Category Archives: Mortgage

Mortgage

When Should You Refinance A Mortgage

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Do you want to refinance a mortgage? How do you decide when to refinance? Needless to say, there has been a lot of debate on it for several years. Sometimes, refinancing a mortgage at lower interest rate is not always the right decision. Doing multiple times refinancing a mortgage can minimize your overall financial benefit and eat up savings. So, it is good to put some thoughts behind the timing of the decision you take.

Goal behind Refinancing
Have you ever thought of your goal behind refinance a mortgage? If not, then lets us tell you. Generally, it has two main goals, first reducing the interest expense and second is debt consolidation. You must think what you want to accomplish, and remember one thing is that refinancing a mortgage doesnt pay off the debt.

When to Refinance
After expounding your reasons for refinancing a mortgage, you will need to consider whether the circumstances and timing create the right time to avail a new loan. Normally, you have to plan to be the home for a while for refinancing to make sense. Look at the savings relative to costs, and then consider- how long you are going to be in your property? If you are unable to take right decision, you can consult mortgage brokers who are well experienced in this area. In case of willing to know further details, mortgage marketing guru at MortgageMarketingCoach can assist you.

Refinancing Tips
Before giving you refinancing tips, you need to know who mortgage brokers are. Mortgage Brokers or mortgage broker marketing Experts are who serve as middleman between homebuyers and lenders.

Tip 1
Refinance once on your current mortgage. While no other can tell you with certainly where interest rates are going, our loan officer marketing secrets will teach you the fastest way to achieve your goals. It will also tell you how to invest your time for maximum profit.

Tip 2
Know where you stand with your current mortgage before you refinance including terms and interest rates as well as relevant factors such as whether or not the loan has a prepayment penalty. Savings always come from a lower interest expense, not lower monthly mortgage payments.

Tip 3
Consider a mortgage broker is a prudent decision. Sometimes, in order to get approved for the loan, you have to sell your story to the lender.

Tip 4
Getting the credit score in the best possible shape can help you get a better mortgage rate. You must review your credit reports, and keep copies of credit scores.

While a refinance will assist you harvest more money, it is vital to look at out for prices that eat into those savings. First, acknowledge that there is no such issue as a free lunch, and there is no such issue as a “no closing cost” mortgage. The originating lender can get paid for its efforts; it’s simply a matter of how they get paid. Closing prices may be paid in origination points, a better interest rate or a better loan amount.

Keep in mind that avoiding junk fees will keep down your closing costs and improve the return when refinancing a mortgage.

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Mortgage

How To Choose A Reasonable Florida Mortgage Loan

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How to choose a reasonable Florida mortgage loan

If you are looking for a Florida mortgage loan, you will find that not only are there numerous lenders that will provide you with the loan, there are also many financial institutions that work both as mortgage brokers and lenders.

So before you actually get yourself a Florida mortgage loan, it is better for you to find out if any broker is involved with the mortgage company. If there is a broker working with the company, find out how much compensation is awarded to the broker so that you can make calculations and compare the different fees and interests of the various mortgage brokers in Florida.

Reliable lenders quote the best terms for your loan

There has been a recent growth in the Florida mortgage loan field because of low interest rates and the rise in the number of people shifting to Florida. However this does not imply that you approach the first Florida mortgage loan company you find to get your loan. You have to approach only the reliable lenders, like www.vuemortgageloan.com to get the best terms for your loan.

Approach these companies for their quote for the Florida mortgage loan. You can do this either through the internet or by contacting them over the phone or personally. It is basically better to do it via the internet as it is faster and requires less effort from your side. All you have to do is to make a few clicks on the internet, fill out a few forms and you will receive a few Florida mortgage loan quotes in a matter of minutes.

Lowest interest rates may not mean the best Florida mortgage loan

However, it is not always that the lender offering the lowest interest rates to be the best lender for your Florida mortgage loan. In fact, sometimes these companies may quote low interest rates, only to add some other fees and charges to your Florida mortgage loan like application and service fees.

This means that besides the interest rate of the Florida mortgage loan, you have to consider the extent of underwriting, mortgage brokerage or loan origination fees the Florida mortgage loan company charges. Also find out the costs related to transaction settlements, closing costs and other costs related to the Florida mortgage loan before deciding on the best lender.

Once you consider all these additional costs, and the interest rates of various Florida mortgage loan lenders, you will be able to choose the best lender and loan that fits your budget and requirements.

