Archive for the 'Mortgage' Category
Buying with Nothing Down!
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007In some circles, this is touted as the greatest wealth building secret; buying real estate without a down payment, and relying on this to boost your wealth. In practice, it’s a lot more difficult than it’s made out to be.
The key rule to keep in mind here is that there’s significantly higher risk and cost, […]
Getting set
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007Typically, the process of buying a home involves a long term commitment. There are several things you need to decide upon and do, before going ahead.
Be sure you’re staying put. While a home is an investment, and can be sold to recover your equity, it isn’t a quick or painless process. Furthermore, there are transaction […]
Properly Using a Reverse Mortgage
Thursday, December 7th, 2006Recently a question was posed to us by a retired gentleman from California about how he could use a reverse mortgage to fund his retirement. As I pondered his question, I decided to post the response here. He is the situation.
He’s a 69-year-old widow and I receive about $1,200 a month from Social Security and a […]
Choosing A Fixer Upper
Friday, November 17th, 2006The most important word in property investing is Location - and it’s even more important when you’re considering a fixer upper. Don’t look at buying something just because it’s cheap; poor location could cost you heavily in the long run. Make sure that the property is in a generally desirable location, with potential to appreciate.
The […]
Fixer Uppers
Thursday, November 16th, 2006Another strategy used by real estate investors, is to buy run-down property, fix it up, and then resell it at a handsome profit. In some cases, the approach varies - the idea is to buy a property significantly below value, and live in it after renovation; thereby getting a home that’s much better than what […]
Accelerating your mortgage payments
Wednesday, November 15th, 2006Your monthly payments on your mortgage go to pay both interest and principal on your loan - during early years, the interest component is much higher than your principal. If you have a 30 year loan, during the first year more than 90% of your payment goes towards interest.
Many investors don’t like the idea […]
No Money Down?
Tuesday, November 14th, 2006Many home buyers wonder whether they should look for “Nothing Down” opportunities, for their first home; books by Robert Allen and others talked about the potential of building wealth through leverage. Robert Kiyosaki’s books also touch on these possibilities.
It’s tempting - why struggle to pay a down payment, when you could do without? A HELOC […]
Closing costs - keeping a reserve.
Monday, November 13th, 2006Most buyers assume that once they are pre-approved for a loan and have enough for the down payment, they can go ahead to buy. After all, the big expenditure is covered - what more can there be?
Quite often, comes a rude awakening; when closing costs and other expenses add up to a sizeable amount. Most […]
Build or buy, new or used?
Friday, November 10th, 2006After looking around for a few days and not finding anything suitable, most new buyers begin to wonder - rather than looking to buy an existing house, wouldn’t it make more sense to build your own? You can have the design to your convenience and needs, it might be cheaper, and you don’t seem to […]
Prequalifed or preapproved
Thursday, November 9th, 2006Once you’ve found the lender whose terms are most appropriate for you, you’re all set to go ahed looking for a home. It makes sense to take another step - getting yourself prequalified for a loan, or preapproved.
Prequalification is in some ways similar to the eligibility check for how much you can get - you […]