Archive for the ‘Mortgage Refinance’ Category

What is a Home Mortgage

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

Although this is a pretty straightforward question, how many individuals do you know that ever take the time to ask, and receive an answer? Not very many. More often than not, the question of a home mortgage isn’t pondered until there is a desire to purchase a home. For the purpose of this article, we’re simply going to examine the home mortgage, and the variations that exist in the mortgage market today.
A home mortgage is a loan furnished by lending institution to a buyer for the purpose of procuring residential property, are a home of which to live. It’s that simple, the definition is that simple; the actual process is anything but simple. How do you approach mortgage lenders and what information what you need to furnish?

Mortgage lenders today, thanks to all the federal regulation, default rates, and identity theft in existence require more information than ever before. The mortgage application is sometimes a 10 to 15 page application that will ask questions pertaining to your life years prior. Why does the mortgage company want history? The lender simply needs previous addresses, previous jobs, and previous education to gain greater insight and opportunity to know the borrower. It is not entirely impossible to steal someone’s identity, gain access to their current information, even from three to five years prior. What is impossible is to enter the mind of the individual and gain access to relevant work history or education history.

Generally, when you complete a mortgage application there’s also a mortgage application fee charged at the time you submit the application; why do the mortgage lending institutions charge an application fee? Mortgage companies charge a fee because it cost money to process application, and only serious applicant’s warrant the time and expense.

What other information will be necessary to furnish when completing the mortgage application? Generally a personal financial statement, the proposed mortgage amount, and any legal judgments against you such as bankruptcies, tax liens, or federal student loans will be requested at the time of application submission.
Now, what have the mortgage products are available to the mortgage borrower? The most often used mortgage product is the fixed rate mortgage; the next in line would be the adjustable rate mortgage, and the newest member of mortgage products would be the interest only loan. The interest only loan is gaining in popularity at an ever increasing and phenomenal rate of growth. The fixed rate mortgage provides the borrower with a fixed interest rate for a specified number of years, generally 10, 15, or 20 years as a set onthly payment.

The adjustable rate mortgage is exactly as it sounds; the interest rate for this type of mortgage is adjusted at set intervals generally no less than six months no more than 12 and the amount of the monthly payment will vary according to the adjusted interest rate. The interest only loan is quite frankly, the least consumer friendly of the three and today the most popular of the three. When you take at an interest only loan, you may payment of only interest for a specified number of months or years on a loan that has been amortized for a greater number of years, usually 20, and at the end of the interest only term, your payments will reflect interest and principal payment. It’s at this juncture that many homeowners cannot afford the interest and principal payment. That’s why this mortgage product is the least consumer friendly; it does however make the most profitable lending institution.

I believe you should now have a much clearer picture as to what a mortgage is, why you complete a mortgage application, and the basic mortgage products available. If you are considering the purchase of a home, please take a moment to visit a local lending institution, a local realtor, and the web site of the Housing and Urban Development Department. You, as a potential homeowner can never obtain too much information.

What are other resources that can be accessed to learn about the mortgage process and your available options? Get online, check out the advertised lending companies there; look at the information they ask for, the products they offer, and then do some comparison shopping. Often, you will learn as much about what you don’t want, as what you do want. Emerald Pendants

What Can You Do With a Second Mortgage

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

What can you do with a second mortgage, what can you not do with a second mortgage? There are so many options available for second mortgage money that we’re going to take an entire article and examine some of those options. Home improvement, college education, business ventures, even a luxury vacation is an option for your second mortgage money.

Let’s start with the more intelligent options: home improvements and college educations. Home improvements are often a necessity after several years of occupying your home; when you actually live in a home, everyday use of the home encourages wear and tear. Carpet, appliances, even the paint on the wall begins to need repair. How do you pay for that require? Operating on a fixed income does not leave room for extra repair expense, so how does the average homeowner afford such an expense? Second mortgages are the most feasible option when repairs are needed or expansion is necessary. The interest deduction on a second mortgage if the mortgage is used to increase the value of the entire home, execute repairs within the home or increase the size of the home is a completely tax-deductible interest expense.

What about college education funding? Until recently, the most affordable option for college funding and financing was the second mortgage. Over the course of the last 10 years, private student loans, increased government funding, and the increase in the nontraditional student enrollment have led to a decrease in second mortgage options as a funding option for education. It has not however completely eliminated the second mortgage is a way to pay for college education; and today many parents still find this option the more attractive, affordable, and as a whole, the least expensive option for college education funding. After all, we are simply trading an equity investment in our home, for an investment in our child’s future.

