Mortgage After a Short Sale
February 22, 2012 | 
Author Getting a mortgage after a short sale can seem like a waste of time. However do not despair if you take the right action it is perfectly possible to get a mortgage after going through a short sale. In this article I will explain just how to do this and make sure you not only get the home loan you want but also get the best possible deal.
With house prices crashing as a result of the so called sub prime crisis short selling is becoming more popular. It basically describes the act of selling a property for less than the mortgage for the property. This can be a great way to avoid foreclosure of your property.
If you have short sold you property you may think that getting another mortgage will be either impossible or suicidal. In fact neither of these statements is true. Short selling is of course damaging to your credit score however the sooner you act to fix this the better for your long term finances.
Getting a mortgage and paying it off is still one of the best ways to improve your credit score in the long term, allowing you to have the financial freedom that we all desire. Short selling a property need not stop you from owning your own home. With more and more pressure being put on finance companies to provide affordable mortgages on simple terms the odds of you getting a sensible mortgage are much higher than they were just a few months ago.
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Government Benefits – For The Unemployed
The government provides a range of benefits and allowances for those who are unable to support themselves financially, whether they are unemployed and looking for work, on a low income, ill, injured or disabled, bringing up a family, caring for someone or retired. The financial and practical support that you receive from the government will depend on your personal circumstances – there are various different options. This series of guides provides concise and practical information on nt, which will outline how you’ll go about finding a job and what support you’ll receive in order to do key government benefits. In this guide we look at benefits available to those who are unemployed and looking for work.
Jobseeker’s allowance – unemployed people who are of working age and are actively looking for work, or people who work less than 16 hours a week, can claim jobseeker’s allowance. It will be calculated either on your income or on your national insurance contributions, according to your circumstances, and the amount that you will receive will be a flat weekly rate. £57 is the current rate for single adults, although you’ll receive less if you have savings of over £6,000. You won’t be eligible to receive any jobseeker’s allowance if you’ve got more than £16,000 of savings. You can apply by either going to your local job centre or by completing an online application. Once your application has been received, you’ll have a meeting with an adviser. They will explain the allowance to you and together you’ll draw up a jobseeker’s agreemeso. This agreement will be reviewed regularly, and you’ll need to return to the job centre every two weeks to confirm your claim for jobseeker’s allowance. Those claiming jobseeker’s allowance are eligible for free NHS dentistry and prescriptions, and may qualify to receive assistance with housing and council tax.
Job grant – if you’ve been claiming jobseeker’s allowance, income support or incapacity benefit for at least 26 weeks and you’re about to start a full-time job (at least 16 hours per week) that will last five weeks or more, you may be eligible to receive a one-off tax-free payment known as a job grant. You may also qualify if your benefits stop because you have a partner who has recently started working over 24 hours a week. If you and your partner have no children, you’ll receive £100, or if you have a family you’ll get £250. The grant is tax-free and isn’t classed as income so it won’t affect any other benefits. You don’t need to apply for it – you should automatically receive it after telling your jobcentre plus that you’ve got a job.
Cosigning For A Student Loan – Pro’s and Con’s
What Are Private Student Loans?
Private student loans are issued based on credit. This means two things for those applying for a private student loan.
The loan will be based on the borrowers credit score
Normally, the better the credit score, the better the interest rate
What this means to you
Some students benefit by applying for a private student loan. The borrower must remember though, if he/she has a cosigner, the cosigner is just as responsible for repayment of the loan as the borrower is. By cosigning your name a loan, you’re guaranteeing that you will repay the loan should the borrower fail to make payments.
A lower interest rate can mean that the borrower will have lower monthly payments. It can also mean the loan can be paid back quicker.
Who needs a cosigner?
Generally there are two circumstances when a consigner is needed, even if the borrower has some credit.
One of those times is when the borrower does not have an established credit history which leads to a low credit score. Having a cosigner when applying for private student loans such as a Sallie Mae Signature Loan or a Tuition Answer Loan may increase your odds of being approved.
The second circumstance to use a consigner would be to obtain a loan with a lower interest rate. The difference in monthly payments on a $10,000 loan can be $50 or more when comparing a 8% interest rate and a 12% interest rate. Also the difference in the accrued interest rate could be as much as $4900 over the life of the loan. Certainly something to give thought to!
Pitfalls To Look Out For
Having a cosigner can be a win-win situation, but it can also have its drawbacks. Here are some things to consider before cosigning for a private student loan.
Make sure if the borrower does fail to repay, that you can make the payments yourself.
Make sure the person you’re cosigning for is trustworthy. Cosigning between girlfriends/boyfriends is never a good idea. If the romance goes South, the other one could be left holding the bag. Cosigning for a bum who won’t work or flunks out of school can be a hard pill to swallow also.
