Build Equity By Choosing The Right Mortgage

Build Equity By Choosing The Right Mortgage

Homeownership is the key to building wealth for most people because it is an involuntary savings account. As you pay down your mortgage each month, the value of your interest in the home rises.

Build Equity By Choosing The Right Mortgage

Equity is a beautiful word as every homeowner knows. Once you get used to making your mortgage payments, you can rest assured that you are creating a nest egg every month. Throw in the appreciation on the property and your nest egg can grow large before you realize it. This savings account, better known as equity, can provide the means for putting your kids through college, dealing with emergencies and retiring.

Building equity is fairly simple. Just make your monthly mortgage payment. There are additional steps you can take to move the process along at a faster pace. These steps are all about the type of mortgage you obtain when you purchase your home.

When you purchase a property, particular for the first time, it can be a stressful event. Right or wrong, most people tend to take anything they can get in a mortgage loan so they can meet the closing of escrow. This is understandable, but can come back to haunt you financially. If you can step back from the chaos for a moment, you might consider the following options that will help build equity.

A 30 year mortgage is the default for most homebuyers. It is the first thing that comes to mind and most assume it is the safest option. A 15 year mortgage, however, is going to cut down on the total interest you pay on the loan as well as supercharge your equity growth. The 15 year loan is far better than a longer option, but only if you are absolutely sure you can meet the monthly payment requirements. If you have any doubts whatsoever, there is another option that you can consider.

Making prepayments on principal is a simple, proven way to build equity. The idea is to make an extra monthly payment when you have sufficient cash to do so. Effectively, you use your home as a savings account by doing this. The advantage over other investments is the equity growth should be tax free. Before taking this step, find out from your lender if there are any prepayment penalties. Regardless, making two of these payments each year will quickly build equity in your home.

If any of these ideas sound interesting, you can still take advantage of them even if you currently have a mortgage. Refinancing your mortgage gives you an opportunity to correct mistakes you made when you more focused on getting through escrow. Talk with a mortgage broker to find out your options.

Buy A House After Foreclosure – How To Get Approved

Purchasing a new home after a recent or past foreclosure is easier than you may think. Some previous homeowners are hesitant to apply for a mortgage. Considering their history, many assume that mortgage lenders will immediately deny their loan request. On the contrary, numerous lenders offer mortgages and loans to individuals with damaged credit. Hence, obtaining a new home loan is within your reach.

Ways to Quickly Improve Credit Score

After a foreclosure, rebuilding credit is a top concern. Obtaining a mortgage loan and maintaining consistent payments will significantly improve your score within a year. Even if you cannot negotiate a low interest rate immediately following a foreclosure, by consistently making on-time payments and proving your credit worthiness, you have the option of refinancing in a couple of years for a low rate mortgage.

If you are hoping to obtain an initial low rate mortgage, make an effort to improve your credit rating before applying for a home loan. Applying for new credit accounts is a fast way to raise your credit score. If possible, obtain a secured/unsecured credit card, department store card, etc. For the next 12 months, make regular timely payments. Paying off the balance each month proves you can handle credit responsibly. When re-establishing credit, periodically check your credit score and report for inaccuracies.

Picking the Right Lender

The lender chosen to finance your new home loan is important. When searching for a mortgage lender, many homebuyers do not shop around. Moreover, many do not consider secondary money sources such as mortgage brokers or sub prime lenders.

If you have a past foreclosure or bad credit, you will not receive good rates with traditional mortgage lenders. These lenders prefer prime candidates. If your credit score is low, the likelihood of the loan defaulting is high. Thus, bad credit applicants are charged excessive fees and interest.

After a past foreclosure, contact an online mortgage broker. Brokers are eager to help you acquire the best loan package. Moreover, the process is very simple and quick. After submitting your income, employer, and credit information to a mortgage broker, the broker will find appropriate loan programs, and provide quotes from a variety of lenders. Upon careful examination of quotes, you may either pick a lender or refuse the offers.

Buy More House With A Buy Down Mortgage

A buy down mortgage allows you to buy more house with your income and enjoy low monthly payments for a couple of years. With reduced payments, you can pay for move in costs and furnishings. You also qualify for a larger mortgage due to lower monthly payments.

Buy Down Mortgage Terms

Buy Down mortgages come in three packages. A temporary buydown loan, the most common, starts with a discounted interest rate for one to three years that increases to a fixed rate in yearly increments. You pay the difference in interest payment in an initial payout to the lender at the start of your home loan. Some lenders will pay this lump sum, but then charge a higher interest rate for the loan.

