New investors need to learn about being a landlord

Refinance settlement fairfield, nj closings title agency Vested Land
Buying an investment property?  As with all ventures there are pitfalls but for the new real estate investor, they can be especially dangerous.

The following article from Realty Times, while addressed to a Canadian audience, has a message for investors in New Jersey, too.

Property management companies can be hired to find and deal with tenants, but many small investors take the do-it-yourself approach and select their own tenants. Getting the right tenant, who pays his rent on time, respects his neighbours and doesn't trash the property can be a tricky business.

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

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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High closing costs? Who's to blame?

Vested Land Services title agent title insurance refinance new jersey

Closing fees are a component of the home purchase or refinance. This article from the New York Times is a tad misleading about these costs and where the blame, if that's the right word, lies.

FOR some people, a major hurdle to homeownership is the closing costs that come on top of the required down payment. There are fees for everything from title searches to deed recordings, and if you happen to be buying in New York or New Jersey, you’ll find some of the highest costs in the country.

But these fees have been easing, according to a report released last week by Bankrate.com, which found that average closing costs, including mortgage origination fees, fell 7 percent nationwide from 2011 to 2012. In New York they fell 12 percent.

OK, so where do these high fees come from? Not from third party suppliers such as title agencies, but from lenders and government officials.

Yet, the article continues,

Title insurance is the biggest cost, averaging around 1 percent of the loan balance. Mr. McBride suggested that borrowers shop around, eliciting good-faith estimates from a number of lenders.

Poppycock. Rates in New Jersey are regulated as they are in New York and costs will be identical from title agent to title agent. Companies such as ours survive based on the level of service we provide our clients to get buyers and borrowers to the closing table as safely and expeditiously as possible. (Unless your title agent is owned by a bank or controlled by a real estate agency whose goal is to get you to the table no matter what.)

But the buyer/borrower cannot escape government charges. The county recording fee for an average mortgage in New Jersey is $240! And, in New York, you must add government mortgage taxes that add thousands to the cost of a home or mortgage.

The only place where the buyer/borrower can maneuver is with the lender. There are three words to remember when applying for a loan, shop, shop and shop for the mortgage and if the loan officer cannot explain something to your satisfaction, run for the hills.

Read the full article.

 

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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Vested client Treetop Development buys in New York City

Treetop Development Adam Mermelstein Azi Mandel Azriel Mandel
Hat's off to Adam Mermelstein and Azi Mandel of Newark-based Treetop Development for their purchase of a 52-unit apartment building on West 127th Street. Treetop Development is noted for its approach to providing housing to the metro-NY NJ workforce -- folks who want a clean up-to-date apartment in which to start out or to begin raising a family.

We're proud of our association with Messrs Mermelstein and Mandel and wish them and Treetop continuing success in their efforts to fill the needs of an under served segment of the housing market.

Read more from Crain's New York  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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Tapping your home's equity? Banks are making it easier.

The New York Times’ Vickie Elmer writes about good news for potential home equity borrowers.

Seems that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency “noted that one in five lenders nationwide loosened up underwriting standards on home equity loans, while another 68 percent kept them unchanged from a year ago.”  That’s a big improvement over 2009. 

“Lenders also have been lowering the credit scores and equity levels needed to qualify, industry experts say. “You may not need to have as much equity as lenders may have demanded two years ago, when housing prices were going to fall,” said Keith Leggett, a senior economist at the American Bankers Association. This is especially true, he said, in areas where home prices are appreciating.”

refinance heloc home equity closing settlement service 

Advice for tapping your home’s equity-

“Borrowers must decide whether they want a traditional home equity loan, sometimes called a second mortgage, which has a fixed interest rate and fixed payments, or a home equity line of credit, known by its acronym, Heloc. A line of credit usually has a variable rate and can be drawn down incrementally. The variable-rate Heloc is one and a half percentage points lower than the fixed-rate home equity loan, which in turn is around three percentage points above the average 30-year fixed-rate conventional mortgage.”

Once you are approved for a home equity loan, you will have to select a title agency to close your loan. For my two cents, avoid the one recommended by the lender because experience shows that borrower’s need the personal touch when it comes to closing the loan, not some production line outfit. Personal service, that’s something we’re proud to be able to provide.

Read more 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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California proposal to condemn mortgages; will it be next in New Jersey?

refinance

In the foreclosure-battered inland stretches of California, local government officials desperate for change are weighing a controversial but inventive way to fix troubled mortgages: Condemn them. Officials from San Bernardino County and two of its cities have formed a local agency to consider the plan. But investors who stand to lose money on their mortgage investments have been quick to register their displeasure. refinance

Of course, there's another investor behind this that will earn fees for arranging the taking of the loans and their restructuring. Others are livid over the proposal. refinance

Timothy Cameron, managing director of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's asset managers group, told the authority that residents of the region would find it harder to get loans and investors — including pensioners — would suffer losses. He also said such a move would invite costly litigation. "The use of eminent domain will do more harm than good," he said. "We need mortgage investors and lenders to come back to these fragile markets — but this plan will force both groups to avoid them."

Will it work in New Jersey? What do you think?
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

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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