If you do cosign, make sure you get copies of all the papers. Remember, those with the best paper trails win.
Get an agreement, in writing and notarized, that the borrower will repay you all fees incurred including the monthly payments, should they fail to repay the loan and you’re forced to. You don’t want to wind up years down the road and the borrower tells a Judge that you volunteered to repay the loan as a gift.
Now that you have this information, if you cosign for a loan, make sure you do it right! Cosigning for a private student loan has it’s pros and cons, just make sure you know what they are before signing on the dotted line.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac New Guidelines
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac make it harder for home buyers and real estate investors with mortgages on Condos. It’s hard to really understand why these giants corporations are tightening their regulations while the government is trying to fix the economy. If you’re a condo home buyer or a condo home seller you should read this article because it might change the way your realtor presents your property.
These days most real estate purchases are done by real estate investors. This is a great time for all investors to put the money they’ve saved in the past years in real estate, but purchasing condos is a little different animal I guess unless if you will purchase the property cash. Condos are a little different than single family residents by all means, also by the way they’ve getting financed by banks or the government.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have said in march that they will no longer guarantee mortgages on condos in buildings where fewer than 70 percent of the units have been sold. They’ve created controversy, this may drive the condos market down because they are one of the main investors in America to land money on real estate. I’m thinking how the first 70% of condos will sale if home buyers and/or real estate investors can’t get a loan to purchase them.
While I’m thinking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s new regulations and thinking about the real estate market and the economy crisis in the world I discovered another new reason why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not land money to new home owners: “delinquency in home owner association dues. I really don’t know why it’s so important that while a home buyer with a great credit comes to purchase a condo in a building that other homeowners weren’t responsible enough to pay the Home owner association dues will not qualify for a mortgage.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said they will not guarantee mortgages to condo buyers if 15% of the homeowners in the building are delinquent on the homeowner association dues.
That’s what I wanted to talk about today just to give you readers some general information about the market.
Good Luck.
Information on Bank Loans For Poor Credit and Where to Get Them
Need a loan but have poor credit? Do not worry, there is hope. There are many banks that offer bank loans for poor credit. Regardless of your credit condition chances are you will be able to get a loan.There are plenty of banks that can help you out.
There can be numerous reasons for requiring a loan. The roof of your home may need to be replaced. You may need to get a new engine for your car. Or, you may have to have some kind of painful expensive surgery on your leg. Regardless of the reason, you should be able to find a loan.
If your credit is in bad shape you will have trouble getting a normal loan. There are a variety of issues that can cause bad credit. Unpaid student loans from several years ago can cause this. Unpaid bills that have accumulated over the months can damage your credit.
The scale of the loan may be large or small depending on the situation you find yourself in. When you find a bank that is willing to give you a loan even with your bad credit chances are they will have a very strict repayment plan. It’s advisable to follow any loan repayment plan but especially these. If you do it will help you on the road to recovery.
Now that you have the loan, see to the situation that made it necessary. Some people however will waste a bank loan even if they have bad credit. Most people like to pay their bills on time, others just don’t want to. Others think that they should have the money for some odd reason or another.
You can rebuild your credit though by sticking to the repayment plan set forth by the bank. This will make the bank very happy, and in turn rebuild your credit. After your credit is restored you will have a lot less trouble getting funds in time of need.Your not one of those oddballs who likes being in the red financially all the time, are you?
What Credit Score Do I Need to Qualify For a Refinance Loan?
The process of obtaining a refinance loan is a little better than if you were applying for a loan to purchase a home. The reason is that you already have the home, which is collateral, and most of the time the goal is to get a better rate or cash out.
The exact credit score that you need to qualify for a home loan varies. The reason I say this is due to the fact that it is not the only factor in determining if you will qualify. You have other things the bank looks at such as the value of your home compared to how much you owe on it, your income as well as your assets.
You can have a credit score of “580″ but if you only have $50,000 left to pay on your home and it is worth $200,000 you should be able to find banks willing to approve you for a loan as long as you have a decent income.
By having such a low score you will get approved but probably not at the best rate possible so you may want to consider raising your credit score before you apply for the refinance loan.
There are a number of ways to increase your credit scores and it all depends on your credit situation. For example, if you have a lot of credit cards that are near the limit, paying them down will positively impact your credit scores.
On the other hand if you have a number of collection accounts on your credit report, you want to try settling them or challenging them with the credit bureaus to have them deleted from your credit report.
VAT: The Basic Principles
VAT (Value Added Tax) is a sales tax, levied on the expenditure of consumer goods and services and business transactions, which is paid by the consumer at the point of purchase and collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). First introduced to the UK in 1973, it is now a major source of revenue for the government.
