Dont you just love filling your brain with knowledge about the housing market?
I know I sure do, and this weeks installment of Watch-It Wednesday is sure to be the most informative three minutes of your day.
Quicken Loans Chief Economist Bob Walters sat down with our very own Jordan Fylonenko to talk about three very strong reasons to buy a home in 2012 in another episode of the critically acclaimed Markets and Musings.
Bob explained, there are some unique things happening right now that people should be aware of and take advantage of. One is mortgage interest rates are at 50-year lows. In the modern era, mortgage interest rates have never been lower than where they are right now.
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Guilfort Dieuvil hopscotched across Florida, and even into Georgia, picking up deeds to homes like jacks in a game that homeowners say left them the losers.
Th president of the West Palm Beach-based Nationwide Investment Firm Corp., law enforcement officials say, led a grand three-year scheme to defraud struggling homeowners by promising to pay off their mortgages in exchange for signing over their deeds.
The ruse varied by borrower, police said. Sometimes it was a pledge to buy the home and sell it back to the owner at its current value. Other homeowners say they were told a short sale would be conducted or a loan modification negotiated, but were instead evicted.
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Mortgage insurance, also known as private mortgage insurance or PMI, protects your mortgage lender in the case you default on your home loan. If you stop paying your mortgage and your lender is forced to take back the title on your property, mortgage insurance will reduce or even eliminate the risk of loss to the lender.
Mortgage insurance is paid by you, the borrower, in one of several ways, such as a monthly payment, an upfront premium or by paying a higher-than-market interest rate on the loan.
Mortgage lenders require PMI on any mortgage loan made with a down payment of less than 20 percent. If you plan to refinance and have less than 20 percent equity in your home, you will also be required to pay mortgage insurance.
Mortgage insurance and FHA loans
If your mortgage is a government-insured FHA loan, you’re also required to pay mortgage insurance. FH
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What matters most to clients is constantly evolving and has changed exponentially over the last several years. In order to keep up and avoid being viewed as a commodity, real estate professionals must create differentiation.
Rising above the competition requires a deep understanding of today’s consumer and an ability to satisfy their wants and needs.
In a recent study done by Smart Advantage, a marketing and consultation firm, it was found that the majority of consumers are looking for a responsive individual to work with as opposed to the safety and security they were seeking only one year ago. This means that customer service is once again at the forefront of the consumers’ minds.
To be successful, it is imperative that real estate professionals work to determine the needs of each client and meet them in a strategic, efficient and satisfying manner.
Understand Your Clients
Create a detailed list of discovery questions that are asked of each client at the beginning of the relationship. Thi
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