Denver Home Mortgage

Filed under: News, Refinancing, Credit

Washington is acting to rescue tens of thousands of beleaguered homeowners by offering interest-free loans, some of which will ultimately be “forgiven” if borrowers follow the rules.

But the pre-screening deadline for applicants is July 22, so interested homeowners must move fast. Click here to get started.

Coming out of the budget of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the $1 billion allotted for the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program is expected to help about 30,000 of them, reports The Washington Post.

But qualifying for the relief program is not easy. Among other conditions, applicants must be unemployed or underemployed, 90 days behind on mortgage payments and have received a foreclosure notice. Homeowners who qualify for the program — which is offered only in 32 states — receive a loan enabling them to meet up to two years or $50,000 worth of mortgage payments. The loan requires no payments for five years, as long as borrowers contribute 31 percent of their income or at least $150 to their mortgage payments. After that, the magic starts: The government reduces the loan balance by 20 percent each year until, poof — no more loan.

MSN Money offers a more thorough breakdown of the program.

For more on mortgages and related topics see these AOL Real Estate guides:

• Stop Foreclosure Scammers Before They Scam You
• How to Get a Low Mortgage Rate
• Mortgage Jargon in Simple Terms
• Foreclosure Help: What a Housing Counselor Can Do

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/07/05/cutoff-date-for-relief-loan-applications-fast-approaching/

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If you’re buying a house with a limited-lifespan-left-on-the-roof , be prepared  for a hiccup or two. As far as roof insurance goes: If the home you’re buying has less than a year’s ‘life’ left on the roof, getting insurance may be virtually impossible.  With 2-5 years of life left on the roof,   your insurance company may or may not write a policy for you, depending on who that insurance carrier [...]

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Filed under: News, Advice, Foreclosures

Empty houses — those either awaiting foreclosure or where the owners have moved out for other reasons — might as well have a “kick me” sign on them. Actually, make that “vandalize me” sign. They are frequently the targets of squatters who move in illegally, scammers who claim they own them and rent them out to unsuspecting tenants, or just plain old garden variety thieves who break in and steal the valuables right down to the copper plumbing and refrigerator.

Or, in the case of one Suffolk County house, all three. According to a story on ABCLocal News, the Bay Shore home of Richard and Lisa Scott slipped into foreclosure in 2009. The Scotts said they gave their lender, Bank of America, three short sale offers that went nowhere fast, with the bank citing incomplete paperwork that the Scotts and their agent insist was delivered. The Scotts, meanwhile, moved out to rebuild their lives in the South.

Shortly thereafter, Scott’s brother reported driving by and seeing a squatter living in the house, with the air conditioner running and lights blazing. Once the squatter was removed, someone ran a scam ad on Craigslist and leased out the house, collecting $4,000 from the unsuspecting tenant. And then, to add insult to injury, with the squatter and tenant gone, vandals broke into the house and stripped it bare, leaving holes punched in the walls and stealing the copper plumbing, the appliances, even the kitchen sink.

According to the report, BofA is now trying to hasten the foreclosure process.

As for those who may be forced to leave a home vacant, here are some tips to make sure this doesn’t happen to you.

1. Try not to move out. Vacant homes have increasingly been targeted by squatters. The bank can’t force you out of your home until they foreclose. Until then, you own it — no matter how many missed payments you have. If you must leave, consider renting it out. Let the tenant know you are pursuing a short sale and that the home may be foreclosed on, but that you are giving them a discount in the fair market rent in exchange for maintaining the property.

2. Notify the local police and utilities that the home is going to be vacant. Utility companies make it possible for squatters to set up shop. By presenting a doctored up lease agreement and some sort of “proof” of ID, anyone can get an account established and the electricity turned on in your home. By calling and putting it in writing that the house is going to be vacant, you are at least alerting the utilities — which likely won’t make a whit of difference.

3) Let your neighbors know. Nobody feels good about saying they are losing their home. But with it happening to so many, no one will be surprised. If the neighbors know that the house will be empty, they can keep an eye on it and report any suspicious activity to you and the police. In exchange, maybe you want to hire their kid to keep the grass cut and the yard tidy.

4) Stop thinking this isn’t really your problem. Yes, you fully expect that the bank is going to foreclose on you and are saying to yourself, “Why should I care?” Look at the Scotts’ example. They were sickened to return to their house — which they still own and are still responsible for — and find the damage.

Also see: Realtors’ Latest Challenge: A Surge of Squatters Woman Faces Foreclosure on Home She Bought for $1 Protesters ‘Liberate’ Foreclosed Homes

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/11/foreclosed-house-targeted-by-squatters-scammers-and-thieves/

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Filed under: News, Economy

It seemed like a race to the bottom this year: Along with continued declines in property values, every season seemed to see another record low in interest rates — though fewer-than-expected buyers were inclined to take advantage. Also on the way down or stuck in the cellar: the number of Americans who expected to buy their own home and their chances of qualifying to own one — though some scaled down their aspirations by looking into building smaller, more economical houses.

But perhaps the most significant decline came in the realization of the American dream. U.S. Census figures put the rate of homeownship at its lowest level since the Great Depression — 65.1 percent, with some analysts saying that the U.S. might never return to its mid-decade housing boom peak, when about 70 percent of occupied households were owned by their residents.

And though some analysts were still predicting even lower housing prices, and still more foreclosures, there were hopeful signs. A rise in home construction inspired more optimism among homebuilders. And some of the cities that have suffered most during the housing crisis finally saw significant movement in their real estate markets.

(Pictured above: An eviction team removes a family’s possessions from a foreclosed home in Longmont, Colo., in September.)

%Gallery-142375% Also see: Celebrity Real Estate Trends of 2011 Most Controversial HOA Moves of the Year Homes Lose $700 Billion in Value in 2011, Report Says

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Finds homes for rent in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/12/26/2011-in-real-estate-the-top-11-news-stories/

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Filed under: News, Economy, Financing, Foreclosures, Home Equity, Refinancing, Selling

Victims of the foreclosure mess and housing crisis are taking to the streets — literally. Street demonstrations are being planned in 10 cities, and in the crowd at the first one you are going to see Dixie Mitchell, a 74-year-old cancer survivor who refinanced her paid-off home to help one of the foster kids in her care — and is now losing it in a foreclosure.

