Thursday, April 30, 2009

Financial Scam of 20th century

Robert Kiyosaki was the first and was the sole financial expert to think that your house is not an asset. As they often do, Kiyosaki statements go against the prevailing financial wisdom.

David Bach, author of Automatic Millionaire, and not just said that your house is an asset, he says that home ownership is the first wrung on the ladder of wealth creation in America. It encourages everyone to buy a house as soon as possible to begin to build their wealth.

CNN Money Millionaire did in the profiles, and I am shocked to see that in almost all cases, 50-75% of the family's wealth profile is locked in their home. Because people should have a place to live is a problem.

Does home ownership or to produce wealth wealth and home ownership of its product by producing rich financial habits?

The Economist, monitoring of real estate over the last decade, concluded that the economy no longer support homeownership.

I bought my first house in 1991. The housing market in the North-East has not recovered. The collapse of savings and credit of the depression of the mid-1980s the prices of homes and condo market has brought to a stop. Multiunit condominium properties were vacant. Many properties have continued to sit vacant because the banks have ratios strict owner occupancy of a condominium. Mortgage money was tight. The first time buyer programs have been put on the market and is a minimum of ten percent. I was raised to believe that a home is an investment. My mortgage broker told me Saturday, "it is preferable that you think of your house as a roof over your head, not as an investment." It's incredible advice. Prices have fallen by 10% after I moved into my house. After 3 years of life in my house and renting it for 2 years, I sold it for what I paid for it. After closing costs and agency fees, I received a check for 447 dollars, significantly less than the $ 14,000 dollars that my family gave me for closing costs and down payment. I always intend to pay them back with the proceeds of the sale. In total the property market was depressed in the North-East for over 10 years.

Even in assessing the market, the house is not a good deal. And a house is not an asset.

Let's face the question of equity as a component of wealth. Say you buy a $ 100,000 house and put money down. This deposit is 20%. In real terms, at the time of closing you have 20% of your home. If you had $ 20,000 dollars in your bank account, you have $ 20,000 in wealth creation. If you move the money into your home as a down payment, you have $ 20,000 in May the creation of wealth as the market remains at least flat. For this example, we will say that it is. You have $ 20,000 wealth stored in your home. Now, what can you do with this?

If you borrow on your home, you erode your equity and your wealth. If you sell your home and your $ 20,000 back, then what? You have to live and live some money. The net value of your home is essentially dead. You can not do anything with it. Sell your house and you reinvest that money into a new house, borrow on your capital and you lose.

In short, the equity in your home, once in your house, stay there. Needless to in real terms. That equity will do something that is very dangerous, however. It will make you feel rich, richer, in fact, that you are and spend money, money that you really do not have.

It might be useful if I feel a strength here. Kiyosaki calls an asset anything that retains or appreciates in value you pay. For Kiyosaki a house does not meet this definition. I define an asset as anything that retains or appreciates the value that I can sell it and dance around my house to launch the sale in the air and have a merry time. Can not do with a house, because, once again, I need a place to live.

Someone might say they want to downsize. Sell their home, get something smaller banks and the remaining profits.

The numbers do not match. One of the chroniclers of the WSJ wrote that he doubted what he had done a lot of money at his home when he was valued at half a million dollars. He had lived in her house for 10 years and paid just under $ 300,000 dollars for it. When he took into account taxes, insurance and maintenance, he understood that it was even. Broke even!

What this means is that he actually spent $ 200,000 on his house by other means, and the sale of the house just return the money to him. Two hundred thousand dollars of equity and wealth when you look past the numbers. So much for the great benefits! So much for the calibration and bank the difference.

Here is an example of what happens when you refinance or draw on equity. For the amount of time I lived in my house, I made $ 82,800 dollars in payments. These payments were mainly the interest, then deduct the tax rate. The top tax rate is the best case, a lower tax rate means you deduct less and pay more. Least $ 27,324 and $ 55,476 obtain. Taxes and insurance paid is $ 20,460. Now the total amount paid is $ 55,476 + $ 20,460 = $ 75,936. Maintenance, landscaping, updates, repairs totaling $ 29,779. Add two, $ 75,936 + $ 29,779 and $ 105,714 to obtain. I refinance the house to take the money and buy my first property investment. Add in the unpaid balance and the total amount due, paid and placed in the home is $ 188, 715.

