Home Buying and Selling Real Estate

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Who is a Short Sale Negotiator?
2011-12-05 06:00:00
Personally, I would not call a third-party negotiator a short sale negotiator. In my mind, the two are very different. A third-party negotiator, for starters, is generally a person hired by somebody other than the seller. This person does not represent the seller, whereas a short sale negotiator would represent the seller. Why would an agent or a lawyer or some other entity responsible for your short sale success hire another person? Perhaps to save time. In the past, I tried working with a third-party negotiator, but that association did not work out for the main reason that the third-party negotiator did not do the job the way that I would do it. It goes back to the adage if you want a job done right, then you've got to do the job yourself. An agent can't really successfully farm out being a short sale negotiator. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: What Does a Short Sale Listing Agent Do? An Explanation of Third-Party Authorization How to Choose a Short Sale Agent Technor...

Compare Conventional with MI to FHA
2011-12-02 06:00:00
A good website to check out if you are considering a loan-to-value ratio of less than 80% and can't decide between conventional or FHA is Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation, or MGIC. Not only can you compute an approximate mortgage insurance payment, but you can also compare a conventional loan with MI to FHA. I used an example of a $200,000 home, with 5% down conventional versus a 3.5% minimum down payment with FHA. The 5% down conventional loan won hands down. The payment was $101 less with a conventional loan, although the down payment was $3,000 more. In just a little over 2 years, you're breaking even on the cash flow, yet you're way ahead on equity (at 4%) and net expense. Check it out. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: What is Proof of Funds? How Mortgage Rates Are Determined When is Your First Mortgage Payment Due? Technorati tag: conventional vs fha At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacra...
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Dealing With Short Sale Counter Offers
2011-11-30 06:00:00
I don't know any agent in the short sale business who enjoys receiving a short sale counter offer. But a counter offer is common. That's because the offer itself and all of the fees involved with it are subject to bank approval. One of the ways the bank increases its bottom line is to decrease the amount of the fees the seller pays to close. Bank of America, for example, issues most of its counter offers through the Equator system. There are a few types of Bank of America short sales that do not involve a counter through Equator, but those are few and far between. I received a short sale counter offer recently that almost made my eyes pop out of my head. I could not believe the bank wanted 25% more in price. The home would never appraise for that, even if the buyer was willing to pay it. So, I argued my case. Sure enough, Bank of America had made a mistake, and it withdrew the counter offer. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Top 5 Reasons Banks Reject Short Sale s Can a Buyer...
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The Number One Question to Ask a Short Sale Buyer's Agent
2011-11-28 06:00:00
When you see short sales sitting on the market month after month, you might wonder why. You might think it's the bank or the listing agent who is holding this up. But the truth is it's generally the buyer. The buyer cancels, and then the listing agent must sell to another buyer. This short sale scenario is what I call a shampoo, rinse, repeat. Just for the record, the only people who make money are the shampoo companies when they tell you to lather, rinse and repeat. You buy twice the amount of shampoo this way. You have to only wash your hair once and rinse. But that is not true in a short sale. Yet, most of the heartache -- the shampoo, rinse and repeat scenario -- could be avoided if you were to ask a buyer's agent the number one short sale question. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Hiring a Short Sale Buyer's Agent What Does a Short Sale Listing Agent Do? Question s to Ask a Short Sale Listing Agent Technorati tag: short sale question At the time of writing, Elizabet...

Don't Pay Off That Mortgage
2011-11-25 06:00:00
I never thought I'd live to see the day when financial planners would recommend stuffing money into your mattress, but that's basically the message today. There is a piece in the New York Times advising homeowners to not pay off the mortgage when they retire. Interest rates are so low there is really little advantage to get rid of a mortgage. The interest tax deductions are low, too. When you throw into the mix the fact that in many parts of the country, prices are still falling, it doesn't make sense to pay off an asset that is diminishing in value. A mortgage friend of mine lives by a clever motto. She says, "Keep your powder dry." Meaning, don't put all of your money into real estate -- use leverage. Keep cash on hand. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Home Buying in a Falling Market 3 Things to Know About Refinancing a Mortgage What is a FICO? Technorati tag: pay off mortgage At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon R...