Mitchell (pictured at left), who along with her 76-year-old husband raised eight biological children and 50 foster children in this house, says that she intends to make her voice heard loud and clear as she marches in front of bank offices in Seattle on Sept. 21. The march is the first in a 10-city rollout of protests organized by The New Bottom Line, a coalition of community groups that challenges big banks’ role in the housing crisis.

Mitchell’s story is particularly heart-wrenching: She and her husband were doing just fine living in the house they’ve owned for 44 years until he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed and cost him his job. The house was fully paid off in the mid-1980s, but they borrowed against it to make roof and kitchen repairs. The straw that broke the camel’s back came in 2005, when Mitchell needed to hire a lawyer, at a cost of $20,000, in an effort to keep a 3-year-old boy who had been in her care since he was an infant.

She was advised by the bank to refinance her house to get the cash. She took out an adjustable rate loan that would reset in two years, at which point, Mitchell says, the lender told her that she would be able to refinance into another 30-year-fixed rate loan. But the original loan was bundled and sold multiple times to different lenders. It reset to a higher rate right around the time her husband suffered a massive stroke, and she quickly fell behind in her payments. Without his earnings, her monthly income is just $2,200 in Social Security and her monthly mortgage is $2,568.

Mitchell filed for bankruptcy, tried getting assistance from every social service agency she could think of, spent two years trying to get a loan modification and even offered to rent out rooms to boarders if the bank would just let her keep her house.

“My husband wants to die at home, at our home,” she says. Her home is set to be auctioned on Oct. 28 and she has no place to go.

Why is she going to participate in the demonstration?

“I need them [the bank] to look me in the eye and tell me why they think it’s better to put people out in the street,” she said. “They haven’t done their share to help. They don’t even give you a chance … all they do is lose your paperwork and make you send it over and over again. Each time you talk to somebody, you get a different answer.”

Those are sentiments shared by many.

LeeAnn Hall, executive director of Alliance for a Just Society and one of the organizational members of The New Bottom Line, said the Seattle area protests will be staged both in downtown Seattle and at the annual policy summit meeting of the Association of Washington Business, a statewide chamber of commerce. The meeting is being held in Suncadia, a mountain resort near Cle Elum, Wash. The governor is expected to attend the meeting and Hall said that the group hopes to engage her.

Subsequent demonstrations are planned across the country in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and other locations.

The New Bottom Line said that it is targeting “big banks that bankrupted the country and drained wealth from American families.” The direct actions primarily target JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, and include taking over bank buildings, meetings of corporate officials, civil disobedience, prayer vigils and mass mobilizations.

“We are struggling with less and less, while the big banks profit more and more,” said George Goehl, executive director of National People’s Action, another organizational member of The New Bottom Line. “The big banks have done nothing but dodge taxes, throw people out of their homes and choke small business, all the while draining our wealth to pad their bottom line. It’s time for JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo to pay us back.”

According to a press statement, the group’s goals are that banks:

o. Pay their fair share of taxes — their statutorily required 35 percent corporate income tax and not “game” the system through off-shore tax shelters and loopholes.

o. Stabilize the housing market and revitalize the economy by reducing principal for all underwater homeowners to current-market value. “This would end the foreclosure crisis, reset the housing market, pump billions of dollars back into the economy and create one million jobs a year,” the group says.

o. Invest in American jobs by using their trillions of dollars in cash reserves to invest in small businesses — the main source of jobs in the U.S. — and other job-generating investments.

Also see: Viewpoint: What’s Behind Banks’ Big Foreclosure Push? 101-Year-Old Foreclosure Victim to Get Home Back Woman Faces Foreclosure on Home She Bought for $1

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Find rentals in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/09/19/foreclosure-victims-plan-protests-across-u-s/

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Filed under: News, Advice, Buying, Investing, Selling

Give it to central Indiana real estate agent Jeanne Clarkson for thinking outside the lockbox. The former eBay power seller has packaged three buildings and posted them to the popular online site where the public can buy just about everything — including, thanks to her, a bank building in the town of Anderson, Ind.

Clarkson (pictured) told AOL Real Estate that she’s sold $6 million in commercial real estate using eBay’s classifieds section, and is frankly a little surprised that other agents haven’t caught on to the idea. Right now, she’s got a package on the site priced at $4.5 million that includes a good portion of Anderson’s skyline: the First Merchants Bank building (pictured below), the Union Building (shown above) and a property at 11th and Jackson streets; she already sold the Union Building once using eBay. While there’s plenty of real estate being auctioned on eBay, her listings appear under eBay’s classifieds section.

Clarkson, who is the broker of Elan Real Estate Inc., told WRTV Indianapolis that it’s important to use technology in marketing real estate. She said she’s already heard from people around the world on this listing. Her client is a California investor.

And we suppose if eBay fails, she could always try Craigslist.

Also see: Realtors’ Latest Challenge: A Surge of Squatters Low Refi Rates Are Great, But Not for Everyone How to Buy Foreclosures VIDEO: All About Short Sales

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Find rentals in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/09/06/agents-commercial-property-sale-on-ebay-includes-a-bank/

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By: Ricardo E. Calderón© Eagle Pass High School Principal Rudy Bowles announced the top 25 graduates of the Class of 2012 at the Eagle Pass High School Top 5% Recognition Banquet held at the City of Eagle Pass International Center for Trade on Wednesday, May 9, 2012. The 2012 Eagle Pass High School Valedictorian is Alvaro Leonel Morales with a GPA of 103.28 and the Salutatorian is Federico Salinas with a GPA of 101.93. The…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EaglePassBusinessJournal/~3/jR8IcsJ9P38/

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Filed under: Advice, Financing, Credit

By Ismat Sarah Mangla, Money Magazine

Finding an affordable house is no longer a problem but qualifying for a mortgage can be. Here are six tips to getting a mortgage and a good rate.

1. Put your credit on ice.

The higher your credit score, the lower your rate: The best rates go to those with a 760 or more, says credit-score expert John Ulzheimer.