There are four different categories for VAT: standard rate (17.5%) for goods and services considered to be ‘luxury’ items, reduced rate (5%) for goods and services considered to be socially or economically important, zero rate for essential goods and services and exempt rate for necessities. Some examples of zero-rated or exempt goods and services are: children’s clothes, food, public transport, newspapers, medicines, books, insurance, postal services and funerals.
For individual consumers, it’s a straightforward tax, paid at the point of purchase. For businesses, though, it’s a pretty complex system. However, put in simple terms, companies pay VAT on their purchases (known as input tax) and charge VAT on their sales (known as output tax).
All companies with an annual turnover of over £60,000 must be VAT registered with HMRC, and must pay VAT on everything they buy and sell. When your company is VAT registered, you must submit VAT returns to HMRC on a quarterly basis to declare how much VAT you have charged your customers and to recover VAT for goods or services you’ve purchased. You’ll also need to set up a system of VAT invoicing for your sales, and all paperwork relating to VAT must be retained for VAT inspection, as HMRC carries out periodic VAT audits on all VAT registered companies.
You may wonder why some goods and services are zero-rated and some are exempt – what’s the difference? The answer is that a company can’t claim back the VAT on its purchases if that company sells only goods and services that are exempt.
Otherwise, many business to business transactions (in registered, taxable companies) on goods and services purchased in order to make further goods or services which are then sold on (directly or indirectly) to consumers are exempt and the VAT can be reclaimed – as the VAT is paid by the consumer at the end of the line. Input VAT from goods or services that your company has purchased can be recovered through your quarterly VAT returns. You’ll need to keep the VAT invoices you were issued in order to do this.
VAT invoices have to conform to certain requirements and copies of them must be kept for at least six years. These include:
date of issue of the invoice
invoice identification number
your name and address
your VAT registration number
customer’s name and address
customer’s VAT registration number if applicable
quantity and description of goods or services
supply date or payment date
price exclusive of VAT
price including VAT, stating the rate of VAT
For small-value invoices (less than £250 including tax), you only need to specify: your name and address
your VAT registration number
the date of supply
quantity and description of goods or services
the rate of VAT applied
amount payable including VAT
VAT invoices don’t need to be issued for goods and services that are exempt or zero-rated, or for the supply of goods and services direct to the public, unless the customer requests one.
Imports and exports are also subject to VAT regulations. When you import goods from outside the European Union (EU), you must pay VAT on them. Exports to other EU countries and non-EU countries are normally zero-rated.
Monopoly and Mortgage: Playing the Game
Remember monopoly? Remember mortgages? You know, the text that’s written when you flip your title deed. Flipping the title deed means your property is on mortgage and you’ll get money from the bank.
Sounds simple right? Wrong. There’s much more to it than that.
Here are the things you need to know about the game and how to get most out of your mortgages.
The idea of the game is to buy and rent and sell properties so profitably that one becomes the wealthiest player and eventual “monopolist”. Starting from “go” move tokens around the board according to the throw of dice.
When a player’s token lands on a space not yet owned, he may buy it from the bank: otherwise it is auctioned off to the highest bidder.
The purpose of owning property is to collect rents from opponents landing there. Rentals are greatly increased if you put houses (those little green ones) and hotels (those dreaded red infrastructures).
So your best bet in winning the game is to put the most houses or hotels in your lots. (That’s assuming you don’t land in your opponents’ lots with houses or hotels).
To raise more money, lots may be mortgaged to the bank. Here comes the tricky part. That includes deciding which lots to mortgage and how you can get the most out of your mortgaged property.
Mortgages in monopoly can be done only through the bank. The mortgage value is printed on each title deed. The rate of interest is 10 percent, payable when the mortgage is lifted. If any property is transferred which is mortgaged, the new owner may lift the mortgage at once if he wishes, but must pay 10 percent interest.
If he fails to lift the mortgage he still pays 10 percent interest and if he lifts the mortgage later on he pays an additional 10 per cent interest as well as the main value.
Houses or hotels cannot be mortgaged. All buildings on the lot must be sold back to the bank before any property can be mortgaged. The bank will pay one-half of what was paid for them.
In order to rebuild a house on mortgaged property the owner must pay the bank the amount of the mortgage, plus the 10 percent interest charge and buy the house back from the bank at its full price.
When you mortgage a property, you can use the money for anything you want to, so long as it’s legal under the rules of monopoly. The only restriction in this regard is that a player cannot pre-mortgage a property to finance its own purchase.
For example, say a player wants to purchase Boardwalk but can’t do it with his or her current assets. That player cannot say, “I’m going to buy Boardwalk by mortgaging it, and then using the money I get for the mortgage to complete the purchase.” You must own a property before you can mortgage it.
Playing the game is fun and it will give you an idea of how it is in the real buy and sell world. There are also the Community Chest and Chance spaces which players land on. Instructions ranging from winning $25 dollars to $500 dollars are given. Sometimes players even land in jail! This game is definitely a clever and amusing entertainment.
