The Real Voice of New Jersey Real Estate

Found The "Almost" Perfect House, But It Needs Work?"

This should lead it off quite nicely:)

Back in my early days of lending, I recall quite vividly the very first Rehab Loan I did.  While I did some legwork in actually knowing the ropes of that particular product before advertising the bejesus out of a very niche loan, I still was caught like a reindeer in some oncoming car's speeding headlights when trying to get them closed in a streamlined sort of fashion.  And then, I had it mastered.  As my particular luck would have it, most of those programs disappeared shortly thereafter.

The echoes in the back of my head rang of a long-lost product I had only heard about and most of what I heard were borderline horror stories.  The FHA 203(K) loan reared its mysterious head and stared me in my wide-eyed glance.  I gotta admit, there was major hesitation on my part in even wanting to get involved in such a misunderstood product.  I knew little about it and wanted to concentrate more on the Conventional sort of stuff that I grew up with in the industry... at least at that point.  Hey, of course I want to corner the market, but not at the risk of looking like an incompetent SOB at the end of the day.

Then, I encountered experts in that very product.  I figured, let's roll repair.

After doing more homework than my combined High School & College Education would vouch that I did back in the day, I chose to go after a market that just may make a dent in not only enhancing the housing market... but the very neighborhoods we live in.

This is just a taste of the FHA 203(K) Renovation Loan!

• Add a deck or porch, makes for one heck of a Summertime BBQ.
• Upgrade the electrical system and avoid reading overdue utility bills under candlelight.
• Modernize the kitchen and watch the The Food Channel in a comparable stadium.
• Replace a furnace and heck, it's a furnace.  You really don't want that entity breaking down anytime soon!
• Paint the exterior and/or interior.  Yours could be the only lavender house in the neighborhood:)
• Install new carpeting.  There's nothing like getting rid of stained residue from a German Shepard you never owned.
• Remodel a bathroom.  Hey, might as well let loose of your naked body in comfortable surroundings!
• Replace roofing and/or siding.  There were 58 mile per hour winds in Pennsylvania today, that stuff may come in handy.
• Refinish wood floors.  That's a big selling point for yours truly.  I adore wood floors and have an aggressive amount of ShamWow merchandise to prove it:)

Program Features:

• Low down payment
• Buy and remodel a home with one mortgage!  You can finance the purchase plus the cost of the improvements with one monthly mortgage payment.
• At least $5,000 in repairs needed to qualify for the 203(K) Loan.
• They can be used for owner occupied 1-4 unit family dwellings.
• Closing takes place before the improvements/repairs are made.
• Money for the repairs and renovations is held in an escrow account and paid out after each phase of work is completed, inspected and approved.
• By the way, they are fixed rates!

Consider this the teaser post to the taste buds of home renovation lending.  Yup, I'm your proverbial appetizer.

Jason Sardi

Mortgage Consultant

1-866-262-8720 ext. 229

jsardi@ihmci.com

Located at our Allentown, Pennsylvania office.  New Jersey & Pennsylvania Based Mortgage Banker/Broker whose area of service include PA, NJ, NY, CT, DE, MD, VA, SC, FL, MI and IN.

http://www.robbinsvillehomesforsale.com/00948A

Everybody is making money if they are surviving in this World.  That's our bartering system, our way of making way.

Never did I consider myself a "Sales" Guy.  That's funny considering I've been in sales the majority of my life.  Before this gig, I was in the Restaurant Business for a number of years.  I consider that sales.  After all, try telling folks you're out of Pork Tenderloin when it was put on the "Specials" list just one hour ago.  Then, you have to "sell" them on one of your other fine dishes so they don't decide to bolt and look for their local Denny's.

Philosophically speaking, I suppose all of us are in sales.  If you earn a buck, you are in the trade.  Everybody is selling something and those with a damn fine moral compass hope that what they are selling... benefits the very people who are buying it.

I will be the first to admit that I'm not built to knock on doors and proceed to sell folks siding, windows, a brand new 'used' car, a vacation to some remote... yet exotic island, or extra minutes on their pre-paid cell phone plan.  While I have a healthy respect for those trades and some of the people practicing such, it just ain't me.

So here I am, not so good at sales but in a business that has more than a healthy amount of time devoted to eclipsing the competition.  Can you beat their rate?  Can you match their fees?  Can you whistle the National Anthem while wearing spandex and quoting rates and fees?

In a one-word answer to those questions, "No!"  To expand, I haven't done spandex since the 80's.  Never the less, that's what I'm up against.  I have access to similar, if not the exact same, products as everybody else.  How does a simple soul like mine convince the budding new home buyer, the folks on the fence of wanting/needing to refinance, to use a chap like me rather than the blowhard stiff in a suit down the road?

