Lundvall Master's Blog

If you are a veteran, and you are looking for a loan in order to buy a home. You can get it at a very low interest rate and at a very low funding fee as well. Veteran interest rates have touched a historic low, and hence, if you are interested in taking these loans; this is surely the right period when economy of the world is not that strong. Veteran loans are special loans, which are sanctioned by the government, so that eligible veterans can buy homes with ease, in area where there are no private loan lenders. These loans are provided by the government in special zones, such as in small towns and cities and in rural areas. Government does not provide these loans in metropolitan cities, nor in nearby commuting places.

Types of home loan

There are two basic types of home loan based on the type of Veteran interest rates, fixed rate mortgage home loans and adjustable rate veteran mortgage home loan. Home loan and mortgage veteran loans, have different schemes; based on they repayment and the rate of interest, hence one should have all the information regarding these loans before they actually, go for these amazing loans and fulfill their dream of home loans. These loans have benefited more than 18 million ex service men or their spouses and it is still the most useful loans, which one can take in order to buy a home for himself and his family.

Low rate of interest

Home loan and mortgage veteran loans have a very low average percentage rate, which is just 2.3% as of now, and hence you cannot find a better opportunity of getting these incredible loans. These loans are taken for a very long period of time, actual time period of these loans are from 10 years till 30 years, hence rate of interest makes a huge difference in these loans.

When a mortgage foreclosure looms in the horizon, and loan repayment and remortgage plans are no longer viable options, it’s time to learn how to prepare a short sale package.

And, what is a short sale? A short sale is the selling of a house for an amount that is lower than the balance left on the mortgage loan. It is a better alternative to foreclosure for both the lender and the borrower because the lender avoids the exorbitant fees that a foreclosure entails and the borrower lessens the negative impact on his credit score, compared to the effect of foreclosure on credit score.

Simply put, a short sale package is a bunch of documentation papers that are required to initiate a short sale including but not limited to an authorization to release form, past 2 years of tax returns, IRS form 4506T, 2 most recent pay stubs, 2 most recent bank statements, a hardship letter, a financial worksheet, lien worksheet, sales contract, listing agreement, pre-approval letter for the buyer, a HUD closing statement, current mortgage statements, the Making Home Affordable Affidavit, etc.

A short sale is an agreed upon option by both the lender and the borrower but, if the sales proceeds do not cover the total remaining balance of the loan amount, the borrower is still obliged to pay the remaining amount. However, in most cases lenders forgive borrowers of the deficiency amount, providing a huge advantage to the option of a short sale.

Not all debtors are eligible for a short sale of their house. Most lenders approve short sales if 1) the owner of the house has undergone a hardship, such as a divorce, loss of employment or a medical emergency, 2) the loan amount is more than the value of the house, 3) the owner is incapable of paying the current monthly amortization and, 4) the owner is not eligible for a repayment or remortgage plan.

In preparing a Short Sale Package or presentation you may run across Short Sale Terms that you’ve never heard of before. It’s a normal reaction to say this is way to hard, and move on to the next deal.

Believe me when I say there are profits in doing Short Sales.

I’m happy to help investors with no obligation on their part to help educate them on all of their foreclosure and short sale options.

You say tomato, I say tomahto. You say remortgage, I say refinance. Yup, you guessed it. They both mean the same thing. The only difference is “remortgage” is the term used primarily in England where as “refinance” is used in America. Since the housing crash hit, more and more people are searching out for a new loan once their existing rate starts adjusting. This is typical for those who went with a 3 or 5 year ARM instead of locking in a 30-year fixed.

Has your number been called yet in the UK or are you just looking for a better overall mortgage rate? If so, now is the time to start looking while interest rates are still reasonable. The hardest part is finding the right person or loan broker to work with (at least in my experience) but with the internet at your fingertips, it’s much easier.