Critical Concepts: improvements on a house does not necessarily increase the value of this house. Each neighborhood has a trading range. The trading range for a zone is based on the location, size of homes in this area and amenities. Trade houses high-end or low end of a quarter on the basis of these factors. If my house has sold for $ 170, 000, gurus say that I have $ 87,000 dollars of wealth based on the difference between the unpaid balance and the selling price. Because you've seen the numbers, you know better. In fact, I lost $ 18.715 dollars. When I take into account the money I borrowed to buy my first investment property, I broke even. I suppose I sell my house myself. Using a real estate agent to my loss of 6% of the selling price.

How can I call the property the greatest financial scam of the 20th century? I call it a scam when you buy something (a house), he expects to lead to something (wealth) that at the time of purchase can in no way produce that result. I call it a scam when the brokers who sell the house, you know, it will not.

Healthy financial habits lead to wealth but home ownership in itself will not. Home ownership can only lead to poverty as people struggle to make payments and that they are unable to maintain their homes. And they could sell more because the house is worth. Stay and their standard of living is reduced to pay for the house. Sounds like a winning formula for wealth for me.

While 20% of households in this housing bubble has investors who speculate in the markets, 80% of homes have been people who believed that home ownership, not sound financial habits, were the first wrung on the scale of wealth creation. They just believed what the gurus, the realtor, the mortgage broker and banker told them. In a consumer society where everything is reduced to the lowest common denominator, they believed that the house can be purchased for just over a moderate-price flat-screen TV and that the payments were a nuisance. They do not understand that the worst case, payments are actually insurance against downward fluctuations in the housing market. Many people find that the place of the wealth they expected, they have a financial nightmare.

Perhaps the way forward in the 21st century, we will decide that the habits of sound financial management and financial education are the first steps on the path to wealth. Maybe we'll decide that wealth is created through work and due diligence and not relying on the proceeds of the day.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Should We Compare Philadelphia Real Estate to The Tortoise or The Hare?

Sometimes, of Philadelphia, which is geographically situated between New York and Washington, DC, we forget that the thriving, lively city that has become truly the rest of our nation.

Philadelphia in May not to attract investors, such as Miami, Las Vegas, or some hot spots in California could. You will not find streets littered with movie stars, paparazzi or neon. Most people here in downtown Philadelphia probably did not have our own swimming pool or driveway either.

Poor, poor in Philadelphia ....

Oh, and the soaring, monthly double-digit appreciation in home values? No, we do not have much of that. This desolate backwoods of an urban area that suffers from neglect. Bummer, huh?

Uh, no. Not at all. Very little of Philadelphia, the property owners are unhappy with these appalling events here in town. In fact, many of us are happy.

You see, we do not need your Brittany Spears, tofu, cafes, bars or your oxygen. We do not represent more of a need for these effects. You see, we are slow, stupid cousins. Those of us who buy a piece of Real Estate Center City Philadelphia, Rittenhouse Square as a condominium or loft old town, see these investments appreciate at a horribly slow, five to fifteen per cent per year, or if the latter figure .. .. be an excellent year.

But you can see, the difference is that real estate in Philadelphia has suffered this kind of growth in value of almost twelve years in a row. It does not seem to be an end in sight when it comes to the slow and steady appreciation of Philadelphia, real estate publications as The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.

Although we have never been to the turtle, Philadelphia was able to maintain his pace and will go. We do not seem to have a surplus of unsold inventory, our owner, the ratios are very high (not many out of town money bundling of property is among the Philadelphia condo set), and the subprime debacle played little in our assessment of the forecasts.

While some Philadelphia real estate novices are put off by the fact that you usually wait several years to see growth in the value of your new construction purchase, the old city of lofts and condos Rittenhouse Square, for example, possibly appreciate in value.

So it boils down to the fact that the Condominium Center City Philadelphia City Center and other properties May not be as quick on the departure of other cities, and we still have the property in May to the official home of our values peers, but it seems that slow and steady wins the race.

And personally, as a REALTOR and the owner of a house here in town, I would like to thank all the Philadelphia real estate buyers and sellers who have made this victory possible.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Clouds Of The Nationwide Mortgage Mess

It is cloudy and dark storm plane is on the blue sky, once the real estate market. Because of the sub-prime fiascos and variable rate, seizures have increased dramatically and home values dive nose like huge drops of rain descended and the creation of a mortgage mess.

Here is the weather real estate. Foreclosures increased by 75% in 2007, with more than 2.2. million of deposits in the country. The biggest cloud hanging over the states of Nevada, Florida, Michigan, California and Colorado, respectively, with California alone have a record number of 481,392 foreclosure filings. 2008 should follow this example and will probably be more worrisome than in 2007.