What Makes Homes Turns Into Short Sales?
2011-11-23 06:00:00
What makes homes turn into short sales? You can have the same home side-by-side or across the street from each other and one will be a short sale and the other will not. Exactly what are short sales? What makes one home a short sale and the other home a traditional sale? Here is a clue. It is not the seller. It is not the type of financing offered. It is not the type of buyer who makes the offer. To further complicate matters, there is no guarantee that even if the home is sold as a short sale that the transaction will close as a short sale. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: What Does a Short Sale Listing Agent Do? Two Basic Types of HAFA Short Sales Top 5 Short Sale Myths Technorati tag: what are short sales At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California. What Makes Homes Turns Into Short Sales? originally appeared on About.com Home Buying / Selling on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 at 05:00:52....

What Can Go Wrong With a Short Sale Closing?
2011-11-21 06:00:00
To answer what can go wrong with a short sale closing would keep me up past my bedtime. I'd still be sitting here typing long after the Thanksgiving dishes are cleared and put away and somebody snaps the wishbone. When somebody asks me what can go wrong with a short sale closing, I ask them how much time they have to listen to all of the possibilities, twists and turns and directions a short sale can go. It's practically unlimited. Perhaps a better answer is what can't go wrong? Of course, there are certain steps you can take to limit your risk and improve your chances of a smooth short sale closing. But you're never going to be able to eliminate all of the risk. There are no short sale Houdinis in the world. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: How a Seller Can Cancel Your Short Sale Contract Can a Short Sale Seller Refuse to Close? Why Some Short Sales Fail Technorati tag: short sale closing At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate ...
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The Keep Your Home California Program Pays $5,000 to Some Short Sale Seller
2011-11-18 06:00:00
I'm wondering if Keep Your Home California is either not finding very many people who want to keep their homes in California or else who qualify for the program. Because Keep Your Home California is now accepting applications from investors as well as borrowers who have completed cash-out refinances. Previously, those two groups of borrowers were excluded from the financial solutions offered through the program. Even if you don't want to keep your home, the Keep Your Home California Program has a component that will pay you up to $5,000 to do a short sale, providing your lender participates and you qualify. It's called the Transition Assistance Program or TAP. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Who is the Seller in a Short Sale ? Tips for Making the Bank Accept Your Short Sale Offer How Do You Lose Equity in a House? Technorati tag: keep your home california At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, C...

Owner Financing Offers Alternatives for Home Buyers
2011-11-16 06:00:00
When home buyers can't get a loan, they often turn to owner financing options. Back in the 1970s, newspaper classifieds were sprinkled with home ads titled OWC, meaning "owner will carry." Although today's real estate market is different, there are still similarities between the 1970s and now. Many home buyers in the 1970s faced financing challenges due to tightening of credit. And days on market exceeded 30. Buyers like owner financing for a variety of reasons, and it's also an alternative for those with less than stellar credit. That's because a buyer can have a decent FICO score but still be unable to qualify for a loan due to debt ratio requirements or time on the job. Buyers who utilize owner financing find they save on closing costs because they aren't paying loan points or lender fees. Sellers might offer a lower interest rate to the buyer than a buyer would get from a conventional lender, and the term of the financing can be negotiated between the seller and buyer ...
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How to Get Cash For Keys
2011-11-14 06:00:00
There are some lowlifes who you can just tell are angling to get cash for keys. You can tell it by the way they treat you. Those types are often snarly, combative and act as though the world owes them big-time for their mere presence in it. I've met a few tenants like that, and more often than not, they're the ones who haven't paid rent for several months. They know that the home owners can't afford to evict them because the owners can't even afford to make their mortgage payments. Far as I'm concerned, those types of tenants don't deserve cash for keys, but they often get it anyway. Sellers who are in foreclosure can often receive cash for keys as well. After the bank forecloses, either a bank representative or an agent hired by the bank to sell the home will come by. If they don't mention cash for keys, it doesn't hurt to ask about it . . . read more about Cash for Keys. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Stripping Homes in Foreclosure 12 Ways to Find a Dow...