What Is A Good Credit Score?
If you have ever gone shopping for a new car or made an attempt to purchase a new home then you are probably familiar with your credit score. Even if you haven’t made any type of purchase that required you to obtain a loan or credit due to the amount of money involved you’ve probably still seen or heard the words credit score mentioned on the television or in a business or financial article. The reason for this is because our financial well being in today’s complicated credit/loan society revolves around that very powerful three digit number known as our credit score.
There are many ways to explain what exactly our credit score is, but frankly trying to sort out the scientific and mental calculations involved only serves to give me one big giant financial headache. The main point to remember here is that the credit score determines an individual consumer’s credit worthiness as seen in the eyes of the three main credit score companies or bureaus as they are sometimes called. The score is based on a combination of a consumer’s current credit situation and their previous credit history with many additional mitigating factors.
The three main credit bureaus are Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. Each company has developed (with the Fair Isaacs Company) their own unique method to determine your FICO (credit) score. Don’t be alarmed by this because although each credit bureau has their own method for determining your credit score the numbers remain standardized across all three companies. For instance a 700 with Trans Union is equal to a 700 with Equifax and Experian.
So what exactly constitutes a good credit score? In order to determine that we first need to know the scoring parameters that makes up the scoring scale. As previously mentioned your credit score is influenced by a variety of factors such as outstanding debt, your credit history, the types of credit you current have or use and your payment history. These factors when analyzed form a score that can run anywhere from a low of 375 to a high of 830 or 900 depending on which expert you ask. These numbers generally serve as a guideline that a credit lender can then use to incorporate into their own credit rules that are tailored to their company’s in-house credit program. However generally speaking a credit score higher then 650 has the potential to be considered good credit in most cases. The national average for the FICO credit score varies. I’ve seen it as high as 723 and as low as 676. With that said a consumer with a credit score higher then 700 is considered excellent, a credit score between 601 – 699 is decent and anything less then 600 could probably use a financial makeover in order to raise the credit score.
Keep in mind that these categories could fluctuate depending on the national average and also remember these numbers just represent a guideline for lenders to use when determining your credit worthiness based on the FICO credit score. It’s their in-house line of credit rules and regulations that will ultimately decide if you have a high enough credit score to obtain financing at the most favorable terms offered by their company. Once thing is for sure the higher the credit score number the easier it is to receive credit and the more favorable the repayment terms are as far as interest rates go.
Get a No Credit Check Mortgage
There are many reasons you may need a no credit check mortgage. Some of the most popular reasons you may need such a mortgage are having no verifiable income, or having a great income, but poor credit score or no credit history. If you have your own business, especially if it’s fairly new, you may have a very high income, but you may not have either the income history or documentation required by most mortgage lenders. The same is true if you did very well in investments at an early age or are a professional athlete early in your career. What are you supposed to do? Unless you have enough cash on hand to actually purchase a property outright, you’re going to need a mortgage. Unfortunately, many mortgage lenders won’t give you the time of day unless you can verify your income and credit history. If you don’t have either, you’ll be out of luck.
Fear not, there is hope if you want a mortgage but don’t want to get a credit check first. It won’t be as easy as running to your neighborhood bank or mortgage broker, but you’ll be able to get that mortgage and purchase your house. You will probably have to do more legwork to find a mortgage lender that is willing to loan money to you without performing a credit check.
Look at it from the lender’s perspective. It is much easier, less expensive and more accurate for them to assess your ability to repay your mortgage if they can check your credit. Any lender is interested in your ability to repay their money. The more difficult it is for them to determine weather or not you can do so, the higher interest rate you’ll typically pay for your mortgage. You can still get a mortgage if you don’t allow them to run a credit check however.
They may require a larger down payment in addition to a higher interest rate. In some cases they may not give you a higher interest rate, but you may have to have at least 20% down. The larger your down payment is on the property, the lower the risk for the mortgage lender. If they need to foreclose, they stand to have your equity to recover their costs. In addition, experience has determined that the larger your down payment, the less likely you are to default on the mortgage. Again, it’s about the lender lessening their risk.
You’ll probably have to approach many lenders in order to find those willing to work with you, and to get the best interest rate and fee structure for your loan. In any case this is a good approach to take. You want to be able to compare the loan package from several different lenders, especially in the case of a no credit check mortgage. Lenders know your options are limited compared to a conventional mortgage. That’s another reason you stand to pay higher interest rates and fees.
So, don’t give up in your search for a no credit check mortgage. There are lenders that will make your dream a reality. Weather you work with a mortgage broker, or other service that looks at mortgages from several lenders, you probably have to compare what you are offered from multiple different lenders. They key to getting a great mortgage is to get out there and look.