Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Baseball Cards for Closing Costs???
The following was written by David Reed, author of Mortgages 101 and Mortgage Confidential.
In the search for funds to close, there is an oft-overlooked source that could be right under your nose — or at least somewhere safely tucked away inside your closet. How about that 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card? Sound silly? It’s not. That baseball card has real value and can be readily sold to a collector.
But what if you did not want to part with your card or your prized PEZ collection? Could you access the equity in such items in order to buy a home? You bet you could. Be it an antique, a piece of artwork, car, collectable or any other asset.
The principle in such a transaction applies to any asset that can be independently appraised by a third party. To make this work, you need to be careful in both documenting the value of the asset as well as documenting the funds received should you sell it. For example, let’s say you have a first edition autographed copy of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote that’s worth $2,000. You would first have the book appraised by an expert. Keeping a copy of the appraisal, you could then sell the book and document the sale with a copy of the receipt and deposit the money into your bank account. Or, you could also borrow against the value of the book.
Lenders will allow for a secured loan to be counted as legitimate funds available for closing, as long as the terms on the loan are figured into your debt ratios. That way you won’t have to part with your beloved 1952 Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card or your copy of the Capote book. You can borrow against these — as long as you can find a lender willing to give you the loan. Collectables such as baseball cards, while valuable, are much less commonly used as assets than automobiles. But they can be just as fruitful.
So, if the lender can independently obtain a legitimate value assessment of the asset that matches up with the appraisal, then you potentially have another tool to help you fund your home purchase.
Friday, June 13, 2008
What Going On With HUD And Why Do I Have HUD Listings?
It seems like everywhere you turn nowadays, it's "HUD this" and "HUD that." There are over 4,000 HUD properties in the state of Ohio alone!
You want me to backup? What's HUD? Let me explain.
HUD is a department of the Federal Government and stands for Housing and Urban Development. When a homebuyer, who had an FHA loan on their home can no longer afford to make payments and is going into foreclosure, HUD becomes the new owner of the home and tries to sell it back to the public to recoup as much of it's money as possible. Normally these homes are in need of some rehab and updates, so normally they're priced much lower than the Assessed and Market values. And sometimes you can find a gem/diamond in the rough.
Who can buy HUD homes? Simply put: Anyone who qualifies. It doesn't matter if you're an owner occupant or an investor or whatever.
And because there are so many HUD owned properties available right now, HUD has hired a management and marketing company called National Home Management Solution, LLC (NHMS) to help maintain these properties and get them sold. Obviously, the sooner they sell, the happier the government will be. And with so many of them right now, the way the government is looking at things is like this: there's a whole lot of money sitting out there, doing nothing.
If you didn't know, my brokerage, Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty, has been selected as one of a few Local Listing Brokers here in the Columbus area, meaning we get some of the HUD listings. We get to put them in the MLS and we get to put our signs in the yards of some of these houses.
I have been fortunate enough to be selected as one of a few agents from my brokerage to help market these homes, and in the past month or so, I have listed 3 HUD homes. This is probably going to be a continuing trend, so continue to watch for my updates about new HUD listings here in the Columbus area.
Here are my 3 HUD listings right now:
Dan Hamilton
Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty
www.HamiltonHomesGroup.com
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Launched: www.villageofnewalbany.org
New Albany's new website debuted recently with a new look and some very nice features. Sounds like a mom trying to describe the ugly kid from school years later: "He has a new look and some very nice features."
Anyways, check it out when you get a moment at www.villageofnewalbany.org. There are important and interesting links and information for all New Albany residents, as well as those individuals who are interested in moving to the area.
Dan Hamilton
Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty
www.HamiltonHomesGroup.com
Friday, June 06, 2008
$10 Gas Gift Card for Home Buyers
At www.HamiltonHomesGroup.com, if you are a home buyer and click the link on the main page to search for homes, you will have the opportunity to win a free $10 gas gift card.
So, if you are thinking about buying a new home in the Columbus, OH area, check out www.HamiltonHomesGroup.com to see what's available for you.
Benefits:
1) You will get to search for houses
2) You'll be entered to win a $10 gas gift card
3) You'll be able to create personal searches to view over and over
4) You'll get to save your favorite properties
5) You'll be emailed automatically every time a property matching your needs is listed!
Check it out and search the Columbus MLS and see Columbus Real Estate for Sale.
Dan Hamilton
Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty
www.HamiltonHomesGroup.com
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
What? Zero Tax Increases Over the Next 3 Years?! Woohoo!
On the heels of my last post where I dicussed how declining property values won't lower our taxes, I find this... a letter posted on the Franklin County Auditor's website. Read the letter from Joe Testa, the Auditor, here.
Here's the summary:
Joe Testa, Franklin County Auditor has ordered no increase in residential values for the 2008 appraisal update. Unless homeowners improve their property or voters pass new levies, there will be no increase in residential real estate taxes payable in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
County-wide property sales during the past three years are about 3% over the 2005 appraised values. The decreased number of market sales, flattening of the real estate market and the increase in foreclosures indicate there is not a sufficient basis for an increase in taxable value.
Dan Hamilton
Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty
www.HamiltonHomesGroup.com
Columbus Real Estate
Franklin County Auditor
Property Taxes
If Property Values Decline, How Much of a Tax Break Will We See?
See the full article with Franklin County's Auditor Joe Testa, here.
The short answer is, and I quote from the mouth of Mr. Testa, "The answer is, essentially none!"
Again, see the article here to find out why...
Dan Hamilton
Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty
www.HamiltonHomesGroup.com
Columbus Real Estate
Real Estate Taxes and Breaks
Drop in Listings May Suggest the Market is Turning Around
News from the Columbus Board of Realtors, see the article here.
The number of homes listed for sale over the past two months is lower than the previous year suggesting the market may be beginning to adjust itself. The homes added to the market in April were 8.5 percent lower than April of 2007 according to the Columbus Board of REALTORS®.
The number of new listings January through April is almost 12 percent lower than the same 3-month period last year.
What does this mean and why is it a good thing that there are less listings?
Well, the market has been so out of whack over the past few years, that we need a "stabilization." We need to reduce the number of listings because there is so much inventory right now. And because there are so many homes for sale, home prices are dropping. It's all about supply and demand.
And it now looks like the supply is coming back to the levels of demand. Slowly but surely.
Dan Hamilton
Keller Williams Greater Columbus Realty
www.HamiltonHomesGroup.com
Columbus Real Estate
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