For example, you can have a mortgage with a 6% interest rate that is reduced to 4% the first year, then raised to 5% the second year, and finally reach 6% on the third year. The difference in the mortgage payments for the first two years will need to be paid to the lender at the time of settlement.

A compressed buydown mortgage works like a temporary buy down loan, but interest rates rise every six months. A permanent buydown loan has a low interest rate for the life of the loan, but that difference still has to be prepaid to the financing company.

Buy Down Mortgage Benefits

The chief benefit of a buydown mortgage is that you can qualify for a larger loan amount based on your income. This can be especially helpful if you expect your income to increase in the near future.

In addition, initial low monthly payments allow you to pay for the many expenses associated with buying a home. The cost of moving expenses, home furnishings, and landscaping can quickly add up those first couple of years.

Buy Down Mortgage Considerations

Buy Down mortgages should be considered along with other types of mortgages. In some cases if the large initial payment was used as part of a down payment, you may find better terms with a fixed rate or ARM. You may also find that if you are planning to move within seven years, an ARM can give you the same low monthly payments without the upfront cost.

No matter what type of home loan you choose, research lenders and loan terms beforehand. Compare interest payments and base your decisions on your financial goals.

Buy To Let Mortgages

As far as investments go, property is one of the safer bets. Buying a house to let out can be a safe and profitable way to put spare cash to use, and a good way of expanding your assets. While some approach letting as a purely commercial exercise, parents may also buy a place for their children, which they then charge them rent for. This can be seen as investment in both your and your family’s future.

Mortgages available for letting property used to be subject to higher rates of interest than standard residential mortgages, but in recent years this has changed. In an active attempt to encourage growth in the private rental sector of the market, interest rates have been lowered and criteria made more flexible. This led to a boost in the amount of properties being bought as income-producing investments.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) run the Buy-to-Let initiative, designed to encourage private investing in the letting market. Taking on an agent can help boost the confidence of your lender that you know what you’re doing – a letting agent will advise you on suitable property and how to manage it. Under a bonding scheme that members of the ARLA belong to they can also provide compensation if there’s a problem with rent or deposits.

The rent you charge, as a rule of thumb, should be around 150% of your monthly mortgage repayments. This should cover all the associated expenses – while letting can prove profitable you should take into account the time and cost involved. Not only will you need to find and purchase suitable property, but you will have to manage it well, whether this means maintenance, furnishing or advertising. An agent can take care of some of these tasks, but bear in mind you will have to pay their fees. Generally, you should think of buying to let as a medium or long term investment.

You should always make sure that a professional agent or solicitor draws up leases and agreements. While you can buy ‘readymade’ leases, these are not comprehensive enough to rely on. Remember too to include an inventory of all furnishings and fittings in the property.

Other costs to consider are: Insurance – both buildings and contents, plus you may want to take out rental protection in case a tenant fails to pay. Service charges and maintenance costs – try to ensure the property will require the minimum of upkeep and repairs.

Buy To Let Mortgages. Boom Time Returns.

After last years crisis of confidence the buy-to-let market is again booming. Earlier worries that interest rates were on the up and property values would crash are firmly behind us. So, fuelled by rising rental yields confidence, landlords have been snapping up new properties and remortgaging for cheaper deals.

In the final three months of last year, rental incomes increased by an average of 3.3%. At the same time the rental yield, income as a percentage of the property's value, edged up from 6.42% to 6.45%. The latest report from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) also shows that the value of new buy-to-let mortgages increase by 47% in the second half of 2005 over the preceding six months whilst the number of these mortgages rose by 39%.

Indeed, we expect the boom to extend throughout 2006. It will be powered by the steady increases in house prices, a healthy demand from tenants, especially the first time buyers who remain priced out off the property ladder and a glut of cheaper buy to let deals.

Mortgage lenders are happy as well! Industry figures show that buy-to-let mortgages are now a safer bet for them than homeowner mortgages. According to the CML, percentage of arrears in buy-to-let mortgage is now lower than that for homeowner mortgages - and the arrears trend for buy-to-let is improving whist for homeowners it's getting worse.

Not surprisingly, the mortgage lenders have responded by relaxing some of their lending criteria and aggressively promoting buy-to-let again.