Now, let’s take a moment to talk about some of the riskier options for taking out a second mortgage or home. Sometimes, we need to take the step into business ownership; sometimes we lack the funding to take that step. The equity we’ve managed to establish in our homes is an excellent source for that funding but is it the best option for the funding? Sometimes the answers you sometimes the answer is no; at any rate it is quite often the option most exercised by would-be entrepreneurs. My suggestion here is this: if you’re taking the money to open a business that is a continuation of your business background, a business in which you have extensive experience and knowledge, then I believe you’re making a wise investment. Otherwise, I would not risk the equity and savings in my home.

Well, we looked at some of the better choices for taking a second mortgage, and we looked at some of the riskier choices for taking out second mortgages, but what about some of the just plain nonsense reasons for taking out second mortgage? What are some of those reasons? New cars, expensive vacations, or plastic surgery in my opinion would fall under nonsense reasons. But not according to the average consumer. Everyday, new cars, vacations, and plastic surgery take place at the expense of home equity savings. Or they legitimate uses of home equity in second-mortgage funding? Absolutely. Are they tax-deductible reasons? Probably not; but nonetheless, consumers use second mortgage money every day to pay for these choices.

The reasons given and listed here are but a very small few of the actual examples of consumers spending of the equity in their home. A second mortgage was a tool intended to aid the consumer and provide access to the equity in their home, equity could be used to increase the value of their home or make worthwhile contributions to their family life. And as usual, some consumers actually use the second mortgage for this reason; many consumers, don’t. The second mortgage option has become like many other options in this day in time, a fast way to spend our selves into deeper debt management.

At some point, the consumer will become ready to retire, retire to a home without a home mortgage payment. The way to accomplish this end is to build equity in a home and payoff the mortgage. That’s one thing you can’t do with as a mortgage. dc dentist, Debt Consolidation

Taxes and Your Second Mortgage

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

For the average consumer who has managed to acquire credit card debt, automobile loans, and various other small debts, is the second mortgage loan an answer for the consolidation of debt and a tax reduction? Quite often the answer to this question is yes. Second mortgages that have traditionally been used in areas of home improvement, funding college educations or business startups are now being considered as a means to eliminate or consolidate high-interest credit card debt and create a tax deduction at the same time.

For the average consumer, using second mortgage loan money to pay off credit card debt or to consolidate individual personal loans does not eliminate the possibility of a tax reduction; especially if that average consumer does not already own a second home. The only problem here seems to be that we’re replacing credit card debt for second mortgage debt; what do we then do with the credit card we’ve paid off? The smart consumer cuts them up.

How does a second mortgage affect your tax liability at the end of the year? A lot of that will depend on your income levels, your medical expense, and your other interest deductions. Mortgage interest expense is deductible on the Schedule A “Itemized Deductions” form of your individual or personal tax return. The Schedule A, however is not a straight tax reduction tool. Tax reductions, or deductions, carried forward from the Schedule A are a percentage of your AGI, or your adjusted gross income. Your adjusted gross income is based upon your income less certain expenses and deductions from Schedule Cs, Schedule Es etc. etc. Can you now see where this might be a little complicated?

Let’s throw something else into the mix: if you’re an investor, especially in the real estate market, your mortgage interest may not be deductible, period. Mortgage interest on your first home and on your second home is a tax deductible interest; if however, you happen to be an investor in the real estate market the ability to make it clear distinction between first and second homes versus investment property becomes much harder to prove. Is the home a second home with deductible mortgage interest expense, or is it an investment? Of course, for investors interest expense on a loan for investment purposes is fully tax deductible; no percentages to work with at all.

Now let’s ask another question, if you decide to take out a second mortgage could you better invest your money? What a 401(k), an IRA, or an MSA be a better benefit when it comes tax time versus leading the money in your home as equity? This has been a question long debated by financial analysts, tax attorneys, and fairly tax proficient homeowners. How does the equity better serve the homeowner? As a savings account, which is really what the equity in your home turns out be, or as an investment tool that can be used to increase your retirement savings? There are other factors to be considered here: such as penalties for early withdrawal, risk ratio versus profitability ratios, and which programs reduce tax on a one-to-one ratio? Unless you already have some general knowledge of the tax system, it can be more expensive to determine tax savings than you would actually save.

As you can see there are many, many ways to affect your tax liability, your tax deductions, or affect a tax reduction; the correct answers are highly dependent upon the individual situation and the individual objectives. The only way to accurately determine the better benefit is to sit down with a financial advisor, your tax information, and evaluate your long-term objectives.

Does the average consumer ever take the time to accomplish this? As a general rule the answer is no. Most consumers never take the time to look past next month. Over the course of a stressful and busy work week retirement planning, tax deductions, and income producing benefits never cross the consumer’s mind. For those individuals who truly anticipate and receive benefit from tax planning in relation to their mortgage interest, there are many more individuals who never even contemplate that there might be a savings. Maybe, we should just skip this question.