8 Ways To Accidentally “Un-Approve” Your Mortgage

8 Ways To Accidentally “Un-Approve” Your Mortgage

For all the talk of how tough it is to be "mortgage approved", the basics of mortgages haven't changed. Mortgage approvals are still the 3-legged stool of income, equity, and credit.
Sometimes, though, it's not getting approved that's hard -- it's staying approved.
You have to watch out for landmines.

When Things Go Wrong

Mortgage approvals take time. In a typical home loan market, it's about 3 weeks from start-to-finish.
Approvals can take longer, however, depending on market conditions. For example, if rates are low and there's a refi boom on-going, a refinance can take 6 weeks to close. Banks don't have capacity to do work much faster.
Or, if you're buying a home and it's a short sale or foreclosure, expect delays there, too. With REO, it can take up to 6 months to get to the closing table.
Click here for a rate quote.
Thing is, during that "extra time" -- 3 weeks, 3 months or longer -- a lot can go wrong, and when things go wrong, your loan goes bad. For example, if lose your job, become ill, or see your home damaged by storms, you may lose your mortgage approval -- even if you were previously cleared-to-close.
Unfortunately, these are all events that are beyond your control. You can't control sickness any more than you can control Mother Nature. But you can control yourself during those extra few weeks.
Good behavior matters in mortgage.

Bad Mortgage Behavior, Defined

Keeping "good behavior" in mind, here are 8 things you should absolutely not do between your date of application and your date of funding. I've been doing this long enough that I can say with certainty: Ignore these rules at your own peril.

1. Don't buy a new car or trade-up to a bigger lease
2. Don't quit your job to change industries or start a new company
3. Don't switch from a salaried job to a heavily-commissioned job
4. Don't transfer large sums of money between bank accounts
5. Don't forget to pay your bills -- even the ones in dispute
6. Don't open new credit cards -- even if you're getting 20% off
7. Don't accept a cash gift without filing the proper "gift" paperwork
8. Don't make random, undocumented deposits into your bank account

And that's it.
Now, you may find it 100% impractical to have follow these rules to the letter. I know that.
For example, if your car lease is expiring, you have to do what you have to do. Renew the lease. But before doing it, you should check with your loan officer to see if renting a car in the short-term, instead, would be a more mortgage-friendly solution instead.
The same goes for accepting cash gifts from parents. There's a right way and a wrong way to accept a cash gift from family and if you do it the "wrong way", your gift may be prohibited from use as part of your downpayment funds.
There are a bevy of "gotchas" in Mortgageland and you can't expect to know them all. These 8 rules, however, are a good start.

Get Low, Long-Term, Locked Mortgage Rates

Mortgage refinances take time and the best thing while your loan is in process is to keep the status quo. You can't control nature, but you can control you. Be smart with your finances and don't let your mortgage get un-approved.
Click here for a rate quote.

Contact The Mortgage Mark with any questions!!

www.themortgagemark.com 

mark@themortgagemark.com

Get a Property Inspection Before You List

Get a Property Inspection Before You List

Many real estate agents and home sellers focus on staging, cleaning, and painting a property so it will ‘shine’ for potential buyers. They spend a good deal of time looking at comps and pricing it attractively. All that’s essential, of course. But they often don’t bother to do something else that’s really important: get a pre-sales property inspection.
Property inspections, once upon a time, were just part of a checklist. Buyers, eager to get into the market, would sometimes turn a blind eye to the issues that came up during an inspection. Or if a buyer balked at issues uncovered by an inspection, the seller, knowing there were others waiting in the wings, simply moved on to the next buyer. Sellers were less likely to offer credits or do any improvements based on the buyer’s findings during the general property inspections.

How things have changed.

Today, there’s a lot more inventory for buyers to choose from. As a seller in the current market, you need to overcome as many possible objections buyers may have and do what it takes to get your property ready. I believe a pre-sales general property inspection (about $250 to $500) from a reputable, reliable inspector should go hand in hand with staging, cleaning and property preparation.

Three reasons to get a pre-sales property inspection:

1. It will help you properly price and market your property.
A pre-sales inspection will help you address glaring home improvement issues so you can properly price and market your property. If you know the house needs a new roof, either fix it before going on the market or factor that into the list price. It will save you headaches when you have a buyer in escrow.

