Great Loan Deals: Can You Finance Investment Property for 4 Percent?
Mortgage interest rates are super-low at the moment. But the best deals are for owner-occupied homes, not for financing investment property. On a recent radio show, a caller emailed Ilyce to ask about a great loan deal she supposedly got when she financed her investment property. Is it the real deal?
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Jun 4, 2009
Mark Zandi: Housing Prices, Interest Rates Key to Housing Recovery
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com, spends much of his time looking at housing and finance data to help figure out which way the economy is going. He believes that housing prices and interest rates are key to the housing recovery. When will the credit crisis abate? When will the housing markets recover? Zandi is optimistic that by 2010, we'll see the housing market in a whole new light. Is he right?
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Jun 4, 2009
Should You Buy a Car Before Closing on a Home?
Should you buy a car before closing on your new home? For many home buyers, when they're looking for a new home they also happen to be looking for a new car, new appliances and new furniture. That's a lot of cash leaving your wallet (or being charged in your charge card) all at the same time. It might also put you in danger of throwing your debt-to-income ratios out of whack. Mortgage lenders will pull a copy of your credit history and credit score when you apply for your loan, but they'll pull another one just before you close. You don't want to do anything, or buy anything, that will make your debt-to-income ratio look bad, or you risk losing your loan just before you close on your new home.
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Posted on:
Jun 4, 2009
Credit Card Debts Can Be Sold To Debt Collection Agencies
How long do you owe a credit card debt? If you haven't paid on a credit card debt for the past five years can a credit card company still sell the debt to a collection agency? What is the statute of limitations for collecting on a debt?
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Jun 3, 2009
$8,000 First Time Buyer Tax Credit Mortgagee Letter
On May 29, 2009, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan issued guidance that allows first-time buyers who get an FHA loan to "monetize" the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. In short, you can now apply the $8,000 tax credit to your FHA loan closing costs. This page reprints the FHA's Mortgagee Letter that describes the program and tells what lenders have to do before they allow first-time buyers to monetize the tax credit. The letter is signed by Brian Montgomery, Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner.
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May 29, 2009
Prepaying Mortgages With Low Interest Rates
Interest rates are at record lows. Does it make sense to prepay your mortgage when you have a really low interest rate? What's the best way to prepay a mortgage loan with a low interest rate? How can you ensure that the mortgage lender knows when you are sending in prepayments to your mortgage loan? It's up to you to track your mortgage loan prepayments and it's easiest if you prepay the same amount every month.
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May 28, 2009
Housing Market Data Shows Housing Crisis Ongoing
How is the housing market doing in spring 2009? Is the housing crisis coming to an end as some people suggest? While housing market data provided by groups such as the National Association of REALTORS may be less bad than it used to be, the real estate market has yet to rebound. It would take more than 10 months to sell all of the housing inventory that's currently on the housing market. Find out some signs that would show the bottom of the housing crisis.
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May 28, 2009
Credit Card Legislation Means Changes For Companies And Consumers
President Obama signed into law new credit card legislation that will drastically affect both consumers and credit card companies. Among the changes, the legislation bans unfair rate increases, prevents fee traps, requires plain sight and plain language disclosures, and has many provisions for credit card company accountability and credit card protections for students and young people.
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May 27, 2009
More Mortgage Applications Processed As Rates Rise Slightly
Mortgage interest rates rose slightly last week for 30-year fixed rate mortgages and one year adjustable rate mortgages, announced the Mortgage Bankers Association today. But they're still relatively low.
Yesterday I blogged how falling home values makes buying a home more affordable for first time…
Posted on:
May 27, 2009
Today on the Ilyce Glink Show - May 24, 2009
Roth IRA Conversions
Today on the Ilyce Glink show, we had a call about the Roth IRA conversion change for 2010. I've been writing about this for awhile, and basically the change boils down to the following:
If you make too much money (over $100,000/year) to convert your current IRA to a Roth IRA…
Posted on:
May 24, 2009
