It's not about Title Insurance! Getting Down Payment Help Now. Sharing Home’s Gain (or Loss) Later.

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help!

From the New York Times, an interesting way to get a large down payment for that expensive home:

Getting Down Payment Help Now. Sharing Home’s Gain (or Loss) Later.

With home prices in some markets going through the roof (pun intended) just how does a home buyer come up with that large down payment.

For aspiring homeowners, coming up with a healthy down payment has long been the biggest obstacle to owning a home.
 With property values soaring in many areas — median prices in San Jose, Calif., and Denver are 60 percent above their prerecession peaks — the barrier is rising. That has some firms promoting unconventional ways to scrape together a down payment, including crowdfunding and using Airbnb rental income.
 Now, a small but growing number of home buyers are trying something different: asking an outside investor to put down money alongside them.
 It is called shared equity, and Unison, a company based in San Francisco, is the largest of a handful of firms putting it to work. Unison will provide at least half of a consumer’s down payment in exchange for a piece of any appreciation in the home’s value when it is sold. If the home sells at a loss, the company absorbs a share of that, too.

Read the full article here. 

What will they think of next?

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Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

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Fairfield, NJ 07004

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How to Stop That Unruly Neighbor From Ruining Your Sale

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

We love these columns from the Ask Real Estate section of the New York Times and have ourselves been featured in a column or two.

Here's a doozy:

How to Stop That Unruly Neighbor From Ruining Your Sale

Some neighbors are determined to make things difficult. But it’s in everyone’s interest to play nice.

By Ronda Kaysen

June 30, 2018

Q: I am writing to you on behalf of my lovely neighbors, who have been harassed for years by a neighbor who shares their driveway and often blocks them in. Now they have put their home up for sale and he’s at every open house intimidating potential buyers.  We live in a great community in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He’s the bad seed on the block. It seems the real estate agent can't handle him. What can my neighbors do?

A: The neighbor has a financial interest in behaving nicely while the house is on the market. If the house sells for less than it’s worth because of his theatrics, other homes in the immediate area (including his own) could see a drop in value.

The neighbor’s antics may backfire in another way, too. Someone will buy that house eventually, and he will have to live alongside that person (and continue to share the driveway). If he shows himself to be an unpleasant person, he may attract a buyer willing to take him on. “The person who ends up buying it is going to be somebody who can take it,” said Anna Shagalov, an associate broker with Halstead. Such a neighbor will be primed for confrontation, “and that is not in their best interests.”

The seller, or the real estate broker, should explain to the neighbor that his attitude is self-defeating. Be positive and try to enlist him in the sales effort. After all, a quick sale means a swift end to a long, unpleasant relationship. Ask him what can be done to appease him.

If the neighbor refuses to cooperate, the seller could make the open house a boisterous one, with distractions like balloons, a food truck and coffee. “Even if he’s ranting in the corner, he gets drowned out,” said John W. Harrison, an associate broker at CORE. “Really, all you’re trying to do is curate the purchaser’s first impression.”

Even if the neighbor is on his best behavior during the open house, the seller may still need to disclose past confrontations over the shared driveway, depending on what information the buyer requests in the contract.

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Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

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Does a seller have to tell a #homebuyer about looming costly repairs?

We are the New Jersey title insurance agent that does it all for you. For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us, Vested Land Services LLC. We can help.

That's a provocative heading but it's a true one.  What if the seller knows that costly repairs are just around the corner?  This article from NYTimes.com, while it deals with a #condominium apartment, has implications for all sellers.

Costly Repairs Are Looming. Must I Tell the Buyer?

Q: I am a board member at an Upper West Side condo that has had issues with leaks. Repairing the problem will be expensive, possibly requiring a five-figure assessment for each apartment. I have been thinking about moving, but now I want to sell quickly to avoid paying the assessment and living through months of construction. Our board does not move quickly and any decision about the repairs is likely months away. The work could ultimately be cheaper than what is currently being proposed. What, if anything, am I required to disclose to potential buyers?

A: In New York, a seller is not required to disclose any adverse information to a buyer. So long as you do not actively conceal the defect, or in this case mislead a buyer about the looming assessment, you haven’t done anything wrong. “The building could be falling down and the seller does not have to tell the buyer,” said Adam Leitman Bailey, a Manhattan real estate lawyer.

Check out the full article here. So the lesson for a #homebuyer is to get  a competent attorney and home inspector.
 

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

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Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

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How to Keep Unwelcome Pigeons at Bay - it's not title insurance, but.....