Mortgage

Identifying And Avoiding Mortgage Fraud

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Recent financial industry distress publicly attributed to widespread mortgage loan defaults has generated mounting pressure on federal prosecutors to increase investigations into incidents of mortgage fraud across the nation. On February 6, 2004, CNN reported that the FBI warned that mortgage fraud was becoming so rampant that the resulting epidemic of fraud could trigger a massive financial crisis. Mortgage fraud has now become so prevalent that the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been forced to create an entirely new category for tracking these cases. According to a CBS news report, the number of FBI agents assigned to mortgage related crimes increased by 50 percent from 2007 to 2008. Prosecutors and investigators on both the state and local levels are also feverishly organizing task forces and creating real estate fraud departments to counter this burgeoning wave of crime.

CRIME & PUNISHMENT

The primary focus of these investigations appears to be on borrowers, investors, mortgage brokers, appraisers and real estate agents. Some of the charges levied against these perpetrators have included making false statements on loan applications, bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to launder funds and a number of applicable state laws. However, the primary legal vehicle implemented by federal prosecutors has been section 1014 of Title 18 of the United States Code which declares mortgage fraud as a federal crime encompassing anyone who willfully overvalues any land or property, or knowingly makes any false statement, for the purpose of influencing a financial institution upon a loan application, purchase agreement or other related documents. A violation of the federal mortgage fraud law (18 U.S.C. 1014) alone is punishable by up to thirty years imprisonment and a one million dollar fine.

MORTGAGE FRAUD SCHEMES

The most effective way to avoid prosecution for mortgage fraud is to identify mortgage fraud schemes prior to any actual involvement. Most mortgage fraud offenses fall into one of two general categories: fraud for housing and fraud for profit. Fraud for housing often involves fraudulent acts committed by a borrower, often coached by his or her mortgage broker or real estate agent, to obtain a loan for the ultimate goal of acquiring a home. These fraudulent facts generally pertain to the falsification of facts and documents during the loan application process to enable the borrower to obtain financing that he or she would otherwise not be qualified to receive. Conversely, fraud for profit typically involves a more concerted plan to abuse the entire real estate transactional process for pecuniary gain.

FRAUD FOR HOUSING

Income Fraud

This occurs when a borrower inflates his or her amount of income to qualify for a loan or a larger loan amount. Although recent reductions in the use of stated income or no-doc liar loans has somewhat curbed income fraud, daring borrowers are increasingly generating more fraudulent documents to falsify income. Information technology and photocopy equipment have become so advanced that very convincing documentation, such as income statements, savings accounts and tax returns, can be produced on demand.

Employment Fraud

In order to justify overstated income in a loan application, borrowers will claim self-employment in a non-existent company or represent having a higher position in a company than the borrower actually holds.

Failure to Disclose Liabilities

The debt-to-income ratio is an important part of the loan underwriting criteria used to determine a borrowers eligibility for mortgage loans. Consequently, borrowers will conceal financial obligations like newly acquired credit card debt, other mortgages, and private loans to artificially reduce their debt-to-income ratios.

Occupancy Fraud

Generally occurs when a borrower states on a loan application that he or she intends to occupy a property as a primary residence to secure a lower interest rate when the borrower actually intends to obtain the loan to acquire an investment property.

FRAUD FOR PROFIT

Equity Skimming and Cash-Back Schemes

A straw buyer is typically implemented as the buyer of the property due to his or her creditworthiness and resulting ability to obtain favorable financing. Unknowing straw buyers can be manipulated by mortgage brokers and real estate agents to purchase a property as a primary residence with the broker or agent later serving as a property manager to collect anticipated rental income. After the escrow closes and the mortgage and real estate brokers collect their commissions, they proceed to collect rental income and fail to make the mortgage payments.

Complex schemes can involve a knowing straw buyer, an appraiser who intentionally overstates the propertys value, a dishonest seller that intentionally inflates the selling price, and a dishonest settlement officer that makes undisclosed disbursements from the loan proceeds. All of these conspirators collaborate to collect portions of the proceeds of an inappropriately large loan before eventually letting it go into default.

Appraisal Fraud or Price Inflation

This fraud occurs when a dishonest appraiser intentionally overstates the value of a property or when an existing appraisal is altered to reflect a higher value. When a home is overvalued, more money can be obtained by the seller in a purchase transaction or by the borrower in a cash-out refinance.

The New Appraisal Fraud: Price Deflation

When done legitimately, a short sale occurs when a borrower that owes more than his or her property is worth sells the property below market value and the lender agrees to accept the lower repayment amount and forgive the difference. A new hybrid of fraud has emerged where an appraiser or a real estate agent drastically devalues the property in an appraisal or brokers price opinion (BPO) so that the home will sell with ease at a price well below market value. Of course the new buyer is in collaboration with the seller, agent and appraiser, so all of the conspirators proceed to sell the home at a higher price for a big profit.

