Boise Short Sale and Foreclosure FAQs and Answers
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Shortsale and Foreclosure options...which is right for you?
We have fielded a lot of questions lately about Boise Shortsales and Foreclosures and I thought I would share some of the recent ones with you:
·What is a foreclosure?
·What will a foreclosure do to my credit?
·Can I sell my home while it’s in foreclosure?
·Can I ever buy a home again if I do go through foreclosure?
·What is a short sale?
·Will bankruptcy prevent a foreclosure?
·How much longer can I stay in my house?
·What is my best option?
For answers to these questions and many more concerning Boise Shortsales and foreclosures, Boise Property, Homes for sale in Boise please visit our website at www.BuyandSellinIdaho.com
Boise Short Sales and Foreclosures
By · CommentsBoise short sales and foreclosures can be a complex and daunting process. Each property, seller, buyer, and note holder are different. It is important to have a team of professionals on your side to help you navigate the treacherous variables in each transaction.
Boise Short Sales
If you have questions such as these…we’ve got the answers!
- How much is my Boise home worth?
- Can I afford to buy a home in Boise now?
- What is the Idaho real estate market doing in my neighborhood?
- Should I consider a Boise short-sale or foreclosure?
- What are the best technology tools to use to increase the chance of selling my Boise home?
- Where can I find foreclosures and short-sales in Idaho for sale?
We are the premier professional real estate service team with over 20 years combined experience including real estate sales, investment property ownership, investment analysis, and mortgage planning. You can use our FREE MLS property search tools to locate property for sale or to see what homes in your neighborhood are selling for, visit us TODAY at our website www.BuyandSellinIdaho.com
Natalie Filbert – Associate Broker, GRI, Short Sale Specialist, Residential Realtor
Randall Filbert – MPA, e-PRO, Commercial Realtor, Mortgage Broker
According to recent reports, the expiration of the Home Buyer Tax Credit failed to jump start the fledgeling housing market. In fact, nationwide new home sales are down 33% and it looks like we may have a renewed housing slump that could threaten the broader economy.
New-home sales for May fell 33 percent from April and came in at a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 300,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That was the slowest in the 47 years records have been kept. And it was the largest monthly drop on record. Sales have now sunk 78 percent from their peak five years ago.
On a positive note- This week The Federal Reserve repeated its pledge to hold interest rates at historical lows in an effort to help stimulate economic growth.
The housing market represents a significant contributor to the nation’s GDP. It is imperative that we find ways to individually contribute to the recovery of our industry.
Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/06/24/1243237/losing-federal-tax-credit-hurts.html#ixzz0rmtXSXZw
Author: Randall Filbert, MPA www.MyBoiseHomeLoans.com www.FamilyGuideToFinances.com
www.MyBoiseRealEstate.com www.BuyandSellinIdaho.com
This blog’s intention is to provide inspirational stories as well as historical accounts and insight into matters concerning the Boise home loan and Boise real estate markets. These are my opinions and should not be regarded as factual data.
Buy a Home in Boise Idaho
By · CommentsVisit Houselogic.com for more articles like this. Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”
For more info about Boise Home Loans or Boise Real Estate vistit us at www.BuyandSellinIdaho.com and www.MyBoiseRealEstate.com
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Keep Your Home Purchase on Track
You’ve found your dream home. Make sure missteps don’t prevent a successful closing. Read
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Understanding Real Estate Representation
Whether you’re buying or selling, it’s important to choose representation that meets your needs in the transaction. Read
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4 Tips to Determine How Much Mortgage You Can Afford
By knowing how much mortgage you can handle, you can ensure that home ownership will fit in your budget. Read
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7 Tips for Improving Your Credit
Here’s how to clean up your credit so you get the least-expensive home loan possible. Read
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7 Steps to Take Before You Buy a Home
By doing your homework before you buy, you’ll feel more content about your new home. Read
Visit houselogic.com for more articles like this.
Copyright 2010 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Do not let your borrowers do these 6 things while you are trying to help them qualify for a home loan!
When buying a home, there are two stages in the home loan approval process.
Stage 1 begins when a home buyer submits a mortgage application to their loan officer for a pre-approval.
A pre-approval is a preliminary mortgage approval that says — at a given purchase price and down payment amount — the home loan application will very likely be approved.
Stage 1 ends when the buyer signs a purchase contract on a home. At this point, the preliminary approval is useless because the buyer now needs a real home loan approval from an underwriter and not a loan officer.
Stage 2. During the second phase of the approval process, a mortgage underwriter is reviewing income, assets, credit, job history, and other items, too; the underwriters job is to make sure that the buyer meets the bank’s criteria for lending.
