Government program helps fix that fixer upper

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.

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We've written before about a special loan program commonly called the FHA 203(k).

 

This is from the Star-Ledger:

Marcus Gaither lives in East Orange, but he saw a three-family home in Newark he thought would be a good investment. Unfortunately, it was not fit to be lived in.

“It needed windows, doors, sinks, kitchen cabinets,” he said. “It needed pretty much everything. It was a total rehab.”

Gaither is a mortgage broker and had done his research on the lending industry. He knew about a mortgage that would let him buy the house and pay for the repair work before he moved in.

He purchased the property for $120,000 and made it livable.

“Some people are afraid to put themselves out as far as buying a property and making mistakes,” he said. “I’m not afraid of the loan. I think it’s a good one.”

The loan he knows about — and few others do — is the little-heard of 203(k) mortgage. It’s a primary mortgage that isn’t based on what the house is worth, but what it will be worth after repairs are made. It’s available to everyone, including first-time homebuyers, but fewer than 300 have been approved so far this year in New Jersey.

Read more . . . . .

 

 



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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Flood insurance costs are rising down the Jersey Shore

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.
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The New York Times reports that New Jersey's shore residents hit hard by Hurricane Sandy are facing a new problem- the rising cost of flood insurance.

Uncertainty about the future cost of flood protection is hampering the housing recovery in coastal communities hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy.

Premiums for the National Flood Insurance Program are certain to rise in coming years as a result of a Congressional mandate to bring them into line with real risk levels. The question is, by how much?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is updating flood hazard maps to assess present-day risks, but until the redrawn maps are finalized, and the rates revised, neither homeowners nor mortgage lenders can accurately estimate the affordability of future premiums.

FEMA is also phasing out the subsidized rates granted to policyholders with homes built before local flood maps were first drawn. The agency estimates that about 20 percent of the 5.5 million policyholders receive these subsidies.

The unknowns around flood insurance rates could pose a problem for lenders, especially because, under the terms of the Dodd-Frank Act, they must document a borrower’s ability to repay a mortgage over the life of the loan, said Doug Rossbach, a vice president in charge of the mortgage banking practice at North Highland, a global consulting firm based in Atlanta. “Premiums could go skyrocketing,” he said. “The lender is in a pretty tough spot. How can the lender know if the borrower can afford to stay in the property, or spend the money to elevate that property?”

Once the maps are revised, some coastal property owners who don’t pay for flood insurance may have to. Lenders haven’t necessarily recognized that yet, as Mr. Rossbach recently discovered when he applied to refinance his house in Rumson, N.J. His house flooded during Sandy, and although he hadn’t been in a flood zone before, preliminary map revisions show that he will be. The lender “never asked me about flood insurance,” he said, “because the effective maps don’t show me in a flood zone. But lenders are beginning to pick up on this, and it’s going to make it tougher for the consumer.”

Read more . . . .

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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All-cash offers sometimes not worth the effort

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.

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From the New York Times, this report that the "dream" of an all-cash buyer could turn into a nightmare.

For sellers, it seems, the dream has arrived.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the dream sometimes comes with a bit of an attitude problem.

Many buyers who are reliant on a mortgage are willing to bow and scrape a bit, happy to take a home with questionable detailing or a suspicious water spot on the ceiling, in order to give their offer a lift. But occasionally, buyers offering cash assume that status should afford certain concessions, even in a seller’s market.

Read the full scenario of bad cases 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

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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Mortgage loan modifications made easy? Federal agency says "yes."

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.

We've commented in the past about loan modifications for the sake of loan modifications.  In other words, if a borrower is struggling to pay you at 6%, wouldn't it make sense to bring the loan down to a more manageable interest rate in line with the rest of the country?  It looks like the Federal government agrees.

Homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments should check their mail carefully in coming weeks. Lenders will be offering loan modifications without even being asked.

Under a new Streamlined Modification Initiative announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, mortgage servicers must now offer borrowers who are 3 to 24 months delinquent a plan to help avoid foreclosure.

So what's the catch?

Borrowers must make three monthly payments on time before the modification becomes permanent. The program applies to loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The start date was to be July 1, but an agency spokesman said Fannie and Freddie had already begun the program. It expires Dec. 31, 2015.

Read the full story from the New York Times.

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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Real estate contract escalation clause - look out!

Located in Fairfield, NJ, we are the 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. We can help.

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We have previously commented on one of the effects of a rising real estate market-- the introduction of escalation clauses in real estate purchase contracts.  Realty Times has presented another article on the subject that is well worth reading.

 

Escalation is back. Sellers are delighted to get offers sometimes thousands of dollars higher than their initial listing price. And buyers are often frustrated when they lose out on their dream house to a higher bidder.

And the warning?

Buyers should be very wary of escalation clauses. They are asked to sign a legalistic document typically late on a Sunday evening, after they have spent the afternoon viewing numerous houses. No lawyer has reviewed any of the legal documents.

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

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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