So keep that plastic in your wallet (and don’t apply for new cards or other loans) for at least three months before you go loan shopping. One large balance — even if it’s paid off at the end of the month — can ding your score by 20 points or more.

2. Ask for time.

Most sales contracts give you only 10 days to nab a loan or the seller can move on. Negotiate for an additional five to 10 days to give you some room to shop around.

3. Get at least six quotes.

Rates on a 30-year fixed conforming loan can vary at least as much as a quarter of a percentage point. Get quotes from national lenders at mortgagemarvel.com and find out what your local credit union or regional bank is offering as well. Inquire about fees; while lenders aren’t required to give you a good-faith estimate of closing costs (which average 2 percent of the loan balance) until you actually apply, some will provide it if you ask.

4. Match the lock period to the loan.

You now need 60 days or more to close a loan, says Wharton professor and mortgage expert Jack Guttentag of mtgprofessor.com, and getting an extension on a lock will cost at least a couple of hundred dollars. Ask your lender how long it’s taking to close loans like yours — and don’t lock for less.

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5. Opt for an ARM.

If you know you’re not going to be in a house for more than seven years, adjustable-rate mortgages can mean big savings, says Guttentag. The monthly payment on a $300,000, seven-year ARM at the recent rate of 3.23 percent is $1,302, vs. $1,455 for a 30-year fixed at 4.13 percent.

6. Talk to a broker.

Those who need a jumbo loan or have an unusual situation (say, you’re self-employed) will get the best deal from a mortgage broker who has access to and experience with a lot of lenders. Find a fee-only one at upfrontmortgagebrokers.org.

Read more on CNNMoney: Best deal on remodeling America’s cleanest cities It’s safe to sell your home again

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/04/30/6-ways-to-get-a-great-mortgage-deal/

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Filed under: News, Advice, Financing, Refinancing

There’s a surprising new finding that says women get lousier mortgage rates than men, but not because of gender discrimination. It’s because instead of shopping around for cheaper loans, they rely on the recommendations of friends.

To recap: When it comes to mortgages, women don’t shop enough.

The report published in the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics set out to explain why women were 32 percent more likely to get a subprime mortgage than men in a 2006 study. According to a team of researchers led by Florida Atlantic University’s Ping Cheng, the answer wasn’t discrimination because of gender or even income disparities.

Women pay higher rates because they are more likely to listen to friends’ recommendations, whereas men are more likely to shop around for the best deal.

“Our empirical test confirms that search effort is rewarded in marketplace, and suggests that gender disparity in mortgage rates may be addressed by policies aimed at improving women’s financial literacy and search skills,” the report summarizes.

It makes sense to Daily Finance columnist Laura Rowley. “It’s not surprising, because mortgage shopping can be incredibly complex, so we look to people we can trust to help make the decision,” says Rowley. “But this is one area where you don’t want to get by with a little help from your friends.”

Instead, she advises, call two mortgage brokers and a direct lender, preferably a local small or mid-size bank, and try the following script: “Hi, my name is ____ and I’m in the market to buy a $____ house, and I’m going to put down ____ percent. I’m getting three written estimates, and then I’m going to choose. Can you email me a cost-estimate worksheet stating all the fees and the interest rate?”

Be sure to get the estimates on the same day, as rates can change quickly. Also, don’t ask for rates and fees by phone; unscrupulous brokers will simply low-ball their estimate to get you in the door, says Rowley.

For more tips on shopping for a mortgage, see these AOL Real Estate guides:

How Much Can You Afford [Video] How to Get a Low Mortgage Rate Mortgage Jargon in Simple Terms

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/18/when-it-comes-to-mortgages-women-dont-shop-enough/

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Filed under: News, Advice, Financing

Pay more now for a chance to save much more later? That’s the idea behind paying “points” on a mortgage loan. But it doesn’t necessarily make sense for every homeowner.

Mortgage points provide an opportunity for borrowers to lower their monthly mortgage payments by paying a lump sum at a loan’s closing in exchange for a lower mortgage interest rate over the course of a loan.

Mortgage points are a smart option for borrowers who plan to stay in the same mortgage and not refinance for a relatively long period of time. But points are not recommended for borrowers who are likely to relocate or refinance in the not-so-distant future.

Borrowers pay points in order to lower their mortgage interest rates by a certain amount. The cost of one point is equal to one percent of the mortgage amount. In the case of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, paying one point will typically lower your interest rate by somewhere around one eighth of a percent, according to Tim Dwyer, chief executive officer of Entitle Direct, a title insurance company.

So if borrower A paid one point on a $200,000 mortgage with what would have been a 4 percent interest rate, she would lower her interest rate to 3.875 percent (4 percent — 1/8th percent) for the cost of $2,000.

A good way of looking at points is to view them as an investment that “yields a return for the longer you stay in your house,” mortgage expert Jack Guttentag writes.

If Borrower A stays in the same mortgage for only a few years before selling her home or refinancing, she may end up not saving enough in monthly payments to justify paying the $2,000 upfront. But if she stays in the mortgage for a longer period of time, she eventually breaks even on her investment and enjoys saving money every month from there on out.

“If the points are reasonable, I want to pay that upfront and enjoy the interest rate savings over 10 years because I know I’m not going to refinance,” Dwyer says. But if “you’re a young couple” and “you know you’re going to have more babies, you know you’re going to be moving out,” then you should avoid paying points.

Banks may offer 10 or more point combinations on any given loan, Guttentag writes, and borrowers often don’t end up selecting the option that aligns most with their interests, simply out of ignorance. You can use a point calculator to find out how long it would take to break even using different point combinations.

In a perfect world, borrowers would pay points only if it benefited them in the long run. But, in fact, many borrowers pay points out of necessity. Why?

Lenders will only allow borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments to equal up to a certain percentage of their monthly income. Often they will only approve loans for borrowers whose monthly mortgage payments would not exceed 28 percent of a borrower’s monthly income.

Paying points allows a borrower who otherwise wouldn’t qualify for a loan because of income limitations to lower his or her monthly payment to the extent that the bank is willing to make the loan.

Some banks offer “negative points,” a rebate paid by lenders toward a borrower’s closing costs. “Negative points” lower closing costs for a mortgage, but raise its monthly interest rate. They can be a good option for borrowers who are hard-pressed to cover closing costs with zero points or who intend on moving or refinancing in a few years.

