Special offer

Cherry Hill, NJ Real Estate News

By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
    You can't handle the truth....  the question should be, do you really want it?  I say yes, that people search for honesty and scenarios online. Here is what I am getting at... Patricia Kennedy wrote this post the other day : When They Say Mean Things About Their First Agent Pat basically shares a story about how she got a new listing after the previous realtor failed to sell it.. who might not have gotten the right chance to sell it. And it was a bad experience, so Pat wrote about it. Comments were positive until someone unknown chimed in and said this...         My comment to the consumer above.  ~ Jeff Belonger's comment ~ We all talk about transparency and I think many get it confused with wanting to know what they are paying for such services in dollars than what the real defini...
Comments 23
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  Key Reminder - You don't need 700 credit scores and 20% down to buy       Figuring out the differences between renting vs buying a home can be stressful. I gave you some pros and cons of buying a home in Part 1. Things seem good, because you are learning how to break this down. That's great...... Tip : Keep your focus and don't be talking to too many people outside of the loan officer that you are speaking with. That's if you have picked one by now. And by this, I mean don't ask in depth questions to your parents, friends, neighbors, etc, etc. It could get confusing. There is a reason for this. Programs change often and so does the way of financing. The biggest thing, mortgage rates can change daily!  What your friend received last week might be totally different the following week.  ...
Comments 8
What's for dinner? How about Chicken Chesapeake, Sauteed Spinach & Spiced Pasta Every once in awhile I will cook something that is really declicious to me. This is my version of Chicken Chesapeake. Enjoy Chicken Chesapeake 4-6 skinless boneless chicken breasts 1 4-16 ounce can of lump or mixed crab meat 1/4 cup mayonnaise 2 dashes tabasco sauce or 1-2 teaspoons of hot sauce 3 ounces parmesan cheese, grated 6 slices of good quality smoked ham ¼ cup of chopped onion 1 teaspoon of seafood seasoning (old bay, etc.) ½ teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon black pepper ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Bread crumbs Mix together the mayonnaise, seafood seasoning, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Gently mix together with the crab meat making sure to keep the meat in lumps. Cut...
Comments 2
By Leander McClain, Cecil & Harford County Realtor
I Want To Buy a Foreclosure……. NO YOU DON’T! By Leander McClain Readers of my blog know that most of my listings are foreclosed homes in New Jersey. As a result, many clients initially state that they want to purchase a foreclosure or a fixer upper. They have watched a Flip This House marathon and they are ready to go. How could they go wrong? They can purchase a bargain home, fix it up and have their dream home for much less than the current asking price of homes. What could be easier? I am happy to show my clients any homes that they are interested in.   HOWEVER…….. My experience has shown me that most people don’t have the heart or stomach for foreclosures or short sales. The first thing that buyers must remember…..if someone has fallen into dire straits and can no longer afford to m...
Comments 3
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
    Shopping for that best interest rate. First off, you need to be careful when using the term best, because we always want the best of anything. Remember these two old sayings?  "You get what you pay for" or "If it's to good to be true, that it might not be true." Well, the same could be said when shopping for that mortgage interest rate.  I read an article last week that disturbed me some, because I felt it left some important information out. It started out that you should deal with a mortgage broker instead. Here is his statement to as why you should do this.  "Try a Mortgage Broker Sure they’ve taken a lot of flak lately, but if you work with a mortgage broker, you can have them shop your loan scenario with a number of banks and lenders to find the best rate...."   The first issue...
Comments 10
By Leander McClain, Cecil & Harford County Realtor
Quality Auto Repair is hosting a "Free" Women's Car Care Clinic, October 16, 2010, Cherry Hill, NJ   Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010 Time: 9:00 - 11:00am Location: Quality Auto Repair 2061 Springdale Road Cherry Hill, NJ Fruit, Bagels & Refreshments will be served This is a free clinic for current & future valued customers on your own vehicle. Topics That will be covered Helpful hints to a better running vehicle Preventative maintenance schedules How to safely change a flat tire How to check fluid levels How to react to roadside emergencies How to properly jump start your vehicle Each Attendee will receive a Car Care Goodie Bag SPACE IS LIMITED: RSVP REQUIRED 856-424-0065 Think ~ Then Act Have A Great Day Make This Your Best Year Ever Your Friend In The Real Estate Business Leander Mc...
Comments 3
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  HINT - PLease read Part 1 first - the link is below.   Okay, Jeff, I have heard that you could do a FHA streamline. Yes, this is true, but FHA now states that you can't make application on the new refinance until the borrower has made 6 monthly payments. This is stated in Mortgagee Letter 2009-32.  There are 2 types of FHA Streamlines.   1.) FHA Streamlines with an appraisal - Even if you bought a new home with lots of equity, you have to wait 12 + months before you are allowed to use that equity. If you are going to refinance before the year is up, the rule of thumb is that you have to use the lower of the two, either the new appraised value or the original purchase price. So if you are refinancing before the 12 months are up, you will be using the original purchase price. If it appr...