California Sellers Who Sold a Short Sale to an Investor Might Qualify to Ge
2011-11-11 06:00:00
The Home Equity Sale s Act might provide a basis for a lawsuit for some California sellers of short sales. This law protects sellers of homes in foreclosure when they sell their personal residence to an investor. Many real estate agents and their investors use the wrong purchase contracts and do not give the sellers 5 days to rescind. I see it over and over. If you sold your home to an investor while it was in foreclosure in California, you might want to talk to a lawyer. If you want your house back, it's possible that you might qualify to get it. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Should You Stop Paying Your Mortgage? How Foreclosures Work How Soon Can You Buy Again After a Short Sale? Technorati tag: home equity sales act At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California. California Sellers Who Sold a Short Sale to an Investor Might Qualify to Get it Back originally appeared on About.com Home Buyi...

What Does a Short Sale Agent Do?
2011-11-09 06:00:00
There is really no school that teaches a person how to be a short sale agent. There are seminar companies that have sprung up offering certifications in short sales, but I hate to say it, those certifications don't necessarily mean a lot. I have come to that conclusion from working with short sale agents who are certified and don't know how to do a short sale. They don't know even know how to answer what does a short sale agent do? The thing with short sale certification is there is no one right way to do a short sale. Not really. There are basic principles but most agents get their training from experience and from each other, not from somebody's made-up idea of a classroom. There are many ways to do a short sale. What short sale agents do varies all over the country. Companies that offer certification have realized that there is money to be made from offering training to agents. An agent might ask herself: who made that company king of short sales? The answer is nobody. Mor...
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A Preapproval Letter Might Not Be Enough Anymore
2011-11-07 06:00:00
Some borrowers feel like their financial situation is nobody's business, and they should not have to produce a preapproval letter to buy a home. After all, they know how much they are comfortable paying. They know that they can get a loan. They know the sales price they want to offer. They should not be required to give the agent or the seller a preapproval letter to prove it. Except they do need a preapproval letter. Moreover, sometimes the preapproval letter is not enough. Before a seller accepts an offer that involves financing, the seller wants to be assured that the buyer has applied for a loan and is qualified to get a loan. Although a preapproval letter implies performance, it is not a guarantee. Lately, my sellers and I have been including a request to look at the buyer's DU before the sellers accept an offer. That's because I've seen preapproval letters that should have never been issued in the first place, and mortgage brokers who have been unable to perform from th...
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Zen and The Art of the Short Sale
2011-11-04 06:00:00
My husband was traveling last week through Bozeman and Missoula, Montana. His description of the trip reminded me of the 1974 best-selling book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig. One of the chapters in that book dealt with the ability to narrowly focus. To look at the big picture with a magnifying glass, zeroing in on one small aspect of the picture, breaking it down into its smallest components. It's partly about reaching zen, being at peace with yourself and the world around you, regardless of contradictions to the contrary. That's how I look at short sales. I was joking with a buyer's agent last week who was trying to insert rational thinking into a short sale. Sometimes, a short sale does not make sense. I said to her:"Do not expect common sense and you will meet your expectations. It's the way of the short sale, grasshopper." Now, when she sends me an email, she signs it "The Grasshopper." More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Top 5 Short Sale ...