As I mentioned in my previous post about researching home insurance policies, using a search engine comparison site is the best way to compare and find deals catered for you. This is also true when it comes to just about anything these days. Before I order things online, I use shopping comparison sites like Froogle. When I’m searching for health insurance I’ve used ehealthinsurance.com. Now, if you’re living in the UK and looking for a remortgage, I would try a site like remortgage.org.

Remortgage.org makes it easy to speak with a mortgage professional for free advice regarding a remortgage in the UK. After completing 3 steps on their site, you’ll get access to one of their professional remortgage brokers. They will then answer your questions regarding advice on a mortgage or remortgage in the UK. I have yet to personally try them out since I don’t live in the UK but their site is pretty clean and useful which presumably means their staff is professional too.

If anyone has used remortgage.org, I would love to hear about your experiences by commenting below. Our goal is to help share knowledge and real estate information that is useful to all.

Shopping for a seven-figure spread? You’re in luck.

That’s because nationwide, homeowners are slashing asking prices, often by significant margins, making this year’s list of million-dollar properties much more palatable than those in years past.

These homes are still beyond the means of the average American, but there’s some comfort in a million-dollar home looking like a million-dollar home rather than a hastily built McMansion or a shoebox-sized studio apartment.

In Los Angeles, $1 million buys a four-bedroom, Craftsman-style Hollywood home with wood-beamed ceilings typical of turn-of-the-century California architecture. In Texas, seven figures nets a 5,522-square-foot, five-bedroom house in Dallas, or a 5,520-square-foot, six-bedroom home in Houston.

In the Big Apple, $1 million buys much less.

Assuming you meet the approval of the co-op board, “for a million bucks you get a sweet one-bedroom apartment, or a humble two-bedroom apartment,” says Harry DiOrio, a broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York.

If “you’re forced into the higher-priced world of condos, you can forget about the two-bedroom on a million-dollar budget, unless, of course, you’re willing to cross the river into Brooklyn or Queens or head north into Harlem.”

Stick to Manhattan, and your bucks will bag you a 611-square-foot one-bedroom apartment, close to the East River with views of the city, the bridges, Brooklyn and Queens, and access to a pool, garden and spa–but almost a mile from the nearest subway stop.

At 27 Stories, Mukesh Ambani’s Home Will Have a Helipad, a Health Club and 600 Servants

Up a winding, tree-lined street away from the constant chaos of India’s financial capital lies the construction site for what is believed to be the most expensive home in the world.

The house — more like a tower, really — is estimated to cost $1 billion, and its future resident, Mukesh Ambani, is India’s richest man.

And what will make up the dream home of the man who Conde Nast’s Portfolio magazine calls India’s first rupee trillionaire? Perhaps it would be easier to answer what it doesn’t have, because the dream home seems to be missing nothing.

Publications ranging from Portfolio to the The Guardian have run features on the skyscraper home, citing various amenities, which include, of course, a swimming pool, multiple “safe” rooms and 600 servants.

Along with a health club, the abode will reportedly have a home theater and a helipad, and the tower will include six floors for 168 car parking spaces.

At 570 feet tall, the home’s 27 stories will look more like 60 because the ceilings are so high, according to The Guardian.

All of this for one family consisting of Ambani, his wife, Neeta, their three children and Ambiani’s mother.

The glass house — named Antilia after a mythical island — was designed by Chicago architecture firm Perkins & Will.

In a city where about 6 million people live in slums, where apartments that rent for $20,000 a month can claim views of both the Arabian Sea and homeless people relieving themselves, where the rich live among their poor servants, Ambani’s display of wealth has drawn criticism.

One local newspaper columnist called it “an edifice to his ego.” Others have likened Ambani to ostentatious and wasteful Indian rulers of the past.

Forbes magazine has listed Ambiani — with a net worth of $22 billion — as the 14th-wealthiest man in the world, whose Reliance Industries Ltd. is India’s largest private company.

In November, the Mumbai Mirror reported he bought his wife a luxury jet — estimated at $60 million — for her 44th birthday.

