Monthly Archives: March 2009

Author : Greg Shuey

There is a new program by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that will insure $300 billion worth of payments of mortgage loans starting October 2008 up to September 2011 This is called the hope for homeowners program, which has already been signed into law The name is apt to give aid to the financially-ailing homeowners in mortgage

This law allows homeowners to refinance their schemes of up to 90% of the current market value This gives homeowners the extension to enjoy a low fixed rate loan and a 10% equity share

The law also features tax credit worth $7500 for first-time or new home buyers to encourage more people to get a new home for their own Provisions also include capping the loan limit amount to $625,000 in high price places A $4 billion grant is set aside to renovate homes in difficult or dumped areas to do away with the deserted homes that could cause unsightly neighborhood conditions Also present is a counseling assistance worth $180 million for people whose homes face foreclosure

The HOPE program aims to overhaul the FHA policies designed during the period of depression, thereby giving the US Treasury control of lending money to FHLMC and the FNMA until 2009 The main thesis of the program is to support the declining housing market that drags down the country’s economy

The law also gives the flexibility to cut loan balances of up to 40% wherein the 10% equity is already secured However, there are restrictions and eligibility First, you should be currently occupying your mortgaged home You also have to explain that there was no intention of defaulting the current mortgage Next, mortgage payments should be at least 31% of your gross monthly income You must also not have another home aside from your current one Inquire from your loan servicers for additional details

For the FHA recognized lenders, mortgaged homes have to be appraised of up to 90% fair market value Fees and other penalties must be waived by the FHA-certified lenders noting the financial difficulty of the borrower New FHA loan borrowers should agree to zero equity loans in the period of five years except for home improvements and maintenance

This law comes as a big help to people who are hit hard by the economic turmoil that spun in the US housing sector, although the program is not isolated to this condition alone As much as this gives reprieve to the red flag, there are still constraints to consider making this work on the part of the borrower and the lender; considering there are over a million target participants

For those who want to determine their eligibility for FHA assistance, just contact your nearest HUD-certified counseling outfit at the HUD or you can call up the office of FHA

Greg Shuey is a Utah mortgage broker with Utah Financial. Together with Chase Gunderson, we specialize in FHA mortgage loans and FHA Streamline Refinance loans. We are here to educate and help you along the way when researching and obtaining Utah FHA loans.

Syndication Source: Thought Search Articles Continue reading →

Author : David Gass

Corporate actions affect the rights and privileges of the shareholders to a great extent Shareholders are of two kinds, the common shareholders and the preferred shareholders Companies do offer all their shareholders voting rights if agreed upon by the board of directors The following corporate actions can have a great impact on the fortune of shareholders

Liquidation: In case of the liquidation of a company, the common shareholders are at a maximum risk The funds raised by the liquidation of a company would be distributed to the preferred shareholders first However, preferred shareholders do not enjoy voting rights in the company, and aren’t able to influence corporate actions

Capital Redemption: In this process the registered shareholders receive the redemption of capital either by cash payment or by new securities Capital Reduction is one step ahead of capital redemption where the excess capital is distributed to the shareholders

Conversion of Securities: Shareholders are also affected by dealing in convertible securities For instance, if a particular shareholder is holding convertible preference shares, the company may declare that he or she can get them converted into debentures or ordinary shares Conversion can be full or partial In a partial conversion the shareholders are required to convert only a percentage of their shares In full conversion no such option is available

Minority Offer: At times, a small group of shareholders is required to sell their shares to a large group that is already holding a majority stock This is termed a minority offer This may not always be done with the consent of the minority shareholders It is therefore said that the board of directors determines the fate of minority shareholders

Stock Split: The board of directors sometimes decides to split the company’s shares in order to boost the liquidity of the stock Although more shares would be available in the market either to buy or sell, this action does not add much value to the company’s stock Stock split also leads to dilution in a company’s earnings per shares, commonly known as EPS

Interest Payment: At times, the profit earned by the company can be further distributed amongst the shareholders in the form of interest Different companies have different policies in this regard and some prefer not giving any interest at all, but utilizing the profits for further expansion It is in the long-term interest of shareholders if the company grows significantly But most of the investors prefer to gain immediate rewards rather than waiting for the share prices to appreciate

Further Information

To better understand the information mentioned above and other related corporate actions there is lot of information available on the Internet Also there is software to help companies to make documents related to the corporate actions listed above in an easy and cost effective way

