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Posts Tagged ‘homes’

Despite many people being finding themselves stretched when paying bills, if you are lucky enough to have some extra money, 2010 is the time to invest in property. Due to drops in interest rates and property prices, investing in properting has become a very popular form of investment. Not only do you avoid the risk of losing your money in a bank, but potentially, you can get a better return for your savings.

However, making a good return on your money only works if you have entered into a good investment. To give you some tips so you can make a better return in 2010, here are some tips for where to invest in 2010.

Brazil:

Although this wouldn’t come to mind straight away, many house developers are beginning to look to Brazil as a good investment. Because of it’s sunny climates and rapidly developing economy, Brazil is looking like a good investment for your money. You should also remember that Brazil has chosen to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games which will attract millions of tourists.

With prices set to rise by around 200%, Brazil is looking like a brilliant investment.

France:

The French market has always been popular with investors and property developers. Because France was the first country within the European Union to come out of recession, it shows how strong their economy is. This means that the property market is starting to make a comeback. Although this is good news for France, it does mean that if you want to benefit from the price rises that will happen, you’ll need to act fast to get a good investment.

Switzerland:

Because of the new taxes for high earners that are coming into place in April 2010, investing in Switzerland is going to become a good investment. Because Switzerland aren’t part of the EU, the new taxes that the UK are facing won’t be brought in, to try and benefit from this, Swiss authorities are trying to attract UK businessmen to their snowy country.

This attraction for many wealthy businessmen will make Switzerland a brilliant investment. Because more high earners will be moving to the snowy slopes of Switzerland, demand and prices for property will rocket.

After seeing how much potential return you could get, you may want to run off and start buying. However, before you do, make sure you are aware of all the costs such as holiday homes insurance. Having to pay for yearly extras like maintenance and insurance for second homes doesn’t come cheap and it all eats into your return. Just try to make sure that any costs you have to pay will be covered by your earnings, while still making a return.

You can’t have a holiday home in Spain without home insurance Spain.

In the event you have steered clear from what has been going on in the mortgage industry for the last year or two, I thought I would point out some changes and how they affect you.    These changes have slowed down the amount of refinances being done, but being aware these changes may make the process a little easier.

Here are 7 things you should know…

1)       A good credit score is now 740 and higher.   If you have a middle credit score between 740 and 620, you may still be able to refinance, although you may see a few adjustments to your rate for the lower score.  In general, anything below 620 is considered “higher risk” and will not be available for a refinance.

2)       The value of your house has likely dropped.   Nobody enjoys hearing this news, but it is a reality.The last two years, house values have dropped in most parts of the Country.   This simply comes down to supply and demand.   The number of homes on the market has increased due to foreclosures, short sales, unemployment, loss of value, and many other factors.   With so many houses available on the market in each neighborhood, a buyer now has more choices and leverage when purchasing.   This has a direct effect on the appraised value of your home, because appraisers use recently closed sales to determine the value of your home.    If the house across the street recently sold, and is roughly the same square footage, the same age, and has a lot of the same amenities; it is probably a great comparison for an appraiser to use.   This will give you a good indication of the value of your home.

3)       The refinance process takes much longer than before.Many homeowners became used to refinancing very quickly.   This is not the case any longer.   New legislation has been put in place to protect the homeowner, and these steps have delayed the refinance process.    If you are in the process of refinancing, expect the process to take 30 to 45 days with your lender or mortgage broker.    In addition to the new regulations put into place, many lenders have decreased employees, causing additional delays.   

4)       Taking cash out of your home is not as easy as it has been in the past.You will no longer be able to use your house like an ATM machine.A cash out refinance limits you to 85% of the value of the house.A cash out refinance will cost a little more to the borrower in terms of rate or fees.   Expect to pay about 1/8 of a percent higher for a cash-out refinance if your loan amount is 60% higher than the value of your house.   This is industry wide, not on a case by case basis.  

5)       Stated loans do not exist.Your qualification will be determined based upon your ability to prove your income over the last two years.    You cannot use bank statements, receipts from sold goods on EBay, or any other alternative method you may have used in the past.   Underwriters now verify everything and you must be able to prove it with traditional methods such as tax returns, recent paystubs, and verifying employment over the phone.    Regardless of how good your credit, you still need to prove your income.

6)       A new policy has been established for appraising your home.   The new Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) was implemented to prevent loan officers from pressuring appraisers for higher values.   Now, loan officers are not permitted to speak with an appraiser or order an appraisal directly.   Instead, the new HVCC requires that appraisals be ordered through an independent third party company, and eliminates any interaction between appraisers and loan officers.   The third party acts as the middle man, receives the order from the loan officer, and places an order with an appraiser.   There are many problems with the process in general, but most notable is that appraisals are being done on homes where the values needed to refinance are not realistic.Prior to the change, a loan officer would call an appraiser, place the order, and give an estimated value.  If that value was unrealistic, the appraiser would notify the loan officer and the appraisal would not be done, saving the borrower $300 to $500.   Now, the appraisal is being done regardless of value, the value is too low to refinance, and borrowers are out the cost of the appraisal.This is just one of the minor issues with HVCC….there are others.   Hopefully, some of the people behind this process try and refinance and see how much it is truly hurting the industry, and make the appropriate changes.  

