Sun Rock » Real Estate Investing

Loan Modification

Sun Rock Properties — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 11:49:00 +0000

Loan modification is the process by which the existing terms of your mortgage loan is permanently changed. The change allows you to repay your debts in a more comfortable manner. By opting for loan modification, you can stop foreclosure of your home.

Facts about loan modification

Loan modification is different from the other debt help options like debt consolidation, debt settlement or forbearance. Loan modification is a solution when you are finding it difficult to make payments for mortgage loan due to an unexpected financial hardship.

While loan modification is capable of preventing foreclosure as the existing terms of your mortgage loan are altered to suit your convenience, if you file bankruptcy, you may not be able to save your house. Instead, filing bankruptcy may only defer the process of foreclosure. In other words, bankruptcy puts a temporary “halt” on the foreclosure process.

What is loan modification?

When you request your lender for loan modification and if the lender agrees to change the terms of your mortgage loan, he may help you by lowering the prevailing interest rate, he may also reduce your principal outstanding balance or increase the loan term of your mortgage.

When do you qualify for loan modification?

In order to qualify for loan modification, you should be willing to retain your home.
You have to prove that your current financial condition doesn’t allow you to make payments for mortgage.
The lender has to be convinced that if you are given another opportunity to make repayments, you will not default any further. Your income should be good enough so that you can continue making lower payments every month.

When does a lender qualify?

A lender should accept the loan modification request if after calculations it is found that the loan modification plan will yield good results for him. The cost of foreclosure is quite high and the various lending institutions are readily accepting the loan modification requests.

One of the biggest disadvantages of loan modification is that although it is helping many borrowers to enjoy lower interest rates, it fails to address the “underwater effect”. In underwater effect, there are many homeowners who have negative equity or they owe more than the equity that is available in their homes. Under such circumstances, homeowners have no other alternative but to “walk away” from their homes as there is no point in spending money for a property that has negative equity.

Property Underwater? You have 2 choices

Sun Rock Properties — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:47:00 +0000

Pay or do not Pay.

Florida, California and Nevada fill up the top ten cities with negative equity, with 43.5% of homes being upside down in nearby Port St. Lucie.

You pay, you stay. You don’t pay, you will be foreclosed on and will be forced to move out.

Modifications are rare, and usually only done by community banks. Refinancing is not an option because you have no equity. You can’t sell your property, at least without the bank’s permission (short sale) and even under the best circumstances, this process can be a nightmare. You are not going to get “bailed out” by the government and don’t think that hiring an attorney to tell the mortgage company to produce the note is your ticket to a free ride. Paying a “stop foreclosure expert” is probably the biggest scam out there right now, you pay them a few thousand dollars to do absolutely nothing. You are better off wiring your money to Nigeria to collect your lottery winnings. All of these are just delaying the inevitable. You have to pay to play.

See full article in the Wall Street Journal.

House-Price-Drops-Leave-More-Underwater: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Are Your Real Estate Dreams Crushed?

Sun Rock Properties — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:44:00 +0000

Maybe you had big dreams about becoming a real estate investor, using other people’s money to leverage BIG deals, create a passive income and build a high net worth. You were going to live the good life, own big houses, luxury cars, travel around the world and basically do whatever you want without worrying about money.

In the mid 2000s, these dreams were coming true for many. There were stories everyday about people making BIG profits in real estate. Houses were appreciating like crazy, and you had to get a piece of the action before it was too late.

Then the housing market ~~crashed~~ started crashing, those properties you bought are now worth half of what you owe on them, they have been for sale for a year with no inquiries, unemployment is up and tenants stop paying their rent. Maybe you now have a foreclosure or two on your credit report, and maybe it was a big mistake to get into real estate in the first place. Maybe you should forget about those dreams and just be happy you have a job. Or……

Maybe you should get back in the game.

If you did buy an investment property then you learned quite a bit. You would have started by getting lots of information on how to buy investment properties, getting a mortgage, finding a realtor, going to a closing, being a landlord, etc. So this means you have a pretty solid base of education in the real estate industry. If you have been through the process start to finish then you also have experience in the real estate industry. If you then have experiences where you defaulted, ruined your credit or lost a lot of money, you have the most valuable experience of all, failure.

Say you bought a house for $300K and now it is getting foreclosed on. That is a $300K lesson learned in real estate. How many real estate courses can you buy for $300K?

My point is that if you do not use any of the valuable education or experience you have acquired, then that is just stupid, right? You must learn from your mistakes, Excessive Cash always follows education and experience.

So dust yourself off, get creative, realize that the real estate game has changed and follow these rules.

Don’t

buy for appreciation
think a mortgage is the only way to buy a property
think you will sell in 3 months
have a negative cashflow
speculate (the bottom could be 17 years away)
buy at market value (it is going to depreciate)
be in a hurry

have an exit strategy
a cashflow analysis
utilize the internet and realtors to find the properties for you
submit low offers
be patient
realize that their are other places to invest
find private investors who would love to have a 8% secured return

Sun Rock Property Management – Full service property management in Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida.

Top 5 Foreclosure Mistakes

Sun Rock Properties — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:08:01 +0000

If you do decide to invest, make sure you avoid these top 5 foreclosue purchasing mistakes:

1. You say, “It was worth double that in 2005.” IRRELEVANT. You need to look at where the value is going, not where it’s been. Most properties will continue to depreciate for many years. The property is currently worth whatever you are buying it for and will be worth less in years to come.

2. Getting a Mortgage. Guidelines are very strict, making it difficult for everyone to qualify. Investors should be prepared to put at least 30% down and wait 60+ days for the loan to close. Paying cash is the best way to go, once you own the property you can possibly refinance to get your cash back out of it.

3. No Inspection. Do whatever you can to view the property before you put down the deposit. All foreclosures are sold “as is” and you are responsible for all repairs. One major repair could eliminate all of your equity and cash flow.

4. New Landlord. There is plenty to managing a property, from dealing with tenants, to maintaining the property and now, just collecting rent is a challenge. Hire a property manager to take care of this stuff for you, you invested in real estate to have more time and money anyway.

5. Negative cash flow. Then why are you buying it? For appreciation? Good luck. You have to be prepared to hold the property for long periods of time as it further depreciates and you are unable to sell it. Factor in everything, (taxes, insurance, homeowner’s dues, repairs, property management) and if you are not getting at least $100 in cash flow each month, walk away.

There is always a good time to buy real estate, as long as you buy it right. Run your numbers for cashflow, forget about flipping or appreciation and have an exit strategy.

USDA Choice

Sun Rock Properties — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:02:00 +0000

Where’s the beef? How about a nice, juicy 100% loan with a check for $8000. My friend and owner of Benchmark Mortgage in Bradenton, Will Farrell, told me that he has been closing quite a few USDA loans, and the borrowers are getting in with no money down and cash back at closing.

The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development division offers attractive loans in order to increase the development of rural areas. In order to qualify, you must meet income guidelines and the property must be in a designated USDA rural area. If you were not planning on buying a farm, you should look at the property eligibility page of the USDA website. I was surprised to see that everything east of I-75 was considered rural, this includes Lakewood Ranch and other areas that are just not rural.

In order to get the $8000 check, you must be a first time homebuyer. To be considered a first timer you must not have had ownership interest in a property within the last 3 years. The 8k is not free, it is a loan that must be repaid and will be deducted from your income tax refund.

If you are considering buying a home, make sure you consider future depreciation and buy well below market value. Also, explore all of your options including USDA loans, the property you want may be considered rural and you may get paid to buy it.

Manatee and Sarasota County Property Management