Getting a Mortgage in 2010: 10 Things to Know

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high debt but want to use my equity to borrow and pay all bills off____had a late over a banking error last year and i cannot get refinance now they say. I m current on bills but they say that flagged me
Suzanne

suzanne reaves of TN 12:07AM December 11, 2010

Isn't the point of Capitialism to MAKE a profit?? Wy are you so pissed off at the Bans for doing what they were designed to do just like any other business. If you don't like them making money off of you not having money, learn to save!

Communism sounds great of FL 10:33AM December 06, 2010

i can help you with a loan.

steve of TX 5:32AM October 23, 2010

Duh.. its not a rip off ??? rip off comes into picture exactly when the situation you mentioned comes into play -> "But since you DON'T HAVE THE MONEY and a bank GIVES IT TO YOU"
that doesnt mean they can charge what ever they want.

bobby of CA 4:06PM August 21, 2010

dude, it's not a rip off. The bank is giving YOU money and they expect to make a PROFIT. Or there would be no reason to be a bank! If you HAD the money then you don't need the bank. But since you DON'T HAVE THE MONEY and a bank GIVES IT TO YOU, you will pay them back above the loan amount (interest) to have access to it.

some people are real stupid of CA 1:48PM June 06, 2010

I am someone who invests in real estate and I am frustrated. I did everything right. I didn't over leverage, watched my cash flow, turned down bad/complicated investments and read everything I signed. I knew not to sign for money I could not repay. I knew not to by property without doing my homework. I knew to look up how leveraging works before using it, and I'm not a college graduate. I didn't invest in derivatives or any other type of "exotic" investments I didn't understand.
So, why am I expected to pay for the mistakes of others? Why should I suffer tighter lending, rent control, and paying bailouts for "strategic defaults" or those in "need?"
Too many people singed for mortgages they didn't understand. People lied about their income to get into a mortgages they couldn't afford. Many people even invested in properties sight unseen. Others bought mortgage backed derivatives they didn't understand. What were they thinking???
I have signed for 16 loans/refinances in the last 10 years. Almost every time the notary (the person who verifies and records a persons ID when signing) would get impatient with me because I read every single page of the loan document. They often told me that 1) this is just standard text and 2) those before me didn't need to read it.
I am sad for those who are loosing their houses. It is a hardship! I get it. I donate time and money to homeless shelters/rehabs and churches. I have respect for everyone that works hard, invests, and tries to do better for themselves. However, as I expect of myself, I expect you to be held to your promise made to repay your loans. No one forced you to sign anything!
The best thing for America would be for banks to foreclose, resell and take their losses, everyone count your chips and we all move on.

Paul of CA 10:39AM May 25, 2010

I am a 29 year old married mother of two. I filed chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2007, giving up my first house, 2 cars and my credit. I kept going to school to get a better job so we could recover. But I have no clue what I'm doing. I don't understand politics, I don't understand what I hear on the news, and I don't know how to make things better for my family. I am busy with the day to day business of living, you know, working, cooking meals, getting homework done with the kids and running them to soccer games and dance class. People like me, your average american, middle class families don't know how to swim through this system of red tape and frankly don't have the energy for it. I would love to do something about it and I have wrote letters to my Congressman and Senator, but no good has come of that. Some secertary read it and threw them away I'm sure. So please tell me, the average dummy, how this all really works. Help me understand how to get rid of wasteful spending and politians that don't give 2 cents about me and mine. Tell me how to keep my family going in the process of doing that. Explain to me how all the busy, working people that are the backs this country runs on are going to change a damn thing. I want to help, I want change that benefits those who work and pay taxes and disipline their kids and are responsible for their actions. I voted for Obama and was let down. The only change I've seen is a rise in debt that my kids and grandkids are going to pay for. So preach on if you need to but nothings going to get better until the average American can understand how to fix things. Make it a simple process and more of us will do it.

