Mortgage Secrets…Learn What the Experts Say

Right now we are in a Different time…right?  And like any rough time in our economy, being positive and truthful is necessary.  Most of what you are hearing and seeing is negative and down right depressing.  But I have to say, if you’ve been reading my weekly emails [ come on, I know you have =) ], you will have noticed that there are a lot of positive things happening not only at Silverstar but in the real estate market as well.

When was the last time that you could buy a home in Southern California at such a discount?  And when was the last time you could buy cash flowing investment real estate?  And think of how much lower your property taxes will be or could be?  Like I said, Better is Always Different.

Well Guess What???  The time is now, even Alan Greenspan agrees.

Alan Greenspan told the Wall Street Journal last week that we are witnessing a 100-year event. That could possibly mean that in his opinion our housing crisis surpasses that of the great depression of the 1930s. (Different)

“The truth is, this problem will not be fixed from the top down. It will only be fixed from the bottom up. Courageous positive individuals need to take action now to clear excessive inventory (one house at a time) before pricing will normalize.” (Better)

Even though the government is trying to implement new policy to help homeowners survive, the market turn around will ultimately come from homes being bought by people who are qualified to buy their first home and investors who are purchasing rental properties.  Everyone needs a roof over their head so don’t think that real estate is a bad investment or it’s a bad time to buy.

True, this is a different (better) time to buy that and requires different strategies and qualifications.  I know what it takes to buy a foreclosure or an auction property based on experience, not based on what someone else is saying.  I also know the importance of financial security and how to help you develop a road map to manage your debt and cash flow.  We have been helping our clients for years develop their blue print.  Change is good, working with someone who changes is even better.

How Silverstar is Different
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With foreclosures steadily on the rise, one of the questions that has been surfacing is the possibility of homeowners simply walking away from their mortgage because they owe so much more than someone who just bought a foreclosure on the same block.

I’ve heard the term “buy & burn” used lately to describe someone who goes and purchases a new home that could even be in the same neighborhood at a cheaper price and then turn around and walk away from their current home and loan. The resulting default or foreclosure wont matter to them at this point because they’ve already closed escrow on a new less expensive home. I guess they just have to make sure they are set for a few years while their credit takes a huge hit.

Yes this is fraud and it is definitely NOT the right thing to do but people are doing it. I’m not sure if it is desperation or simply they don’t feel obligated to stick to what they originally agreed on. Either way, I think people that are doing this will definitely get what’s coming to them down the road and I don’t know how they could sleep at night.

What happened to personal responsibility? I guess if these people were lending out their money, they’d be ok with someone sticking it to them as well?!! ha ha. It’s just sad that so many people made really bad choices and now they are just dumping their problems onto everyone else across the board! Okay, Ok enough with my personal tirade….back to the point.

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Quote of the Week:

“It is not the crook in modern business that we fear, but the honest person who does not know what he is doing.” ~Owen D. Young

Research has confirmed that one out of every three homeowners have no idea what kind of loan they have. If you and/or any of your family members find yourself in that category, I have set aside some time to review their loan and provide advice to determine what to do next.

When a family member, friend or neighbor needs advice about buying/selling/borrowing, please don’t keep me a secret because you want them to get the best possible result and be delighted that you introduced me, don’t you?

All anyone has to do is give me a call to talk about their own situation or equally as important, to give me the name and number of someone they think will benefit from a relationship with a trusted adviser.

Rarely do I send out the same video twice but, in this case, it’s such a no brainer (saving money) that I would hope everyone would inquire after watching the video. Will you do me a favor? Will you please forward this email to those who you work with or better yet, to a Human Resources person who is authorized to forward this to the entire company ? I’m sure your fellow co-workers/friends/teammates will certainly appreciate their company looking out for them by way of giving them a way to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars each and every year. This will, of course, spread the word about what we do here as well. Let’s just call it another win/win for everyone. Read the rest of this post

This quote is a perfect fit for what I talk about in my video today:

“The great thing in this world is not so much where you are, but in what direction you are moving.” And it’s completely up to you!!  ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Great Big Dreams Require Great Big Thoughts & Little Tiny Steps from Janet French on Vimeo.

It’s really quite simple to enlist the help of a Trusted Advisor team. All it takes is one simple phone call to schedule a short 1-2 hours of your time to sit down with me and get your finances on track. From that point forward, all you need to do is keep committed, meet with us annually and let us handle the rest. Now you’re on your way to a balanced life!!

And if even if it’s not the time to refinance your loan, you may be thinking, “What on earth could a mortgage consultant do for a client that doesn’t need a loan? After all, the loan is closed…what else is there???”