If the loan officer did his job in Stage 1, Stage 2 is just a formality. And most times, it all goes according to plan.
Occasionally, though, a home buyer sabotages his own mortgage approval by inadvertently changing his risk profile. I’ve had clients quit their jobs, finance expensive items like cars, and file for divorce! All of these actions will alter the preliminary approval!
Consider this blog a quick reminder of what not to do while you’re between Stage 1 and the completion of Stage 2 of the home loan approval process. Following these pointers will help keep the risk profile consistent.
1. Don’t buy a new car (or take on a larger lease payment)
2. Don’t quit your job or change industries (and certainly don’t switch to a heavily commissioned role)
3. Don’t transfer large sums of money into or out from your bank accounts (and remember that “large” is relative)
4. Don’t miss a payment to a creditor (even if you don’t think you owe it)
5. Don’t open a new credit card (even if you’re getting 10% off your new bedding)
6. Don’t accept a cash gift without talking to your loan officer first (because there’s rules on how to accept them)
We need to educate our clients on these issues and remind them that home buying is a process . By educating our clients we are ensuring that their home-buying experience is easier.
Author: Randall Filbert, MPA www.MyBoiseHomeLoans.com www.FamilyGuideToFinances.com
www.MyBoiseRealEstate.com www.BuyandSellinIdaho.com
This blog’s intention is to provide inspirational stories as well as historical accounts and insight into matters concerning the Boise home loan and Boise real estate markets. These are my opinions and should not be regarded as factual data.
Tax Benefits of Homeownership
By · CommentsTax Benefits of Homeownership
Everyone has heard about the tax benefits of home ownership, but few new home buyers fully understand the significance of this benefit. I want to take a moment to break it down for you. As a home owner you are eligible to take a tax deduction of mortgage interest, loan points paid (purchase year only), and property taxes. These deductions reduce your taxable income and greatly increase the financial benefits of homeownership. Here’s how it works.
Assume:
$9,877 = Mortgage interest paid (a loan of $150,000 for 30 years, at 7 percent, using year-five interest)
$2,700 = Property taxes (at 1.5 percent on $180,000 assessed value)
______
$12,577 = Total deduction
Multiply your total deduction by your tax rate.
For example, at a 28 percent tax rate: 12,577 x 0.28 = $3,521.56
$3,521.56 = Amount you have lowered your federal income tax (assuming a 28% tax rate)
Note: Mortgage interest may not be deductible on loans over $1.1 million. In addition, deductions are decreased when total income reaches a certain level.
As always, seek the advise of a tax professional for questions regarding your specific situation.
Author: Randall Filbert, MPA http://www.MyBoiseHomeLoans.com www.FamilyGuideToFinances.com www.BuyandSellinIdaho.com
This blog’s intention is to provide inspirational stories as well as historical accounts and insight into matters concerning the mortgage and real estate markets. These are my opinions and should not be regarded as factual data.
Homeowners who agree to a short sale with their lender do far less damage to their credit rating than those who go through foreclosure.
While in both short sale and foreclosure, the delinquent mortgage will negatively affect their credit rating, at least short sellers avoid having a “debt discharged due to foreclosure” on their credit reports. Mortgage and credit experts say that, after bankruptcy, having a foreclosure on your credit report is the worst result and will reduce your credit score by over 250 points. You could also have to wait up to three years to qualify for a mortgage at a reasonable rate.
Short sales show up on a credit report as a “pre-foreclosure in redemption” status and can typically result in a credit score reduction of 100 points or so. After the sale, the mortgage may show up as “discharged.” For people who successfully complete a short sale it is possible to qualify for a mortgage at a reasonable interest rate in as little as 18-24 months.
Bottom line is… if buying a home is a future goal, then a short sale is the better option for many.
As real estate professionals, we should educate our clients about these distinctions and encourage them to consider a short sale over a foreclosure.
Author: Randall Filbert, MPA www.LendingIdaho.com www.FamilyGuideToFinances.com http://www.MyBoiseHomeLoans.com http://www.BuyandSellinIdaho.com
This blog’s intention is to provide inspirational stories as well as historical accounts and insight into matters concerning the mortgage and real estate markets. These are my opinions and should not be regarded as factual data.
Last Chance for the Home Buyer Tax credit!
By · CommentsIf you want to take advantage of the G0vernment’s tax credit for buying a home you’d better hurry!
You must be in a fully executed contract by tomorrow and close on the home by June 30th 2010 to qualify! Don’t wait ’till the last minute lol!
Running out of time to benefit from the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit!