But outside the construction site, where a crane hovers above the concrete and steel, and workers ride elevators to reach the upper levels, it seems that Ambani’s wealth is not resented but revered.

“We are proud of him,” said Bhavanesh Asar, a 30-year-old IT project manager.

With the mortgage crisis in full swing, homes are going into foreclosure left and right all across the country. In 2005 there were 850,000 foreclosures, with the number of foreclosures increasing every quarter.

All these foreclosed properties offer you a great investment opportunity. You can scout and buy homes in foreclosure, then keep them as rental properties and collect monthly checks from tenants. Or you can purchase foreclosed properties and flip them, renovating and selling the homes for a profit. The time has never been better to use the real estate market to your advantage.I was recently sent a free copy of a great foreclosure book by a real estate pro by the name of Denise Evans. Her book, The Make Money on Foreclosures Answer Book: Practical Answers to More Than 125 Questions on Investing in Foreclosure Property is a straightforward, easy-to-follow guide to making money from foreclosures.

A quick and authoritative reference, the book explains all the elements of the foreclosure process and reveals everything you should keep in mind as you deal with foreclosed properties. The Make Money on Foreclosures Answer Book answers the most common questions about working with foreclosures, covering such topics as:

* Finding properties to buy
* Borrowing money to fund your purchase
* Determining your costs
* Buying pre-foreclosures and buying at auction
* Buying through a bank or the government
* Tax and legal issues
* Bankruptcy
* Dealing with the property’s former owner

Written by a real estate broker and attorney with over twenty years’ experience making money in the real estate market, The Make Money on Foreclosures Answer Book reveals insider tips and strategies that will help you buy foreclosure properties safely and sell them to earn a profit. Check it out on Amazon to buy or read more about it.

Picking the right insurer for your home can be a daunting task especially if you’re a new home buyer with no prior experience. There are so many providers out there with such a vast range of insurance packages, it’s difficult to tell which is the right plan just for you.

Fortunately the internet makes home insurance shopping much easier especially with sites like InsWeb for the US and Money for UK residents. InsWeb provides a free database which offers quotes from up to 8 insurers and the UK Money site provides up to 20. They are basically search engine comparison sites so you can access quotes from one location without having to hop from one insurance site to another.

There’s also an article on the CNN site under the money section which I recommend reading that discusses the top things to know about insurance. They even provide some other good articles worth reading pertaining to home ownership in general.

Insurance coverage and requirements also vary based on which state and country you live in. For example, I live in San Francisco which is very earthquake prone so an optional earthquake insurance option is available. Others who live in the mid-west are prone to hurricanes so their insurance will be more expensive. Regardless of your location, it’s always important to seek out and find at least 2-4 quotes before making your decision. Not only will you save money but you’ll also have peace of mind knowing that you didn’t just select the first insurance plan you came across. Good luck in your search!

Are you religious (or not) and looking for a new way to speed up the process of selling your home? If so, you may want to try what one person did to help sell her home in Brooklyn, N.Y. during this difficult real estate market. She has turned to an unlikely source for help: St. Joseph.

St. Joseph is a Catholic saint who has long been believed to help with home-related matters. And according to lore now spreading on the Internet and among desperate home-sellers, burying St. Joseph in the yard of a home for sale promises a prompt bid. After she and her husband held five open houses, even baking cookies for one of them, she ordered a St. Joseph “real estate kit” online and buried the three-inch white statue in her yard.

These statues are flying off the shelves as an increasing number of skeptics and non-Catholics look for some saintly intervention to help them sell their houses. Talk about desperate measures. You might as well put your house up on eBay and/or Craigslist and see if anyone makes a bid. Regardless, I guess at this point I would try anything and everything to help sell my home.

You can read the entire article on the RealEstateJournal website.

Update: I received an email from the seller and her house has sold! Congrats to her and apparently burying St. Joseph in her yard helped.