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See also: Mortgage Jargon in Simple Terms Real Estate Terms and What They Mean Don’t Be Surprised by Expenses of Homeownship

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/05/16/mortgage-points-pay-more-upfront-to-lower-your-interest-rate/

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When it comes to finding a contractor mortgage, there are some tips that will help you be successful. There is no need to have three years on your books or to be earning thousands a month to gain that home loan you are looking for, but you do need to have patience. The first tip [...]

Source: http://www.brothernwla.org/contractor-mortgages-tips/

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Filed under: News, Financing, Refinancing

The refinancing market is hot right now. Last week, applications were up by more than 10 percent.

But even if you can get approved by a lender–which is no easy task these days–that doesn’t mean you should take whatever deal the bank offers you.

“Today Show” real estate expert Barbara Corcoran has some strong advice, particularly when it comes to avoiding extra charges at closing time.

In the video below, she explains the importance of the good faith estimate, whether it’s worth using a mortgage broker and how to research potential lenders.

But the best thing you can do to protect yourself against unpleasant surprises, she says, is “bring a pushy friend with you who’s going to ask the important questions that you yourself might not ask.”

To which we say, Hey Barbara, want to come with us to meet our lender next Tuesday?

Also see: Barbara Corcoran: Queen of NYC Real Estate Tells All

More great videos from AOL Real Estate: Understanding Home Mortgages Negotiating Strategies for Home Buyers

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Get property tax help from our experts.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/14/barbara-corcoran-on-refinancing-dos-and-donts/

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Filed under: Home Equity

After 18 years, Kate Hoy of Phoenix was sick of her career as sales representative for company that sold electrical and mechanical components. She was ready for change. But the single mother didn’t have a spouse’s second income to help her through a transition period. So to help explore the options, Hoy, 48, took out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) for $50,000 while she still had a steady income. Unlike a traditional home

After 18 years, Kate Hoy of Phoenix was sick of her career as sales representative for company that sold electrical and mechanical components. She was ready for change.

But the single mother didn’t have a spouse’s second income to help her through a transition period. So to help explore the options, Hoy, 48, took out a home equity line of credit (HELOC) for $50,000 while she still had a steady income. Unlike a traditional home equity loan, which is a one-time lump sum loan usually at a fixed rate, a HELOC is tapped only when bills are paid, like the line of credit on a credit card. With a HELOC, the interest rate fluctuates month to month.

What also made a HELOC attractive to Hoy was she was able to finance her life change without knowing exactly where she was headed. Most school loans were not an option due to Hoy’s income at the time she opened her HELOC.

She soon began attending night classes at Scottsdale Community College. The film program caught her interest, and she became a full-time student in fall 2005, graduating with a motion picture and television associate’s degree in 2008.

“I opted to go to school full-time, and the loan made it possible,” says Hoy. “I couldn’t have made a better decision.”

Now Hoy is a multimedia video producer for Arizona Department of Health Services E-Learning Team and building her own production business on the side.

Despite the housing slump, home equity loans remain a popular option for paying education costs, since the interest is tax deductible and “the rates are unbelievably low,” says Hoy, whose rate adjusts monthly between 3 percent and 4 percent. Still, some families are not comfortable putting their home at risk to foot the bill for college or grad school.

Another concern is that the interest rates on most home equity loans and lines of credit are higher than the rates on federal loan programs such as a Stafford or PLUS loan. However, home equity rates are generally lower than those on most private education loans.

Lastly, using a home equity loan to pay for college will lower a student’s eligibility for financial aid, since proceeds from a home equity loan that aren’t used for tuition will be factored into the need-analysis formula. Opening a home equity line of credit eliminates this concern because the line of credit is tapped only when paying bills.

As with any other loan for education, it is important to reconsider all costs. Hoy has 10 years to repay her HELOC, which she says is currently tapped out. Though her current income hasn’t yet caught up to what it was in her previous career, she is confident she will be able to pay off the loan with her new vocation. But the educational experience her home equity loan provided is priceless.

“I had never gone to school full-time before, I had always worked,” says Hoy, clearly pleased by her accomplishment. “It was awesome.”

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/12/09/home-equity-loan-equals-affordable-education/

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The average price per square foot has gone up 9.6% on Single Family Homes in Coral Gables from October 2011 to now. That’s a good sign for the Gables Market. If you would like to sell your house, call the Restivo Team today. We will give you a FREE home valuation. We know we can [...]

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Filed under: Home Equity

You may not realize that if you want to tap the equity in your home you have two types of loans to choose from: an equity line of credit or equity loan. The most popular is the home equity line of credit. It’s commonly a variable-rate interest line of credit on which you pay just the interest over a term of 10 or 15 years. At the end of the term you have what is

You may not realize that if you want to tap the equity in your home you have two types of loans to choose from: an equity line of credit or equity loan.

The most popular is the home equity line of credit. It’s commonly a variable-rate interest line of credit on which you pay just the interest over a term of 10 or 15 years. At the end of the term you have what is called a balloon payment that you can either pay off with cash or refinance into a new loan or line of credit. You also can pay off and reuse this credit throughout the life of the loan.

The more traditional type of equity loan is a fixed-rate second mortgage on which you pay both interest and principal, with the intent of repaying the loan in full at the end of the loan’s term. That can be 10, 15 or 20 years. When the loan is paid off you cannot reuse if for another project. instead you apply for a new loan. Interest rates on these types of loans are usually higher because they are guaranteed fixed-rate loans.

Traditional second mortgages are more commonly used for a onetime project, such as an addition to your home. The advantage is that your payment on this loan includes principal and interest, so you know the loan will be paid off at the end of the term and you won’t be stuck with a balloon payment.

You can avoid a balloon payment with an equity line of credit — as long as you pay both principal and interest through the life of the loan and the principal amount you choose to pay will be enough to pay down the loan in full.

