VA homes are foreclosed properties that were originally funded by home mortgages secured by VA.

Anybody can by a VA home. The good news is that VA offer special types of Columbus Loans call Vendee loans that offer owner occupant buyers superb financing terms. Here are some of the benefits of Vendee Loans:

• Zero down financing for owner occupants
• Up to 6% of the sales price can be used for buyer closing costs and related expenses.

Read this document for more details on Vendee Loans:
VA Vendee Loans

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Columbus Home Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: Columbus home mortgage, columbus houses, columbus loans, columbus realtors, va, vendee loan

Zillow.com studied 25,000 online home mortgage applications and found that prospective home buyers with credit scores lower than 620 could not get Columbus loans approved, even when they were able to make a down payment of 25% of the purchase price.

Only 47% of Americans have a credit score higher than 720 – which is considered good credit and would qualify you for the lowest interest rates on Columbus loans.

Another interesting finding by this study indicates that for every 20 points drop in your credit score your interest rate goes up by 0.12 %. Over the life of a 30 year mortgage this could cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

So what options do you have to get Columbus loans, if you credit score is below 620?

1. Try to get an FHA Loan: they still don’t rely exclusively on credit scores and may use alternative “credit” to approve your loan. FHA loans require a much lower down payment and may be your only option, if your credit score is below 620.
2. Get Seller Financing: this may be the only option for many home buyers that can’t get loans through a bank. Many sellers are very motivated, as they can’t sell their homes as quickly as the want and will consider seller financing. You may get away with a relatively low down payment of 5% or 10% of the purchase price, but you have to be ready to pay full price for the house.

If you are ready to buy a house and can’t get regular bank financing, give us a call. We have a limited number of seller financed properties available and we work with one of the best FHA lenders in Central Ohio.

You can reach Columbus real estate agent Susanne Novak at (614) 975-9650.

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Columbus Home Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: Columbus House, columbus houses, Columbus Housing, columbus loans, columbus realtors, columbus realty, credit score

This is the claim made by Representative Alan Grayson of Florida. He says that foreclosure fraud factories purposefully put home owners on the street with falsified documents and foreclosure filings.

Do we have the same problem in Columbus. Are Columbus mortgages being targeted by fraud factories?

Watch this video and decide for yourself!

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Columbus Home Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: columbus loans, columbus realtors, foreclosure

Fannie Mae is one of the biggest sellers of REOs (bank owned homes) in the country.

In order to reduce their inventory of 283 homes for sale in Franklin County OH alone, they offer new incentives, which make Columbus loans on Fannie Mae home purchases even better than FHA loans.

You can find details on the new Fannie Mae incentives in this article:

Fannie Mae Announces New Buyer and Seller Incentives for REOs

Here are 5 advantages of buying a Fannie Mae home:

1. Columbus loans on Fannie Mae homes require a low down payment (as little as 3%)
2. Fannie Mae does not charge mortgage insurance on these Columbus loans
3. Fannie Mae homes are generally in good condition
4. Owner occupants have a 15 day exclusive period to bid, before investors are allowed to make offers.
5. They also offer the option of  rehab loans

Some of these incentives are only good till the end of this year. This means that you would have to close before December 31, 2010.

We all know how long it takes to get Columbus loans approved these days. So you need to be in contract no later than November 15, 2010, to make sure that you can meet this deadline.

If you need help finding excellent Columbus OH homes for sale you can simply call Susanne Novak at 614-975-9650. She is an excellent Columbus real estate agent who has many years experience selling bank owned and HUD properties.

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Columbus Home Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: Columbus House, columbus houses, Columbus Housing, columbus loans, columbus realtors, columbus realty, Fannie Mae, FHA

Will this new rule help home owners whose Columbus loans are in default?

Click on the image or the link below to read what they propose:

House Bill Would Force Lenders to Decide on Short Sales in 45 Days

The National Association of Realtors is  certainly in favor of this rule. If new Columbus loans get approved sooner and defaulted home mortgages get off the books, this will certainly help sell more homes.

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Columbus Home Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: Columbus home mortgage, columbus houses, columbus loans, columbus realtors

There is heavy lobbying in the halls of Congress to extend or even expand the tax credit to all home buyers. But at this time you have to assume that it won’t be available in December 2009.

Although this deadline is 6 weeks away, you are probably out of time, when it comes to making an offer on a home and get a home loan underwritten by a bank or mortgage lender. It typically takes 4 week for Columbus loans to close, however, most lenders will be very busy in November, and then there’s Thanksgiving weekend.

What Can You Do? Here are 3 last minute strategies that will allow you to claim the tax credit – but don’t just take my word. Talk to your accountant and lawyer before you make a financial or home purchase decision.