Can a Real Estate Agent Sell Her Own Short Sale
2011-11-02 06:00:00
The question of dual agency is sometimes more important in a short sale than in any other kind of transaction. You can create short sale dual agency if two agents who work for the same broker each represent their own client. But dual agency is more often associated in a transaction in which the buyer is represented by the same agent who also represents the seller. You can imagine how tricky it gets if an agent tries to represent herself in a short sale, plus represent the buyer. It can't be done. This is but one reason why an agent should not try to sell her own short sale. There are other reasons why an agent should not sell her own short sale. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: How to Hire a Short Sale Listing Agent How to Hire a Short Sale Buyer's Agent How to Choose a Short Sale Agent Technorati tag: short sale dual agency At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California. Can a Real Estate A...
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A Referral Fee is Often Exchanged for an Agent Referral
2011-10-31 06:00:00
Sometimes, real estate agents sell their friends in exchange for a referral fee. They might not refer a friend to the best agent, either. They might look for the agent who is willing to give them the most money, and that might not be the best agent for you. Agent s don't talk about agent referrals to their clients because it's not an attractive side of the business. It's the side where the highest bidder might be an inexperienced agent. I know this because I've had agents call me about an agent referral. They gush and coo over my qualifications, and then beg me to take their short sale client. When I tell them I don't pay referrals for short sale clients, all of a sudden they don't want to refer the client to me. So, what they're really saying is they don't want the best agent for their client. They want the agent who will pay them the most, and that's a sorry state of affairs. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: About Agents and Fluffery 10 Things Your Agent Should Neve...
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Home Ownership Confidence Shifting Among Younger People
2011-10-28 07:00:00
An October paper prepared by economists at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank measures the confidence level of consumers in today's housing market. The paper asked a series of questions and grouped the answers according to age, ZIP, income, gender, among other factors. Not surprisingly, the paper showed that older consumers have more confidence in the market and would consider buying another home. It is the younger generation that has doubts. Us older geezers, we've had to listen to our parents and grandparents lament about the Great Depression. My mother never shut up about it. Whenever something awful happened, she'd draw a comparison to the Great Depression. She still saved pieces of aluminum foil and had a hard time throwing anything out. I wonder if today's kids are growing up with the same impression? More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Home Selling Among Foreclosures and Short Sales Tips for Buying Distressed Homes How Foreclosure Sales Affect Values Technorati tag: hom...
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Second Lenders and Deficiency Rights in a Short Sale
2011-10-26 07:00:00
There is no good reason to avoid a short sale just because the seller has a second lender in a short sale. Some short sales started out life as a purchase money combo 80 / 20 loan. The sellers wanted to avoid paying mortgage insurance, so they originally financed those types of loans with a first and a second loan. But some lenders, after promising sellers they would not have to pay mortgage insurance, turned around and bought their own mortgage insurance policy years after the transaction closed. These banks took a mortgage insurance policy on a mortgage that was worthless, and both they and the mortgage insurance company knew it. It blows me away that there is a product like this in the marketplace. You can make money selling a product that insures a worthless piece of paper. But not every second lender in a short sale is subject to mortgage insurance. In fact, many are not, but they still require careful negotiation. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: What is a Release of...
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How to Escalate a Short Sale
2011-10-24 07:00:00
Every short sale agent should know how to escalate a short sale. That's because a short sale can bring new meaning to the word stupidity. I like to compare short sales to SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy. The versions shown on Saturday Night Live involve a team of comedians impersonating famous celebrities such as Sean Connery and Burt Reynolds. The gist is the Jeopardy categories are so simple that even a moron with a second-grade education could guess the answers, except the celebrities are dumber than that. And there you have your typical short sale negotiator. I really hate to make generalizations because they aren't necessarily true. However, you can't ignore the fact that the reason some generalizations become a generalization is because they have some small basis in reality. So, when an agent runs into a negotiator who reminds one of a contestant appearing on Saturday Night Live's Celebrity Jeopardy, the best thing an agent can do is to escalate that short sale. More Article...
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What Does the Median Price Mean?
2011-10-21 07:00:00
When an economist says home prices are falling, you need to know the type of stats being analyzed. Because you can actually make numbers say just about anything that you want, depending on how you compare them and the types of numbers used. One number that is used quite frequently to reflect market movement is the median price. The median price is that number in the middle. It is the halfway point in which half of the homes are priced higher and half are priced lower. The median price carries less weight when you are comparing fewer numbers of homes. For example, with 3 homes, it would be the middle home, even though the spread between all three could be enormous. That's why when you hear the median prices are falling, you need to know how many homes have sold and who is buying them. If it is only first-time home buyers, then there are probably fewer higher priced move-up homes in that comparison. It is a piece of the pie but not the whole pie. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintrau...
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How Much Should You Offer to Pay For That Short Sale?
2011-10-19 07:00:00
The first words out of a short sale buyer's mouth are usually: Do you think the bank will take less? This tells me that buyers are smart enough to realize that the bank must approve the short sale, but they don't know enough about short sales to figure out an offer price. A short sale offer price needs to be somewhat reasonable. That's because a short sale is not an REO. It is not a foreclosure. The home is not owned by the bank. And in many instances, the bank has little if no reason to even consider a short sale offer. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Tips for Hiring a Short Sale Buyer's Agent Top 10 Short Sale Offer Tips How to Make Money Buying a Short Sale Technorati tag: short sale offer price At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California. How Much Should You Offer to Pay For That Short Sale? originally appeared on About.com Home Buying / Selling on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 at 05:...