Much of this is inspired by reading a story about a young kid who got in this business.  I totally wish that I could include the story here but I can't.  To sum it up, the chap made a whole lot of loot by screwing people... that's how he was trained.  Ever watch the movie "Boiler Room"?  Yup, that isn't too far from the truth in some cases.

In my mind's eye, people tend to do business with those they respect and like.  Somehow that tends to get lost when a fast buck is floated like a carrot on a string before somebody else's eyes.  They either lose their shirt or start wearing pants.  Analogies aside, the right way always holds true.  And the right way to do business is to sell them on doing business with you, the person... the proverbial expert and caring soul.  It's not about lining their pockets with green or picking up the tab on bills they may have, it's about ... dare I say... giving a damn about someone other than yourself and not necessarily being rewarded because you do.

I'm not a pious man by trade.  I drink beer.  I smoke cigarettes.  I use curse words.  I had sex before marriage, though I've never been married.  But for the life of me I can't figure out why anybody would knowingly be as gluttonous as what I've seen.  I don't know if their soul is on the line, I just don't.  In the meantime, I will continue to sell myself.  That's the only thing I'm comfortable enough to give.

Sardi

http://www.robbinsvillehomesforsale.com/00947A

Let's first define "First Time Homebuyer".  Actually, let's define what the heck I'm addressing in the first place.  It's the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit.  I trust you've at least heard about it and if not... no biggie... I will give you some of the talking points and the direct address to the site momentarily.

The whole concept of "First-Time Homebuyer" can be a tad misleading for some of you.  You are considered a first-time homebuyer (under this tax credit) if you have not owned another home at any point in time during the three years prior to the date of purchase. 

So what is this Tax Credit all about?

• It acts like an interest free loan because it must be repaid over a 15-year time frame.  If you die, don't worry about it as long as you filed your taxes individually.  If you filed a joint return, it's up to wifey or hubby to pay this interest free loan.  Death, like life & love, can cost money:)
• This only applies to primary residences in the United States of America.  Sorry, the vacation house in Greenwich, Connecticut doesn't qualify.  As far as that Villa in Italy, count that out as well.  Feel free to drop me a bottle of Chianti in the mail, though.  It's got to be your home... the very roof over your head.  On a personal note, I do believe we'd be better off if when buying a home... we'd consider it more than an "investment".  It's where you live folks!  Investments, for most of us, happen over time.  I ain't (love that word) no day trader or speculator.  And I never will be. 
• What's the time frame?  You buy the home after April 8th, 2008 and before July 1st, 2009.  Let's face it, we have low interest rates and a large inventory and considering it is a buyers market in a lot of areas... it may be a damn good time to go ahead and buy that home.  Historians may look back to this period of time and wonder what the fuss was with not wanting to committ, waiting for a more opportune time.  There may be NO more opportune time than now.  Of note, the preceding is a sales pitch delivered by folks to increase business and consumer confidence.   The same can be written about all the bad news flying around.  Don't think that news organizations aren't rolling in dollars about how much "bad news" is being reported.
• How much is the credit?  Quite simply, 10% of the purchase of the home, a maximum available credit of $7500.00 worth of dead presidents.
• How will the IRS know if someone sells their residence before the 15 years are up?  I gotta laugh at this question, though it isn't a stupid one.  In my mind, the only stupid question is one not asked.  To answer this, the website says the following: "Through both self reporting and third-party information."  Right, how ripe.  Without imposing political beliefs upon the masses, they will know.  While I believe in conspiracies, this isn't one in my book.  This is intelligence, the right kind.  I know folks who blatantly took advantage of the system, good for you.  Just don't bitch because we are all in a bundle.  YOU were just as responsible...
• It's repaid, but how?  After the second year of claiming the credit, you must repay that interest free loan.  From what I've read, you will be repaying as an additional tax on your returns for the next 15 years.... $500.00 a pop.

One more thing, before I present the second thing which will end up "lastly".  Real Estate Investors have been stifled because of all these happenings in the Mortgage World.  Personally, I think that is a mistake.  They say you can only own so many properties and your credit score has to be this and your mother has to a direct decendent of Henry the freaking 8th?   Some folks invest in Real Estate for a living, don't ignore them.  Keep that in mind PMI Companies and Credit Scoring Agencies, because I bet ya that you won't be running this industry much longer.