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Like with anything else, simple advice is never appropriate in all circumstances. It all depends upon your particular situation. Today’s personal finances are much more complex. A house and mortgage are not just a component of a proper financial strategy. You need to examine all of the other factors of your finances such as your assets, liquidity, tax situation, credit, and your credit availability.

Your mortgage is not “just” the loan on your home; it is an important piece of your overall financial picture. A better way to look at your mortgage is to examine it in the context of your entire portfolio. A piece of real estate is an asset to your portfolio. The mortgage on that piece of real estate determines how much of that asset is leveraged versus how much is tied up with real cash.

Sure, you might have some equity or not at this point but your payments are the same, your tax deductions may be less and you still have x amount in savings and are struggling to put enough money away for retirement. Ask yourself, has much changed in your life since your property value had increased so dramatically over the previous years or you refinanced last time to pay off high interest credit cards and are they still gone?

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Human progress and excellence comes when someone goes beyond “why” to “why not?”
~ John Glenn, astronaut, U.S. senator

As you watch this video, think about the following:

Often you don’t know what you can do until you do it; what you can be until you become it; or what you can have until you have it. Enjoy!

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Quote of the Week:

Vision (I made “vision” realllly big because it takes as much energy to think BIG as it does to think small. Pretty cool, right?)

“People who say that life is not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals which are worthwhile. Get yourself a goal worth working for. Better still, get yourself a project. Always have something ahead of you to look forward to…to work for and hope for.”

Dr. Maxwell Maltz

Author and Psycho-Cybernetics

The inspiration for my video this weeks comes from a very personal story of mine that happened last week and it has everything to do with asking the right questions of your paid professional before AND during the loan process. A great point that I mention in my video this week is the importance of knowing what your trusted advisor is going to do for you AFTER your escrow is closed. I mean, don’t you want to know? If you are working with someone who isn’t a cheerleader for what his/her company does for their clients after a transaction is closed, well, I hate to break this to you but, there probably isn’t a whole lot that company AND that person has to offer you by way of continuing education and debt management. It’s an unfortunate part about the mortgage industry. We are doing our part to fix that problem!

Please take a few minutes to watch this video (that was supposed to go out two days ago….arrrrgh!), then read the rest of my email:

http://www.vimeo.com/1125901
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Today I talk about what I have been seeing and hearing in the real estate market. There is a lot of fear about buying property because values are still dropping and yet when you look at the facts, homes are on sale, interest rates are still at historic lows and money is still available. BUT, it’s next to impossible to time the bottom of the market AND money is getting harder to get every week and interest rates are expected to rise.

You have a choice. Risk is waiting until you think prices have hit rock bottom and hope that you can still get financing OR be stoked that homes are on sale today and financing is still relatively decent.

And that brings me to my Quote of the Week….

“When you realize that by changing your perspective, big things can be seen as little things, it becomes much harder to worry about anything at all.” ~Tut - A note from the Universe

80% of all millionaires in this country made their money in real estate, and it wasn’t simply because they owned investment property! Owning real estate as an investment is a great tool because you can leverage the asset to further your wealth. BUT of course you have to own it first before you can take advantage of appreciating and declining home values. Shouldn’t you get to be one of the 80%? Absolutely!

“If you owe the bank $100.00, you have a problem. If you owe them $1,000,000, the bank has a problem!”
Donald Trump

3 Ways to Make the Fed’s Moves Work for You

Here’s how to take advantage of low interest rates without letting lenders take advantage of you.

Written by Kimberly Palmer of U.S. News on April 30th, 2008

Consumers still have the chance to negotiate favorable interest rates, which are close to historic lows. Now is the perfect time to call credit card companies to ask for lower rates, lock in favorable financing on car loans, or refinance homes. But it’s not as simple as checking the latest move from the Federal Reserve. Here’s what consumers need to know:

1. Credit Card Companies Are More Willing to Offer Lower Rates

Card providers often say yes to consumers who ask for lower rates, especially when those consumers have a record of paying off their bills each month. But now is a particularly opportune time to shop around or call providers and ask for lower rates, says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards.com. Companies are eager to keep their best customers, and the average credit card rate is just over 13 percent, a two-year low, according to IndexCreditCards.com.

More from USNews.com:

• What Fed Moves Mean for Mortgage Rates

• Is Bernanke Worse Than Greenspan?

• FAQ on Paulson’s Regulatory Reform

The downside: Even consumers with so-called fixed-rate cards can find their interest rate climbing again for a variety of reasons unrelated to their own behavior, including economic ones such as higher inflation.

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