Why You Need a Third-Party Authorization
2011-10-17 07:00:00
If you haven't signed a third-party authorization with your real estate agent, your agent will not be able to communicate with your bank to process your short sale. Even if you have signed a third-party authorization, it takes some banks anywhere from 48 to 72 hours or more to process that document. Sometimes, the bank loses it. Whether the bank loses the document on purpose or routinely shoves a trash can under its fax machine is hard to say. There are a lot of disgruntled workers employed at our nation's banks today. It's not like the third-party is notarized, although some of them do require a notarized signature. Most of them are simply signed, dated and then FAXed to the bank. They are not verified. They are not checked for accuracy. An employee looks at it, notes it, files it and it's entered into the system. Why this process can take 3 to 5 days is beyond me. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: What is an Arm's Length Affidavit? What is a Short Sale Addendum? What is...
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No Debt Relief For You, Says Mortgage Giants
2011-10-14 07:00:00
Government-sponsored entities are not your friend. You already know that your bank is not your friend, but failing mortgage giants owned by the government don't give a rat's patootie, either. Neither Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, FHA nor VA endorse debt relief. A New York Times article explains these ridiculous positions. They don't want to do it because it sets a bad example. It tells people it's OK to take out a risky loan. Oh, please. Until government steps up, acknowledges that it is part of the problem and offers real-world solutions, our crumbling housing market will continue to tank and our economy will not recover for a long, long time. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: How to Do a Fannie Mae Short Sale What is Involved in a Freddie Mac HAFA Short Sale? What is a Deed-in-Lieu-of Foreclosure? Technorati tag: debt relief At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California. No Debt Relief For You,...
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What is the Timeline for Your Short Sale?
2011-10-12 07:00:00
If you're wondering about the timeline for a short sale, the first thing you would look at is the type of loan involved. It makes a difference if your loan is a government loan or a conventional loan or a private loan. It also makes a difference whether that loan has been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Does the loan contain mortgage insurance? Any combination of these factors will determine the average timeline for a short sale. There are at least 36 different combinations I can think of, and that number goes up if you have more than one loan. You better hope none of those loans is a UCC filing, which is a prevalent financing instrument used to secure home improvement loans. In that case you could be hosed. Those types of lenders rarely if ever agree to a short sale. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Reasons to Short Sale Over a Foreclosure What is a Short Sale Release of Liability? Should You Do a Short Sale or a Loan Modification? Technorati tag: short sale timeline At...
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How to Get Cash for a Short Sale
2011-10-10 07:00:00
If you want to get cash for a short sale, you may have to follow certain program guidelines to get it. Plus, not every lender offers cash for a short sale. One of the qualifying factors for most short sales is a hardship. Some kind of hardship. It could be personal or financial but it should be a qualifying hardship. Not all hardships qualify as a hardship. For example, being forced to take your daughter out of a ballet class is not really a hardship. You won't get sympathy from a lender because you had to sell the family Rolls or forfeit that holiday vacation at Four Seasons in Hualalai. But you don't have to be dead broke to get cash for a short sale, either . . . read more about how to get cash for short sale. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: The Best Time to List a Short Sale Which Fixtures Can a Seller Take in a Short Sale? How to Get Cash for Keys ©Big Stock Photo Technorati tag: short sale cash At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a ...