Title insurance from Vested Land Services LLC, the consumer's title agent, will not keep pigeons away from your railings, roof or other places they might gather.  But here's a quick answer from the NY Times that might be of help.

How to Keep Unwelcome Pigeons at Bay

Q: I live on the 15th floor of an Upper East Side co-op with windows facing First Avenue. Pigeons are roosting on my window ledge. The birds’ vocalization is loud enough to wake me up in the morning and they leave behind gray and white stains from their droppings. I shoo the birds away when I’m home, but cannot do this all day. I want to be able to open my window in the spring without worrying that the germs from their droppings will enter my room. What can I place on my window ledge to discourage the pigeons from roosting there? I do not want to use anything that could fall off the ledge, endangering a pedestrian below, or poison the birds. What is a safe remedy?

A: You should be able to open your windows this spring without worrying that a pigeon will fly into your apartment or its droppings will soil your home. While their droppings do not generally pose a serious health risk, they are still unsanitary, and gross. But your building, not you, should get the birds off your ledge. As a shareholder, you are responsible for everything inside the walls of your apartment, and the co-op board is responsible for the building. So the board needs to figure out how to get the birds to find a new home.

 “Residents should not attempt a solution on their own,” said Daniel Wollman, the chief executive of Gumley Haft, a Manhattan property manager.

Write the managing agent and the co-op board a letter alerting them to the pigeon problem and insisting that they fix it. If the birds are nesting on your ledge, they are probably nesting on another resident’s, too. In the letter, ask that management also clean the ledge of any droppings.

The building should be able to get the birds to nest elsewhere without damaging the facade or risking the safety of anyone on the street below. For example, at a Gumley Haft-managed property with a pigeon problem in its inner courtyard, management suspended netting over the area to keep the birds away.

Netting will not solve the problem at your building, but there are other methods. John McGowan, the director of operations for Bugged Out Pest Management in Brooklyn suggested that your building consider using Bird Barrier Optical Gel, a bird deterrent, which he described as “awesome.”g

This article and others may be read on-line at

nytimes.com/2018/04/14/realestate/how-to-keep-unwelcome-pigeons-at-bay.html

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com
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Decorating for DIY homeowners can be tricky.  Wall mounted shelves are a boon as they, obviously, take up less space than wall units and IKEA bookcases.
Here's an article from the NY Times that should make your life easier.

When you need a little extra storage or display space, a weighty bookcase can sometimes be overkill. A wall-mounted shelf might do just as well, if all you want is a place to show off small accessories or stash a few novels — and it won’t hog floor space or overwhelm a room.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/realestate/shopping-for-wall-mounted-shelves.html?smid=tw-nytrealestate&smtyp=cur


For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Purchase a home with a small down payment? It can be done.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. Vested Land Services LLC can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you. Contact us at 973-808-6130.

A Smaller Down Payment, and No Mortgage Insurance Required

Does the need for a 20% down payment to purchase that home have you stymied?  Well, mortgage insurance, an expensive proposition, is on way.  But this article from the NY Times has a solution.

How did they do it? They took out one loan equal to 80 percent of the purchase price, and another loan for 10 percent — something that has traditionally been called a piggyback loan or a second mortgage.

The key is to be within the income requirements of the lenders offering this program.

So, don't despair, get out your calculator, see if you qualify, and start looking for your home.

And don't forget to call us for the title insurance!

Read the full report here.
 

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

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Real estate market predictions for 2016.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us at Vested Land Services LLC. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

* * * * *

 

 

The New York Times real estate section takes an educated guess at what the real estate market will be like in 2016.

 

Some predictions:

 

Home price appreciation will slow down.



Buying will beat renting.

The mix of buyers will change.

 

How does that affect you?  Read the full article here.

 

 

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

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Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

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Millennials investing in real estate

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.


Millennials, those in the 18-34 years age bracket, are investing in real estate. No, not to live in but to collect rent and garner some appreciation in value.  So reports the New York Times,

For all the talk about the so-called millennial generation — often defined as those between ages 18 and 34 — being slow to move toward homeownership, some young adults are, surprisingly, drawn to real estate as an investment opportunity.

I find this phenomenon interesting.  What do you think?


Read the full report.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

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Fake mortgage loan applications on the rise

Fake mortgage loan applications on the rise.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

* * * * *

One of the reasons behind the mortgage debacle of 2008 was the many false mortgage loan applications lenders and mortgage loan purchasers relied on when approving the loan.  Whether it was for a home purchase or a mortgage refinance, fraudsters couldn't resist bumping up a borrower's income or otherwise flat out lying on the loan application.

 

Despite the warnings, it appears that fake loan apps are on the rise as told in this report from nytimes.com.

