it is issued.

“QM will, in my mind, largely define the market,” Michael J. Heid, president of Wells Fargo (WFC) Home Mortgage, said at the MBA conference on Oct. 22.

The CFPB, which faces a Jan. 21 deadline, told regulators last week it is considering issuing a rule that would offer the strongest legal protections for loans to borrowers spending less than 43 percent of their income to repay debt. That would include about 80 percent of government-backed loans, according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Once the QM rule is set, regulators including the Fed, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Securities and Exchange Commission will write a second measure with a similar name: the qualified residential mortgage rule. The QRM rule will require lenders to retain stakes in risky mortgages when they package them into securities.

Basel III

At the same time, regulators have proposed a set of standards under the Basel III agreement that would require banks to hold more capital against risky mortgages. A deadline for public feedback on the proposal was Oct. 22. The agencies are going to complete the language and phase in the rule beginning next year.

The MBA last week wrote a letter urging regulators to abandon their Basel III proposal on the grounds that it would hurt lending.

Veissi of the Association of Realtors also sent a letter raising concerns. “The sheer volume of regulations surrounding the mortgage-finance business has resulted in consolidating and constraining the number of institutions offering mortgage credit to consumers,” he wrote.

Consumer advocates say they agree that the rules are complex and must be carefully calibrated. However, they say, the mortgage industry needs to be more judicious with its complaints.

Crying ‘Wolf’

“Unfortunately, the mortgage lobby is the boy who cried wolf,” Julia Gordon, director of housing finance and policy at the Center for American Progress, said in an e-mail. “They fight any and every regulation and routinely insist that the [fill in the blank] rule will increase the cost of credit or reduce access to credit, which makes it difficult for the regulators to figure out when that’s actually true.”

Federal Financial Analytics, a Washington-based consulting firm, released a study yesterday analyzing possible unintended consequences of overlapping mortgage rules.

Karen Shaw Petrou, author of the study commissioned by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said the rules will shut out less-than-perfect borrowers.

Rule ‘Tightening’

“Regulators in every cubicle at all of the agencies are tightening each of their rules so drastically that the combination of all of them will stifle a return of private capital to securitization, blocking constructive change at the GSEs to end their conservatorship and limiting credit availability for all but the most gold-plated borrower,” Petrou said in an e-mail.

Parrott, the Obama administration official, said the rules could always be changed if they don’t work.

“Given where the market is today, I’m actually optimistic that we can land these regulations in a pretty good place,” Parrott said. “I think the objective everybody shares is a more stable, healthy system going forward that maintains broad access to credit.”

Original Post on Bloomberg BusinessWeek here: Mortgage Lenders See Tighter Credit Under New U.S. Rules

15 Year Old Buys Her 2nd Investment Property in Florida

by bmadmin

Willow Tufano is a 15 year old girl that has just purchased her second investment home in Port Charlotte, FL.

She found this steal on the MLS for $17,500 and began renovations on Monday.

Where does Tufano get the money to buy houses? She finds free items, fixes them up, and sells them on Craigslist. She saved up half the money and convinced her mom to split the cost with her.

ABC News picked up the story last week and shared this about the remarkable teenager:

She’s been on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” where the host gifted her $10,000 to spend at Ace Hardware, in addition to a new clothes dryer. She’s been interviewed by ABC’s “World News” and NPR and even for a television show in South Korea. She’s accustomed to television crews and media types clamoring for her attention, her mother says.

By the time she is 18 and can legally own a home in Florida, Willow has a goal to own 10 houses.

Creating a Budget For Family Vacations

by bmadmin

When you want to plan a vacation with your family, there are many things to consider. While you still need take care of your day-to-day living expenses, you also need to think of ways to put a little money aside every month for your trip. This can be challenging, especially if you do not have a monthly budget or a plan for saving that you can easily follow.

Start a Savings Plan Now

If you live on a tight monthly budget, it makes sense to plan ahead as far as possible. It’s so much easier to put $20 in savings every week for fifty weeks than it is to come up with $1000 at one time for your vacation.