Fixed-Rate Mortgages is Loan of Choice for Most Borrowers
2011-10-07 07:00:00
Refinancing borrowers are waking up to smell the coffee. According to Freddie Mac, 95% of refinancing borrowers in the second quarter chose a fixed-rate mortgage, regardless of whether their original loan was fixed or adjustable. Equally exciting, more than 1/3 of refinancing borrowers chose a term of less than 30 years such as a fixed-rate term for 15 or 20. Borrowers are now leaning toward common-sense principles of finance: make conforming payments and pay it off quickly. Why, just to show my age, I can remember the terms of my first car loan. It was a fixed-rate payment for 3 years. Nowadays, people think nothing about paying on their cars for 7 years. That's nuts. Cars depreciate. And, as we have all learned in a painful and horrible way, real estate can depreciate as well. Highly leveraged, long-term exotic financing is out. Low loan-to-value ratios and short-term fixed-rate financing is in. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: How to Compute Mortgage Interest How to Buy D...
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How to Get Short Sale HUD Approval
2011-10-05 07:00:00
I joke around with my escrow officer by referring to her company as HUDs R US. Because some days it seems like she does nothing else but send me HUD after HUD after HUD. That's because some weeks I receive dozens of offers for my short sale listings. I can't submit an offer to the bank without a HUD, which shows the bank exactly how much the fees are and how much the bank is netting from the offer. Receiving short sale HUD approval is generally the last step before the approval letter arrives. Every bank is different. Every bank wants to see different fees on the HUD before approving it. The main problem is banks often will demand 5 or 8 revisions of the HUD. It would save so much time if a bank negotiator could simply review the HUD once and ask for all the revisions at one time. Because that would make too much sense. Actually, when you stop to think about it, part of the reason short sale banks struggle with HUDs is because they don't understand that a HUD is drawn for the b...
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Why Are Some Banks Eager to Grant a HAFA Short Sale?
2011-10-03 07:00:00
It might seem that you read a lot from agents who are complaining about Bank of America and AMS Loan Servicing as its processor for HAFA short sales. The thing is agents who are happy with short sales rarely write about those situations. It's much easier to point fingers, stamp feet and yell loudly when banks fail to live up to promises. I'm not saying that AMS does not deserve the bad press it gets. But I can also understand why the culture and structure of such corporate enterprises lends itself to disappointing performances. Much of it is pragmatic. The main criterion or measurement of success is whether the job was completed. The journey doesn't seem to matter much. In the end, there is a reason why banks want to do a HAFA short sale. More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: How to Do a Freddie Mac HAFA Short Sale Is the HAFA Short Sale Right For You? How to Do a Bank of America Short Sale Technorati tag: bank of america ams loan servicing short sale At the time of writing, E...
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How Do You Know if the Bank Will Approve Your Short Sale?
2011-01-17 06:00:00
Sellers aren't the only people asking: Will the bank approve my short sale? Home buyers ask the same question. Because it's the home buyers who tend to endure more pain and stress in a short sale due to the length of time it takes to get them approved. If the bank doesn't approve the short sale offer, the seller will just look for another buyer. But buyers who are rejected by the bank are crushed. Buyers want guarantees that their offers will be accepted but that rarely happens. However, there are ways to bump up the odds of acceptance . . . read more about how you can know whether the Bank Will Approve a Short Sale . More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: Explanation of an Approved Short Sale How Long Should You Wait for Short Sale Approval? The Complete Short Sale Process ©Big Stock Photo Technorati tag: bank approve short sale At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California. How Do You Know...

Is it Smart to Rescast a Mortgage?
2011-01-14 06:00:00
Because the article carried the wrong calculation as an example, The New York Times has since removed its initial example of how to recast a mortgage, but I can give you the example here. The article talked about how recasting a mortgage can be beneficial to homeowners who, for a variety of reasons, cannot refinance. To recast means you recalculate a mortgage payment based on your original rate and term of loan. For example, say you have a loan balance of $148,037.73, with interest at 7%, which you originally took out 15 years ago. If you paid a lump sum of, say, $20,000 toward that loan and recast the mortgage, your new payment over the remaining 15 years would drop by $179.76 per month. That would save you $32,356.80 over the remaining term, resulting in an actual savings of $12,356.80 (after you deducted the principal amount you used to reduce the balance of your loan). More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub: How to Assume a Loan Reasons to Get a Second Mortgage How to Refinance ...
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