David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes afree weekly e-newsletter on Small Business Consulting at their web site http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com

Syndication Source: Thought Search Articles Continue reading →

Author : Greg Shuey

Just how much can a government do? This seems to be the question on the rise when it comes to stemming mortgage foreclosures, now that there is a continuous slide in the current economic set-up that is changing the financial climate across the globe Since the upper hand mostly relies on the government, several political figures are lobbying for public bailouts of financial institutions that gave out sub prime mortgage deals Actually, the government is already doing its job to stop the rising rate of foreclosure Check out the Internet to learn what has been going around in mitigating foreclosing activities

The US government is hammering up on its duties these days and doubling its efforts more than ever to put the right rescue programs in place to prevent property foreclosures In the forefront is the US Department of Housing and Development or the HUD HUD’s web page provides helpful tips and advice to homeowners whose mortgages are on the rocks with the threat of foreclosures HUD suggests that the best step to do is have a talk with your lender to help you figure out the necessary measures that will save your home

Incentives to lenders are given by the government to those who are willing to provide troubled mortgagees extra leeway to avoid foreclosures Mortgagees who are willing enough to settle with their lenders can get assistance from the government prior to foreclosure Trained foreclosure counselors from HUD are available to individuals who need help in this process

The Federal Housing Administration/HUD in collaboration with the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Labor together with mortgage lenders are into information campaigns on government initiatives to stop foreclosures If you are currently in a financial mishap, several government programs can give you a new window to stem pending foreclosure Call up the right government agency to help you stay in your current home

People in dire financial losses due to natural disasters can seek assistance from the government to stop a possible foreclosure Victims in the 9/11 tragedy can still get help from disaster reliefs that the federal government set in place For those who are in the military service, deployed or disabled, their families can avail of special programs to give relief to help keep their homes intact, too

The best thing that an individual can do to keep his home and ward off foreclosure is to communicate with the lender Lenders are updated with their information given their partnership with the government They can also provide you with flexible payment schedules and options to help you maintain your home, especially if you only missed out a couple of payment dates However, the longer your payments lag behind, the shorter your options become

Take advantage of these government programs now to help avoid foreclosure It is better to act on it quickly to spare you from probable nasty situations that may arise from your mortgage

Greg Shuey is a Utah mortgage broker helping families and individuals obtain mortgage loans. Together with Chase Gunderson, we specialize in all types of home loans, especially FHA Streamlines. To start your FHA Streamline are, or to learn about Utah FHA Streamline Loans, visit our site.

Syndication Source: Thought Search Articles Continue reading →

Author : Leo Fogarty

I remember the good old days To get a mortgage was a years long process First you went and opened a savings account with your local building society (they were the only people who could do mortgages) then you spent the next few years (yes years) saving up for your deposit, to show the building society how fiscally responsible you were

When the time was ripe you and your husband or wife would find a nice family home and would ask the Building Society manager for a mortgage He (sorry, very sexist back then, it was usually a he) would grill you for an hour or so If you were a fine upstanding couple and had proven that you were financially responsible then, if you were lucky, you would be granted a mortgage Ahh the good old days!

But then things changed Everyone wants to own their own home, and it seems that just about anyone can offer mortgages or loans (Even Tesco! I’ll have two pounds of carrots, a tin of peaches and a loan please!) People move about the country more, and we regularly look at our mortgages and review the market to make sure we are getting the best deal Mortgages are assessed by computer now, if you fit the criteria and score enough points you get the mortgage

Then look at today, we are trying to fight our way through the “American sub prime mortgage crisis” and the “Northern Rock” situation

Mortgage lenders are getting nervous, and because of the nerves they are getting cautious and choosy Northern Rock is closed to new mortgages 100% mortgages are all but off the market, and lenders are withdrawing mortgage products

So how far back are Lenders going to go?

We are not going to see the return of the individual mortgage interview, there are too many mortgage deals being done for that Also individual branch managers aren’t trained for that sort of decision making, and that also assumes that the lender has a branch near enough to you to make an interview possible

But saving for a deposit and the fees is definitely coming back 100% mortgages are only available for the select few, and several lenders have withdrawn 95% mortgages 5% deposit is the minimum required, with 10% or more being better Having a good credit history is gaining in importance again

If you look at this from the lenders point of view you will see where we are going When they lend out enough money to buy a property they have to be sure it will eventually come back So there are two ways to collect

The first (and the most preferable) is to make sure that the person they lend the money to will be able to pay it back, so they check things like credit history and employment history to make sure that you can pay the money back But this isn’t as reliable an indicator as it once was You can get credit virtually on your 18th Birthday, and most people have one or two missed payments over something small Your employment history can be just as unhelpful, changing jobs doesn’t mean you are feckless and being made redundant doesn’t mean you are a bad employee

The second way to collect is to repossess the property But repossession is an expensive and drawn out process When property prices are rising this doesn’t matter so much because the lender can always get their money back When property prices are falling however that is not so certain

Banks will now only look to lend to people of good credit with the ability to pay back!

What this all means is that lenders are only going to lend to people who they think can pay back the money, so watch your credit history and be sure you have a very good explanation for any blips on it Lenders are also going to be picky about properties

Some lenders have already said they won’t lend on new build properties, and surveyors are going to be a lot more pessimistic on their valuations You will also need a substantial deposit, if you are otherwise perfect then you may get by with 5%, but I predict that 10% is going to become the norm

And finally the good deals are disappearing, lenders have less money to loan out, but demand for new mortgages is still rising and lenders don’t have to offer good deals to get applications

If you are moving home, or re-mortgaging to fund improvements there is still money out there for you But first time buyers will need to develop a credit history and find a deposit Most importantly they will need professional help to find a mortgage and to get it!

Leo Fogarty is Marketing Director of the mortgage specialists Euromortgage. He is also a regular author for financial magazines, most notably Property Gallery Magazine in Ireland and is an expert on mortgages, remortgages, equity releases and the mortgage markets.

Syndication Source: Thought Search Articles Continue reading →

Author : Anna Stenning

New homes UK seem to be the buzz word for first-time buyers as new homes are the ones that are offered on attractive deals and are also the one that tend to go fast Buying a new home seems like a good option especially if people are not too keen to work on a house themselves When buying a previously owned home which is in need of renovation, people need to think clearly about how much of an investment this plan will be

Often buying new builds will enable people to buy something that they trust will not require too much hard labour When renovating an older house a lot of factors will need to be considered, such as the time it will take to complete the work needed, how much the total will be (including monitoring any extra charges for extra work needed) on all work carried out and the price of each material needed

Many people do not realise that new homes UK may not actually mean a small apartment or a one bedroom house New build homes can often be luxurious flats, one to four bedroom house or more, penthouse suits or studio flats The list is endless with the style of homes that could be built new, with many of these going fast if people do not get their foot in the door on time It is a very difficult step to make as this constitutes calculating all of your finances and making the decision to commit to something for many years to come

When buying a new build it will mean finding out exactly what work has been carried out on the house, what changes will or may need to be made and how much you are going to spend Often it is easy to overpay for a new build which may not have been built with so many facilities It is always a good idea to find out how old the new build home is and to make sure what extra features make it a unique buy for the price it is being sold at

Offers on new build homes are usually on a leasehold, shared buy or through a keyworker scheme The keyworker scheme is offered to people within a specialised profession and is only offered for specific properties When an opportunity for a new build arises, many people will have made a contact with the estate agents or property developers to make an offer (or reserve the property) Some may do this with a small deposit or sign up for a mortgage scheme that requires very little in deposit

The new build buying scheme could make for a very good investment, if people are looking to buy for a certain period, rather than looking for something permanent However, this can in turn make a good permanent home buy as you are more likely to have something is strong and neutral in style and decor The downside is that if one is to opt towards the shared buy facility then you are required to pay for some of the mortgage but also rental price of the property You are also not the sole owner of the property and own a small proportion of the property

The only means to get a chance to own the property yourself only is to buy the remaining amount of the other party, or to sell your share to buy your own property This kind of scheme tends to be offered with a requirement such as earning a certain amount and having a guaranteed long term permanent employment Demands are often high for this kind of plan, therefore it is a good idea to go for it as and when you can

Always contact the developers and workout with them whether you are able to afford the new home UK schemes, the sooner you do this the better or else you will risk losing your chance of owning the property Also it is a good idea to keep an eye on the property prices via the internet or through looking up on property news

Anna Stenning is looking for more new homes UK, especially with up and coming deals that will help her obtain an affordable mortgage.

Syndication Source: Thought Search Articles Continue reading →