Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for the ‘Other’ Category

Mortgage Crisis Does Not Imply You Shouldn’t Buy or Sell

I had an interesting email from the National Association of Realtors the other day. It reminded me that “all real estate is local.” This is a point that all homeowners need to keep in mind. With the current market in turbulence, nobody is really sure what to do. The fact is that every market is unique, so don’t depend on national trends to make your own decisions. There are still houses being sold—sales are just slower than before. Sellers If you are interested in selling your home, you won’t find the jumping “hot” market that existed a couple of years... more »

New Home Starts Remain Low

Despite all the recent publicity about the mortgage market and its effect on the housing market, one tends to forget about the segment that is most affected by the crunch: home builders. The National Association of Home Builders is predicting that they will experience another “rough patch” through 2008. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index is at a record low. This is a score between 0 and 100 that describes the current condition of the housing market. A high score indicates a strong market overall; if the score is low, it indicates that the starts on new home construction is... more »

Selling in a Down Market – Part 2

Earlier I wrote about selling a house in a down market and the first important factor, price. You can find Part 1 here if you missed it. Today I would like to discuss the second most important factor: the condition of the home. Experts say that if you want to sell your home when the market is slow, you’ve got to have top-notch real estate for sale. That means you must address four things: Cleanliness, curb appeal, minor repairs, and major repairs. Cleanliness is easy. Sweep, vacuum, mop, and dust. Throw away every single item that you can possibly part... more »

Selling in a Down Market – Part 1

If you are thinking of selling your home, you may be concerned about the status of the current housing market. Although the market presents a challenge, there are still buyers out there who want to buy a home or who must buy a home (due to relocation). So it is not a matter of whether you can sell; rather, the question becomes “How do I sell in today’s market?” There are always only two factors that affect the sale of your home, and today I would like to discuss the first one: price. After listing your home for sale, obtaining... more »

Preparing to Buy your First Home

When deciding to purchase a home, you should not sign any documents unless you are confident that you are able to make the mortgage payments and pay for all the other related costs. Many people only consider the monthly mortgage payment, and are surprised at the “real” costs of home ownership. The hidden costs—which are not hidden at all, but perhaps obscured by our enthusiasm– include the down payment and closing costs, as well as “settling in costs”—things like buying new appliances or repairing those that are already in the home. The down payment could be as little as three... more »

From the Editor: Seeking Contributors

I’m seeking additional contributors to the Mortgage Mentor, particularly those with intimate knowledge of the mortgage, real estate or lending industries. The vision is to have some nice synergy between contributors in order to provide readers with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ peek at the industry. What’s the incentive? Bloggers receive exposure for their own services through a bio on the contributors’ page. Interested to contribute? Please submit a comment to discuss your interest and areas of expertise. ... more »

About RSS

What Is RSS? RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. When you subscribe via RSS, you’ll receive a list or ‘feed’ of information and links to recently published web content through an application called a feedreader. The RSS feed enables you to view new content on your favorite websites with ease. Understanding Feed Readers To subscribe to an RSS feed you must use a feed reader, a customized page like Google Personalized Homepage, or a browser with an RSS plug-in like Firefox. Subscribing to a Feed The Mortgage Mentor blog offers two subscription methods: Web-based news readers... more »

Contributors

Alden Smith Alden Smith is an award winning author, expert researcher and avid blogger who has been writing for over 50 years. He now writes exclusively for the web and has been working online as an internet marketer for 8 years. In the pursuit of informing his reading public, Alden comes at consumer advocacy naturally. He takes great pride in thoroughly researching finance and real estate topics in order to educate consumers and empower them to begin researching independently. You’ll find Alden posting largely about current finance and real estate happenings. Alden is the CEO of Allnut Enterprises, LLC. ... more »