Archive for March, 2008
Loan Shopping? Lower your Closing Costs!
Hope you are having a great week! I just returned from Maui and am getting ready to get back into the swing of things. Im feeling a little under the weather so Im taking a day or two before I dive back in!
However, I read a couple great articles recently and I thought I would share them with you. They both talk about closing costs and how to negotiate them. I know the mortgage shopping process can be a bear sometimes and believe me…I can relate to all of the issues and how difficult it is to compare loan programs, who has what on what day and if they still have that particular loan program or not, who can do refi-cashout loans, stated, non owner occupied loans, etc… Every lender is so different and there is no black and white or one size fits all cookie cutter approach! Thats where our work is cut out for us as investors! I spend a great deal of my time on this each and every week!
Each lender has so many different loan programs and some are charging one point, two points, no fees or too many junk fees. The more lenders you call, the more confusing it can sometimes be-especially for investor loans!
Before you start shopping for a mortgage for your next property, first do some research on what is going on in the current mortgage market. Be a savvy and astute investor! Make sure you know what the different types of fees are, what sort of taxes are required at closing in the area you are investing in, and the basic mortgage “lingo”. This way when you call a lender or go to your local bank, mortgage broker or a portfolio lender, you will know what you are looking at when they give you all of the details which will hopefully make it all a wee bit less confusing. Your Real Estate Agent or mortgage broker can sometimes be a good soure of information as well.
One other thing to think about before mortgage shopping is to think about your exit strategy for the property. How long do you intend to own it? Are you buying and holding? Buying and Flipping? Hoping to wholesale it? Always start with the end in mind and work backwards. If you are planning on holding the property for a while, then it may be worth it to pay a bit more upfront to lower your interest rate by buying points. If you think you are going to want to refinance or sell the property in the next couple of years, then the lower the out of pocket expenses, the better, obviously.
Here are a couple great articles I recently came across that talk about cutting your loan closing costs on your next purchase. I hope you find them helpful!
To your Success!
Charrissa Cawley
http://money.cnn.com/2004/03/22/pf/yourhome/closingcosts/index.htm
http://www.smartmoney.com/home/buying/index.cfm?story=closing
More Great Free Resources for you!
Aloha from Maui-
Here are those great resources I promised! Enjoy and be sure and bookmark this page and check back often for more great and always free resources for real estate investors!
Anthony Robbins Self Improvement Forum
http://www2.anthonyrobbins.com/community_dev2/index.php?s=8fca998ef270c473cf94b12e2a174a57FREE Property Listing/Selling/Rental Sites
www.PropertyAttic.com
www.Thatrentalsite.comLocate Deals
www.ocwen.com
Great Reading for Investors
http://www.online.wsj.com /public /us (Wall Street Journal)
http://www.money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/ (Fortune magazine)
http://www.forbes.com/ (Forbes)
Legitimate Credit Repair & Restoration
www.TrinityCreditservices.com
Fair Market Rents in US, broken down by area
www.Rentslicer.com
http://www.reiconferences.com/files/fmr.pdf.pdf
Neighborhood Scouting/Demographics/Crime Rate
www.neighborhoodscout.com
www.zipskinny.com
www.mlsonline.com
www.city-data.com
www.spotcrime.com
http://www.nsopr.gov/main_frameset.cfm
http://www.homefair.com/find_a_place/cityprofile/index.asp?cc=1
http://www.cityrating.com/
Tenant Credit Checks and background checks
www.saferent.com
www.screeningservices.com
Locks & Alarm Systems for Landlords
www.landlordlocks.com
www.lasershield.net
Nationwide Hard Money (Plus rehab money!)
www.rehabfunding.com
Your own Real Estate Investing Website-no html knowledge required!
www.Myreiwebsites.com
To Your Success!
Charrissa Cawley
P.S. Many of you have been asking about our next buying tour. Its Aprial 11-14, 2008.Go here for more info and to see what our prior students have to say about this tour: www.reiconferences.com/buyingtours.htm or send an email to jeff@reiconferences.com with your name and number and we will get back to you to answer any questions and see if you qualify to attend!
Some Great Resources for your Business
Hey there! Sorry its been a while since Ive posted anything-I have been a travel nut as of lately and havent come up for air in a while until now! No big news for you-just wanted to share a few resources-a lot of you have been asking me the same questions regarding real estate investing as of lately and just thought I would post them on here to adderss them all at one time! Here they are-Enjoy!
TELEPHONE AND VOICEMAIL SYSTEMS:
(Remember, you have to treat real estate investing as your BUSINESS-not a hobby!)
www.kall8.com (Get a toll free fax number that will go straight to your email-very cool service-I love receiving all my faxes in my email-much more convenient! Also, Tell them 888-327-6413 referred you and we will donate the 5$ they send us for the referral to the Make a Wish Foundation)
GET YOUR OWN REAL ESTATE INVESTING WEBSITE (No HTML Required!)
COMPS:
CREDIT REPAIR:
www.TrinityCreditServices.com (David Cheek-tell him I said hello!)
HARD MONEY LOANS:
LOCATING COMMERCIAL DEALS:
LOCATING RESIDENTIAL DEALS:
BANDIT SIGNS:
LANDLORD RESOURCES & FORMS:
REAL ESTATE NEWS:
www.NREIonline.com (Commercial)
REAL ESTATE INVESTING COMMUNITY & FORUM:
www.RewexClub.com (Over 10,000 pages of resources, contacts, strategies, video and audio training and tutorials and more!)
Hope you found this helpful and informative! Check back often for more great resources, tips, strategies, websites and more!
Dont forget to join me every Tuesday night for a free teletraining session for real estate investors!
www.REIconferences.com/telecalls_pro.htm
To Your Success!
Charrissa Cawley
1-888-250-6616