Identity Theft

Identity theft fraud occurs when a victims identity is assumed by another to obtain a mortgage without ever intending to make any payments on the loan. The perpetrators often abscond with a portion of the loan proceeds and sometimes are daring enough to lease the property and collect some deposits and rental income before disappearing.

The Buy and Bail

This completely new scheme is perpetrated by a home owner who cannot sell the home because more is owed on the property than its worth. Because no lender will provide the owner a loan for a second primary residence, the owner tells the lender that he or she plans to rent out the current home despite having no intention of doing so. Sometimes a falsified rental agreement is used to further support the falsehood. Once the second home is purchased, the owner bails on the original home and fails to make any further mortgage payments.

AVOIDING & PREVENTING FRAUD

Mortgage fraud frequently emanates from groups that complete an abnormal amount of similar transactions or churn out many offers to purchase at once. These outfits may appear disorganized or unprofessional due to the large amount of transactions they are attempting to manage. It is also no coincidence that mortgage fraud has significantly increased as housing values have decreased since most fraud schemes involve a financially distressed or otherwise vulnerable seller. It is equally important to remember that agents owe a very strict fiduciary duty to act in their clients best interests. So before reporting a client to your local authorities, speak with legal counsel or your state real estate licensing department to ensure that your proposed actions dont constitute a breach of your fiduciary duty to your client.

Real estate agents are in a unique position that enables them to identify and even prevent the occurrence of fraud by recognizing the red flags, asking appropriate questions, and giving the principals in their transactions the full picture of what consequences are associated with participating in mortgage fraud. While a lot of damage has been done in the real estate market, we can prevent more of the same from occurring in the future.

Mortgage

Famous Divorces

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The famous football player Ray Parlour and Arsenal had a long battle to have their divorce settlements. The couples got married in the year 1998 and had three children. They had differences of opinion, and so they decided to get divorce. Following their divorce, Arsenal was granted with a capital award of 250,000. She was also provided with two mortgage-free houses worth more than 1,000,000. The court ordered Ray to pay 250,000 a year for maintenance. However, he was willing to pay only 120,000 per year. Arsenal was also not satisfied with the amount that the court had ordered. They both appealed further to reconsider the maintenance amount. This time the court ruled in favour Arsenal by increasing the amount to 406,500 a year.

The Parlours case has set precedence to all the divorce cases that deal with vast sums of money. Many lawyers are using the argument of Parlours case. By and large, an opinion has been created that if one spouse has greater income than required his needs, his or her spouse can have a claim. It could have a larger impact on any professionals with higher income. The three senior judges in the Court of Appeal had granted this kind of award, in order to extend the principle of equality in the financial awards in the cases of persons having surplus income also. Parlours case has provided an opportunity to various other couples to put forth arguments in court based on this line, to get a higher financial award from the court.

Another similar case was WPP Group Chief Executive Martin Sorrells divorce with his wife Sandra after more than 32 years of married life. He was ordered to pay around 30 million pounds in settlement. Of that, around 23.5 million should be in cash and the remaining was the two underground parking spaces at Londons Harrods departmental store.

Ally McCoist, a footballer, was also caught in the court battle with his wife Allison. They both were fighting for a 5 million divorce battle. Allison quoted unreasonable behaviour of McCoist as a ground for divorce. The couples had differences of opinion after 12 years of their married life. McCoist had admitted to his wife that he had illegal affair with an actress. Provoked by his affair, she filed a divorce litigation. McCoist had been working as a football pundit in a television channel, and was earning more than 150,000 for a year. When he was playing football, he was earning around 18,000 a week. Apart from this he was also earning around 100,000 per year on BBC1s A Question of Sport. When the hearing was going on in the case in Edinburgh, McCoist failed to turn up to the court. However, his solicitor later produced a medical certificate stating that his client was ill. In the same manner, the football player kept on dragging the issue by quoting many absurd reasons. At last, the judge warned the celebrity couples to settle down their financial issue, or else they would have to face their dirty laundry aired in public.

Another popular case that was the talk of the town, for a long period, was the divorce case of Princes Diana and Charles. Diana, the most famous woman in the world, was accused by her husband, as committing adultery. They got divorced on 28 August 1996. Though the divorce issue was initially suppressed, later it was the point of focus, by the media that earned huge money by publishing and telecasting the same issue over and again. The speculations were that they both had a premarital affair.