The costs for an equity line of credit or an equity loan are similar to those for a first mortgage. Sometimes banks offer to pay some of these costs for you as part of a promotion. But, either way, when tapping equity in your home someone will have to pay:

• A fee for a property appraisal to estimate the value of your home;
• An application fee and credit check;
• Points, if required.
• Closing costs, including fees for attorneys, title search, mortgage preparation and filing, property and title insurance and taxes.

Before you even consider taking out an equity line or a loan, be sure you know how you’ll pay it back. You put your home at risk when you tap it’s equity because the house is collateral for the loan. If you don’t make your payments on time the bank can foreclose on the property. That’s why it’s best to think twice if you’re tapping the equity loan to pay off unsecured debt, such as credit cards. While a credit card company can’t foreclose on your house, a company holding your mortgage can.

Also, if you use an equity line of credit with a variable-rate loan, remember that interest can go up and probably will in the next few years, as the economy recovers and the Federal Reserve again worries about inflation.

When the Federal Reserve starts raising interest rates, the interest rate on a variable-rate equity line of credit will increase. Be sure you can pay the higher interest rate even before you take the loan, so you don’t put your home at risk.

Lita Epstein has written more than 25 books including “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Personal Bankruptcy” and “The Complete idiot’s Guide to Improving Your Credit Score.”

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/12/09/tapping-your-homes-equity-line-or-loan/

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We’ve been told that neutral colors appeal to the widest base of potential buyers.  And for the most part, that’s true  (especially when the neutral colors are combined with warm accent pieces) …   The idea isn’t just to have a blank canvas , but to have some warmth and intrigue as well. Splashes of color in accent pieces (piece of [...]

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Filed under: News, Foreclosures

California expanded its $2 billion program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure to those with second homes as well.

The California Housing Finance Agency established the four Keep Your Home programs using money from the Treasury Department’s $7.6 billion Hardest Hit Fund. Before, borrowers were restricted from modifications, unemployment funds, relocation assistance and even principal reductions if they had a second home.

Officials eliminated the exclusion, because they said many homeowners are co-signers on a second home or are underwater on their first property.

Other changes to the programs include allowing borrowers to take advantage of principal reduction offers even if they completed a cash-out refinance in the past, which many Californians did during the boom.

Read the full story at HousingWire.

See also: How Much Down Payment Do Homebuyers Need? No-Money-Down Mortgage Can Still Be Found in Small Towns New Credit Score Will Tell Lenders More About You Viewpoint: Obama’s Drop-in-the-Bucket Idea for Housing

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Get property tax help from our experts.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/11/second-home-owners-eligible-for-mortgage-help/

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Filed under: News, Foreclosures, Refinancing

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is aiming mortgage relief at members of the military as well as homeowners with government-insured loans, the administration’s latest efforts to address a persistent housing crisis.

In his first full news conference of the year Tuesday, Obama was to announce plans to let borrowers with mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration refinance at lower rates, saving the average homeowner more than $1,000 a year. Obama also was detailing an agreement with major lenders to compensate service members and veterans who were wrongfully foreclosed upon or denied lower interest rates.

A senior administration official described Obama’s proposals to The Associated Press, ahead of the announcement, on the condition of anonymity.

The efforts Obama is announcing do not require congressional approval and are limited in comparison with the vast expansion of government assistance to homeowners that he asked Congress to approve last month. That $5 billion to $10 billion plan would make it easier for more borrowers with burdensome mortgages to refinance their loans.

Lower Refinancing Fee

Under the housing plans that Obama was to announce Tuesday, FHA-insured borrowers would be able to refinance their loans at half the fee that the FHA currently charges. FHA borrowers who want to refinance now must pay a fee of 1.15 percent of their balance every year. Officials say those fees make refinancing unappealing to many borrowers. The new plan will reduce that charge to 0.55 percent. #mini_module { width: 265px; height:220px; border: none; float:left; margin:10px; font-size:12px;} #mini_module img {border:none; width: 265px; height:131px; border: none; margin:0px; } #mini_module .mini_title { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:265px; height:131px;} #mini_module .mini_main { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:265px; height:85px; background: transparent url(http://www.aolcdn.com/travel/bg-short)} #mini_module .mini_item {padding:12px 0px; margin: 0px 20px; border-bottom:1px dotted #CCCCCC;} #mini_module a { color: #49A3CA; text-decoration:none; } #mini_module a:hover { color: #F98419; text-decoration:underline;}

With mortgage rates at about 4 percent, the administration estimates a typical FHA borrower with $175,000 still owed on a home could reduce monthly payments to $915 a month and save $100 a month more than the borrower would have under current FHA fees.

Though 2 million to 3 million borrowers would be eligible, the administration official would not speculate how many would actually seek to benefit from the program. The FHA provides mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders throughout the United States and its territories. The loans typically go to homeowners who do not have enough equity to qualify for standard mortgages. It is the largest insurer of mortgages in the world.

Review of Vets’ Foreclosures

For service members and veterans, Obama will announce that major lenders will review foreclosures to determine whether they were done properly. If wrongly foreclosed upon, service members and veterans would be paid their lost equity and also be entitled to an additional $116,785 in compensation. That was a figure reached through an agreement with major lenders by the federal government and 49 state attorneys general.

Under the agreement, the lenders also would compensate service members who lost value in their homes when they were forced to sell them due to a military reassignment.

Obama is holding the news conference in the midst of a modestly improving economy. But international challenges as well as a stubbornly depressed housing market remain threats to the current recovery and to his presidency.

Obama has not held a full news conference since November. The White House scheduled this one on the same day as the 10-state Super Tuesday Republican presidential nominating contests. While aides insisted the timing was coincidental, it follows a pattern of Obama seeking the limelight when the attention is on the GOP.

The news conference comes amid a new sense of optimism at the White House. Obama’s public approval ratings have inched up close to 50 percent. The president recently won an extension of a payroll tax cut that was a main element of his jobs plan for 2012. Economic signals suggest a recovery that is taking hold.

Still, he will probably face questions about the pace of the recovery. The unemployment rate in January was 8.3 percent, the highest it has been in an election year since the Great Depression. With rising gasoline prices threatening to slow the economy, Obama has also faced attacks from Republicans over his energy policy.

Iran’s nuclear ambitions will also command attention in the aftermath of his meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Tension over Iran has already contributed to higher oil prices, and Israel’s threats of pre-emptive military strikes to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear bomb have dominated Washington discourse for weeks.