As seizures are increasing, most homeowners feel desperate and discouraged. The authorities have stressed economic cities like Detroit, Michigan to see a correlation between expectation and seizures of homes burning. The conclusion is arson is increasing due to the reasons for stressed out homeowners to fix their situation by the local fire and we hope that the collection of revenue from insurance and relieve themselves to go through the process of eviction.

The collapse of mortgage credit has led to districts across the nation to be plagued by the blight, since the owners, unable to make mortgage payments because of a bad or ill-advised loans at variable rates which have been payments to balloon beyond affordability, abandoned properties and leaving them free to become safe havens for insects and animals out.

Some homeowners, angry over the mud mortgage situation has become even more deliberately caused damage to property before abandoning it, leaving the water flow and create mold problems or destroy physically part of the house.

Currently, the FBI investigates 14 companies linked to the mortgage crisis on applications for mortgage fraud, SEC in trade and other illegal violations associated with the sub-prime property market.

The mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, sued Wells Fargo Bank on claims that the bank was guilty of "reverse red lining" actions - deliberate in high risk sub-prime loans in minority neighborhoods in circumstances that the bank knew or had reason to know, is doomed to failure. This is the opposite argument against banks years old when they were found guilty of drawing a red line around areas where they have deliberately not granting loans - mostly ethnic neighborhoods, hence the term redlining. The mayor claims minorities hold more than 60% of loans at variable rates by Wells Fargo and now most of those loans in default and foreclosure of the grim reaper takes its toll.

The above facts provide more than sufficient evidence to support the hypothesis that the real estate sector is caught in a storm. The dark clouds of the earlier failures and the winds of gale force make seizures of the dark and bleak future ..... But there is a glimmer of hope amidst all the clouds.

Where is the glimmer of hope? The evidence is already beginning to manifest itself. It is and will certainly be good times ahead for the real estate market as soon as possible. It depends on the objectives you are looking through.

Interest rates on federal funds has dropped to 3% on January 30, 2008. Mortgage rates are to respond and begin to fall as well. This will be faster and refinancing to help many homeowners that can still be problematic adjustable refinance loans 30-40 years affordable fixed-rate loans to avoid foreclosure of future or of other financial problems.

Congress is contemplating and will certainly legislation or regulatory changes, the maximum amount of loans that can be acquired with the support FHA insured. The current loan limit of $ 417,000 is unrealistic in today's market. Democrats are seeking loan limits over $ 700,000. Republicans suggest the limits in the range of $ 600,000. The obvious observation is that both parties agree to $ 417,000 limit must be raised. Once home buyers will be able to access more funds for loans and buy houses that are not currently available.

Home prices are low and new home sales are at a low level. Sellers are very motivated and willing to help buyers finance. All this adds to a buyer's market. This is the right side.

Home buyers, especially first time buyers will be very important in weathering the storm of the mortgage mess. The winds of change are with us. History repeats itself. Landfills on the property market is the proverbial Phoenix rising.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Increase Mortgage Refinancing Sales with Credit Repair 6 Easy Steps [Part 2]

Continued from part 1

Step 4

When helping your client to raise their credit ratings, are an often pull their credit reports for them to determine their status and any errors on their reports.

The errors are so common on credit reports of over 75% of all credit reports have a minimum of one or more errors on them. Just by being diligent and careful to ensure that any incorrect information is deleted, their credit rating will go up incredibly often. This is certainly one of the simplest and most effective things that your client can do immediately to improve their score dramatically with the possibility of obtaining a new mortgage or mortgage refinancing of their existing mortgage.

Step 5


If your credit score has been damaged to the point of having been sent to an agency, they have probably not want to immediately pay off the debt of credit card. As unbelievable as it appears in May, this may be more damaging than debt credit card sent to a collection agency in their credit file.

When your clients have been sent to a collection agency for credit, the effect on their credit is low, after about two years and is virtually gone after four years.

So if your client does decide to repay a debt that was sent to an agency, make sure they receive a letter from the agency indicating that the agency will send a "letter of the abolition of the offices credit immediately after the bill is satisfied that the problem is derogatory credit removed from their credit report. Stress to your client should not pay anything on the bill until what they receive written approval of the letter of abolishing the agency.

Most people try to improve their credit to get a mortgage or mortgage refinancing of their home they need to think of pay as soon as possible, but it is a case that paying before to obtain documents protecting your situation can seriously hurt your credit. People have in fact completely repaid a debt or a negotiated settlement to learn to their dismay that they now have no leverage to get the collection agency to send the letter of removal.