Comments 11
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
    There has been a lot of talk regarding Credit Scores in the last week after FHA came out with Mortgagee Letter 2010-29 on FHA Loans. Here was my post showing such changes with an explanation. Jeff Belonger's cheat sheet for ML 2010-29. In my opinion, some of the confussion and or arguement with the new FHA loan changes is that FHA says that you can go down to a 500 credit score with 10% down. FHA even says that you can put the minimum down of 3.5% with credit scores of 580 and above. Here is the problem with all of this. Just because FHA allows this on FHA mortgages, it doesn't mean it will happen. One needs to clearly understand how this all works and what is out there. I hope to clear the air with this post, and make it "simplified".     I wanted to share some of the comments from...
Comments 23
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  FHA just came out with a new mortgagee letter describing the new changes on FHA loans regarding credit scores and LTV's (loan-to-value). Here are the changes : New updates for FHA Mortgages - Changes in LTV & credit scores - seller concessions?   Just the other day, I read this post,"Bending Over Backwards".. A simplified Version of the New FHA Credit Score Guidelines...by Karen Stone, that talked about these changes and laid out the credit score changes. It was this person's simplified version which was written by a realtor. It was well written and the outline was accurate, but it was missing critical explanations of what can be done and what can't be done. Sorry people, but in my opinion, this can be misleading for several reasons. Consumers reading that post will now search for a ...
Comments 13
By Terry Iwaniw, Realtor - S NJ
(Avalar Atlantic Properties)
Terry Iwaniw - The SNJ HUD Expert | ReSales & Investment Realty, LLC | 609-417-1086 309 Lincoln Ave N, Cherry Hill, NJ 3 Bedroom Cape Cod Styled Home For Sale in Cherry Hill 3BR/1BA Single Family House offered at $160,000 Year Built 1940 Sq Footage 1,141 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 1 full, 0 partial Floors 2 Parking 2 Uncovered spaces Lot Size 9,568 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION 3 Bedroom, 1 Bath HUD owned Cape Cod Style home has 2 bedrooms on the main level with 1 bedroom on the upper level. This home has a full basement that can be finished, a kitchen with stainless steel appliances, large eating area with a sliding glass door leading to deck, nice sized living room, and an above ground pool. Call The HUD Expert for details or to schedule an appointment to view this property. see ...
Comments 0
Failure Doesn’t Mean You Are A Failure by Leander McClain, Realtor See that smiling guy in the picture to your left…..that’s me. Posing in front of one of my first listings. I was a new real estate agent, I was younger ,had more hair (well maybe not ) and didn’t have a clue of what I was doing. However, I decided that I was going to be successful and that was that. If I had to fake it until I made it….then so be it. I once was an adjuct professor at a junior college. My mentor told me not to worry about knowing every lesson ahead of time. He said “as long as you are 1-2 weeks ahead of the students, you will do just fine”. I applied the same logic to my real estate career. I never stopped observing others and studying my craft. I was going to be successful no matter what. Now let me tell...
Comments 8
I just won £1,000,000.00 in the British Coca Cola Promo!! Can you believe it?  When I was a kid, I attended a Sacred Heart School in Elizabeth, NJ. Every year the school held a Chinese Auction as a fund raiser…..(I guess today it might be called an Asian auction) but I digress. Sponsors would donate prizes for the auction. The prizes would be displayed and each prize would have a can in front of it. You would then buy tickets. If you wanted to win, you would put a ticket in the can in front of the prize you wanted to win. If you really wanted a prize, you would put in multiple tickets. Once everyone put in their tickets, the fun would begin. One by one, the winning ticket would be pulled for each prize. They would always save the big prizes for last. At the end of the night, the winner...
Comments 17
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  Planting Seeds in the Borrower's Head - Part 1   In regards to the world of mortgages, can one be more confused now then ever before? You betcha...  As many of us know, FHA is now trying to reduce the seller concession from 6% to 3%. I wrote about it here : HUD seeks public comment on 3 issues for FHA loans & Solutions for these FHA loan changes. Let's take this up a notch now. Just the other day, I wrote a post about some listing agents not accepting offers for FHA loans and or VA loans for various reasons. There could be several ways to look at this... but there is more. My post is sparked by a post that Lenn Harley wrote yesterday; Lenn just had a Eureka moment!! Conventional financing may permit more seller incentive than FHA. Now, don't get me wrong. I respect Lenn and many of he...
