Save Your Home TODAY!

It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now

By Steven R. Shanin, Attorney at Law
© 2007 Complete Books Publishing, Inc.

Summary: Save Your Home TODAY! An important new book by Steven R. Shanin, Attorney at Law, for anyone whose home is in foreclosure or who is in danger of losing their home in foreclosure.

"I wrote this book to put people back in control of their lives and give them confidence they need to save their homes." Steven R. Shanin

There is no shortage of advice available to homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes. Some of it is good, some of it is worthless, and some of it is outright fraudulent; designed to take advantage of homeowners when they are most vulnerable.

Homeowners in foreclosure trouble or potential foreclosure trouble need actual help, not hot air; they need to know if their homes can be saved, how to save their homes and most importantly, how they personally can do it.

FSBOComplete is proud to bring you this important and timely new book on how to avoid foreclosure if it hasn't started or how to stop foreclosure no matter what stage it is at.

Starting this Sunday, November 11th, we will begin serializing Save Your Home TODAY!

Mortgage Contingencies in Real Estate Contracts

By Steven R. Shanin, Attorney at Law
© 2007 Complete Books Publishing, Inc.

Most buyers finance their home purchases, even those who write cash offers. Sometimes a deal without a mortgage contingency will be referred to as a "cash" deal even though the buyer is going to get a mortgage. That's because from the seller's point of view, the buyer is obligated to go through with the deal even if he is not able to get a mortgage. (This is where a preapproval from a quality mortgage lender and earnest money are important.)

NOTE: A cash offer may look great on paper, but make sure the buyer actually has the money or the mortgage before you get to the closing table.

A mortgage or financing contingency gives the buyer a certain number of days in which to obtain a commitment from a mortgage company, for a stated amount, for stated interest, and for a stated term of years.

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Residential Real Estate Lawyer: Do You Really Need One?

Some states require lawyers to participate in residential real estate transactions, especially at closing or settlement. Even if a lawyer is not required, sometimes it's a good idea.

Notice how we said, “some states require...’” not simply that you need a real estate lawyer. The majority of states are known affectionately (by real estate lawyers) as, “non-attorney” states. In those states, conducting real estate closings is not considered the practice of law, so you are not required to have a real estate lawyer. The rest of the country resides in either, “attorney” states or states that have mandated the participation of real estate lawyers either for the entire closing or for some parts of the closing. (The parts where you need a real estate lawyer are usually defined by:

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Rent Option to Buy

In today's sluggish real estate market, sellers can offer a rent option to buy to attract buyers. A rent option to buy can help a buyer acquire a house she could not otherwise afford.

Traditionally a rent option to buy has been popular when sellers have to sell their houses and the real estate market is slow or dormant. Rent option to buy is also very attractive to sellers whose houses are in less desirable neighborhoods and to buyers whose credit is not strong enough to warrant conventional financing.

In the typical rent option to buy situation, the buyer signs a lease that may apply part or all of the rent toward buying the house, if the buyer decides to exercise that option. Most of the time, these agreements give the renter a right of first refusal. This protects the renter in case the owner decides to sell the property. The seller is protected by the deposit, the rent paid and by putting a time limit on the lease and option. This way if the buyer does not exercise the option to buy, the seller can then sell the house.

Rent option to buy can be a win-win situation for both the seller and the buyer. However, there are potential pitfalls for both the lessor/seller and the renter/buyer to be aware of.

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Real Estate Contract ABC's - The Basics

GET IT IN WRITING!

That's it. The rest are details. Of course, as we all know, the devil is in the details. And those devils can come back to make life miserable for sellers unless they are prevented from coming back in the first place.

In most jurisdictions oral agreements are not part of the contract when it comes to real estate. Now is the time to eliminate the possibility of future hard feelings between the parties.

You want to sell your house and the prospective buyer wants to buy it. The purpose of the contact is to ensure that each of you gets what she expects to get. In other words, this is the place to spell out with as much precision as possible the terms of the offer and in turn, the acceptance. A poorly worded offer or contract may simply be buying a lawsuit instead of a house. This is the worst result. You already know how emotionally charged selling your house is. Well, buying is also fertile ground for hard feelings.

Real estate professionals know that a good deal involves more than just the price. Take a look at a typical real estate sales contract for your area.

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Real Estate Contract ABC's

No Doc Home Equity Loans

What exactly is a no doc equity loan? It is simply a home equity loan, secured by the equity in your home, that you apply for without submitting proof of your income.

This has been the promised land for many homeowners who are self employed or do not have a verifiable income. What exactly is a no doc home equity loan? It is simply a home equity loan, secured by the equity in your home, that you apply for without submitting proof of your income.
(The difference between what you owe on your home and what it is worth is your equity.) Home equity loan lenders will loan you up to 100% of that equity and sometimes up to 125% based on your income, credit score and overall ability to pay the interest and repay the loan.

No doc equity loan lenders also take into consideration what you are going to use the money for. If you are going to use the no doc home equity loan to finance a room addition or other improvements to your home that will increase its value, no doc home equity loan lenders are more willing to approve your loan than if you simply want to transfer debt from credit cards or create more debt.


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Bridging Loans

Bridging loans or gap loans are loans used to bridge the gap between two transactions. Duh! Pretty simple, eh? Unfortunately not.

First of all, sellers would not be in a position to need bridging loans if everything they were planning had gone as they had wished.

Second, bridging loans cost money, in the form of additional interest over and above that of a longer term loan and the balloon note of repayment sitting out there at the end of the loan.

Caution dictates that a seller should wait until his/her current home sells before buying another house. However, whether due to relocation, change in family or job-related circumstances, or simply a slowing market for home sales, people sometimes find themselves with two houses. These are typical situations where sellers will need bridging loans. Bridging loans enable a seller to borrow money either unsecured, but with a pending contract for sale or against the equity in her current home until it sells.

Bridging loans usually include a balloon note that has to be repaid at the end of loan period. This can be disastrous if the home used for equity does not sell or does not sell for as much as necessary.

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