7)       You can get turned down for a loan.    To some, this sounds crazy.People actually get turned down for loans now.The three C’s determine your eligibility for a loan..Collateral, apacity, and character,.    You need to have the credit score, job history, and mortgage and employment history.   In general, your character has to qualify you for the loan.    You must also have the capacity to afford the loan as well as the equity in the home.    The three C’s were thrown out by many companies in the past, but they are back and my guess is they will be here to stay for quite some time.

To find out about more changes in the mortgage industry and what you can do to qualify, visit http://www.timmarose.com

Before the global recession came about, people all around the world chose to buy into the cheap European housing market. One European country that became extremely popular was Bulgaria, mainly because the prices were so low and were predicted to keep rising.

However, the global recession came as a surprise to everyone and it resulted in home prices across Europe falling. Now because people are feeling the effect of the recession within their home countries, they are choosing to sell or rent their second houses. The reason why they are feeling the pinch so much is because the majority of people remortgaged their homes to invest in a second, however, now they are finding it hard to manage their payments. Having to pay for a second mortgage isn’t the only factor for many people. When it came to buying a second home, people generally forget things like buying insurance for second homes. These little things can make buying your ideal holiday home more expensive than intially thought.

Even though many people can no longer afford their second homes and have had to sell up, this has created a gap in the market for people buying a second home they can afford. If you are able to afford a second home, then buying once, especially during the recession, is a very good investment. Due to prices falling quite sharply, you often get alot of house for your money. Plus, once the recession passes, house prices will begin to rise once again, making it a perfect investment for you if you ever decide to sell up.

Another plus to buying a second home in the recession is that there is so much choice, because of a large number of people selling up, you can pick and choose the best areas. Just ensure you remember to factor in all little costs such as insurance for holiday homes. Added up, the small things can really count for something, plus, no matter where your home is, many of the things are still required whether it’s home insurance Spain or France. Taking into consideration all these things, you should be able to make quite a good investment.

If you don’t have a lot of money in the bank, its usually pretty difficult to get the things you need for your house. Throw a recession into the mix and you now have a lots of families who are struggling with old and decrepit furniture that not only looks bad but also makes every day living difficult. There may be an answer to this problem however in the form a government initiative which will ask those more fortunate to give their unwanted items to poorer families, instead of disposing of it or selling it on.

The government campaign which is predicted to kick off this November with news paper, Internet and and radio advertising. Americans have always been able to rally together in times of hardship and it is thought that around 150,000 homes would benefit a great deal from the appeal. The furniture that is most in demand is bedroom furniture like children’s beds, wardrobes and bedside table. There is also a high demand for living room items, with many families lacking tables, book cases and couches.

There have been the obvious criticisms of the government’s move, most stating that in this stumbling economy, people should be being encouraged to buy new. The government responded reasonably quickly to these accusations, with the argument that people will not be spending less money on new items, as people from low income families would be unlikely to buy new in the first place. Consumer spending expert, Kevin Hall, has suggested that “there will always be a demand for new furniture, but currently there are lots of items being wasted, which we cannot afford to be doing right now”.

The government has said that all furniture, regardless of condition will be accepted for consideration, including dining furniture, kitchen furniture, bedroom items, really anything that people don’t want.

Many people believe that if they have a bad credit history or a low income they cannot get a home loan. Well, unless you’ve had a home forclosed on in the past, the good news is that there are ways of getting such a loan in the form of bad credit home loans or mortgage loans. By using your house as collateral, it is very likely that your home loan application will be seriously analyzed for a mortgage approval. However, before starting the procedure for getting a bad credit home loan, you should check the down payment and the loan amount; also, try to get your credit reports straight; and then start searching for bad credit home loans lenders.

It is important to know the value of the property and the bad credit home loan amount in the first place since these two elements are used by mortgage lenders to establish your LTV ratio. LTV is the amount you borrow that is divided by the value of your home. It is normal that the bad credit home loan amount be lower, compared to the value of your house, because the lower the LTV is, the higher are your chances to obtain the mortgage loan you want.. If you have an LTV of 80% or lower, you should not have problems finding a lender.

Before trying to get a bad credit home loan, you should start by cleaning up your credit record some months in advance. Pay you credit due on time and get credit report copies from three major reporting agencies, all these ought to be ready thirty days before you file the loan application. Go through all the pages to see whether there are errors and, if you find some, get the agencies to correct them, in order to increase your credit score.

