Answers For Owners Blog

Sorry about the lack of posting as of late but we have been really busy working on a few purchases. In one matter we are working with an owner facing a foreclosure sale in the next week. The house in question needs some work and owner is about $15,000 behind in payments, penalties and interest. We are bringing those current and giving them some cash so they can move on with their life. Time is of the essence here so most of our time has been spent dealing with the mortgage lender, and inspectors and contractors.

Posting will resume at a more frequent pace soon - In the meantime, take a look at this post by The Consumerist which gives some of the deceptive advertising language lenders have used and borrowers should watch out for.

Tags:mortgage : new jersey : sorry (for not posting)

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Posted In: Foreclosure , Web Resources For Homeowners

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How much do you know about your mortgage? Do you have a fixed or is it adjustable? What is your interest rate and APR? Is there a balloon payment due at any point? Are the monthly payments being applied to the principal of the loan?

If you don't know the answers to these questions you should go to your desk, safe, firebox, sock drawer and pull out the copy of your mortgage and settle in for a nice evening of reading. Chances are you are going to have questions as to the terms in the document. That is where this week's Homeowner Web Resource comes in.

Fire up your computer and go over to the Mortgage Loan Term Dictionary and get ready to be enlightened as to your mortgage commitment.

Tags: Mortgage : Loan

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Posted In: Web Resources For Homeowners , Mortgage

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This week's Homeowner Web Resource is the newly created Answers For Owners Squidoo Lens. We see our new lens as a place where we can provide more detailed information that will complement the information we already provided here.

We are going to continue to add links to people and information we find online that we think provide useful answers to the questions that owners of problem properties have. It will also be the place that we will host some really cool polls that everyone can participate in.

Take a hop on over and participate in our first poll that has to do with FSBOs and how long they think it will take them to sell their home without an agent.

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Posted In: Web Resources For Homeowners

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Attention all For Sale By Owners (FSBOs) out there who are tired of all the the phone calls and letters coming in from agents looking to list your home. Here is a 6 step sheet from RISMedia that coaches agents how to get you to give up your quest to keep all the profits from your home and list with them.

Its interesting that tying their commission percentage to their actual performance is not listed as a tip.

Before you sign on to a 6 month listing with an agent who may or may not find you a buyer, reach out to us.

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Posted In: For Sale By Owner (FSBO) , Web Resources For Homeowners

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It is becoming more and more common for the three major credit bureaus to sell the personal information you provide when you apply for a mortgage to hundreds of other mortgage brokers throughout the country. Many mortgage brokers are legitimate and will not take advantage of your personal information. However others are lying cheats that I would not trust with my dog's information let alone my SSN. UPDATE: Not that Kal is a "lying cheat", but he is someone that I would not trust with my dog's information. See why here.

So, if you are shopping for a mortgage, how do you stop this from happening to you?

1) Add your phone number to the Do Not Call List - This can be done online or by calling 888-382-1222.

2) Opt Out of Prescreened Credit Offers - This will stop creditors from viewing your personal credit information without your written consent. In addition, it will cut down on the junk mail (unwanted credit card solicitations). This alone lowers your chances of becoming a victim of identity theft. You can opt out here or by calling 888-567-8688.

By being informed and taking proactive steps to protect yourself is the best line of defense against identity theft. By following the steps above, you will protect yourself and lower your chances of becoming a victim.

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Posted In: Web Resources For Homeowners

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This week's Homeowner Web Resource is The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter which tracks the housing finance breakdown: a saga of corruption, stupidity, and government complicity.

As of today there have been 73 mortgage lenders specializing in sub-prime loans that have gone deep six.

Subscribe to receive updates from the Implode-O-Meter by RSS - I am sure that you have subscribed to the Answers For Owners feed already.

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Posted In: Web Resources For Homeowners , Mortgage

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This week's Homeowner Web Resource is Trulia - another online tool that like Zillow, will assist with determining your home's value based on the local market. Trulia takes finding information to an entirely different level though.