Lastly, and my English Teacher hated starting a sentence like that which is one of the reasons I just did... it's a buyer's market.  That doesn't mean it is right for you, yet it is most certainly something to explore.  In a few years, if you didn't pounce on this, you may just be making someone else a lot of money... who owns your home. 

Direct website @ http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=186831,00.html

Have some fun @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfBoMV-HIP4

Jason Sardi

Mortgage Consultant

jsardi@ihmci.com

Toll Free 1-866-262-8720 ext. 229

610-439-2166

http://www.robbinsvillehomesforsale.com/009405

Yes, let us now enter into the wonderful world of paying points (or not paying points) when getting that loan to buy or refinance a home.  Before I go into my piece of advice though, I should explain how I make money as a Mortgage Broker (wait for shameless plug..........) here in beautiful Allentown, Pennsylvania (licensed in New Jersey also)

On the mortgage side of things, we make our money one of two ways.  Wait... I'll reduce this to how Mortgage Brokers make their money.  I'll let Mortgage Bankers, Direct Lenders, etc... be transparent about their profit margin (though it is eerily similar;-).  As a Mortgage Broker, I make coin by either charging fees on the Good Faith Estimate (Broker Fees, Origination Fees, Processing Fees, and the like) and/or in charging a higher interest rate in which case the lender pays me.  The latter is what is known as Yield Spread Premium.  Mortgage Brokers disclose it, Bankers don't have too.

Still with me?  Let's say my company wants to average 2% on every transaction we close.  I can charge you a 1% origination fee on the Good Faith Estimate and bump up the interest rate a smidgen so the lender pays me 1% on the back end.  Or, I can charge you 2% origination on the Good Faith Estimate and give you what is known as the par rate (which is simply the very lowest wholesale rate you can get without paying discount points directly to the lender to buy it down further.)  Let's say that you want one of those "no fee loans"... then I'll simply bump up the interest rate so that the lender pays me the 2%.  When you deal with a Mortgage Broker or Lender, everything is negotiable.  I've made loans for 1% and some for up to 4%.  That depends on a lot of factors, to be discussed at a later date.  Do also remember, my time and service are not negotiable.

What does all this mean?  Unless we go back to the bartering system (in which case I have a killer set of fine china)... we are all making money in our respective professions.  So, now that you get the gist of how we make our money, onto the wonderful world of paying points and whether you should or shouldn't.

Whether you are buying a home or refinancing a home and plan on being in that home for a long time, you are probably better off paying points to get the lowest rate possible.  Why?  Quite simply, the money you will save with a lower rate will recoup that fee and then some.  Plus, you'll be paying a bit more towards your principal balance.  Brief example as follows:

You are taking a loan of $200,000 and you plan on being in that home for at least 10 years.   Let's say with no points you can get a rate of 6.25%.  But, if you pay 2 points ($4000.00 or 2% of the loan amount) you can obtain a rate of 5.75%.

Read more »

http://www.robbinsvillehomesforsale.com/0093D8

When buying or selling a home, the interest rates always play a huge factor on the market place.    Here's another insightful article by Jason Sardi that hopefully will assist you in the process....  enjoy

"The Rate/Waiting Game"

Consumers, aren't we all?  If you own a home or are thinking about buying one, you just may be familiar with one of the battles going on right now.  That battle involves interest rates.  "Spoiled are we, yes we are," I say in my best Yoda voice.

  In a world where some houses have stagnated or plain tanked in value, the same world where credit extended to folks in a position of uniqueness may have been stopped, we live in an economic atmosphere where some consider lower interest rates a part of the cure.  (Between me and you and please don't tell a soul... these lower rates have probably been going on WAY too long as an economic stimulus.  Frankly, should of ended long ago, but...)

  Take advantage of them while you can!  Many folks are sitting on the proverbial fence, wanting to know if rates may jump down a 1/4% or 1/8% or even a full freaking point!  Today, interest rates still hover in the high 4% range for prime borrowers on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

  Hesitation may cost or that roll of the dice may save you a buck or two.   There are folks everywhere predicting where interest rates may end up.  I believe in the cycle, the circle.  Heck, I think we need to learn from nostalgia.  More than that, my best advice is the following:

Turn in your mortgage application and supporting documentation right now!  If you aren't ready to jump, at least you can practice that vertical leap when you are ready to lock in.  This way you will have already set the wheels in motion whether you are waiting to buy or refinance or getting on the bandwagon right away.  Here's a brief (albeit not totally extensive) list of what you'll need to get together:

* Last 2 years W-2's and 2 most recent pay-stubs

Read more »

http://www.robbinsvillehomesforsale.com/0093AA