LEARN LOAN TERMINOLGY

Loan Types to Consider

As the old saying goes “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”  Thus brushing up on your loan type terminology before sitting down with your loan officer could be a good idea.  The goal is not to impress the loan officer, but in my opinion, it is just a good idea to let the loan officer know, you have some knowledge of the types of loans offered in the market place and you understand some of the mortgage terms. Remember knowledge is power.

 1) The longer the term, generally, means lower principle and interest payments.

2)      Most fixed rate loans are offer in 15, 20 and 30 year terms, but loan officers will work with you. So ask them to suit your needs.

3)      Fixed rated loans. Here you can lock in your rate, which in turn, affords you the comfort of knowing what your P & I (principle and interest) payment will be each month.  This will help managing your monthly budget. If you are satisfied with the rate offered by your loan officer lock it in for the long term.  Fixed rates are the best when interest rates are low and one might think interest rates are heading higher, which is a general feeling the market is displaying at the time of this article.

4)      ARMs - Adjustable-rate mortgage. Normally set at five years, but loan officers can adjust the loan period to suit your need, to say 3 or 7 years for examples.

5)      Advantages of an ARM. A) If you think rates may drop in the coming years. B) The first year, sometimes the second, offer a lower interest rate, thus bringing your monthly P&I payment lower. C) You expect an influx of cash to be coming in before the maturity of your loan and you will be able to pay it off in full.

6)      ARMs usually have a limited of adjustment over the life of the loan, plus a yearly limit.  A good general measurement would be if the ARM could not be adjusted up more than 2% a year and no more than 6% over the life of the ARM.

7)      Balloon Mortgage.  Normally offered in three to seven year terms.  The balloon mortgage gives you a low monthly payment, most times, in which you pay interest only.  As like the ARM, the balloon mortgage can be your best fit, if you only need the money short term.  One example would be if you expect to sell your home in a few years and the market it in place for this to happen.

8)      Government Loans. Loans from the VA (Department of Veteran Affairs) or the FHA (Federal Housing Administration). These loans offer special terms, such as reduced interest rates and lower down payment.  Like all loans there are qualifications you will have to meet.

Joe D Wells
Florida Real Estate Sales Assoc
305-240-1266
www.jdwrealty.com

Why An Agent Should Handle Your Negotiations - Homes for Sale in Key West

You’ve decided to put your home on the market, and received several offers on your property. Sadly…it’s too late to call your local Realtor Professional for help, you’re in over your head!

Real Estate Professionals are trained to help negotiate and handle all transactional matters, for people who buy or sell real estate. Life itself is one big bundle of negotiations, however, there are situations that do require the services of a trained professional.

Start Growing Loyal Leads!
We Negotiate when we want something, either we acquire it on our own or receive help from someone else to obtain it.

The Goals of Positional Bargaining:

When a buyer makes an offer and their looking to take as much as possible from the table. The goal is to get the entire fixed amount of value or as much as possible from the other party without giving up some concessions.

Value Negotiating:

When a buyer makes an offer, their open minded to consider the offer or counter offer with some concessions in place.

Having a trained professional on your selling or buying team makes a world of difference.

To sum it up…Your Real Estate professional is trained to:

Help state one’s position
Offer counseling on concession matters
Help reach a reasonable solution to the outcome.

To view the original article, click here: http://realtorsdesk.realtytimes.com/advicefromagents1/item/26311-why-we-negotiate

Visit Us

Latest Trend on Retail Sales

In each Economic Update, the Research staff analyzes recently released economic indicators and addresses what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update discusses retail sales.

• Consumers are shopping, with retail sales rising by 5.4 percent from one year ago in July. Motor vehicle sales were boosted by 11 percent, while furniture/home furnishing stores notched up 3 percent. Food service and drinking places recorded 4 percent expansion.
• No doubt the recovery in the housing sector is providing the impetus for broader consumer spending. With home sales up 15 percent and home prices up 13 percent, spending on carpets, lawn care, moving trucks, and such naturally rises. Increases in housing wealth provide the confidence to spend more and help the economy.
• Buying stuff gives a boost to happiness for many people, even if temporarily, according to research. To this end, there will be even more happiness in upcoming months since the housing market recovery will continue and consumers will, therefore, shop more. Based on feedback loops of consumer spending, jobs, housing, and such, the economy should expand by better than 2 percent in the second half of this year, leading to 2 million net new jobs in 2013.
• But before getting carried away with shopping, we should be mindful of difference between temporary and lasting happiness. Here’s an example out of history: Empress Sisi is an iconic figure in Germany and Austria. She was considered by many to be the most beautiful person of her time. She lived in grand palaces and could buy anything she wanted. But in great contrast to her youthful and happy energetic days of running around freely as an ‘insignificant’ person, she became increasingly melancholy after being chosen as the wife of an Emperor. Her free spirits evidently died in the royal courtly life leading to a tragic end to her life. This story is a simple reminder for us that the best things in life, such as taking a walk in the park with a special person, cannot be purchased and are free and priceless.

Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist

Lawrence Yun is Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research at NAR. He directs research activity for the association and regularly provides commentary on real estate market trends for its 1 million REALTOR® members.

Visit Joe D Wells

Investors Retreating from Market

Investors are starting to retreat from the single-family rental market, as the number of foreclosures dries up and projections for home appreciation expected to stay flat in 2014, CNBC reports.

“I think the investor market is largely past us,” Doug Lebda, chief executive of Lending Tree, told CNBC. “People were buying investment properties three, four, five years ago. What I hear is that’s slowing now.”

Oaktree Capital Group reportedly is selling about 500 of its homes, while other reports are surfacing — such as from investor Och-Ziff Capital management — turning into selling mode as well. Another major investor Carrington Mortgage Services says it has stopped buying up distressed homes late last year.

Still, over the past 18 months, institutional investors have spent a total of $20 billion for about 200,000 properties — or up to 12 percent of distressed home sales, according to a KBW report.

While some investors are retracting on higher mortgage rates and lower home price gains, some investors say they’re here to stay.

“We don’t see it as a trade; we see it as a business,” says Justin Chang with Colony Capital, which owns more than 15,000 homes and purchases homes at a rate of about 1,000 per month. “There is plenty to buy.”

Laurie Hawkes, president and COO of American Residential Properties, says they are still looking at MLSs and REOs from the banks and short sales. “We’re even buying some traditional houses now where people are just putting them on the market,” Hawkes says. “We think that if you get a reasonable cost of capital, both debt and equity, you can actually not only create a very attractive return on a current basis, but in today’s market, the house price appreciation that we think is still in the market is extraordinary.”

To view the original article, click here: http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2013/10/04/are-investors-retreating-from-market

Visit Joe