2. It makes buyers more confident in your property.
Having buyers see the inspector’s report up front will give them the added confidence to make an offer on your property. You’ll weed out the buyers who may not be into small fixes, too.
Too often, the scenario I see play out is this: The seller has no inspections or reports. The buyer makes an offer, assuming that the property is in good condition. The seller accepts the offer, they go into escrow, the earnest money is deposited, and then the inspections and loan processes begin.
And then, the buyer’s inspector discovers a variety of small issues: the electrical panel needs updating, some plumbing needs to be changed to copper, and the HVAC system is near the end of its life. The buyer may not be up for home improvements and, after having spent a week or two in escrow, the seller is back on the market. Their property now seems flawed in the eyes of buyers and the brokerage community. Or the buyer may negotiate a credit of up to $30,000 to accommodate for these fixes — money the seller probably hadn’t intended on forfeiting. If the seller had done a property inspection before going to market, these issues would have been obvious to the buyer prior to their offer, and a lot of wasted time and energy could have been avoided.

3. You’ll have the upper hand in negotiations and save time.
The idea of documenting your property’s flaws up front may seem counter-intuitive to a seller. Ultimately, though, it can give you the upper hand in negotiations. The possibility that a serious buyer won’t eventually learn about these flaws is very low. Why not take the high road? Red-flag the issues from the get-go and negotiate from a place of strength.
I can’t stress this point enough: Having these inspections done up front can save you weeks, if not months, in the sales cycle. Plus, that buyer who asks for a $30,000 credit after they have an inspection done may have been OK paying your list price, or closer to it, if they’d known about the issues when they made their offer. So you would have potentially saved yourself money in addition to time.

Contact The Mortgage Mark with any questions!

www.themortgagemark.com
mwilkins@capitalfmc.com

What’s the First Step in the Buying Process?

What’s the First Step in the Buying Process?



While you may have been home shopping for a while— either perusing neighborhoods, looking at real estate web sites or perhaps using a real estate app— before you jump fully into the home buying process there are two important things to do before you choose your agent:

First— Speak to a Lender
Even before you choose your real estate agent, you should touch base with a lender and discuss your mortgage options. You want to ensure that your payments are affordable and that you will feel comfortable with the home-buying process.
Additionally, most agents, if not all, want their clients to speak to a lender to verify the price range they can afford. This makes it so agents can focus their time showing their clients homes that actually fit within their price range.

Get pre-approved
When you speak to a lender, ask to get pre-approved. Getting pre-approved is important so you can demonstrate to real estate agents and sellers that you are a credible buyer. It means you are:

• Credit-worthy
• Closer to locking a mortgage rate
• Able to act fast when you find the home you want to buy!

And when you do find a home, you’ll often need a pre-approval letter from your lender to submit with your offer so it’s a good idea to get pre-approved in advance so that you’re prepared with your letter when you decide to submit an offer.
Overall, the more you learn from your lender early on – about what you can afford, and what to expect from mortgage application process, the less anxiety you will feel regarding the overall home-buying process.

Then Choose an Agent
Once you’ve spoken with a lender, learned about your financing options, and have been pre-approved, you’ll be more prepared to shop for homes with you agent. A real estate agent not only will be able to provide information about a specific home that interests you, but can also arrange home tours as necessary and assist in the final negotiation process.
Doing these three things in order will make the home-buying process easier for you and your agent. Once you have these things checked off, then you can enjoy searching for your dream home.


Contact The Mortgage Mark with any questions!

www.themortgagemark.com

mark@themortgagemark.com

What’s In Your Mortgage Payment?

What’s In Your Mortgage Payment?

