Mark Clemens Help for Home Sellers and Buyers MN / WI

How do I get a 500,000 mortgage for 1786.00 per month?

The best way for you to get a 500,000 mortgage for next to nothing is to call me. But you need to know a few things before you do.

1.)You will need a credit score of 680 or higher.

2.)You cannot have had a bankruptcy or a foreclosure.

3.)You will need around 55,000 down.

4.)You will need at least 3 credit cards with perfect pay history

5.)You will probably need to pay for your closing costs out of pocket

6.)Here is the big one : you will need to be OK with your equity getting reduced every time that you choose to pay the 1786.00/mo vs the real amount of 2997.00/mo

Can I get 100% financing with a pay option ARM?

It would be great if you could, but the answer is technically NO. The bank needs to know that its investment is secure. If you were paying only on the teaser rate with the remainder of the owed interest being subtracted for your equity you would be severely in the negative for at least the first two years. Therefore if the bank had to foreclose, the market value would be less than the amount owed to cover the original mortgage, legal fees, missed payments and selling expense.

But there have been some instances in which an 80% pay option arm is combined with a fixed high interest 20% second. These instances are rare and demand extraordinary credit along with a very tight appraisal, which is generally subject to review or eeven another to substantiate value.

What is the highest compliment that a stager can be paid?

The best thing that a real estate agent can say to me as a stager is "The house sold itself". In other words, the agent didn't have to work hard at getting the people to see past the dark living room, find the hidden fireplace, imagine a water fountain next to the patio.

The best thing that you the seller can say is "I know that the offers will be coming because we'd buy it." This might be followeed by "Why didn't I think of that?" What happens is that living in a house amkes people forget what it once was like as builders model. Staging takes it back to that point in time.

Good staging makes buyers say "I can see us in here right now". Or "If I had an office like that to work in, I'd have no trouble working from home. That is what you as a seller want people to say. This is the result of buyers seeing themselves in your home living life the way they want to live it. That is what generates offers, sometimes more than one if its been an open house day with lots of traffic.

Why is the trade line requirement such a big deal?

Most of us have been raised with some variation of "Never a borrower nor a lender be". But none of us has been told that Plotinus (Shakeseare's Hamlet) was a bit of an old fuddy duddy.

It would be wonderful if we could always pay cash for everything. That would suggest that we were always able to live within our means and that we could always access more cash whenever we needed or wanted something that exceeded our regular income. Unless we have a trust fund or a large supply of "matress money", this will never be the case.

Borrowing is necessary 99.99% of the time when it comes to housing. For a lender to feel comfortable with you as a borrower, he needs to know how you handle the repayment of your debts. Having made regular payments on a few credit cards for at least a year suggests that you are a good risk. That is crucial if you never owned a home before.

What is the best way to describe your approach to the whole real estate market?

I believe in fair dealing. For sellers this means pricing appropriately and having all of the preparatory work done beforehand. Then "What you see is what you can get" becomes a bonified offer to sell at this particular price, which is the result of CMA (comparative market analysis). That is decidedly different than attempting to over price with the expectation that "All buyers will be trying to see what they can get away with" or attempting to undeprice with the expectation that this will create a "bidding war". If a home is in the best possible condition and staged so that a buyer may see themselves in your home, they will pay full price for your home.

Will rates get any lower than they are today?

People always ask this question when they would like to refinance but do not need to refinance. Those who have to refinnace to cover a large doctor bill or to avoid a lien or other type of judgment do not.

Perhaps I am avoiding the question. But I am doing so because I really do not know. I remember when an 8% mortgage for people with exceptional credit and 20% equity was considered extraordinary. As 02/16/07, 6% is more line line.

Can it go lower? Sure. Will it? Probably not. If you are asking this type of question you should really ask what difference .125% makes on a 30 year mortgage. At 6.5% ammortized over 30 years the PI is 1896/mo. At 6.375% it is1871/mo. That is approximately 25/mo or 300.00/yr of tax deductible interest. Is this amount really worth losing sleep over?

Can you give me a success story about staging?

A home in Bloomington was staged in November as a class exercise for Staged Homes Inc. The owners spent their last Christmas there in a model mode (not a Christmas open house mode), ie with their most personal furnishings packed away for the big move. The house was then put on the maket around 1/15/07. Within one week there were 3 offers. Two of these were full price.

If you need proof, I will furnish the details. The point is that stagiing allows the buyer to see themselves in the property. That is what causes them to make an offer--generally a full price one, assuming the property is priced fairly and well-kept.

What is the primary advantage of an interest only mortgage?

The advantage of an interest only loan is that your mothly payment will be less than if your payment were ammortized. As an example, a 300K mortgage at 6.5 % fully ammortized would be 1,896/mo. PI If it were interest only it would be 1,625/mo. PI

But, you would still have to qualify as if the loan were ammortized. So the only really advantage is that more money is available for use i n the here and now. This of course means that you are completely dependent upon appreciation for an increase in your equity.

What is the most difficult thing about relocating?

Relocating generally means moving from one state to another. That is the thing which hardest on someone in this situation.

There are differences from one state to another just as there are differences between one suburb and another. The most extreme perhaps is the difference between a FargoND and a BostonMA.

We can smile at these differences if we'd like. But putting them together with having to adjust to another school district for the kids, finding places that are really fun to relax at, joining a new congregation makes for a feeling of loneliness.

The difficulty is that relocation generally means more money, which should make anyone happy. But the emotion trade off makes it seems as if its not even close to being enough.

If you are listing agent, will you work with a buyer?

Unless you are a first time homebuyer, you will have a house that needs to be sold. Until that happens, with you having equity in hand, you almost always cannot buy another house. (Unless you are able to afford two mortgage payments and have substantial credit history to warrant this.)

But that is not to say that I do not work with someone coming right out of an apartment. I do. Finding the perfect house or making one that way with interior makeover help is what I do as well.