Finally, do your best to find the most appropriate lender in order to get yourself a good deal on the bad credit home loan and to save money. Online research could help you decide who to work with, thanks to the many details available on websites. Thus, you will be able to get the necessary information and compare the packages for borrowers with a bad credit history like you. Consequently you will have the opportunity to select the one that best suits your needs. To conclude, it is a good idea not to let a bad credit home loan impede your actions.

With millions of Americans facing financial hardship and difficulty making their mortgage payments, there comes a time when a homeowner has to decide whether they should continue to make their mortgage payments and burn up their reserves or stop making the payments and conserve their cash savings. The latter deteriorates your credit and will expose you to a possible foreclosure. So the burning question when faced with this dilemma is “Should I stay or should I go” or should I refi my home?

The facts are that many people took cash out, borrowed more than they can afford, took teaser rates, or applied using some form of a stated income loan which would often over inflate the borrowers actual income through the home refinance or home purchase process. The stumbling economy and a significant loss in home values, no wonder people are becoming trapped under mortgage payments they can’t pay and a home they can’t sell. There are a lot of people that are leaving their homes and just giving the properties to lenders. Is this the best option?

I don’t have the right or wrong answer here but I do know that up until the 90’s most people bought a house as a place to live and somewhere to stay and raise a family.That might be a Walton’s way of thought but sometimes the truth hurts.It was a shock to some to see national home value increase seven percent a year though the nineties.  Lending practices began to recover from the S/L crisis and a new way of thinking was born in the lending world. Are you still breathing?  Do you have a credit score? Obviously you can afford a house.By then home prices were lower and stated incomes supported those prices; with that in mind it could have been okay for stated incomes.Now you have an Achilles heel with outrageous home value increases and people scrambling to spend that money of high priced toys. The blame lies with borrowers that used their homes equity like an ATM machine to buy the luxury item they desired.

Fast forward about 10 years to 2008 we are all faced with the dilemma should I stay or should I go.  If I walk from my home I can buy another house in two years(in theory) based on current lending standards which if property values keep going down I can buy another house or maybe even buy back my existing house at half the price I used to owe on before I walked.  This is all true you can walk, you could buy your home for less, but do you really want to?Several media and news stories have put a spotlight on a home market on life support, but the truth of the matter is everyone agreed to the terms because they suited the borrower at the time.   Again You knew what you were doing when you took the cash out home refinance, you knew what you were doing when you bought the home, don’t bring everybody else down even further as somewhere along the line we must just stop this madness.With the threat of a depression looming it is time we all take control of our homes and neighborhoods to ensure we avoid foreclosure.

Since home prices peaked in the UK last October many homeowners have lost track of what their homes are now actually worth. This is because house prices have been falling month on month for almost a year, and with a range of reports claiming that home prices have dropped by varying levels many homeowners may now be confused as to what the true price of their property actually is.

There are many reasons for the falling prices of houses for homeowners, mainly being the current credit crunch, which will new house buyers off the market as there are no mortgages available anymore.

There are a number of reasons why you may be looking to get your home priced. You may be thinking about putting your house on the market and moving on, in which case you clearly need an idea of what you will get for it. You may be thinking about borrowing against the equity in your property, and will need to provide the lender with details on the value of the home. You may simply be curious to find out what your home is not worth of nearly a year of month on month property price falls.

Of course, there is little point in getting your home valued unless you can be certain that the valuation you receive is an accurate one. Although you can easily contact a local estate agent to come and value the home you may find that you do not get an accurate valuation from just one estate agent, as the valuation may be too high or too low depending on whether the estate agent is prioritising on getting a higher level of commission or a quicker sale on your home.

It is therefore a good idea to get around three surveyors from different estate agents to come and look at the house in order to provide you with a valuation. Obviously, you should not mention that you have already been given a valuation, as otherwise each estate agent may base his or her valuation on the one that you have already received. Your aim should be to get a totally independent figure from each one so that you can see whether they all come to roughly the same conclusion with regards to the value of your house.

You can also help yourself further by doing your homework. All you need to do is check the prices of other houses for sale in your area that are similar to yours and see whether they are going for the same sort of price that the estate agent has priced your property at. By checking out the prices of other properties that are already for sale you can get an even better idea of the true value of your property.

If you are putting your property up for sale and you find that the value of the house is now far less that you had hoped you need to bear in mind that inflating the asking price in the hope of getting more money could result in your property failing to sell in the current climate.

If your property does not sell at your desired price and you still have equity in your home, then homeowner loans could help to improve your current home removing the need to move. For more information on property prices and finding out your properties worth read the articles on finding a mortgage from an independent financial advisor