Serena Russell ~ Bay Area Real Estate Specialist

Getting a Mortgage When Self-Employed

By Kirk Haverkamp, Published: November 09, 2009

Getting or refinancing a mortgage when you’re self-employed can be a real challenge these days. With the virtual disappearance of stated income loans, it’s become much more difficult for anyone who doesn’t get a regular paycheck to qualify for a home loan. But it still can be done.
Stated income/stated asset loans, also known as Alt-A mortgages, used to be one of the most common ways for the self-employed to obtain a mortgage. You simply told the bank what your income was and the bank took your word for it. When housing values were rising, it really wasn’t that big of a risk for the lender.

But Alt-A mortgages got a bad reputation as “liar loans” during the housing bubble, when they were abused to exaggerate incomes for borrowers who otherwise would never qualify for a loan. When the housing market and economy went sour, stated income/asset loans accounted for some of the highest rates of defaults and foreclosures, and most banks simply stopped offering them. Read the rest of this entry »

Tips for Home Safety and Security

In addition to your home security system, there are steps you can take to protect your home and family from burglary, fire and intrusion. Below are some basic tips to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

General Home Safety and Security

If out of the house for an extended period of time, create the illusion that someone may still be home. Leave a TV or stereo on in the room where a burglar would most likely break in. Use exterior lighting and motion detectors to minimize burglar concealment.

Make sure all exterior doors have good proper locks. Install 1-inch deadbolt locks on all exterior doors.

If you get an unexpected knock at the door, check to see who it is before opening it.

Do not leave extra keys under doormats, potted plants or any other obvious outdoor location. Thieves will generally find them. Find an inconspicuous place to hide the keys, or give a set to a neighbor you can trust.

Burglar-proof your glass patio doors by setting a pipe or metal bar in the middle bottom track of the door slide. The pipe should be the same length as the track.

Keep garage doors shut.

Keep drapes and blinds shut – especially in rooms where there is expensive equipment. Don’t advertise the items in your home.

Store cash, jewelry and other valuables in a safe or safety deposit box instead of leaving them lying around the home.

Don’t leave notes on the door for service people or family members. These alert the burglar that you are not home.  If you’re going to be away from home for a few days, adjust your telephone ring to its lowest volume setting. An unanswered phone may tip off a burglar that no one is home. Also, have a neighbor or friend collect your newspaper and mail. Never cancel delivery – you don’t know who will get that information.

Hopefully you found some of these tips helpful.  Let me know if I can assist with any of your real estate needs.

An IRA is an Individual Retirement Account, and provides either a tax-deferred or tax-free way of saving for retirement. There are many different types of accounts within the world of IRAs, depending on the financial goals and situations of each individual, though traditional and Roth IRAs are the most common choices.

If you haven’t contributed to an IRA yet, you have until April 15, 2010 to open or contribute for the 2009 tax year.
Please consult your tax advisor for tax-related details.

The loan approval process generally begins with an initial interview where you and a mortgage professional discuss the potential loan.

You may prefer to talk with the loan agent before house hunting to determine in advance how much you can afford and the mortgage amount for which you can qualify. This step is called pre-qualification and can save you time and trouble by making certain you are looking in the correct price range.

To get prepared, here are some of the items a lender might ask for: Read the rest of this entry »

RISING PRICES AND COMPETIONS ON IT’S WAY!

This message goes out  especially for you to make you  aware of recent trends happening in the market.  In the Tri-Cities especially (Fremont, Union City, Newark) and even Hayward, buyer frenzy has begun!  For a few weeks now, the prices have held steady, and rising.  If you found a house you liked, then chances are a few others have also found the same house and thus begins competition. Short sales are rising, and REOs Read the rest of this entry »

If you have to sell your home as a short sale, did you know there are options other than the foreclosure route?  Are you sitting in bed on a weeknight watching TV and searching for answers because they aren’t sure if they can make their mortgage payments….