Comments 31
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  FHA Home Loans have been a big part of the home buying process when it comes to your financing options. This might not mean much to many, but when you apply for a conventional loan, if you don't get an automated approval, you are declined. With FHA loans, even if you received a refer in the system, your loan can still be manually underwritten. But there are many guidelines that need to be followed, even for a make sense deal. Especially if your qualifying ratios are above the normal FHA requirements of 31/43. This means that your total mortgage payment (to include property taxes, homeowners insurance, association dues) divided by your gross monthly income can't not exceed 31. This called your front end ratio.  Your back end ratio would be your total monthly payment plus any monthly re...
Comments 7
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  Meet the Members of the Mortgage Myth Busters     Jeff Belonger John Cannata Gerry Suarez Larry Bettag  Colleen Craig   Robert Ashby           Ken Cook            Gary Miljour       - Click Me -       The Mortgage Myth Busters is born : by Gerry Suarez Who we are. It’s been over a year and a half ago since Jeff Belonger started to put this group together. For a long time we were a group called the Mortgage Masterminds that met for weekly conference calls to brainstorm about industry issues and changes. We are all very experienced Mortgage Loan Originators that strive to play at the top of our game, and we knew by combining forces it gave us an edge over other lenders. Over time some of the original members have left, and some new ones have joined.  The current members are listed above...
Comments 20
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
    Mortgage interest rates continue to still be very low, ranging from 4.25% to 4.75% for a 30 year fixed rate.  So why are interest rates so low?  Some investors on Wall Street fear a double dip recession approaching. And these investors will seek more stability in buying bonds, such as the MBS's, Mortgage Backed Securities. By buying more MBS's, this can control the interest rates. Another reason is because earlier this week Treasury auction bids rose to 18% to record as investors surpass bond dealers.         Interest rates at one point this week hit a historical low, but since have increased slightly. But don't fret it, when I say that they have increased, I am talking about the cost of a 30 year fixed interest rate. The rates themselves are the same, but at times during the week, ...
Comments 8
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  From the consumer - "I have bad credit".. "my credit is so so"... "my credit is good". "My credit scores are good", etc, etc. I have heard it all and just this alone doesn't make or break you as a potential buyer when wanting to buy a home. The thought process of an average loan officer - "Yippie, my borrower has a 635 credit score and my company's cutoff is 620.  This borrower fits the credit ratios also, so I can do the loan." Knowledge is power people. I know some loan officers in the past that made the mistake of primarily looking at the credit score, aka the fico score,and if it fit the criteria, that they thought they had a good loan. Many would miss some lates on the credit report.  And yes, some even missed judgments and or collection accounts. A good loan officer is going to ...
Comments 13
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  FHA loans have certainly become more popular over the last several years. In the past, some loan officers were using other types of financing that were easier for them, but not suited best for the borrower. That use to get under my skin and I witnessed it first hand in some cases. What I hate hearing is that FHA mortgages have taken the spot of the subprime loans. This is not true at all. This statement is from those that are inexperienced in both the mortgage and the real estate industries. To many subprime loans should have gone FHA and that is just a fact.  But why are FHA loans getting bad press now, stating that they are the most defaulted loans recently?  Read this : We should ABOLISH FHA loans... Even with 10% down and credit scores less than 680, FHA loans in many cases will ...
Comments 5
By Jeff Belonger, The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
( Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc)
  Mortgage Interest Rates hit historical lows !!!!   I am sure many have been hearing that mortgage interest rates are historically low in the last few days. It seems like in the last few years we have heard this and in many cases, it was just a marketing ploy to get the phones to ring.  Well, as of this week, they have hit their lowest peak since interest rates have been tracked as far back as 1971. So why are interest rates so low?  Some investors on Wall Street fear a double dip recession approaching. And these investors will seek more stability in buying bonds, such as the MBS's, Mortgage Backed Securities.    Just today, the consumer confidence index dropped from 62.7 in May to 52.9 in June.  As many of us know, usually when the Stock Market drops (loses points), interest rates ten...
Comments 9
Free, No Obligation List of NJ Bank Owned Foreclosed Homes By Leander McClain, Realtor     I love the commercials that I see and hear these day.  They go something like this...... Person 1: Hi (insert name here) Person 1: I haven't seen you for awhile.  What's new? Person 2:  Well I just brought a new home Person 1: How could you afford to do that?  Aren't homes expensive? Person 2:  No I purchased a foreclosed home for only (insert ridiculously low figure) Person 2:  Just call this number or just pay $19.99 for a list of foreclosed homes Person 1:  Give me that number, I am going to call for my list right now! I just can't keep from screaming B@llSh#t!!!! at the TV.  First of all, this information is available for FREE. Second, the commercials make you believe that you can buy a forecl...
Comments 3