First, a homeowner can look at a majority of the homes that are currently listed for sale in a town. This is an image of Trulia's interactive map which shows 75 of the 201 homes currently for sale in Edison New Jersey.

Think your home is worth $300,000? Use Trulia to make sure. By looking at what comparable properties have sold for you can be sure that you (or your agent) are asking a realistic amount for your home. Price it wrong in this tight market and you will be waiting a long time for a buyer.

What is the current average listing price of a 3 bedroom house in Edison? During the week of April 26, 2007 through May 2, 2007, the average is $414,400 (a .04% increase since mid-april).

The timeliness of the information and the ease of ues really makes Trulia a standout service for homeowners. Also be sure to use the heat maps and voices tools provided on the site to learn more about trends and discuss happenings in the area with professionals who have local knowledge.

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Posted In: For Sale By Owner (FSBO) , Web Resources For Homeowners , Home Values

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This week's Homeowner Web Resource deals with 10 questions that you should ask any potential real estate agent. I liked what Jay over at dumb little man had to say and thought that it would be helpful to those of you who are about to sell your house.

Some of the pointed questions:

How are you going to advertise my home?
Why are you saying my home is worth $400K when I think its worth $325K?
Is your realty company placing pictures on your website and other listing services?
Will you be at the closing or will you send a lackey?
Show me your municipal reporting on the area?
What are your stats?

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Posted In: Web Resources For Homeowners

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This week's Homeowner Web Resource is a tool that will help homeowners determine their credit worthiness in the eyes of lenders. AnnualCreditReport.com is a legitimate website where you can request an instant copy of your credit report from the three largest credit reporting agencies.

By law everyone is allowed once every 12 months to have a free copy of their credit report from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Homeowners should always explore their available options including refinancing out of an high adjustable rate mortgage or sub-primes loans. Knowing your credit score along with the information on your report (good and bad) before you go for a loan will make it easier for you to frame your story in a way that a lending institution may be willing to work with you.

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Posted In: Web Resources For Homeowners

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This week's Homeowner Web Resource deals with the issues that face homeowners who are going through a divorce. When divorcing - should you sell your house? Should you keep your house? How much is your house worth and how does the divorcing couple agree on a price and split of the profits.

This article addresses these questions as well as others. Divorce is just another hardship that people face which makes selling their house a necessity. Many times one person cannot afford to buy the other person out and still make the mortgage payments using only their income. Other times each of the spouses have purchased other residences and therefore need to see the home they own together.

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Posted In: Web Resources For Homeowners

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This week's Homeowner Web Resource comes from SmartMoney and is an outline of the benefits and pitfalls of selling your house without an agent.

The article provides interesting information for those homeowners who are exploring the fisbo (FSBO - for sale by owner) route. Selling your property without an agent can certainly save you money, but it is hard work.

When you're ready to advertise your home, cast a wide net. Because your house won't be included in the multiple-listing service (or MLS, where members of the National Association of Realtors pool their real-estate listings to stimulate sales) you've got to generate traffic on your own. Buy classified ads in all your local papers, including shoppers and weekly alternative publications. Many areas have freebie real-estate newspapers that cater to people selling their own homes. You may also want to list your home online.

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Posted In: For Sale By Owner (FSBO) , Web Resources For Homeowners

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This week's Homeowner Web Resource is the Help for Homeowners Facing the Loss of Their Home from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

This is a great resource that lays out many of the things that homeowners who are facing the loss of their home should do in order to improve their chances of saving their home.

The HUD page lays out many of the reasons why people are facing foreclosure including job loss, reduced work hours or overtime, retirement, Illness, injury, or death of a family member
and divorce or separation.

HUD also suggests that if you are at risk of losing your home you should IMMEDIATELY contact your lender, along with talking to a housing counseling agency, prioritizing your debts and remaining aware of predatory lending schemes.

As this blog grows we will go into greater detail regarding the foreclosure process along with the steps that homeowners should take and be aware of in order to keep their homes.

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Posted In: Web Resources For Homeowners

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