Many   homeowners are trying to find out what they should do and are feeling overwhelmed.

For example did you know Read the rest of this entry »

Consumers are becoming confident about the economic recovery and their finances are on the mend, according to a new survey of consumer retail spending and trends from Deloitte. More than half (55 percent) of consumers think the economy has started to recover from the recession, and nearly two-thirds (64 percent) indicate their household financial situation is the same or better compared with a year ago. In addition, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of survey respondents said they are planning to spend the same or more at retailers this year than they did in 2009. “Consumers appear to be picking up on the signals that point to brighter days ahead,” said Stacy Janiak, vice chairman and Deloitte’s retail leader in the United States. “The majority of those surveyed indicate their net worth is stabilizing, if not improving. Despite this show of confidence, consumers are mindful of events that could impact their financial situation. More than half of consumers (54 percent) say rising energy prices could cause them to hold back their spending in coming months; more than four out of 10 say higher taxes (45 percent) and lack of improvement in the job market (41 percent) could do the same. Roughly one out of four (27 percent) believe that the economy is recovering but may fall back into recession. While one-third (33 percent) are purchasing more online compared with a year ago, the Web has become an integral part of the in-store shopping experience as well, with three-quarters (75 percent) of consumers indicating that they look online for store, price or product information before or during their in-store shopping. More than half (56 percent) of respondents indicate they use social networking sites, and among them, more than four out of 10 (43 percent) interact with retailers through these channels. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of them do so to find out about promotions, almost half (48 percent) browse products and more than one-third (35 percent) review the recommendations found on those sites.

Many buyers, especially first-timers, hope to purchase a foreclosed property at a bargain price.  While purchasing a foreclosed home can be a wise choice for some buyers, it is important that buyers understand the differences in buying at different stages of foreclosure and be prepared to take on the challenges typically associated with each.

There are three basic stages of foreclosure in California: Pre-foreclosure, trustee’s sale, and repossession, often called an REO or real estate owned by the bank.

Read the rest of this entry »

When a lender makes a decision about a mortgage application, they consider two basic factors: your ability and willingness to repay the loan.

Ability to repay the mortgage is determined by verifying your current employment and analyzing your total income. Lenders prefer for you to have been employed at the same place for at least two years, or at least be in the same line of work for a few years. Your proposed monthly payment will be compared to your monthly gross income and your monthly credit payments to see how much you can afford. Read the rest of this entry »

Many buyers, especially first-timers, hope to purchase a foreclosed property at a bargain price.  While purchasing a foreclosed home can be a wise choice for some buyers, it is important that buyers understand the differences in buying at different stages of foreclosure and be prepared to take on the challenges typically associated with each.

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There are three basic stages of foreclosure in California: Pre-foreclosure, trustee’s sale, and repossession, often called an REO or real estate owned by the bank.

Pre-foreclosure homes are in the foreclosure process, but have not yet been auctioned.  Owners of pre-foreclosed homes often try to sell the properties because they are “underwater,” meaning they owe more on the mortgage than the home currently is worth.  Many homeowners attempt to sell via short sale, where the lender must agree to accept less than the amount owed on the mortgage.  Buying at this stage of foreclosure often is a complicated and slow process. However, buyers of pre-foreclosed properties often are given the opportunity to inspect the home prior to purchasing, whereas this is not always the case when buying at other stages of foreclosures.

The second basic stage of foreclosure is the public auction at a trustee’s or foreclosure sale.  Homes in this stage often are well priced, but also come with challenges to buy.  These homes may not be available for inspection and buyers may later discover the property needs numerous repairs.  As a result, many of the homes at auction are purchased by investors and contractors who have experience working with homes needing numerous repairs, or taken back as REO by the foreclosing lenders.

If a home does not sell to a third party at the trustee’s auction, the bank takes the property–the final stage of the foreclosure process. Although homes in this stage typically do not offer buyers the best prices, buyers generally can perform a thorough inspection of the property prior to closing.

For more information see this link: