Posts from — December 2007

First off I want to stress that I am not a licensed Real Estate Agent nor am I a licensed Appraiser but I want to take a quick view at the 3 most recent home sales in a neighborhood in Midlothian, VA. I just could not resist posting this as its such a glaring example of hiring a professional not only for real estate but hiring a professional in any field. Its so much cheaper in the long run.

There were three recent home sales in the Lenox Forest Section of Riverdowns. Two of the sales were full service listed homes and one was For Sale by Owner. Riverdowns subdivision is located off Robious Rd. in Midlothian, VA about a .5 mile east of Rt 288. [Read more →]

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There is a word that is used in investing that I think a lot of “real estate investors” had forgotten over the years. The word is eval·u·a·tion. Webster defines evaluation as:
1 : to determine or fix the value of
2 : to determine the significance, worth, or condition of usually by careful appraisal and study

The current market can make it more difficult to evaluate investment properties. The determined sale price at the beginning of renovations can be 5% or 10% less at the end of renovations. Not to mention you have to account for marketing expenses, carrying costs, tax implications and even have a Plan B.

Its very important that real estate investors align themselves with competent advisor’s that can advise them how to properly structure and progress the transaction. This includes a Certified Mortgage Planner, CPA, Realtor, Property Manager and Appraiser. There are many DIY’s “speculators” out there getting absolutely hosed and even foreclosed.

Its essential that you spend a large amount of time of due diligence when considering an investment property to purchase. Initially this may take some time to develop your specific goal but properly structuring a consistent standard upfront will save much time down the road and allow you to move quickly as investment opportunities arise. A very brief overview of considerations are below: [Read more →]

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For those in the market to buy a home in the next 6 months you better act fast because its about to get more expensive. Already mortgage lenders have cut back dramatically and totally removed loan programs off the market and now Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are starting to increase fees on loans making buying a home more expensive and maybe even pricing out some home buyers altogether.

Freddie Mac states “In response to continuing volatility and turmoil in the mortgage market, including the deteriorating performance of higher-risk mortgage products, we are expanding our use of risk-based pricing by adding fees based on Indicator Score and loan-to-value ratio. We are also increasing our delivery fees for certain Mortgages with increased risks.”

Reason 1: Starting in March 2008 there is going to be a .25% delivery fee called a Market Condition Delivery Fee. So for a $200,000 purchase price this would equate to a charge of $500. The Market Condition Delivery Fee is in addition to the announced Indicator Score/Loan-to-Value delivery fee.

Reason 2: The Indicator Score/Loan-to-Value Delivery Fee is the most significant. You will see by the chart below that depending on your credit score this fee can range from a fee of $1,000 to $4,000 based on a hypothetical $200,000 purchase price, this is IN ADDITION to normal closing costs.

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