Nine Tips For Avoiding Mortgage Fraud

From foreclosure fraud to sub-prime shenanigans, mortgage fraud is a growing threat that is hurting homeowners, businesses, and the national economy. Lee Dworshak, a Realtor® with Keller Williams LA Harbor Realty in Rancho Palos Verdes, California takes a look at this dangerous trend and offers nine ways to protect yourself:

Law enforcement agencies are developing new ways to detect and combat mortgage fraud, including collecting and analyzing data to spot emerging trends and patterns, but like many other schemes, it’s hard to track down the bad guys. Even though they are using their full arresnal of investigative techniques to find and stop criminals before the fact, they are usually brought in after the damage has been done.

Read more: Nine Tips For Avoiding Mortgage Fraud | REALTOR.com® Blogs

For the rest of this article go to: http://www.realtor.com/blogs/2011/08/24/nine-tips-for-avoiding-mortgage-fraud/

5 Need to Knows Before Your Move Into the Neighborhood

How to Educate Your Buyers Before They Move to the Neighborhood

For most home buyers, buying a property isn’t just about the house, it’s about the neighborhood. Making a decision about where they want to live is a crucial part of the home buying process. In addition to determining if they are going to buy a three bedroom, two bathroom rancher or a 4 bedroom, 2 bath two story, they also have to buy into the lifestyle. Are there parks near by? Playgrounds? Is there a church they can attend? Is the neighborhood safe? Do houses in the neighborhood hold their value?

These are all important questions your prospective buyers are probably searching for. As the neighborhood expert, you’ll be making sure your buyers understand the ins and outs of the neighborhood they select. Here are three ways to educate your buyers on the neighborhood (with a downloadable tip sheet to give to your homebuyers).

Drive them around

Get your buyers in your car and drive them around the community. We tend to take one entrance into a neighborhood, often the pretty one. Are there multiple entrance points? Most likely yes- make sure they see all access points. Show them the neighborhoods on different days, and at different times of the day. Sure backing up to the main street doesn’t sound noisy on a weekday at 10am, but what about at evening rush hour? Drive the surrounding community. Identify parks, shopping centers and other points of interest that your buyers might care about. Make sure your buyers have an opportunity to get a complete picture of the community.

To read the rest of the article go to: http://pro.truliablog.com/grow-business/5-need-to-knows/?ecampaign=anews&eurl=pro.truliablog.com%2Fgrow-business%2F5-need-to-knows%2F

Real estate: It's time to buy again

Forget stocks. Don't bet on gold. After four years of plunging home prices, the most attractive asset class in America is housing.

From his wide-rimmed cowboy hat to his roper boots, Mike Castleman fits moviedom's image of the lanky Texas rancher. On a recent March evening, Castleman is feeding cattle biscuits to his two pet longhorn steers, Big Buddy and Little Buddy, on his 460-acre Bar Ten Creek Ranch in Dripping Springs, a hamlet outside Austin in the Texas Hill Country.

View the full article at: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/28/real-estate-its-time-to-buy-again/

7 Deadly Sins of Overpricing

“We can always go down, but we can’t go up.”

Have you ever heard that from a client? If you have been on many listing appointments, you have probably heard this statement once or twice. When setting the sales price of their home, many sellers are tempted to tack on a few percentage points to “leave room to negotiate”.

Overpricing a home can have many ramifications for a home seller. It can limit the number of potential buyers who can afford your home, reduce showings and create an impression in the marketplace that the homeowners aren’t really serious about selling their home. Serious homeowners who overprice their home often get caught in the trap of price reduction after price reduction trying to catch up to the market.

Read the whole article at: http://pro.truliablog.com/sellers/7-deadly-sins-of-overpricing/?ecampaign=an

Mortgage paperwork mess: Next housing shock?

(CBS News) This story was first published April 3, 2011. It was updated on August 2, 2011.

Home prices have been falling for months, sending us into a second housing shock. Home values are almost down to what they were back in 2002. A key factor bringing down prices - and holding back the recovery - is the huge number of foreclosed houses.

Many of them are stuck on the market for a reason that you wouldn't expect: banks can't find the ownership documents. It's bizarre, but it turns out that Wall Street cut corners when it created those mortgage-backed investments that triggered the financial collapse.

For the rest of the article go to:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/07/60minutes/main20086862.shtml?tag=contentMain%3BcbsCarousel

2404 W. Fairview $119,900

Solid 4 bdrm 2 ba close to everything! Large rooms w/ lots of closet space, wood floors on the main. Covered patio perfect for your porch swing. Master bedroom has newer carpet, walk in closet and built in bookshelf. 2 car garage plus RV parking. Corner lot w/park like views. Walkout entry from basement. Minor TLC needed but great location.

Call Melissa for a showing or any questions at (509) 879-7858.

Virtual Tour at:

www.tourfactory.com/773641

Newly Updated 2-Story on Corner Lot

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Recently remodeled with fresh paint & new flooring. Corner lot with good curb appeal. Home has main floor master & laundry, large living room & 2 additional bedrooms upstairs. Available with possible lease option or owner financing with a one year balloon payment. CLA for details.

Call Melissa Dailey at(509) 879-7858 for a showing or any questions.

Virtual Tour at:
www.tourfactory.com/773382

Mortage Applications Rose Last Week: MBA

NEW YORK | Wed Aug 3, 2011 7:01am EDT

(Reuters) - Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week as interest rates fell, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 7.1 percent in the week ended July 29.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications rose 7.8 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases rose 5.1 percent.

View the rest of this article at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/03/us-usa-economy-mortgages-idUSTRE73C1ZG20110803