Strategy 1: Become A Cash Buyers

Cash buyers can get a home purchase completed in 1 or 2 weeks, dependent on the number of inspections you want to perform and how long you need to negotiate the deal with the seller.  Most of the time sellers agree to accept less from a cash buyer, just because they can close quickly.

If you don’t have enough cash in the bank you can try to borrow the money from family members or friends and let them act as the lender. Just like with a conventional loan you become the home owner. You sign a promissory note for your lender and record a mortgage, giving them a first lien on the house. I suggest you pay them a little higher interest rate to make it worth their while.

The money you borrow can even come from a self directed IRA retirement account. You  may be able to find a private lender, a wealthy individual who’s fed up with the volatility of the stock market and would prefer to get a fixed interest rate paid every month.

Strategy 2: Short Term Seller Financing and Refinance

If you have good credit and are approved for a loan, but you don’t have enough time to close before the beginning of December, the seller may agree to finance the sale for a short period of time.

Here is how it works: You go to the title company and close on the house. The title is transfered and recorded with the county. On the closing statement, the seller becomes the “bank” and a mortgage is recorded for the benefit of the seller. Now you agree to pay the seller a monthly payment, maybe interest only, and begin with the refinance of the property. As long as your new home appraises for the purchase price any lender will refinance the seller’s mortgage a few months after closing.

Consult your lender to make sure that they will refinance your purchase in the amount you need to completely pay off the seller.

Strategy 3: Land Contract

This last strategy works for buyers that have lower credit scores and may not be able to get bank financing immediately. These home buyers can purchase the property on a land contract, also called an installment sale. A land contract gives you ownership of the property. It is recorded at the county courthouse and can be refinanced by a bank.

Again, the seller becomes the bank and agrees to accept installment payments for 1 or 2 years, until the buyer can get bank financing. As there is more risk involved for the seller, they will require a higher downpayment as well as a higher interest rate. The downpayment can be in the form of your tax credit. The seller may accept the anticipated tax credit as a down payment, as long as you sign a paper saying the seller gets the money when the IRS pays the refund.

These are my 3 strategies for claiming the tax credit before it expires at the end of November. Please consult an attorney before you proceed with any of these strategies. I am not giving you any legal advice! These are strategies that I saw work and will qualify you for the tax credit.

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Columbus Home Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: Columbus home mortgage, columbus houses, columbus loans, columbus realtors

At the end of last week we received an email from our favorite loan officer. She told us that FHA changed guidelines for minimum credit scores required to ensure loans. Until now it was still possible to get Columbus loans with credit scores as low as 580. Fifth Third Bank was one of the few Columbus mortgage lenders that approved applications with scores below 620.

Now that has changed. If you have any application in, you can still close with a lower credit score before the end of October, 2009. All new applications fall under the new rule and need to show a 620 FICO score.

What does this mean for you as a prospective home buyer?

If your score falls between 580 and 620, and you planned to buy a house to take advantage of the first time home buyers tax credit as well as the low interest rates, you are out of luck. You won’t have enough time to improve your credit by 20, 30 or 40 points to qualify for a loan before the closing deadline expires. You may have a chance to buy a home with seller financing and still claim the tax credit – I will talk more about this option in another post.

For those of you with solid credit scores, now is the time to make an offer on one of the listed Columbus houses. You should be able to get FHA financing, if you meet the following criteria:

• You buy a personal residence as an owner occupant (up to 4 units)
• Your mortgage amount is below the FHA limit set for your county ($341,250 for Franklin County OH)
• You can come up with the required down payment of 3.5% of the purchase price (if you buy a HUD home you can get away with only $100 downpayment)
• You meet the minimum income requirements and can show 2 years of job history or tax returns, if self employed.
• Your credit score is above 620 and you didn’t have a bankruptcy for 2 years.
• Your new home appraises for or above the purchase price.

There a number of obstacles in the FHA loan approval process. However, an experienced loan officer can get it done in 30 days. Your property has to be in good condition. If it needs repairs you may be able to establish a repair escrow to cover these expenses – this is commonplace with HUD homes.

A good credit score is the key for getting Columbus loans approved by your lender. Take care of your credit score and the harsh lending environment will not effect your ability to get a Columbus home mortgage.

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Columbus Home Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: Columbus House, columbus houses, Columbus Housing, columbus loans, columbus realtors, columbus realty, credit score, FHA, FICO score

Most HUD listings are in contract very quickly.  You really need to move quickly, if you are in the market for a new home. Make sure you evaluated different Columbus loans options and you are ready to submit an offer!

Here are the incentives offered by HUD:

$100 Down Payment Finance Option (Columbus home mortgage with FHA financing only)

The $100 down payment financing is available on most HUD homes through FHA approved lenders. Please note that the $100 down offer applies only if the purchase price is less than or equal to the appraised value of the property. If the purchase price is greater than the appraised value, the buyer must pay for another appraisal to justify the higher value. This may be tough, considering that most banks do not approve Columbus loans easily these days.