Start saving vacation money immediately! Divide the cost of your vacation by the number of weeks you have left until you want to leave, then put that money aside each week. You now have a vacation budget and a time-line that works for saving the amount of money you will need.

Save Money by Booking Well Ahead

Many online travel websites offer package discounts and have the cheapest deals well in advance. Saving even a few hundred dollars can make a big difference in your vacation budget. Some websites will even price match if you find a lower price after you book your trip.

Consider opting for the cancellation insurance in case something happens and you need to cancel your trip. Make sure to read the fine print so you’ll know about any penalties or fees. When in doubt, ask beforehand so you aren’t met with an unpleasant surprises if you have to cancel or change plans.

Shop for the Necessities Before You Leave

Another way to stick to your travel budget is to bring the necessities with you. Although you can certainly buy sunscreen, Tylenol, sunglasses, beach hats, and other travel items, many of the stores in tourist areas have higher prices because, well, they can. Review your necessities and see what you can bring cheaply and what you are better off buying there.

Souvenirs are a fun reminders of your trip. Set aside some money for souvenirs in your vacation budget. Consider souvenirs that have dual purposes, like tote bags, polo shirts, and hats; something you may need anyway, but it happens to have a local info on it.

Choose Meals Wisely

While it is necessary to eat when on vacation, there are ways that you can keep your expenses down. Check on all-inclusive packages that include food and drinks, especially if food and drink are a big part of your plans.

Breakfast, drinks, and snack foods are most economical when kept in the room. Stock your refrigerator and you’ll save a lot of money.

Choose your dining experiences wisely. If you make smart breakfast and snack decisions, you’ll save enough money to enjoy great local restaurants for lunch and dinner. After all, one of the best aspects of a vacation is going somewhere else and experiencing the food and culture.

Research the Area

Developing a vacation budget, and sticking to it, can be easily done if you take the time to research the details, like the price of local events, restaurants, and other costs before you go. Don’t forget the small charges like tolls, taxis, parking fees, and tips. These all add up when trying to stick to a vacation budget.

Once you leave for your vacation, try to stay within the budget as much as possible. If you decide to spend a little more money in one place, don’t let it ruin your budget. Plan to take the money from somewhere else. Your budget doesn’t have to be set in stone. After all, you’ll probably find things to do that you didn’t know about. You can even plan a ‘surprise fun’ budget amount for that very purpose.

A vacation should be fun, so plan as best as you can, try to stay within your plan, and have a great time!

How to Prepare Your Home For Sale During The Holidays

by bmadmin

I’m all for decorating during the holidays. In fact, I have boxes and boxes in my attic of Halloween and Christmas decorations. However, should I put my home on the market during the holidays, I’d use about a fraction of what I have. There’s a reason behind it. When I decorate, I “add” to what’s already out. In other words, I’m not packing, I’m adding more things.

Now as much as I’d hate to call my holiday decor “clutter”, the simple truth is that it is. And as we all know, clutter eats up real estate. Not good when selling.

My advice – if you bring a holiday decorative item in, replace it with something that is already out.

My second piece of advice – Use accessories that follow the season, as oppose to the holiday.

Here’s an example of the accessories we chose to showcase the living room in a vacant home we staged in Atlanta last week. As you can see, we have used the Autumn colors (brown and orange) and not a single witch or pumpkin.

Atlanta home stager close-up picture

Stores are loaded with fall-like decor so use them to carry you through October and November.

My third piece of advice – use holiday decor sparingly.

In this home, staged for an Atlanta investor who had flipped this property, we added a touch of Christmas by bringing in these metal boxes of presents. These presents were the only holiday decorative item used and can be easily replaced with napkins after Christmas.

Atlanta Home Staging Kitchen Table Christmas Decor

In summary, here are the three tips on how to prepare you home for sale during the holidays:

If you bring a holiday decorative item in, replace it with something that is already out.
Use accessories that follow the season, as oppose to the holiday.
Use holiday decor sparingly

Kathy Nielsen, owner of Georgia Interior Solutions, is considered to be an expert in the field of Atlanta Home Staging. Her design work has been featured in Atlanta Magazine, the Atlanta Business Chronicle and featured on HGTV. Original article HERE.

Benchmark & Boot Campaign Give Military Veteran a Mortgage-Free House

by bmadmin

Last night, Benchmark partnered with Boot Campaign and Military Warriors Support Foundation to give away one mortgage-free home to an injured veteran of the Afghanistan war during the Rock of Ages Military Appreciation Night.

Over 150 military veterans, retirees, active duty, and special guests were treated to a night at the Rock of Ages musical and a “Rockin” afterparty at BB King’s in Manhattan, NY.

Right after the show ended Sgt. Jon Moldovan was brought on stage and received a mortgage-free home from the Military Warriors Support Foundation. Moldovan, a former paratrooper and veteran of the Afghanistan war, was critically injured by shrapnel during a battle with the Taliban in 2007 and awarded the Purple Heart.

Rock of Ages cast members even stopped by BB King for the afterparty where two live bands – Almost Famous and Completely Unchained – performed for the crowd.

What an honor to be part of this event and show appreciation for the men and women of our military!

Is Now the “Perfect Storm” for Home Buyers?

by bmadmin

Barry Habib with Mortgage Market Guide was a guest on the CNBC show Squawk Box yesterday and shared some great insight on why now is the “perfect storm” for homebuyers.

He points to three big reasons all renters should jump into homeownership:

1. Rent rates are increasing in some markets. It is becoming increasingly more affordable to own a home versus renting a similar home.

2. Interest rates have basically bottomed out. Could rates go lower? Yes they could with the announcement of QE3. But money is so cheap to buy a home that it makes sense to buy right now.

3. Tax benefits. On top of the really cheap mortgage money available today you also have several tax benefits of homeownership. The IRS Publication 530 details what can and cannot be deducted.

Watch the video below and leave a comment on your thoughts about the current housing market:

4 Tips To Go Camping With Your Family On A Shoestring Budget

by bmadmin

Camping vacations have been a popular choice for families for many years. Family budgets are often tight, so camping is sometimes the only affordable means to get away on vacation for a reasonable amount of money. However, it is still not free.

If you have a limited vacation budget, but you would still like to take the family on a nice camping trip, there are several ways to cut costs.

Borrow From Friends or Family

If you have friends and family who like to go camping a lot, chances are you can borrow some of their items for your trip. Unless you go camping all the time, there really is little reason to buy a lot of camping equipment. Most people are more than willing to loan their camping stuff so it gets used regularly, keeping it from molding or rusting.

Take advantage of the generosity of your camping relatives and friends by borrowing things like canteens, water jugs, camp stoves, lanterns, coolers, coffee maker, griddle, heater, and even camping dishes and cutlery. Of course, you’ll want to borrow the tents, as well as sleeping mattresses and sleeping bags, if possible. However, for a small investment, you can buy your own sleeping bags, pillows, and extra bedding just so you have your own personal items.

Buy Second Hand Items

Walk into any quality second hand store and you’ll find piles of gently used camping equipment. That’s because there are always people who make the mistake of thinking they’re going to devote their vacation time to the camping experience, buy all new equipment, and find out they should have borrowed or bought second hand before they splurged. With that said, you can take advantage of these hasty decisions by buying camping gear for next to nothing.

Visit yard sales and flea markets, too, for gear that is practically free for the asking. Tents may need to be aired out and scrubbed well, but a little elbow-grease goes a long way toward the cost of a brand new tent. Used sleeping bags may not be as appealing as other equipment, but consider buying used sleeping bags for extra padding underneath your air mattresses, or for sitting around the campfire. A little diluted bleach goes a long way to sprucing up, freshening up, and getting the mold and mildew out of used gear.

Find Gear and Campsite Deals Online

Not only can you find specialized second hand camping sites like The Outdoor Gear Exchange or Outdoor Online, you can also hit up the classifieds like Craigslist, FreeSell, and Kijiji for some great local deals. Keep in mind that shopping online can involve shipping if you are not shopping locally. Do the math before you make your decision.

Of course, besides the camping gear and supplies, you’ll need to plan out where you will be staying. Your shoestring vacation budget might not allow for a trip to Yosemite, but you can find many fine parks that offer great deals right along with their magnificent vistas.