In the past, buy-to-let lenders have required monthly rental income to exceed mortgage payments by 30% – so if a mortgage was costing £750 per month, the rental income needed to exceed £975. But now several lenders have relaxed this criteria. The reason's not just the improved risk profile. Over the last six or seven years, house prices have risen faster than rental income yields, making it increasingly difficult for landlords to meet the +30% criteria. So now the lending average is closer to +25% although Northern Rock and a few others are happy to lend where the income simply equals the mortgage payment.

Simultaneously we have seen a trend for lenders to increase the percentage of the property's value they will lend on. Whilst 75% used to be the maximum level, the average is now closer to 85% with Northern Rock lending up to 87% and GMAC being prepared to stretch to 89%.

Interest rates on buy-to-let have also fallen. 4.75% is available from the Mortgage Trust on a three-year fix whilst 4.79% is available from the West Bromwich Building Society fixed for a two years. Both these deals incur a 1.5% arrangement fee. On the West Bromwich deal, when you recalculate the interest rate and include the arrangement fee amortised over two years, the equivalent rate rises to 5.54%.

Arrangement fees should not necessarily be a problem for landlords whose prime concern is cash flow. For these landlords it can be worth paying a large fee to obtain a low headline interest rate. That's because the rental income/mortgage payment calculation is based on the headline interest rate and this reduces the rental that has to be charged in order to meet the lenders income criteria.

If you're interested in joining the buy-to-let boom, remember to do your homework. Carefully research the local rental market - look at the rentals being achieved, the trends in property prices and levels of vacant to let properties.

And be especially careful especially if you're considering a city centre. Some lenders are becoming concerned at the potential oversupply of new flats and apartments in city centres they believe are becoming overpriced. Developers are responding by offering tempting cash back and discount schemes rather than reducing prices. But this can sometimes serves to mask the problem of over pricing. Realising this for some cities, lenders are reducing the value to lending ratio back to 75%.

Also remember that it's important to budget for the inevitable periods when the property is empty. In an essentially demand and supply market, if the rental market in your area becomes oversupplied you could be hit by lengthy vacancies or be forced to reduce your rental prices.

Buy to let mortgages: long term investment on the concrete structure.

Buy to let mortgage market was worth £21.8 billion in 2004 and accounted to 38.2 % of commercial market in the same year. The buy to let market has grown more than any market as a whole – which is remarkable. Such a strong market spells nothing but benefit to mortgage hopeful. Buy to let mortgage was a constructive effort by The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) to encourage growth in the private rented sector.

Buy to let mortgage is a specialized product for a special mortgage product. However, there is little difference between this and other mortgage products. If you understand the various details of buy to let mortgage, there is no way that you won’t be successful in your attempt. Every buy to let mortgage will undergo the usual mortgage guideline. The lender will check your credit worthiness, value of your property, the amount of down payment before he approves your buy to let mortgage.

Buy to let mortgage have emerged as an increasingly popular mortgage in last few years. They are marked lower interest rates and have added to their attraction. Also rental income is more dependable form of income than other investment forms. The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) operates a buy to let scheme which is supported by a group of lenders. There are other buy to let mortgage lenders who operate outside the scheme and you don’t have to go through any ARLA agent.

A buy to let mortgage lender would ask for your rental details along with your income. There are some mortgage lenders who will allow you to add your rent to the salary, while other will base the buy to let mortgage entirely on the rent. Any previous mortgage will have a say in what you can borrow with buy to let mortgage. Different lenders will have different criteria which apply also for the amount you can borrow. The maximum that you can borrow will be anywhere between £150,000 to £1m per property. Buy to let mortgage can be taken on more than one property with maximum up to 5 properties. But more than one buy to let mortgage would not be possible on the same property.

Buy to let mortgage lenders usually lend 85% of the property value. Buy to let mortgage entails down payment. The down payment varies from 15%-25%. The larger down payment you can avail the better deals. There is a little variation in the rates of buy to let mortgage and other mortgages. The rental income formula varies but usually rental income should be 130%-150% of total monthly repayments.

The interest rates offered for Buy to let mortgage are fixed, variable, capped, tracker, capped, discounted. According to the inclination of the borrower, any interest rate type can be applied for. Always ask for quotes and compare. This will enable you to sort out buy to let mortgage that corresponds with your expectations. Research is fundamental in every loan process including buy to let mortgage.

