Home Buying Content Index - Page 9

Making Home Affordable loan modification processing requires constant follow-up from the borrower. President Obama’s Making Home Affordable Plan is taking a long time to process many loan modification requests, and sometimes the paperwork is getting lost. To make sure that your loan modification request is processed properly, document all contact with your lender and make contact every day through phone calls and emails. Keep a detailed log of all contact you have with your lender while trying to get your loan modification processed under the Making Home Affordable Plan. If your lender reports you as paying late to the credit reporting bureaus and hurts your credit history and credit score, you may be able to contact the bureaus and, under limited circumstances, correct your credit history.

Obama’s Making Home Affordable Mortgage Loan Modification Program is helping some but delinquent mortgages are still on the rise. Delinquent mortgages are on the rise as loan modifications are taking longer to complete. Delinquent mortgages, those that are 30 and 60 days late, have usually had a high rate of "self-cure" or homeowners finding ways to make their mortgage payments. However, as home values fall, more homeowners are letting their delinquent mortgages turn into foreclosures. These delinquent mortgages will continue to turn into foreclosures as it continues to take longer to complete loan modifications even under the Obama Making Home Affordable Loan Modification Plan works its way through the system.

Use seller financing to save your capital gains tax exemption if your buyer is having trouble getting conventional financing. To qualify for a capital gains tax exemption you must fit under certain guidelines, like how long you have lived in the home as your primary residence. Seller financing can help you save your capital gains tax exemption before it expires. However, seller financing does carry many risks. If you can't or don't want to go down the route of seller financing, you can also consider a 1031 exchange (tax deferred exchange or Starker Trust) or an installment purchase. A qualified tax professional can help you determine if seller financing is the right choice for you, if you're trying to save your capital gains tax exemption.

A lower monthly mortgage payment should be the goal of a loan modification or a streamline refinance. If your lender offers you a loan modification but raises your monthly mortgage payment, see what else they can do to help lower your monthly mortgage payment. Maybe you can participate in the Obama Making Home Affordable Refinance Program and extend the life of your loan and reamortize to lower your monthly mortgage payment. My personal finance and real estate advice is to go to a your lender and get your lender to lower your interest rate to lower your monthly mortgage payment. Lowering your monthly mortgage payment is a goal of the Obama Making Home Affordable Refinance Program.

What happens if you can't pay your mortgage? A homeowner worries about getting a deficiency judgment if her rental property falls into foreclosure because she can't pay the mortgage. Some states allow deficiency judgments on primary residences, but many do not. If your house is in foreclosure because you can't pay your mortgage, you'll want to make sure that the lender in your foreclosure can't come after you for a deficiency judgment. In some circles, when a lender can't go after the borrower for the debt, the debt is called a non-recourse loan.

A debt management plan can help someone whose credit history and credit score have likely already suffered either because their debt-to-credit limits are out of whack or because they have started to pay some of their bills late. As personal finance advice goes, a debt management program can help you improve your credit history and credit score by helping to encourage you to pay their bills on time and in full. However, some debt management programs are really scams and they will take your money instead of helping you pay your bills. Look for a reputable credit counseling service provider.

Buying or Renting a Vacation Home. What's the Better Choice? Vacation homes can be a great way to enjoy your summer vacation, but should you rent or buy these homes? If you buy, you get all the investment benefits on owning a home, but you still have to take care of it. You may end up spending more time tending to your vacation home, than vacationing. Renting a vacation home may be the right way to go, if you're not prepared to pay for the right to have the vacation home for the short period you might want to stay there.

Seller disclosure is required in most states, meaning a seller has to reveal any defects or problems with the house to a buyer. However, the seller disclosure laws and requirements vary greatly from state to state. If a buyer discovers problems with the home that they think were not revealed through seller disclosure, they should evaluate the money, time and effort it will take to fix the problem. Often it's a simple fix to the house, but the seller disclosure lawsuit can leave you with a lot of legal fees.

Get earnest money or down payment back after a short sale falls through. If you have the right to the return of your earnest money or down payment under a contract, the listing broker should have no problem sending your earnest money or down payment back. But you need to make sure you have complied with the terms of your contract to get your earnest money back. It may not be enough to just get the word of the listing broker.

If you put down earnest money or a down payment on a home and you have a seller disclosure issue, you better make sure you have a way to get out of the contract. If the seller disclosure form failed to disclose mold in a home, and you signed a contract to buy the home, you should have the right to also inspect the home to make sure you want to move forward in the deal. If as a buyer, you don't understand issues like contracts, earnest money, seller disclosure and home inspections, you might want to reconsider buying a house or hiring a real estate attorney and a home inspector before signing a contract to buy a home.