Search county, state, and national park websites to find campsites near you, as well as any special deals. Many of these parks offer free camping promotions once each year. You’ll find campgrounds that offer shower facilities, boating equipment, fishing, and even classes in snorkeling or other summer sports.

You might want to visit sites like Boondocking.org or FreeCampsites.net and others like them that give you resources for finding places to camp free. Campers also love to share their favorite finds in websites and forums. Search around the internet and start clicking on interesting looking sites, but always check the authenticity of a free campsite by calling the local tourist bureau.

Plan Your Camp Cuisine

As far as food choices go, camping calls for easy meals, but there is a wide variety of food to consider. Stocking coolers with sandwiches, fruit, and drinks may be your idea of the perfect camping experience. Or, you may want to have the makings ready so you can throw together a nice meal.

Your decision may depend on the equipment and cooking setup you have available. If you are using a camp stove, you can make just about anything you want as long as it can be cooked in a pot or skillet. Of course, the size of the stove and the amount of propane will limit your menu, but just be creative. You can make everything from soup to fried potatoes to hamburgers and steak on a camp stove, so long as you bring the necessary pots and pans.

Then there are the campfires and grills. If you are fortunate enough to have a campsite with either, or both, your cooking experience could include a whole repertoire of goodies. It will all depend on how much time you want to spend cooking, and the availability of food. Planning ahead is the key to success.

Cleaning up may not be easy, so that may help determine the types of meals you make. To avoid a mess, try making all-in-one meals in heavy duty foil for the grill. A foil bundle hot off the grill filled with potatoes, ham, and onions is a nice treat after a busy day hiking or boating. Kids always enjoy hotdogs over a campfire. Plan each meal in advance and you won’t go wrong.

And, don’t forget dessert! Marshmallows roasted over an open fire are a delight for all ages, and they are extremely cheap. Expand on that theme with something as simple as graham crackers and chocolate bars and you have the perfect camping dessert – S’mores. Who needs a fancy dessert cart?

Taking the family camping is a learning experience. Each year, you’ll figure out how to do things better, and cheaper. Start small, and if it turns out you are in love with ‘roughing it’ then go ahead and branch out. Keep the frugal camping basics in mind, and enjoy the great outdoors.

Don’t Miss This “I Wish I Had” Moment

by bmadmin

When I was a kid every once and a while I would hear a grown up say “I wish I had….” It might have been buy that Microsoft stock when my friend told me about it or that piece of land that looked like a dump and was dirt cheap but now has a booming shopping center on it.

Now that I’m an adult I’ve even had a few “I wish I had” thoughts.

Today in America we are living in one of those “I wish I had” moments when it comes to real estate. Over the last few years, real estate markets all over the US have had a tough time. The slow economy has caused millions of homes to be foreclosed upon and property values have suffered nationwide.

While this is obviously not a good thing, it has created a golden opportunity or an “I wish I had” moment.

Everybody likes a good deal. Everyone likes to buy things when they are on sale.

In the US today homes are on sale!

According to data from the United States Census Bureau, the average home’s sales price fell from $329,400 in August of 2007 to $242,300 in October of 2011. This is a decline of over 26% in just 50 months.

When was the last time you that you thought 26% off of anything wasn’t a good deal? But it gets even better!

According to Freddie Mac the average mortgage interest rate on 30 year fixed rate loan fell to the lowest level it has been since they began tracking it in 1971. This means not only are you getting a house that is on sale, you are borrowing the money to buy that house as cheap as it has ever been available.

This is an opportunity that won’t last much longer as home values are starting to recover. According to the National Association of Realtors home sales continue to improve.

The real estate market has hit the bottom and is heading back up.

If you do not currently own your own home or been thinking about upgrading your current one now is the time to do it.

If you don’t you may look back ten years from now and say “I wish I had…”

Brad Hacker is a Certified Mortgage Planner for Benchmark Mortgage in Lexington KY. His primary focus is helping people achieve the dream of homeownership and assisting them on the road to financial freedom. Brad specializes in helping his Lexington mortgage clients integrate their home into their long and short term financial goals.