 

Falsified applications are now the most common type of mortgage fraud, their incidence having risen steadily for the last three years, according to LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ annual mortgage fraud report.

The report .... breaks down the composition of verified mortgage fraud activity in 2013 as reported by lenders, insurers and other subscribers to a LexisNexis database known as MIDEX. The database tracks only fraud involving industry professionals, such as loan officers, real estate agents and appraisers.

“Eighty percent of all mortgage fraud involves a professional,” said Tim Coyle, the company’s senior director of financial services and an author of the report. “It almost has to — it’s a very complex game.”

Credit fraud, such as undisclosed debt on a credit history or misrepresentation on the credit report, had a big jump in incidents since 2012 but appraisal fraud is down to 15%, a 5-year low.

 

Read the full report here. 

 

Good luck to us all.

 

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

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Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

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Robo-signing still haunts borrowers

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.  Call us for a title insurance quote.

* * *

Borrowers, Beware: The Robo-Signers Aren’t Finished Yet



The New York Times' Gretchen Morgenstern writes about the lingering effects of the foreclosure mess created by robo-signing.

Remember the robo-signers, those mortgage loan automatons who authenticated thousands of foreclosure documents over the years without verifying the information they were swearing to?

Well, they’re back, in a manner of speaking, at least in Florida. Their dubious documents are being used to hound former borrowers years after their homes went into foreclosure.

 It seems the lenders are now pursuing deficiency judgments for amounts being the difference between the debt foreclosed and the amount realized after foreclosure sale.

“Sending these cases to debt collectors when the underlying foreclosures involved unlawful robo-signing is unfair and potentially even deceptive,” said Kathleen C. Engel, a research professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. “Fannie Mae is not entitled to collect on those debts when the foreclosure was unlawful.”

It's a story worth reading.  Which you can do here.

 

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

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Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

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Buying a “trailer home” could cost you more.

We used to call them “trailer homes” or “mobile homes” but the more accurate phrase, one used in the NY Times is “manufactured homes.”  Simply defined they are factory-built structures that are transported to a leased or buyer-owned lot.  Unfortunately, as the Times reports, they

offer a realistic possibility of homeownership for many lower-income buyers. But financing options are limited and expensive, which has sparked calls for reform.

These homes cost less than half as much as the estimated $94-per-square-foot national average for new site-built housing, the report found. A new, single-section manufactured home sold for an average of $43,000 in the first half of 2014, excluding transport and siting costs.

According to the Times’ coverage of a report issued by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau,

most owners of manufactured homes pay much higher loan rates. Loans for the purchase of these homes are concentrated among a handful of lenders, the largest of which are 21st Mortgage Corporation and Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, both subsidiaries of Clayton Homes, a manufactured-housing provider and a division of Berkshire Hathaway.

Part of the difficulty financing a manufactured home arises from the fact that it located on a leased lot.  Think of obtaining a loan on a car.  That’s exactly the same with a manufactured home.  These loans are more expensive because the lender has a lien on something movable.  As the Times points out,

If they own the lot under the house, the property may be titled as real property, making it eligible for a mortgage.

Want to know more? the full article is here.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Cracking down on Illegal Mortgage Referrals - the first step

As a small family operated business we often run up against the big boys in the mortgage and real estate brokerage industries. Because of company tie-ins we are often shut out of the process and consumers then pay the price for shoddy services. An article from the New York Times about the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau shows that someone is looking out for the rights of consumers to shop around for services.

Last month, the bureau ordered RealtySouth, a major real estate company in Alabama, to pay a $500,000 penalty for failing to inform home buyers that they were under no obligation to use a title and closing service affiliate. RealtySouth consented to the terms of the order without admitting or denying the bureau’s findings.

Real estate companies are allowed to refer customers to affiliates like lenders and title services so long as they also provide a written disclosure that clearly explains that customers are not required to use the affiliate and have the right to shop around. In RealtySouth’s case, the firm’s printed purchase contracts explicitly directed buyers to its affiliate, TitleSouth, and buried the required disclosures in text about the benefits of its own services, according to the bureau.

What does that mean for the consumer? In our opinion the consumer is better served when there is competition for real estate related services. A service provider cannot have two masters. It is either the tied-in party or the consumer. Who would you choose?

Read the full article here.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Paying for Foreclosure Delays

As the New York Times reports, everything comes with a price.  That includes new mortgage loans.  The price is higher fees because of the high foreclosure rate. 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced last month that, because the stress in housing markets has eased, it was eliminating the across-the-board adverse-market fee instituted in 2008 to help cover the costs of high rates of delinquencies. The fee, applicable to all mortgages bought by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, is 25 basis points, or 0.25 percent of the mortgage loan amount.