Other developments in the Middle East, where turmoil has soured some of the promise of last year’s Arab Spring, are also likely to be addressed. Syria’s bloody crackdown on protesters has increased pressure on Obama to intervene. Republican Sen. John McCain on Monday urged the United States to launch airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime to force him out of power.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Also see: Only 5% of Underwater Homes May Qualify for Write-Downs REO to Rental: Fannie Mae Dips Further Into Foreclosure Pool

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Filed under: News, Buying, Economy, Selling

WASHINGTON — Home prices dropped in nearly three quarters of U.S. cities over the summer, dragged down by a decline in buyer interest and a high number of foreclosures.

The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that the median price for previously occupied homes fell in the July-September quarter in 111 out of 150 metropolitan areas tracked by the group. Prices are compared with the same quarter from the previous year.

Fourteen cities had double-digit declines. The median price in Mobile, Ala. dropped 17.7 percent, the largest of all declines. Phoenix and Allentown, Pa., Atlanta, Las Vegas and Miami also experienced steep declines.

Eight cities saw double-digit price increases. The largest was in Grand Rapids, Mich., where the median price rose 23.7 percent. South Bend, Ind., Palm Bay, Fla., and Youngstown, Ohio, also saw large price increases. #mini_module { width: 265px; height:220px; border: none; float:left; margin:10px; font-size:12px;} #mini_module img {border:none; width: 265px; height:131px; border: none; margin:0px; } #mini_module .mini_title { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:265px; height:131px;} #mini_module .mini_main { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:265px; height:85px; background: transparent url(http://www.aolcdn.com/travel/bg-short)} #mini_module .mini_item {padding:12px 0px; margin: 0px 20px; border-bottom:1px dotted #CCCCCC;} #mini_module a { color: #49A3CA; text-decoration:none; } #mini_module a:hover { color: #F98419; text-decoration:underline;}

The national median home price was $169,500 in the third quarter, down 4.7 percent from the same period last year.

Most analysts say that prices will sink further because unemployment remains high and millions of foreclosures are expected to come onto the market over the next few years.

Sales of previously occupied homes dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million in the third quarter, slightly ahead of last year’s pace for the same period. Sales were lower than usual for the summer season last year because a federal tax credit inspired more buying in the spring.

This year, sales are on pace to finish behind last year’s total, which was the lowest in 13 years.

Sales are low even though the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgages is hovering near 4 percent.

Regionally, the median home price in the Midwest fell 2.2 percent to $142,300 in the quarter from the year before, even as sales activity jumped 25 percent. In the South, the median price also slid 2.2 percent to $153,200 and home sales increased 15.5 percent.

The Northeast’s median home price dipped 6.5 percent during the period to $236,700, as sales rose from the previous year by 11.6 percent. The median home price in the West dropped by 9 percent to $205,700 in the third quarter from a year ago. Sales there increased 16.7 percent.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Also see: Where Are the Real Home Bargains? Not Where You Think! Mortgage Rates Stay Low, But Homebuyers Aren’t Budging Top 10 Cities For Military Retirement

%Gallery-138464%

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/10/home-prices-drop-in-nearly-3-4-of-u-s-cities/

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Filed under: News, Financing

WASHINGTON — The government regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has submitted a plan to Congress that would shrink the mortgage giants’ roles in the housing market.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s proposal for a leaner Fannie and Freddie was released Tuesday and would mean fewer mortgages are backed by the government. That could make buying a home more expensive because it would lead to higher interest rates.

Under the plan, Fannie and Freddie could also increase its prices to guarantee loans and establish agreements with private investors to take on added credit risk.

The Obama administration last year laid out three options to wind down the government’s support for the mortgage market slowly. Rather than making a single recommendation, the administration left the decision to Congress.

Fannie and Freddie buy mortgage loans from primary lenders, pool them, and sell them with a guarantee that investors will be paid even if borrowers default. The agencies have helped people buy homes at affordable interest rates.

The Risk of Drastic Action

But the two nearly collapsed in 2008, after the subprime mortgage market collapsed and defaults and foreclosures piled up. The government seized them in September 2008.

The bailouts of Fannie and Freddie have so far cost taxpayers roughly $150 billion, and that figure continues to grow. Republicans have called for Fannie and Freddie to be abolished, and have largely blamed the two for leading the country into the 2008 financial crisis.

But there is a growing recognition that drastic action would upend the housing finance system, threatening the broader economy.

Since they were taken over by the government, Fannie and Freddie have bought or guaranteed about 3 out of every 4 mortgages in the United States and more than 10 million Americans have refinanced Fannie- and Freddie-backed mortgages.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

%Gallery-147919% Also see: Home Affordability at Record High, Builders’ Report Says Bank Sold Your Loan? Mortgage Settlement May Deal You Out Foreclosed Homeowners Get More Time to Request a Review

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/02/22/fhfa-could-shrink-role-of-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac/

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Filed under: News, Advice, How To, Credit

It’s a Catch-22 if ever there was one. The very process of shopping around for a low interest rate on a mortgage can adversely impact your credit score and cost you your eligibility for the cheaper loan you’re seeking.

Each time a lender does what is known as a “hard pull” on your credit report, their action actually shaves a few points off your score. A lower credit score means a higher mortgage rate. (You can check your own score 500 times a day and it won’t matter. A hard pull is when a third party checks your score with the intent of extending you credit.)

With lenders tightening the noose, credit scores have become a matter of great concern for home buyers struggling to qualify for loans. Getting a favorable loan rate can mean saving hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of the loan, so the idea that just in the course of loan-shopping you are doing yourself financial damage is logic-defying. But it’s true.

The one break you can get is to do all your loan shopping within a two-week window. All checks done within this period will count as one — and drop your credit score by just two to five points. But step outside that window, and each hard pull of your credit will cost you two to five points. Shop among eight lenders and you could see your scores drop by 40 points — a drop that takes at least six months to recover from.

