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Feb 19

I have made all my house payments and didn't overspend - is the bail out bill fair?

Personally speaking I am conflicted on this issue.  Being a Realtor for 25 years I am obviously concerned about the housing market.  I know many people who continue to make their payments and were conservative on their home purchases. On the other hand I know many people who are facing some financial difficulties. These are regular folks whose livelihood directly or indirectly is dependent upon the housing market. This would include people who manufacture and sell household products, dentists & insurance agents whose clients can no longer pay because they are tied to the housing industry and aviation companies whose business is down dramatically as result of these issues. 

 

This embedded video is good explanation of why some sort of relief is a good thing for the economy in general. What do you think?

 

 

Here is the other side of the debate.

 

Feb 17

Is your landlord making the mortgage payment in the Boise, Eagle or Meridian Idaho area?

Are you worried that your landlord may not be making the mortgage payments even if you are paying the rent? This is possible and it happens more than you may think. Don't move out - just find out if this is the case. There are lots of things that can be done to avoid the property from going to foreclosure and your landlord may not even know they exist.
Feb 13

Boise home inspector sees largest increase in business since last October.

Wes from ISA (Inspection Services of America) commented to me today that he has seen the largest increase in home inspections since October of 2008 in the Boise Idaho area. He also said that most inspections were rush orders, meaning people wanted to close fast. This is consistent with what I am seeing in the Boise, Eagle and Meridian Idaho real estate market place. The reduced mortgage rates and reduced prices are attracting buyers who want to close now.

Feb 11

How to avoid foreclosure and loan modification scams in the Boise Idaho area.

 

Video transcription below:
 
Hello! Darrin Jaszkowiak here with Re/Max West of Boise, Idaho.
 
I want to visit with you today about Foreclosure Scams. I am referring directly to companies and individuals that are trying to prey on people that are in a very vulnerable situation.
 
So, imagine you are behind on your house payments. You are in the midst of a foreclosure. You get some literature in the mail, a phone call, a thing on the internet that says, “Hey, we can save your home from foreclosure. Results guaranteed! Just send us $3,000. We’ll take care of everything. We will modify the loan. We will work with everybody. We guarantee our results”.
 
Here is the thing, all of these individuals…well not all, but a vast majority of them, are trying to take your money. Here are the facts, any loan modification - anytime somebody is in trouble - the bank is the one that makes all of the decisions (approves of the modification).  All that these companies can do is collect your information and pass it along to the bank. The bank underwrites the file and then agrees whether you can get a loan modification or not. Then they contact you.
 
Many of these companies charge between a thousand and three thousand dollars, sometimes more, with a processing fee of five hundred to fifteen hundred dollars. 
 
I have done some of these (modifications). It only takes a maximum of about 8 hours worth of work. 
 
That’s gathering the information – YOU gather all the information and give it to these folks.
 
Now some of them (modification companies) can be very valuable. They know what information to gather. They know how to present the information to the lender.   But you can do it yourself if you want to. And it, frankly, is not that difficult.
 
I would not give any of these people a non-refundable fee. Look at their policy very closely. But before you do that – see what it is like to be one of these people -
 
Get on the internet and type in…"how to get into the loan modification business"…
See what comes up. You will have a hundred different sites selling to everybody, kits, how to make some fast easy money. Well it is fast. It can be easy, if you give them the money.
 
Work with a qualified professional. Work with somebody you can actually meet with. A local attorney, qualified real estate professionals – if they are licensed properly to do it. 
 
I wouldn’t do any of this over the telephone with these folks out-of-state. They must be licensed in this state to operate in the state of Idaho
 
And you can do this yourself. I want to stress that.
 
If you don’t know exactly what to do, give me a call. I would be happy to go over the information with you.
 
There are also some wonderful resources on the internet about that very subject – how you can do it yourself.
 
I hope this was helpful
 
And, I hope it helps save some people some money, and some pain and suffering.
 
Have a great day! And, it’s a good life in Idaho!

 

Feb 06

New credit scoring will be better for people with isolated credit problems.

 According Kiplinger.com new credit scoring guidelines being implemented over the next year will be beneficial to people who have an isolated credit problem and they won’t be lumped together with habitual delinquents.  This could help people recover much more quickly from a short sale or credit issues related to a job loss or medical event when buying a home in the Boise Idaho area. “If you have one isolated missed payment you won’t score as low as before.” The new FICO model also focuses less on how many accounts a borrower has and more on the amount of balances carried.

Read the full article on Kiplinger.

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