Financing Archives - Page 15 of 18 - Norada Real Estate Investments

HUD Properties, FHA & Title Seasoning for Real Estate Investors

August 1, 2009 by Marco Santarelli

With HUD properties, title seasoning, FHA loans, and short sales, real estate investors have had some confusion regarding the rules. This article will clarify all of these issues for you.

HUD is the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a government agency whose goal is to increase homeownership and support community development . The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which is part of HUD, provides mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders throughout the United States.

HUD and FHA come into play in three different scenarios in the investor/foreclosure arena.

HUD Foreclosed Properties

When a person gets an FHA loan, it is funded through a private lender and the loan is insured or backed by the Federal Housing Administration. When the loan is in default, FHA pays out the lender and take an assignment of the loan. When the property is foreclosed, it is owned by HUD. HUD then offers these properties for sale to both owner-occupants and investors. The properties are offered on the local MLS computer database, but you have to submit an offer through a HUD-approved real estate broker. The offer is made under a bid process, under which the HUD will either accept or reject your offer depending on what other offers are submitted. An investor can buy, hold, or flip these properties if their offer is accepted.

FHA Loans and Title Seasoning

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Three NEW FICO Credit Scores Hit the Market

June 26, 2009 by Marco Santarelli

The Fair Isaac Company have announced that they will be releasing three new credit scores based on their new FICO 08 model.

1. The FICO Mortgage Score
The FICO Mortgage Industry Score is designed to help mortgage lenders improve credit decisions for both current and future homeowners. Introduced by FICO and Equifax, the score delivers significantly greater assessment of mortgage repayment risk — up to 25% or more for key population segments, compared to the base BEACON score. The score aids servicers in earlier identification of borrowers at risk, mitigating the incidence and high cost of foreclosure.

2. The FICO Auto Score
FICO have also introduced another industry-specific credit score for the auto industry. According to Tom Quinn, vice-president of scoring at FICO, the new scoring model "will identify 5 to 15 percent more potential delinquencies… For the overwhelming majority of consumers, the auto industry score will be relatively close to the [generalized] FICO score," says Quinn. "There is a percentage of the population that will be different. And that's why lenders have opted to use the other [auto industry] score."

TransUnion has already made this score available immediately to lenders, while Experian and Equifax are planning to follow suit later in the summer.

3. The FICO Bankcard Score
The third scoring model is specifically for the credit card industry, officially named the FICO Bankcard Industry Option. This does the same kind of things are the Mortgage and Auto industry versions, by taking your credit file and first scoring it by the "broad-based" risk scorecard system, and then by one of two industry-specific overlay scorecards — one for files with derogatory information on any type of account, one for files without. This overlay adjusts the credit bureau scores up or down. The resulting score is scaled to match the same "good versus bad" odds as the broad-based risk scores.

These three options are generally greeted with positive comments from consumer experts. The tweaking of the current "classic" FICO score can only help lenders make more informed decisions when underwriting loans.

Existing Homes Sales Rise, While Mortgage Applications Fall

May 28, 2009 by Marco Santarelli

According to the National Association of Realtors, the number of sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose by 2.9% in April to an annualized pace of 4.68 million. The gain, the second in three months, was spurred by foreclosure auctions and cheaper prices which attracted bargain hunters. Distressed properties accounted for 45% of all existing home sales and the median price of a home fell 15% from a year earlier. The number of houses on the market climbed 8.8% to 3.97 million in April, and at the current rate of sales, it would take 10.2 months to sell all those homes, Bloomberg reports.

At the same time, the Mortgage Bankers Association's index of mortgage applications decreased 14.2% in the week ended May 22. The share of applicants seeking to refinance existing loans fell to 69.3%, from 73.6% in the prior week, as the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan rose by 12 basis points (bps) to 4.81%, the highest level in more than two months. The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate and one-year adjustable mortgages rose by one basis point to 4.44% and 17 bps to 6.55%, respectively, Bloomberg reports.

Who Profits from Toxic Assets?

April 18, 2009 by Marco Santarelli

Yesterday, I suggested that the idea of the "Stress Test" for banks was really just a marketing ploy by the Treasury to boost confidence that the United States financial system is stable. After all the back-bending, and billions in bailout funds to avoid bank failures, do we really think the Treasury is suddenly going to declare any banks insolvent?

Highly unlikely, in my opinion.

So if the Treasury is unwilling to nail any banks, what does that mean for the Public-Private Investment Program that's supposed to buy banks' toxic assets? What will be the motivation for selling if there are no consequences for keeping these assets and waiting for value to return?

Well, it would appear that the Treasury is playing the "opportunity cost" card. Offer the banks a premium for these assets now that might otherwise take years to achieve.

The banks win, as they free up their balance sheets and can theoretically increase lending. The "Toxic Investors" win, as they buy potentially valuable assets with very little of their own money while the Fed and Treasury subsidize the rest. And the taxpayer wins as Fed and Treasury loans are paid back.

I don't know about you, but that all sounds a little too perfect. Something's bound to go wrong with this neat little win-win-win scenario. And I know who isn't going to get shafted – the investors who partner with the Treasury to buy these assets.

That's because they simply won't be taking on much risk at all, and they potentially make a lot of money.

Protecting Yourself From Mortgage Fraud

April 4, 2009 by Marco Santarelli

With the large number of foreclosures to hit this country over the last few years, con artists have come out of the woodwork to prey on those in trouble — including real estate investors.

The number of schemes, and those being caught and charged, can be found in the news and on many internet website like Mortgage Fraud Blog (www.mortgagefraudblog.com).

This short 2-minute video by Freddie Mac teaches you how to spot a foreclosure scam and find out how to avoid becoming victim to home foreclosure fraud.