Yet, fee remains in effect in New Jersey and New York.

At the end of the day, the fee is supposed to soften the cost of foreclosures (to lenders) by creating more revenue when the loan is booked.  The report, linked below doesn't really offer any solutions to the problem.

The New York Times report is found at Paying for Foreclosure Delays - NYTimes.com and the The Federal Housing Finance Agency is here.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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NY Times real estate trends for 2014

 Karnak says, "real estate is a puzzle."  The question, what will 2014 bring?  The NY Times tries to answer that question, too.

The coming year is expected to be a little kinder to home buyers. While affordability will continue to be a problem in hot markets like New York and San Francisco, buyers in general may find they have more homes to choose from and more lenders vying for their business.

MORTGAGE RATES CONTINUE TO CLIMB. As the economy improves and the Federal Reserve winds down its monetary stimulus, mortgage rates will rise to reflect that lack of stimulus...

But rates will continue to be low and the sign of a stronger economy.

LENDERS LOOSEN UP, A LITTLE. Rising rates will also mean fewer borrowers seeking to refinance out of higher-priced mortgages. Lenders will try to fill that gap in capacity by competing more aggressively for purchase business. 

What will down payment requirements be?  How about credit scores?

Regulatory guidelines that take effect in January will set parameters on how much easing lenders can do without straying outside the government’s “qualified mortgage.” Lending outside that safe harbor isn’t likely to be liberal, and will mainly consist of low-risk loans to the wealthy...

HOMEOWNERSHIP RATES FLATTEN OR FALL. It may seem counterintuitive that the level of homeownership would be unresponsive to improving market conditions. But the national rate is only just stabilizing — at around 65 percent — after dipping from the historically highs during the housing bubble.

 And those young adults who, because of a stronger economy, are finally able to find jobs and move out of their parents’ homes are more likely to rent than buy.

ARMS, CASH-OUT ‘REFIS’ MAKE A COMEBACK. Adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, were viewed as risky after the housing-market collapse. But they are slowly regaining their appeal, and as rates on fixed-rate mortgages rise, more borrowers will take advantage of lower-rate adjustables.[See our earlier post on ARMS.]

Cash-out refinancing was also abandoned after the collapse emptied borrowers of equity [but] interest rates will still be low enough to make cash-out refinancing an option for many people. 

Only time will tell, and that time is just a few weeks away.  Read the full report.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Borrowers to face another hurdle in a few months.

As a result of the fall-out from the mortgage implosion, Congress saw fit to step into the fray through the Dodd-Frank Act.  One of its progeny is the creation of a class of mortgage called “qualified mortgage.”  These are loans deemed safe by the government regulators for borrowers.

According to a report in the New York Times,

The mortgage industry is bracing for the coming of “Q.M.,” the new federal rules defining a “qualified mortgage” — or one underwritten to standards deemed safe for consumers. The implementation of Q.M. poses a compliance headache for lenders, though the average borrower is unlikely to notice any difference when the rules take effect in January. The most immediate differences will be felt by borrowers at the higher and lower ends of the income scale.

Among the basic criteria: A Q.M. loan must be fully amortizing with a term no longer than 30 years, and the points and fees paid by the borrower cannot exceed 3 percent of the total loan amount.

Lenders must also document the borrower’s ability to repay the loan, and confirm a debt-to-income ratio of no more than 43 percent.

So, what does this mean for Mr. and Mrs. Borrower?  In our opinion, tighter controls on borrowers as to income, etc.  In other words, lenders will be afraid to lend money to folks looking to move into their first home that doesn't qualify for some sort of first-time homeowner program, or folks trying to move up in home size.

What we find puzzling is that the Federal government offices overseeing mortgage and bank lending are just getting bigger and bigger, and less people are able to borrow.

Read the full story.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Boom, Bust, Flip - NYTimes Magazine

OK, profiteers at the gates of real estate?  Maybe.  It depends who you ask.  The NY Times Sunday magazine contains a detailed article about folks whose homes have been lost which were then purchased by the bank and sold to a third-party investor for eventual resale.  So what kind of properties are we talking about?

There’s a popular perception that so-called McMansions and Garage-Mahals brought down the housing market. Yet more than half of all homes that went into foreclosure between 2007 and 2012 were actually in the lowest price tier when they were purchased, and most were located in middle- and lower-income areas.