Tracy Becker, a national credit-score specialist located in New York’s Hudson Valley and founder of the 20-year-old North Shore Advisory, offers these tips:

1. Don’t open or close any credit accounts for three months prior to applying for a loan.

Yes, you read that right: Closing a credit account hurts just as much as opening a new one. Even the act of ending your car lease will cost you up to 60 points on your credit score.

Somewhere, some place, some analyst determined that one of the symptoms of a person about to go into default was that they began to close credit accounts. Well, duh. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when you find yourself overextended? Apparently the credit scorekeepers lump the financially solvent in with the defaulters’ profile. So if your car lease is about to expire, extend it for three months while you loan shop, says Becker. And don’t apply to increase your credit limits on any cards or take out any new ones.

2. Don’t apply for a loan until you have a signed contract to buy a house and then do an intense day of loan-shopping.

The idea is to have all your hard pulls done within the 14-day window. One obvious problem is that not all home deals come to fruition. Estimates are that about 35 percent of open escrows fall apart. That means that those 35 percent of buyers will likely be back out there looking for another home and another home loan. And when they find it, their earlier efforts could work against them. The one glimmer of reasonableness here is that if you return within 90 days to the initial lender you approached, they will consider the credit score they pulled on that first go-round.

Becker had a client about a year ago who wanted to refinance his Long Island home. Not knowing the rules, he shopped for a loan about 30 times over a five-month period. He also went shopping for a car loan, got a credit card limit increase and was looking for a student loan for his daughter. The result: His credit score dropped 40 points and he couldn’t get the mortgage loan he wanted, at a cost to him of an extra $600 a month.

Another of her clients had a credit score of 722 when he started looking to refinance his home. But he went out and bought a car, dropping his score by four points. Once under the credit threshold of 720, the refi application was denied. “Ultimately he paid down some balances and got back the extra points, but it was a lot of stress, a lot of paperwork and two-and-a-half months to get the loan he wanted,” says Becker.

3. Don’t let your balances exceed more than 10 percent of your available credit for at least three months, and pay your bills on time.

Getting a home loan these days is hard for everyone, and near impossible for those who have bad credit. Becker says to keep your balances below 10 percent of your available credit for at least three months prior to applying. That means if you have a credit card with a ceiling of $10,000, don’t let the balance exceed $1,000. And since the credit reporting bureaus don’t update their sites daily, you need to allow for a three-month delay.

FICO last month released information about how easily even a single unpaid bill can wreak havoc with your credit score. If you have a score of 780 and are 30 days late on your mortgage, your score will drop to 670 and it will take you three years to recover it. (Obviously, the F in FICO doesn’t stand for Forgiveness.)

Credit consultant and head of New Start Financial Corp. Wayne Sanford — a.k.a. “Wayne the Credit Guy” — says that credit scores are just part of the equation.

He recently worked with a Texas family trying to buy a $330,000 home in Plano. The couple was ready to put $150,000 on the purchase and had scores of 690 and 740 between them. Yet the loan was flagged because a well-known national furniture store had marked their account as having a “consumer dispute.” It was a computer error; the account had never been disputed and had in fact been paid in full on time and was closed. Nevertheless, it held up their loan and they almost lost their house deal.

Sanford advises running regular checks on your credit–which, by the way, won’t impact your scores.

For more on credit scores and related topics, see these AOL Real Estate guides:

• How to Keep Your Credit Score Stable
• Disputing Credit Report Errors
• How to Get a Home Loan With Bad Credit

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Get property tax help from our experts.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/05/19/credit-score-catch-22-shopping-for-a-mortgage-can-raise-your-ra/

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The average price per square foot has gone up 9.6% on Single Family Homes in Coral Gables from October 2011 to now. That’s a good sign for the Gables Market. If you would like to sell your house, call the Restivo Team today. We will give you a FREE home valuation. We know we can [...]

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The recent recession and housing bubble has left plenty of people in foreclosure or otherwise struggling to stay afloat financially.  Anything from a missed credit card payment to a mortgage modification to losing your home altogether can be disastrous to your credit score, and it will take time to bounce back, but it can be [...]

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Filed under: News, Home Improvement, How To

If you’re trying to sell your house, the first thing a Realtor will tell you is to break out the paint roller. A fresh coat of paint is the quickest and least expensive way to lighten, brighten and perk up a home’s interior. It’s also a job you can tackle yourself–if you do it right. In today’s “DIY Diagnosis,” our friend Brie Dyas at DIYLife tells you how to paint a room for great results.

The arrival of a new season always triggers a need to change up the wall colors in my home. And when I want a change, I want one now. But when it comes to painting a room, it’s easy to get swept up in getting the job done instead of getting the job done right. Here’s a handy list of common problems that can come up, why they did and how you can stop ‘em.

- A dark hue looks faded. This happens when you paint over a light color with darker one. To prevent this from happening, apply a gray-tinted primer coat in between. This will stop the lighter hue from bleeding through the bolder one, and will create a neutral base that’ll let bold hues look their best.

– A random shiny spot appears a week after painting. When a flat paint is applied to a high-traffic area, a glossy spot can appear where hands (or a sponge) frequently comes in contact with the painted surface, rubbing off the matte finish. So, when it comes to high-traffic areas where you know you’ll have to do some cleaning, go for a semi-gloss.

For the rest of the tips, read the full story at DIYLife.

Want more interior painting advice? These AOL Real Estate guides can help:

• Painting Tips for Home Staging
• Top Tips for Interior Painting Projects
• Sell Your Home With These Paint Colors

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Get property tax help from our experts.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/06/07/selling-your-house-get-out-the-paint-roller/

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Filed under: News, Economy, Foreclosures, Credit

Did the voices of the housing crisis just get swallowed up by the anti-Wall Street protests? Marches, sit-ins and confrontations with police – all part of the Occupy Wall St. movement that organizers say was birthed organically and fed through social media outlets — are happening in major cities across the country. Without question, windows across America have opened and, just like in the movie “Network,” people are shouting “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”

The only problem is that homeowners caught in the foreclosure crisis also stuck their heads out those windows and save for a fleeting few seconds, the take-to-the-streets protests have ignored them in favor of taking corporate greed to task. Nowhere on the main Occupy Wall St. website is housing even mentioned. (Pictured above are protesters in Los Angeles.)

