News Articles
| 12/21/2009 | Creative financing involves thinking outside the box to come up with a solution that satisfies both the buyer’s and the seller’s needs. There are many sources, in addition to a traditional lender, that you can get help from when financing a property. It may require incorporating any one or a combination of these sources in order to find sufficient funding.
In reality, creative financing simply means finding an alternate way to solve a financing problem; the simpler the solution, the better. The goal is to get the deal completed and to make money.
In the first article of this series, we discussed the importance of putting together an easy-to-understand loan-request package, which maximizes the likelihood of finding the best and cheapest financing available.
The second article discussed using the property seller as a source of financing. Six different techniques for financing the deal were examined. In this article, additional methods and techniques to get a property financed will be discussed. The more methods you understand, the easier it will be for you to find solutions to a seller’s problems. | by Spencer Hamilton |
| 12/14/2009 | The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) establishes standards for solicitation, selection, compensation, conflicts of interest and appraiser independence. It is effective May 1, 2009, for any mortgage that will be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac; Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) mortgages are not covered in the agreement.
How HVCC Affects the Appraisal Process
REALTORS® and mortgage brokers are prohibited from selecting appraisers. Lenders are may use “in house” staff appraisers to conduct appraisals. However, the loan production staff is prohibited from:
selecting, retaining, recommending, or influencing the selection of an appraiser; and,
conducting any substantive conversation with an appraiser or appraisal management company regarding the appraisal assignment.
For the consumer, the appraisal process has remained largely intact. However, consumers may find the process takes longer than and may be more costly than it has been in the past.
| by Realtor.com |
| 11/6/2009 | by David Boyd | |
| 6/24/2009 | If you believe in the old adage, "it takes money to make money," then you can grasp the essence of cash flow and what it means to a company. The statement of cash flows reveals how a company spends its money (cash outflows) and where the money comes from (cash inflows). | by Richard Loth |
| 6/24/2009 | Historically used as a more tactical investment or for providing portfolio alpha, real estate is increasingly being used as part of a long-term core strategy due to increased market efficiency and increasing concerns about the future long-term variability of stock and bond returns. In fact, real estate is known for its ability to serve as a portfolio diversifier and inflation hedge. | by Robert Stammers, CFA |