Buy to let mortgage is a secured loan which means that it is secured on your property. Late repayment will show in your credit report and inability to repay can lead to loss of property. Think before you apply for buy to let mortgage. First check affordability and then apply for buy to let mortgage. Since it is a long term investment, you have to be careful about making payments on time. Since you have rental income, it will enable you to payments during difficult circumstances. You can take deposit form tenants to make prevent making arrears. We good record with buy to let mortgage will open doors for more investment as buy to let.

Before Buy to let make sure which property you are buying and whether it is compatible with the area. The neighbourhood should be such where there is considerable scope for letting it out. Plan out how much you are ready to pay for the property, keeping in mind expenses like down payment, stamp duty, evaluation fee, solicitor’s fee and other expenditure like remodeling to enable anticipated usage.

A few years ago buy to let mortgage was something which would cost you higher interest rate, larger down payment and expect large penalty for changing mortgage. However, the buy to let orientation has changed considerably. Buy to let mortgage has considerably moulded itself to become more consumer friendly. In such a stable mortgage market, there is great scope for expansion.

Buying a Home? Let Mortgage Calculator Software Do The Work!

If you are thinking about selling, buying or possibly refinancing your home, you’ve probably been doing a little research into mortgage rates. It is important to not only find a home in your price range, but also to obtain a loan that matches your budget. Mortgage rates vary in different parts of the country, even within a single state. The mortgage game can be a frustrating, stressful and exhausting experience. But there is something out there to help make the process of researching rates and payments a little easier for you, and it’s free!

Have you ever heard of a mortgage calculator? It’s a handy, little, online device to give you some assistance in the plight to figuring out what your mortgage payments will be. The mortgage calculator bases its estimations on percentage rates, the loan amount you are receiving, and the area where you live or hope to live. They’re simple to use and can give you a pretty accurate idea of what to expect in terms of what you will be paying out each month.

There are several websites that offer the free mortgage calculator service. One excellent online resource is Mortgage101.com. Their website has an electronic mortgage calculator that not only gives you an estimation of your monthly payment based on rates and loan amounts, but offers a total of six different ways to make this determination. Based on how you would like to pay your loan, you can calculate what the payment will be based on points, percentage rates and length of the loan. You can alter any of those numbers to get different estimations and ultimately, a really good idea of what to expect in terms of financing options. By utilizing the Monthly Payment calculator, you can enter information about your property such as value, taxes and insurance requirements to receive an even more accurate estimation of what your payment might be.

Take advantage of mortgage calculators. They are a free and easy way to get a good idea of what you can expect to pay for your new home or business property. Getting this information in advance might be one way to cut down on the stress of trying to figure out the best way to finance, and give you a little peace of mind knowing, up front, what you can or cannot afford to pay.

Buying a Home After Bankruptcy

If you're planning on buying a home after bankruptcy you'll want to read this article carefully.

Buying a home is probably the biggest purchase you will ever make. Having a bankruptcy on your credit report adds an extra challenge.

If you've read my book After Bankruptcy Credit Solutions, then know that many people who have had a bankruptcy apply for credit and loans the wrong way.

Mistakes in this arena can cost you $10,000s in extra interest and other finance charges. Let's look at an example:

You finally find the home you've been looking and the seller's asking price is reasonable. So you apply for a $250,000 thirty year loan to purchase the home.

You fill out a mountain of paperwork... sign here, initial here, sign here, etc. Then not to long after that the lender call you with great news - you've been approved!

But don't pop the cork on the champagne bottle just yet. Sure, you were approved but at what cost?

You were able to get a $250,000 thirty year loan at 8%. That means that over the life of the loan you'll pay $410,388.12 in interest.

What if you had been able to take specific steps to increase your credit score and shop loans - and, as a result, reduced interest rate by 1%. In that case you would end up paying $348,772.12 in interest.

The 1% difference comes out to $61,615.87! If you were able to achieve that by taking some very specific steps that would have been EXTRA money in your pocket!

What's the point of this example? You simply can't afford to get it wrong when it comes to buying a home.

Let's look at the RIGHT way:

First, if there was ever a time where it's critical that you've increased your credit score before shopping for a loan this is probably going to be it.

So you want to increase your credit score. By the way, if you're trying to qualify for a loan and time is of the essence there's a way to increase your score in as little as 72 hours!

Next, you want to have mortgage broker on your team. If you've had a bankruptcy they can be invaluable. But you don't want just any mortgage broker.

You need to interview a few and ask them some very specific questions. It's really important that you have the RIGHT mortgage broker in your corner.

A good mortgage broker will have access to several lenders and know which one is appropriate for your situation. They will also be able to walk you through the entire loan approval process.