Nicole Greene of VA 2:45PM March 01, 2010

Mortgage=Till Death: The average American in ones life-time will spend enough money on car(s) via loans to have paid cash for a home. The average American via the standard 30 year home loan, lets say (purchase price) for $100,000 will spend $150,000 or more in interest alone, thus paying $250,000 or more for a $100,000 loan, and that is only at around 5% interest rate over 30 years. This is a clear RIP-OFF!!! People, it is not worth it unless someone else is paying the bill other than you!!! For example, most loaning organizations have insurance against default: The FED GOVT, the landloard (for investors), the renter, and then the asset (property). That is 4 lines of insuranse protection the institutions have on average. But, what lines of protection do the average American have in the process? Usually only one (their job). Those are not very good odds. But, you can change the odds back into your favor. Pay cash for your home!!!! The average American will earn around (net) $750,000 (+/-) over 30 years of employment. All that is required is a delay in gratification, which is better than the alternative (losing your home after having put thousands of dollars into it! If, only if, the average Americans would all do like that prices would never really seperate grossly from employment earnings forcing the prices down to keep pace with earnings (that is my opinion only, not fact). Given the current economic situation in the country on average this loan game will continue so long as people play it! Yes, some people play the game very well and it is a win situation for those involved but, those people are not the average Americans. Those people have figured out how to use the system via (financing structure, methods, and techniques that allow them to operate at a profit). Most people do not understand that process, and it is not simple if you have not learned how to do it successfully, there are many ways. If I was in a bad financial situation today, I would get out of it! clear/default all loans until I own no one. Use any and all help I can get. Then once back on my feet earning money I would adjust my standard of living and attempt to set aside 50% or more of my income or whatever amount is possible. I do not believe in the pay yourself 10% rule. I pay myself as much as I can (the whole pay check some times). Take loans from other people if you can, rent to own if you can. The average middle aged+ American today do not own a home, yet have most likely earned 1/2 to 1 million +/- dollars through-out his/her working years. I believe it is never too soon or too late to start (you can always pass what you create at anytime on to others, rather than the government). I believe that the housing situation will continue to decline based on the fundamentals of the economy. Government (stop spending) and set the example! No offense to anyone intended. From an old soldier that figured it out and refuse to play and have done above average to date. You can too!

LS of NY 9:00PM February 20, 2010

Here’s some facts about CDO’s, the Federal Reserve, and why a group of ‘get rich’ politicians should be hung out to dry.
Go to this link and click ‘watch video’ then select ‘The Warning’, ‘Breaking the Bank’, ‘Ten Trillion and Counting’, and ‘Inside the Meltdown’
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/view/?utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid
About CDO’s: http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3ACDOs+&sourceid=ie8-activity&hl=en
Why are Rubin, Summers, Geithner holding high level positions in the current administration? Here are a lot of reasons why they shouldn’t be: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS345&q=Rubin%2c+Summers%2c+Geithner%2c+Greenspan
Watch this video soon, before this site renegotiates and starts showing Fox News again. Their showing this in the interim and it explains why we need to support H.R.1207 and S.604.
http://www.livetvcenter.com/fox_news_hd_1540.asp
Just click the arrow to the lower left of the ‘Boston Tea Party’ picture to start the video.

wasp of NY 8:00PM February 20, 2010

To those people who lived irresponsibly, above their means, shallow, "keep up with the Jones"... learn responsibility and accountability.
To those who fall in the group described by Madeleine above, I sympathize. This country is in a shambles.
But WE THE PEOPLE do have the ability to change it. The challenge is to be united. Not as democrats or republicans or independents or whatever, but as voting Americans who care about this country.
Why aren't 100 or more million American citizens (do we even have that many registered to vote??) not writing their elected officials and saying "fix this; punish the guilty, get the money back... or else, I will vote your ass out of office... nay, I will petition for a referendum to kick you out before the next election".
Remember the words of the famous Japanese Yakuza boss (mafia): "politicians are the last of the geisha: they can be bought".
Politicians don't give a rats ass about you or me; they just want to fill their pockets and keep their job. If the people are united in their desire to put this country back on track, then they can be more powerful than any bank CEO, or Congress, or the president, or the government.
We all tout our wonderful Democracy. If we're so proud of it, why don't we use it? If you don't, then I have no sympathy for you.
Regardless of your political persuasion, get involved and hold your elected officials accountable for their actions.
Where did all the money go? OH, let's see... I'd like to see the net worth of Larry Sommers, Robert Rubin, Tim Geithner, Allen Greenspan, Lewis Sachs, ....
Read Lester Thurow's (MIT Nobel prize winning economist) treatise on the zero-sum economy. Nothing in this world is free, including the "creation" of money. When someone makes money, someone else is losing money.
That's where your money went: in the pockets of the Wall Street crooks. Why do Larry Sommers and Tim Geithner even have jobs, let alone one in this administration? Oh, could it be so they can give their Wall Street cronies a second chance to steal the rest of the money they missed the first time around? Watch this:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/view/?utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid
Who gave Wall Street the chance to steal all this money? Clinton, Bush, Obama? All of them...? Oh, wait, all of them!
We are all accountable for our actions -- including politicians. But who enforces this? YOU HAVE TO!!! Do you think they're going to punish themselves?
Yes, life can be challenging. Maybe you have to sit down and write a few letters instead of watching the football game, or basketball, or soap opera.
Nothing is free in life, including democracy.