If you have never owned a home and had a mortgage, it can be a little confusing to see what makes up your monthly mortgage payment. Every lender has their own methods when it comes to collecting your monthly mortgage payment, but generally speaking the breakdown of a mortgage payment is pretty standard.
The first component of your mortgage payment is often referred to as P/I or Principal and Interest. The principal and interest component is simple to calculate and even the simplest of mortgage calculators will let you input the loan amount, term of the loan and interest rate and calculate the P/I payment over the term of the loan.
Generally speaking with most mortgage loans, the first payments you make will be mostly interest and the last few payments you make will be mostly principal.
The second component of your mortgage payment is often referred to as T or Taxes. Your property taxes are assessed by the county you live in and are typically collected as part of your mortgage payment by your lender who then pays your taxes on your behalf when they are due (typically twice each year). In some areas of the country, property taxes are high and in some they are low — but generally speaking your property taxes are paid into an escrow account at your lender and held there until paid.
The third component of your mortgage payment is I or Insurance. Insurance refers to your homeowners insurance. Like your taxes, it is common for your lender to have an escrow account set up for you for your insurance premiums. You pay 1/12th of the annual premium each month as part of your mortgage payment and your lender then pays your insurance company once each year.
Depending on how much money you put down as a down payment and what type of loan program you have, you may or may not have M/I or Mortgage Insurance. Mortgage insurance is different than Insurance. Mortgage insurance is paid by the borrower to the lender and the lender pays that to private MI companies who agree to pay the lender in the event the borrower defaults.

Mortgage Payment Breakdown: A Simple Example

Here is a simple example mortgage payment breakdown for a $200,000 loan at a 5% interest rate with a $1,200 annual property tax bill and a $1,200 annual insurance policy premium to insure the home with no mortgage insurance.
Principal / Interest = $1,074
Taxes = $100
Insurance = $100
Total PITI Payment = $1,274
What makes up your monthly mortgage payment?
P. I. T. I. and sometimes MI.


Contact The Mortgage Mark with any questions!

www.themortgagemark.com

mark@themortgagemark.com

What to do about Google Plus…

What to do about Google Plus…


No doubt you’ve heard about the new kid on the block. It’s Google Plus and everyone is buzzing about it. Are you worried that you need to catch the G+ wave? Fear not! Here’s what you need to know about G+, how to get started, what to look out for and a few other tips and hints.
Let’s start with what G+ is, and some of the more important features. You can click on the title of each topic for a quick video from Google.

Google Plus Overview:

Hey, it’s a social network. A totally new social network. It’s kind of like Twitter, kind of like Facebook, and then again it’s completely different from both. In the end, it’s a place to share with others, meet new people, and enhance the relationships you presently have in an online environment.

Circles:

In Facebook you might have organized your friends into Lists. That allows you to better adjust the privacy settings and control who sees what you post and filter what you want to see. Circles operate pretty much the same way in G+. I can create circles, add people to various circles and then distribute content to that circle of friends. I can also view the content from a particular circle of friends.
Circles are all drag and drop. Your friends appear on the top and you can drag them down into any circle that might be applicable. Naturally, some people might be in more than one circle. That’s just fine with G+! You start with a simple set of circles but can add, modify or rename any of them to fit your needs.

Hangouts:

This might be one of the better features of G+. Hangouts allow people to video chat in a group setting. The video streams nicely no matter how many people are in on the chat. All you need is a webcam (most laptops now come with cameras built in) and with the click of a button you’re video chatting! When you start a Hangout, it could be open to the Public or you can limit who sees that hangout by simply inviting just a circle.

Settings:

This will be a key part for many people. The settings tab allows you to better control the notifications you receive either by email or sms (text). Want to know when someone comments on your post or adds you to a circle? Just check the box. Conversely, if your inbox is easily overloaded – you can uncheck away!
Seems pretty simple right? Now that you have a basic understanding of what G+ is, let’s dive in!
It all starts with your Google Profile. These have been around for a while and you may have forgotten you even have one. Start by going to https://www.google.com/accounts/Login?service=profiles and entering your Google account username and password. This is probably going to be the Gmail address you use. Do you have a Google Profile? Good! Now if you have a Google + Invite you can start playing with G+ at https://plus.google.com/. Don’t have an invite? Just ask one of your friends, or ask me (Mike912Mueller@gmail.com). I’d be happy to invite you!