Potential homebuyers are running out of time to benefit from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009’s First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. Will Congress allow the $8,000 tax credit for first-time purchasers to expire as scheduled on April 30th? Or will the tax credit get a second life and be extended, thus allowing the struggling housing market additional time to recover.
This is of particular concern if you are a buyer just starting to shop and you see entry-level prices bottoming out or rebounding in your local market. The tax credit statute requires buyers to enter into a purchase agreement by April 30 2010. This doesn’t leave a lot of time left for people who haven’t yet decided on a house, have not obtained mortgage financing, or who are in the process of repairing their credit in order to qualify for a mortgage. Buyers considering the purchase of a short sale property may still have many weeks or months worth of bank bureaucracy to muddle thru before they can close on a property.
According to economists at the National Association of Realtors, between 300,000 and 350,000 additional sales of houses will be stimulated this year by the tax credit across the country. Some economists estimate that each home sale additionally generates approximately $63,000 in new sales of items like appliances, tools, landscaping, building materials, furnishings, moving expenses, etcetera.
Assuming these estimates are accurate (and even if they are grossly overstated), this means that the housing tax credit provides an immediate and significant benefit to the overall American economy. In fact, housing represents a significant percentage of the National GDP. Failure to extend what may be one of the most effective pieces of the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus legislation would cost jobs, economic growth and lost tax revenues.
In an effort to put pressure on lawmakers the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders have initiated intense grass roots campaigns to make the case for extending the credit, and perhaps even expanding it. However, a tax credit extension would cost billions of dollars in lost federal revenues thus contributing to an already historically profound deficit.
With the rapidly approaching deadline, the likelihood that Congress will extend the tax credit remains uncertain. Congress is stretched thin with focus on two wars, health care reform, climate change and energy concerns, financial system regulatory reform and a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, among others. There is currently very little chatter among congressional leaders and economic experts which would suggest an extension. Therefore, an extension is unlikely.
Bottom line: I believe that given the political and economic importance of the housing tax credit, its significant influence upon the housing sector’s ability to recover, and the aggressive lobbying in Washington, some sort of extension is likely. However, don’t count on a bigger credit. If I were buying my first house, I would not wait to see what’s going to happen…I’d be buying a house NOW!
Author: Randall Filbert, MPA
This blog’s intention is to provide inspirational stories as well as historical accounts and insight into matters concerning the mortgage and real estate markets. These are my opinions and should not be regarded as factual data.
Just like an “annual physical” with your doctor, it is equally as important to get a “financial physical” to make sure you are using your money to your optimum advantage. The following observations and questions are designed to get you thinking-thinking about how you can reduce your living expenses, improve your cash flow, pay down debt, or put money away for a rainy day.
Every household budget has some room for improvement but they can vary based on your needs, family size, lifestyle, etc. First, start by reviewing your monthly expenditures to find areas where you can trim some fat. Recently I looked at my monthly budget and found several ways to reduce my monthly expenses and thus, create more opportunity for reallocating this extra cash flow for optimal usage. I examined my utility bills and decided that I could save quite a bit of money by reducing certain services. I saved $50 per month by reducing my family cell phone plan. I found that I had not been using as many minutes as I was paying for and in fact was “rolling over” 3-4000 cell minutes every month. As long as I keep an eye on monthly usage and don’t go over my limit, I should be able to maintain this savings.
Next, I cancelled my home phone land line, which was primarily used to send faxes. This saved me about $40 per month. Now, I simply scan the documents that I used to fax and email them. I also found that by reducing my cable TV plan to a lesser package I could save another $30 per month and not miss a thing. I then reduced my home Internet service from a “super high speed” package to a standard high-speed package and saved an additional $20 per month. Truth is, I never noticed the difference in Internet speed anyway….
Natural Gas costs have been reduced in our area recently and, together with reducing the thermostat a degree or two, I expect to save an additional $25-30 per month. So far, the total monthly savings for my family amount to about $180-$200 depending on the month. I have put this extra cash flow towards paying down debt and thereby reducing my interest charges every month (thus saving more money!)
There are a few areas in my family’s budget that I hope to address in the near future (namely, our health club membership that costs $75 per month and no one in the family really uses). I will have more on this topic in the coming weeks because I am seemingly addicted to finding new ways of saving money.
What can you do to reduce your living expenses and optimize your monthly budget? If you have any ideas about saving money, please share them with us!
Author: Randall Filbert, MPA www.LendingIdaho.com www.FamilyGuideToFinances.com
This blog’s intention is to provide inspirational stories as well as historical accounts and insight into matters concerning the mortgage and real estate markets. These are my opinions and should not be regarded as factual data.