Only after you have lined up financing should you begin to look for a home. Of course, you'll want to interview a number of real estate agents.

But what if you can't get approved for a conventional loan? Don't worry! There are a number of strategies you can use to purchase if you can't qualify for a traditional mortgage.

In fact with one of the strategies it doesn't matter if you have terrible credit or even if you are unemployed... you can still qualify!


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Copyright © 2005 Innovative Solutions Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

DISCLAIMER:

This information is designed to provide only a general overview of the subject matter herein.

This information is provided with the understanding that neither the publisher nor author is engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional advice. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a professional should be sought.

Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss or damages, including but not limited to special, consequential, incidental or other damages, caused by the information contained herein.

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Buying A Home After Bankruptcy – Low Credit Score Mortgage Loans

Excellent credit is not required to buy a home. Of course, a higher rating will qualify homebuyers for a low rate and better loan programs. Still, buying a home after bankruptcy is easy.

Although home loans following a bankruptcy discharge come with high rates, a home purchase is a great way to quickly boost a low credit rating. Here are a few tips on getting a low credit score mortgage loan.

Sub Prime Mortgage Loan Programs

There are many options available to homebuyers with a low credit rating. Credit scores below 680 do not qualify for prime home loans. Hence, these persons will need to speak with a sub prime mortgage broker or lender. Sub prime loans are intended to assist those who cannot obtain traditional mortgage financing. These lenders work with all types of people and credit situations. Furthermore, sub prime lenders have a multitude of different loan options.

Who Qualifies for a Sub Prim Mortgage Loan?

Anyone with a low credit score can get approved for a sub prime mortgage loan. However, there are certain limitations. Many lenders will not approve a mortgage loan if the borrower's credit score is below 500. In this instance, the risks are too high. Homebuyers who fall into this group may consider improving their credit before applying for a home loan.

Having a chapter 7 bankruptcy, collection accounts, and judgments will not disqualify a buyer from obtaining a sub prime mortgage loan. Naturally, loans of this sort have higher interest rates. However, if the homebuyer maintains a good payment history, they will have the option of refinancing for a better rate in the future.

Other Loan Options Available after Bankruptcy

As mentioned, sub prime mortgage lenders offer a range of home loans for every need. Following a bankruptcy discharge, homebuyers have the option of obtaining a “no credit score home loan.” Because lenders do not offer 100% financing on these loans, buyers must be prepared to pay a 20% down payment.

Another loan option available is the zero down home loan. This loan is offered to buyers with good and bad credit. Zero down home loans include 100% financing, which is perfect for first time homebuyers and buyers with little cash savings. To qualify for a no money down home loan with bad credit, your credit score cannot fall below 580.

Buying A Home After Bankruptcy - Beware Of Shady Subprime Mortgage Lenders

If you have a recent bankruptcy and are looking to buy a home, be careful of unethical or predatory lenders. Whether you are looking online or offline for a mortgage lender, it is becoming increasingly more common that subprime lenders are taking advantage of bad credit borrowers.

Many lenders will take advantage of borrowers with recent bankruptcies and bad credit because they know that the borrowers loan options are limited. Sometimes these lenders will charge excessively high fees, extensive pre-payment penalties on the home or ask for a fee upfront to "process" the loan.

Here are some tips on applying for a mortgage loan after a bankruptcy:

Beware of the Lender Asking For a Fee Upfront - Anytime you are applying for a mortgage loan, the only fee you should ever have to pay is the application fee which covers the cost of the lender pulling your credit application. Some lending scams involve asking for a processing fee of hundreds to thousands to process the loan.

Compare Loan Offers - If you can compare from 3-4 mortgage application quotes then you will know what to expect the current interest rate for subprime mortgage loans to be. If you accept the first mortgage loan offer you have, you may be paying a much higher interest rate than what is reasonable for your credit history.

Get Closing Costs in Writing - Brokers know that if a borrower has bad credit, they are most likely going to be more concerned about getting a reasonable interest rate and just getting approved than making sure they get normal closing costs. This is where many lenders will ding the borrower with credit problems. They will sometimes charge excessive closing cost fees. Get the list of closing costs in writing ahead of time and then do research online to make sure that the costs are reasonable. If the costs are not, go back to the lender and tell them that the closing costs are too high and you will not go through with the loan until they are lowered to be what is normal. The broker will usually comply, because they don't want the loan to fall through.