Complete Your Profile:

On G+, your profile is now the About Tab. Step One of any social network you join should always be to complete your profile. That starts with a picture of you. Additionally, Google allows you to also post 5 different pictures along the top. Below the five pictures you’ll see “Posts, About, Photos, Videos, +1’s and Buzz”. We can show or hide some of these.
The main section is called “Introduction” and can be used for a bio. You can include anchor text and hyperlinks. On the right sidebar you can show the icons to your other social networks. The left sidebar shows the people you’ve placed into circles and the people who have placed you into circles.
Up on the top right of your profile you’ll see a blue button to “edit profile”. One click and you can make any change you like. As you edit sections you’ll also see the ability to show that section to anyone (Public) or narrow it down to your individual circles. The choice for each section is up to you! Don’t like the idea of showing the world who has added you to a circle or who you have added? You can control that too.

Circles:

Now that you have a complete profile, let’s start adding people to circles. https://plus.google.com/circles/find will get you started finding the people you know. You can search for people by name or even upload an address book and search en mass that way.
Your friends will appear in the upper section and your circles below. To add someone to a circle just drag them to it. People in full color are on G+ and those that have silhouettes are not (yet). You can rename any circle you like, or create new ones as you see fit.

Circle Hints

• While a person might get a notification that you have added them to a circle they do not know what circle you have added the to. You can have a circle called “Dirt Bags” and nobody would ever know.
• If you hover over a friend you’ll be able to see what circles you’ve added them to.
• You can also click multiple friends and drag the selected group to a circle.
• Clicking on a circle will give you a pop up showing you the members of that circle.
• Anyone can add you to their circles, you don’t have to reciprocate and you can control what they can see.
• The person who has been added to the most circles is Mark Zuckerberg – yet he’s not posted a single thing!

The Home Stream:

Up at the top you’ll see 4 buttons. Home, Photos, Profile and Circles.

We’ve covered your Profile and Circles, let’s go to your Home Stream next. Click the left button and you’ll see your home stream. The default setting is set for “Public” and it can get pretty busy. On the left sidebar you’ll see your circles. By clicking on a particular circle you’ll see only those posts that come from that stream. At the top is a box for your input. Where Facebook asks “What’s on your mind?” and Twitter asks, “What’s happening?” I found it funny that G+ emulated them by asking “Share what’s new…” in a very similar way.
Start writing something in the box and you’ll see you can share a photo, a video, even a link to a blog post (like this)! You’ll see a box below showing you who exactly you are sharing this post with. Once you’ve shared the post you can click on the time stamp and get just the permalink to that post. Here’s a sample post I made public: Click here
On the top right you’ll see a small drop down arrow. That allows you to edit, delete, disable comments or disable resharing. People can also +1 your post. That’s a good thing. That’s akin to a LIKE in Facebook.
Go leave a comment on someone’s post. It easy to do and you can always edit your comment later. That’s something you can’t do with Facebook or Twitter.
If you comment on a post and then don’t want to the notifications of everyone after you who posts, you can “mute” that post. This may come in handy if you happen to leave a comment on a post that goes viral.
Here’s another cool tidbit… in a post or comment you can mention a friend by typing a + followed by their name much in the same way you can @ in Facebook and Twitter. That will get their attention and is especially useful if you are sharing a post or comment and want to alert a particular friend.
Moral of the Story:
Google Plus is a new network. It’s a new tool to add to your toolbox. It’s not the Facebook Killer or the network that Twitter should have been. It has it’s good points and it’s bad. It’s a work in progress and changes daily. Personally, I think it’s still missing 4 very big things, “Search, Sort, Sift and Filter. 4 things I want out of Google Plus”

Should you be on Google Plus?

Absolutely! But do so when you have free time. Complete your profile first and then start poking around.

Contact The Mortgage Mark with any questions!!   www.themortgagemark.com   mwilkins@capitalfmc.com

Tackling Tree Issues With Your Neighbors

Tackling Tree Issues With Your Neighbors

When you buy a home, you’re not only purchasing the actual house, but the property and everything that comes along with it. Often, if you’re lucky, this includes a few trees that can add privacy, work as a noise barrier and ultimately increase your home’s value. However, a tree can also mean possible property damage and tussles with the neighbors.