Read the full story and see what's happening in the distressed property market. Boom, Bust, Flip

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Good credit helps when you apply for a mortgage

With a Zen-like statement, the NY Times begins a report on mortgage lending:

Lending terms are easing up for borrowers who have superior credit. But mortgages are no easier to come by for applicants with unexceptional FICO scores.

So, what does that mean?

Samples of FICO scores indicate more loans are being approved with lower scores.  At the same time, down payment amounts are dropping. 

Yet,

Borrowers with scores below 620 — about 28 percent of Americans, Zillow says — couldn’t even get a rate quote. “If you look at the borrowers on the fringe,” said Erin Lantz, Zillow’s director of mortgages, “credit is not any easier to get now than it was three years ago. Despite the improvement in the economy and homes being incredibly affordable and mortgage rates at all-time lows, still about a third of Americans are shut out of the market.”

Read the full article Rewarding Stellar Credit.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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What to do when the house appraises too low?

As anyone attempting to borrow money since 2008 can tell you, it’s not a walk in the park. While credit card companies seem to be back to offering cards through the mail, mortgage lending has gotten tighter as set out in this story from the NY Times.

One consequence of the subprime mortgage crisis is a far more rigid home appraisal process. Borrowers can complain about lower than expected appraisals — which may mean they can’t borrow enough to meet an agreed-upon sale price, or can’t refinance — but lenders very rarely reconsider.

Why the low appraisals?  One reason is that lenders cannot dictate the appraisal value to the appraiser.

Federally enacted rules have set up regulatory walls between loan originators and appraisers so as to shield them from pressures to inflate home values. Now many banks order appraisals through a third party, typically an appraisal management company, which acts as an intermediary.

What to do?

One option is available to borrowers: a rebuttal letter to the lender. If such a challenge is to garner any attention at all, it must lay out solid and objective evidence of where the appraiser went wrong. But without a decent knowledge of appraisal guidelines, that can be difficult to do.

 But the rebuttal better be based on facts and you should have the appraisal in front of you.

You are looking for houses in the neighborhood that have closed within, say, the last six months, and they should be a similar style of house.  If the comparable is a Cape Cod, and you are buying a colonial, well, you get my drift.

Don’t forget to compare interiors, too.  Out dated kitchens and the existence of a swimming pool, for instance, can change the comparable value of two otherwise similar properties.

Is it easy to change the appraiser’s mind?  No.  But as the article recommends, have another bank in mind.

We have worked with several lenders who seem to find sunshine in properties (and borrowers) where others found only clouds.  Let us know if we can help.

Read the full article. 

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Home interest deduction - my head is spinning

The home mortgage interest deduction has become a whipping boy or girl for much of what ails the American economy. Some see it as a drag on the nation's finances, others as an engine. In any event, this blog post, The Sacrosanct Mortgage Interest Deduction appearing the Economix blog of the New York Times, will turn your head in two directions at the same time.

When people talk about “sacred cows” in the tax code, the deduction for mortgage interest is usually at the top of the list. But it is just one of many tax expenditures benefiting homeowners. Other important ones include the deduction for property taxes and low taxes on the gains from sales of primary residences.

Contrary to popular belief, the mortgage interest deduction wasn’t adopted to encourage home ownership. The original income tax enacted in 1913 allowed a deduction for all interest on the theory that it was largely business-oriented. According to Dennis Ventry of the University of California, Davis, School of Law, only a third of homeowners carried a mortgage in 1910.

OK, so now the writer, Bruce Bartlett, starts with the stats, comparing America with Canada and other countries.  So I am going to stop here and have you read the full article and the comments that follow.  That's where the most interesting ideas will be found!

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Single women buy more homes than single men

The New York Times reports on an interesting statistic [I do hate statistics] showing that more homes are bought by single women than bought by single men.

The number of single people buying homes has dipped in the last few years, but single women remain better represented among buyers than single men. Today they are buying at roughly twice the rate.

According to the National Association of Realtors, single women accounted for 16 percent of home buyers last year, lower than their long-term average of 20 percent. Yet they were still well ahead of single men, who accounted for only 9 percent.

But it's not all rosy-

But then again, many single women who have never owned a home are intimidated by the process, said Jeanie Douthitt, an agent with Private Label Realty in the Dallas area.

She tries to ease these fears with a step-by-step program she created called Smart Women Buy Homes. The idea is to educate women new to the market, a group that includes single moms, divorcees, recent college graduates and older professionals who have never been married.

Want to read more?  Go to Homeownership: Where Single Women Prevail.

For your next commercial real estate transaction, house purchase, mortgage refinance, reverse mortgage, or home equity loan, contact us. We can help. Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the title insurance agent that does it all for you.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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