Step 6

Finally, if your customer does not pay installments on a car or boat, make some form of payment loan with someone like Best Buy or Sears required on some devices or with Office Depot, Staples or some equipment. The credit bureaus look carefully not only by the fact that you have credit, but also the mix of types of credit you have. Having just credit cards are not as advantageous as credit cards and have some form of loan payment.

The only thing I will caution you here to be cautious on interest rates on the new loan payment you get in May. Some of these rates may be "off the roof" and create undo stress on the monthly budget.

Also, unlike credit cards that you should keep in perpetuity, of course, comes from revolving credit at a certain time during which the loan is completed and the monthly payment ceases. Tell your client that this is not a "license to spend, but if they want to increase their credit rating, they should not pay for the highest price, but rather to a cash payment on the issue and obtain payment of loans to finance the balance. Financing a smaller amount of loans can actually interest payments lowest thus lowering the monthly payment, making your client more likely to improve their credit score and get a new mortgage or loan Mortgage refinancing their home.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Increase Mortgage Refinancing Sales with Credit Repair 6 Easy Steps [Part 1]

While the subprime debacle is responsible in large measure on the current economic slowdown, the continuing malaise in the housing market is not completely because people do not want to fear or to buy houses, it is due in large part by poor credit assessments keeping people from getting a mortgage or a mortgage refinancing deal.

To make matters worse, with increased seizures horrible throughout the country, the mortgage, and mortgage refinancing for mortgage brokers problem is simply to develop.

When a person fails to credit, so their choices for mortgages and mortgage refinancing options. Also, tell your customers to be wary of companies with questionable credit repair scams and other on the market today, promising to fix a bad credit rating. "

Good credit is an absolute necessity for a home loan to be able to get the most reasonable mortgage and mortgage refinancing offers, and the problem does not disappear soon, it is the sender ready to assist their clients with ideas for the process of credit repair improve credit scores.

This type of credit repair is the way the advice of a mortgage broker can turn a potential customer in the "real deal" and close their mortgage or mortgage refinancing deal. Also, if done properly, in most cases, the process can take place in a relatively short time.

Step 1

Note that rebuilding a credit score is a continuous process and requires thoughtful preparation to undertake the reconstruction of its credit to an acceptable level to obtain a good structure refinancing mortgage or mortgage product.

For this reason, make sure that your client starts a program to rebuild credit, that whatever your client decides that the budget and they can be implemented, they need to ensure that it is something they can take their payment and that the structure is such that they have never failed to meet their obligations to pay on or before the dates on which they are due. Being late on payments for being too ambitious when planning their programs exacerbate the problem and may "put the final nail in the coffin of their plans for a new mortgage or refinancing a mortgage .

If there are extenuating circumstances such as divorce, they insist that the review of their credit program with their lawyer before accepting anything.

Step 2

If your credit card companies have not or have underestimated their credit limits on their credit cards, it can hurt their credit score. For this reason, that your client to determine whether the credit card companies are understating their credit limits on their cards. Often credit limits are reported as lower than they actually are and, often, may not be reported whatsoever.

While we're on the topic of credit cards, make sure that your client has a minimum of three credit cards or other revolving credit. Many people mistakenly believe that if they have credit cards, it affects their credit score and thus, they cancel part or all of their cards. This can actually harm their credit score and bad their chances of obtaining a new mortgage or make any type of mortgage refinancing.

In addition, if they do not have credit cards, they have obtained at least three. If they have difficulty in obtaining typical cards such as Visa, Master Card, Amex, etc, to try to tell them a department store or a Home Depot or Lowes. Often, these types of stores are more lenient in granting revolving charge accounts.

Step 3

Make sure your client to reduce potential credit card balances to less than 30% of their credit limit on each card. Some people mistakenly believe that the figure of 30% is based on their entire balance of revolving credit card, but it is false. A single card more than 30% of the balance may cancel the benefit of the effort to have the revolving credit cards in the first place.

If your customer has a card to the limit and many others under the limit, if they are limited on cash and can not pay the card back, have them, they can transfer some of the increase of the balance map of lower cards. Ask them to check first before making it to see if this type of transfer creates a higher interest rate or other adverse effects on their credit.

Thus, if a person has 3 credit cards with a total of $ 12,000 credit, but two of them have a limit of $ 2,000 and the other has a limit of $ 8000, make sure they hold the limit of $ 2000 under $ 600 cards and each card to $ 8000 under $ 2400.

Implementation of this simple cause credit scores to increase, with the possibility of getting what they mortgage or mortgage refinancing program.

Please continue reading part 2