I found this great article in my reading and thought that the subject bears repeating. The Wall Street Journal reports that there are over 100,000 cases that have been filed that are considered “suspect” by the IRS. We all know what happens to suspicious minds.

You can save yourself thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage if you spend an hour setting up your goals for the type of mortgage you want. Spend some time to consider the kind of loan you need and how long you will keep the property.  Listen to your inner voice; what does it tell you about the future of interest rates and home appreciation?
 
Ask your friends and family for referrals to loan officers who took good care of them.

The Hit That Your Credit Score Takes When You Lose Your House (Or Not)

Many people have called or written to me regarding the impact of a short sale on a credit report and how long it will stay there.
When negotiating with a Short Sale Lender, one of the things up for negotiation is how the mortgage account will be reported. The instrument (legal document) for the mortgage will also make a difference.
 
On an earlier post, I discussed how a short sale, foreclosure, or deed in lieu of foreclosure all has …

I have been in the real estate business for a very long time. I was pricing a refinance out for a client today and was dumbfounded at the “add-on” for a credit score below 740. In California, our scores are typically lower than those who live in the middle of the country. I am not sure why, but maybe they are jealous of our great climate or that we always get to hang out with movie stars.
Anyway…..the add-on for a borrower with a credit score between 620 and 659 is …

Well, it’s finally happened! Short refis are here! I just received an e-mail from one of the lenders that I broker to that they are now accepting “short refis”. Of course, your lender has to agree to reduce your balance!

So far all the videos you have seen on this blog have been done by yours truly and have offered what I hope to be good content mixed with some entertaining humor.
This interview is one that I wish I could say is mine also … but there is nothing funny about it.
The story was first aired on 60 Minutes about a week or so ago and is a real eye opener for real estate practitioners.
It literally made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up because of the severe …

As part of the annual Swanepoel TRENDS Report that is published every year during the first week of February, the research team wraps their four month study of the real estate industry by announcing the top 10 Newsmakers, Events and Trendsetters for the year.
The second list to be released is the top 10 events that during 2008 had the largest impact and influence on the real estate brokerage industry. Events are defined as those occurrences that transpired during the previous calendar year (2008) that made headlines and captured the …