Please call us for a list of HUD approved FHA lenders who can work with the $100 down payment program!

$2,500 Sales Incentive (for properties with a purchase price $25,000 or greater)

Since October 1st, 2008 owner occupants have received a contribution of $2,500 from HUD (if the purchase price was $25,000 or more.)

This $2,500 sales incentive can pay for any of these items:
• Closing Costs
• Tax Pro-rations
• Repairs to the home, or to
• Pay down the principal balance of an FHA Columbus home mortgage

If you want to use this incentive for repairs, it will be deposited in a repair escrow account. You will get reimbursed when the repairs are completed and inspected.

$500 Broker bonus

This is an incentive for your realtor to promote HUD Homes over other listings. It’s not related to Columbus loans for financing the purchase.

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Columbus Home Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: Columbus home mortgage, columbus houses, columbus loans, HUD homes

Here are 5 interesting facts about credit scores that may surprise you:

1. Income: Your income level has no bearing on your credit score, but it will determine the amount of your home mortgage. A person earning below minimum wage could easily have a great score while a millionaire earning six-figures per year could have a really low credit score. The basis behind the scoring system is to determine how responsible a person is with their money, not how much they make.

2. Old Accounts: When the credit bureaus calculate your score, they look at the types of credit you have and how old your accounts are. Older, active accounts show a lender that you haven’t consolidated or negotiated your debts, but that you maintained them with a level of financial responsibility. If you intend to pay off some debts, pay off the newer ones first and leave the older ones open.

3. Don’t Pay Collection Agencies: Did you know that paying off collection agencies or debts that are older than two years won’t help your credit score? The Credit Bureaus calculate your score based on the most recent activity on the account. If the last activity is more than two years old, any derogatory entry in your credit loses its negative power.

Be aware though, that if you negotiate a payment plan with a collection agency verbally, this is considered an agreement. It may reset the activity date to the day of the conversation and you end up with a recent entry in your report. So don’t reactivate old collections!

4. Debt/Limit Ratio: Credit bureaus reward people who demonstrate that they control their spending habits and don’t max out their credit balance or even overdraw their credit limit. It’s critical you keep your balances way below your actual credit limit. If your card balances are below 30% of your credit limit you will definitely improve your score.

One important thing to remember: banks make their profits by keeping you in debt. It does not hurt to increase your credit limits as long as you act responsibly. Borrow only what you can handle based on your income.

5. Frequency of Credit Applications: Did you know 10% of your credit score is based on the number of times you’ve applied for credit? Every time someone pulls your credit, the enquiry is listed on your credit report. The more enquiries you have, the lower your score will go.

If you applied for many credit cards recently, you should wait a few months, pay down your balances and build a history, before you apply for new ones. Not applying for new credit will increase your score, as older applications fall away.

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: columbus houses, columbus loans, columbus realtors, credit bureau, credit repair, credit score, home mortgage

A few days after the economic stimulus bill President Obama signed the so called Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan with the goal to stem the flood of foreclosures and keep home owners in their houses.

Here’s how the plan is supposed to work: It should allow homeowners who are not behind in their mortgage payments refinance their loans. The idea is to help “responsible” homeowners. If you have a loan you can’t refinance because the your home is now worth less than the mortgage amount, you may qualify for this program.

There are many limitations, so this program is certainly not for everyone. It only applies to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. Many subprime loans will not qualify for this program.

Also, your first mortgage can’t be higher than 105% of the marketvalue of the home. The values of many Columbus Houses went down by 30% and sometimes even 50% from just a year ago, people owning these homes will not be able to take advantage of this program.

Here is the most controversial part of the bill – it will help people modify their loand, even if they are already behind or are struggling with their payments. The idea is to reduce your mortgage payments to 31% of your monthly income and make it more affordable. Banks will receive incentives from the government to make these loan modifications.

Obviously, many people are crying “fowl” about this provision, as it appears that the government will subsidize home owners who can’t make their mortgage payments, while borrowers who pay on time have to pay the tap.

We’ll see how this works out. On March 4, 2009, the administration will announce eligibility criteria for these programs. Personally, I don’t see that this program can make a significant impact, because the real problem are the subprime loans which are not covered by this bill, and second, most people struggling with their loan payments are severely overleveraged and their mortgage is much higher than 110% of the current market value. Just take a look at the Columbus HUD Homes Blog to see for how little HUD Homes are selling these days.

Leave a comment and give us your thoughts on the bill!

Thanks for reading our Columbus Loans & Mortgage Blog
Go to here to find great Columbus Houses

Technorati Tags: columbus houses, columbus loans