Diana, the iconic presence on the world stage, though noted for her charity work, her charitable deeds were overshadowed by her marriage to Prince Charles. Various chapters of her private life riveted the world, in 1990s through many books, tabloid newspapers and other articles in almost all magazines, and even in television movies. The rose of the England was a fashion icon and was admired all over the world. Her divorce stories were published across the nation and it kindled the interest of the people.

Mortgage

The Failure Of Unions And Big Government

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Unions cripple companies. They thwart efficient government. They drive up prices and drive down service levels. They are anti-technology, anti-productivity, and pro-wage growth. They live in a virtual reality where price points, product-market pressures, and capital returns dont matter. They need to be abolished.

A truism in the global economy is that the country with the highest rate of unionization loses. No sane person is going to invest capital, take risks and innovate if they are handing out money to union members who cant be fired, disciplined, or force to use profit enhancing technologies. Companies that are nimble, highly productive and innovative will produce enough wealth to pay people properly. There is no need in the modern era for unions. There is no need in the modern era for large unionized government either.

Put it this way. Employment rates, wealth per capita, productivity and innovation are directly and negatively correlated with the size of government and the % of the population which work in unions. Europe? 45-50% of Europes GDP is eaten by unionized government. European union rates run at 3 x US levels and are 10-20% higher than Canadian levels. The result? Lower living standards, less people working, dead economies, no productivity, 8 week vacation periods and ever escalating union backed demands for higher wages.

Worse the OECD concludes that practically all [97 percent] of European civilian job creation has been in the government sector in the past few years. As government size increases, including government backed monopolies and oligopolies, unionization grows, and hours worked fall. Unions are adept at demanding the highest dollar for the least amount of time worked. As worker costs escalate firms cut back on technology, plant investments and business process improvements. Eventually these firms might fail.

According to the OECD, Research has clearly established a remarkable fact: namely that the sizable U.S. advantage in real GDP per capita is largely due to differences in total hours worked per capita.

Such commonsensical observations apply to Canada. Union rates in Canada are more than double US rates [32 % vs. 14 %], though lower than in Western Europe which ranges from 34%, to 45 %. Canada has a 30% lower standard of living, less productivity and less income per head than the US. High union rates and over-government are key reasons for this differential. The same can be said of EU-US comparisons.

One reason for Europes and Canadas high union rate is their higher marginal tax rates. When taxes become too onerous people respond by trying to hide money; dropping out of work and going on welfare to access rich welfare schemes; or they unionize and demand that wages rise faster than inflation and taxation increases. US Federal Reserve and EU economic studies confirm this fact. Europeans are not prone to be lazy. But when the system punishes work, then they respond accordingly. Same applies to Canada.

You can see the destructive power of unions at work at the company level. Witness Chrysler a once proud emblem of American manufacturing genius. Now it is a hollowed out firm headed for bankruptcy. In both the US and Canada during the past 30 years literally billions of tax dollars were given to Chrysler in direct and indirect hand-outs. Yet the firm is heading towards oblivion and most likely will have its various assets sold off. It is not hard to see why.

Thanks to high union rates, over half of a Chrysler cars production cost is labor and health care. The firm is simply uncompetitive. Thanks to its unions, new models, new ideas and new business improvements cannot be made at Chrysler and productivity and profit enhancing concepts cannot be employed. The firm cannot respond to the challenge of East Asian auto manufacturers, many of whom have union free plants in the southern US.

The fallout from the demise of Chrysler is quite huge. If no one buys the assets and turns the firm around it might either die, or be sold off in chunks with grave consequences. Now imagine if all of the large North American car firms, thanks to unions, were to go bankrupt.

Whole areas of the world are dependent on the auto industry. Detroit, southern Canada, the US deep south, Stuttgart, parts of Germany, France and elsewhere have entire economies and societies built around the extended supply and parts chain which feeds into the auto sector. Those with union-free plants will survive. Those with union-worker elite plants will either reform or perish. Close to one million jobs in the Detroit-Toronto corridor are dependent on the auto sector almost all of them in union shops or feeding union controlled companies. Consider if all 3 big US firms claimed bankruptcy. The economic and social consequences would be vast.

But so would be more government interference and subsidies for failed union shops. The last thing we need is more government support of failed businesses like Chrysler, Ford or GM. For too long have unions in auto firms created an unaccountable working elite. It is time to destroy the unions and let the market set wages, prices and product-customer matches.

The auto industry is indicative of the Marxist fantasy world inhabited by unions. Big governments with their unionized worker elite amplify the failures of Chrysler or GM. Toyota and smaller government nations exemplify the utility of market dynamics. Kill off the unions and increase company and national wealth. The time of unionized Marxism is long over. Chrysler and big government incompetence are the obvious manifestations of that fact.

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