Talk it Out

One of the biggest neighbor disputes involves property lines and trees that cross them. Although you as a homeowner have the right to trim anything on your property, or anything that crosses over onto your property, doing so could have disastrous results.
“Property lines are a gray area,” explains Jim Burgess of Snohomish Arborists. He notes that the best option is to talk to your neighbor first before you take matters into your own hands.
If you have a legitimate concern over a tree on your property, or on your neighbor’s property next door, you have every right to address it — even if your neighbor doesn’t agree with you. The best way to tackle the issue without litigation is to bring in an expert.
An arborist, or tree service consultant, can work with you and your neighbor as a third party to find the best way to deal with a tree. Burgess often says that two consultants will be brought in — one for one neighbor and one for the other — so the most impartial decision can be made.
While the consulting session can run upwards of $100 an hour, Burgess says it’s worth it. You don’t know if the tree is dead, damaged or needs to have specific care given to it. Not only can a consultant help you work with your neighbor, they’ll let you know if the tree needs to be removed.

Don’t Do It Yourself

Pruning may seem like a simple task, but when it’s a 100-year old maple or enormous willow,
you could end up killing the tree and invoking the risk damaging your home or your neighbor’s.
“If you thin a tree improperly, a tree can react and produce large, more hazardous limbs that can go through roofs,” said Burgess. “Some trees, if you cut back too much, you’ll expose them to wounding, disease and then the tree dies.”
Bottom line, says Burgess, if you have a tree of significant value or size, you should bring a certified arborist in.

Avoid a Lawsuit

As mentioned before, you have the right to trim the tree branches hanging over into your yard, but be aware if your work causes damage, you’ll end up as the one responsible.

“When trees aren’t taken care of properly, they can drop the price of the property,” said Burgess. “Trees have very high value and if something is damaged it will be a really large sum in terms of settlement.”
The conclusion, said Burgess, is to negotiate before you litigate. Talk to your neighbor and call in a consultant if need be.
Looking for a consultant or arborist? The International Society of Arboriculture provides a list of certified tree services.


Contact The Mortgage Mark with any questions!

www.themortgagemark.com mwilkins@capitalfmc.com

Transfer Taxes when Buying a home

DEVIATIONS FROM 1% LOCAL TRANSFER TAX

Amended 1/14/2011

The Realty Transfer Tax in Pennsylvania is generally 2% of the sales prices; 1% to the state and 1% to

local government. Some local governments vary their portion. The following is a list of localities that

impose something other than 1%. These figures represent the local portion only; the 1% state portion must

be added for the total amount due.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY

Bellevue Boro – 1½%

Bethel Park Municipality – 1½%

Greentree Boro – 1½%

Hampton Twp – 1½%

McCandless Twp – 1½%

McKeesport City – 2%

Monroeville Municipality – 1½%

Mt Lebanon Municipality – 1½%

Mt Oliver Boro – 2%

O’Hara Twp – 1½%

Penn Hill Municipality – 2%

Pine Twp – 1½%

Pittsburgh, City of / Pittsburgh School District – 3%

Pittsburgh, City of / Baldwin-Whitehall School District – 2½%

Upper St. Clair Twp – 1½%

West Deer Twp – 1½%

Whitehall Boro – 1¼%

BERKS COUNTY

Reading, City of – 4%

CENTRE COUNTY

Ferguson Twp – 1¾%

State College Boro – 1 ¾ %

Taylor Twp – ½%

CHESTER COUNTY
Coatesville, City of – 2%

Tredyffrin Twp – 1½%

CLINTON COUNTY

Colebrook Twp – ½%

East Keating Twp – ½%

DELAWARE COUNTY

Radnor Twp – 1½%

Upper Providence Twp – 2%

ERIE COUNTY

Edinboro Borough – 1½%

LACKAWANNA COUNTY

Scranton, City of – 3%

LUZERNE COUNTY

Kingston Boro – 1½%

Wilkes Barre, City of – 2½%

MERCER COUNTY

Farrell, City of – 2%

Hermitage, City of – 1½%

Sheakleyville Boro – 0%

PHILADELPHIA COUNTY

Philadelphia, City of – 3%

SOMERSET COUNTY

Wellersburg Boro – ½%

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Peters Township – 1½%

Contact The Mortgage Mark with Any Questions!!

www.themortgagemark.com