Before you accuse us of wearing blinders, it’s worth noting that just a few weeks ago, a coalition of community groups called The New Bottom Line organized a nationwide 10-city protest aimed at stopping foreclosures, demanding that banks reduce principal loan amounts of all underwater mortgages and that Wall Street stop hoarding the trillions of dollars it got in stimulus money and start funding small business’ efforts to create jobs. Hallelujah to that, we say.

Seeing commonality with the Occupy Wall St. troops, The New Bottom Line demonstrators have joined forces with the faster-spreading Occupiers. The New Bottom Line co-director Tracy Van Slyke says that the excitement generated by the larger protests taking place will transfer energy — over time — to relief for housing. Let’s hope so. The millions of displaced families who lost their homes to foreclosures deserve a voice shouting on their behalf.

Where The New Bottom Line had been focused on the housing struggles facing the lower and middle class, Occupy appeals to a younger demographic — those hard hit by rising unemployment and emotionally about as far away from losing a family home to foreclosure as you can likely be.

About all they have in common is anger, which ultimately may be enough.

Also see: Foreclosed Homeowner ‘Booby-Traps’ Home Realtors’ Latest Challenge: A Surge of Squatters Foreclosure Rescue Scammers Busier — and Trickier — Than Ever

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/10/05/viewpoint-wheres-housing-in-the-occupy-protests/

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Filed under: News, Economy

WASHINGTON — The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday showed that prices dropped in January from December in 16 of 19 cities tracked.

The steepest declines were in San Francisco, Atlanta and Portland. Prices increased in Miami, Phoenix and Washington. Price information for Charlotte was delayed and therefore not included in the report.

The declines partly reflect typical offseason sales. The month-over-month data are not adjusted for seasonal factors.

Still, prices fell in 17 of the 20 cities in January compared to the same month in 2011. The group’s nationwide index of prices has fallen 34 percent since the housing bust and is now at 2002 levels.

The continued drop in prices suggests the housing market remains weak, even after the best winter for home sales in five years and steady improvement in the job market.

“Despite some positive economic signs, home prices continued to drop,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P’s index committee.

Eight cities — Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New York, Portland, Seattle and Tampa, Fla. — are now back at 2000 levels or earlier. Only Denver, Detroit and Phoenix posted year-over-year increases.

Analysts were quick to note that prices are expected to rise modestly throughout much of 2012.

%Gallery-150807% “It’s going to be tempting to look at home price declines and see a still-faltering housing recovery, but that’s just not the case,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist for housing website Zillow.com. “The reality is that home prices and home sales will be moving” higher.

The Case-Shiller monthly index covers half of all U.S. homes. It measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The January data are the latest available.

Some economists say sales increases could stop prices from falling further by early spring. Home prices tend to follow sales by about six months. When sales rise, prices rise, too, and an increase in prices would likely create a positive cycle.

Homes are the most affordable they’ve been in decades. And mortgage rates are just above record lows.

The job market is also getting stronger. The economy has added an average of 245,000 jobs per month from December through February. The unemployment rate has fallen to 8.3 percent, the lowest in three years.

Conditions are improving for those in position to buy a home. Still, many people can’t afford to buy or are unable to qualify for mortgage. Some people in position to buy are holding off, worried that prices could fall even further.

The biggest reason why prices are still falling is foreclosures, which are still high across the country. Foreclosures and short sales — when a lender accepts less for a home than what is owed on a mortgage — are selling at an average discount of 20 percent.

Foreclosure activity surged in February across half of U.S. states. The pace of foreclosures is increasing after all 50 U.S. states reached a $25 billion settlement last month with the nation’s five biggest mortgage lenders over foreclosure abuses. Many foreclosures had been stuck in limbo as the 16-month government investigation into foreclosure paperwork problems dragged on.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

See also: First-Time Homebuyer’s Guide How to Shop for Your First Home How to Price a Home to Sell Fas

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.

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Filed under: News, Advice, Buying, Economy, Lifestyle

Pearl and Bud Crispell hit the road in their RV the day after they retired in 1976. And for decades, that’s where they stayed, living in their 40-foot motor home and traversing the country at will.

But, as is the eventual story of all road warriors, the day came when they hit the proverbial dead end. Unable to manage some aspects of their life and care, living on fixed incomes and not wanting to become a burden to friends and relatives, the Crispells pulled in to the country’s only assisted-living RV Park, the Escapees Care Center in Livingston, Texas. The nonprofit adult day care and residency program, featured in a Columbia University News 21 profile, bills itself as a refuge for RVers whose travels are permanently ended because of age or temporarily interrupted because of an illness.

For a monthly fee of $824 per person, or $1,236 a couple, residents get a spot to park their wheeled homes; three meals a day, every day; two loads of laundry service a week; light housekeeping of their unit; transportation to medical appointments; and access to registered nurses on call 40 hours a week.

The Care Center also functions as a land-based community hub for the residents, providing daily activities, concerts, and a place to socialize. Not to mention a chance to get behind the wheel again: Last Father’s Day, residents competed in blind golf cart races. The drivers had to be legally blind or wear a blindfold while their sighted navigators yelled directions around an obstacle course of parking cones.

At 93 and 90, Pearl, a retired nurse, and Bud, a former IBM engineer, are not without age-related health issues. But her mind is “sharper than my husband wishes it was,” Pearl says. And she has no desire to trade the small confines of their RV for a bigger “land-based residence,” as Escapees call conventional houses. “We didn’t retire to entertain our family,” she says.

Right now the center’s 35 sites are all occupied, by vehicles ranging from minivans to 40-footers. Each unit has its own fresh water supply and a private septic system. While a few residents are in their 90s, most are in the mid- to late 80s, says Robert Brinton, the facility’s executive director and on-site manager. The center doesn’t have a waiting list or immediate plans to expand. Openings occur and there just always seems to be someone who wants it, he said.

%Gallery-137634% Brinton himself joined the Escapees RV Club in 2000 precisely because it has the Care Center. The 60,000-member strong club is founded on the “caring and sharing” principle, which appealed to him, Brinton says. Member donations built the Care Center, which has no mortgage and is thus able to keep expenses low.

The trend toward the “village” approach to aging in place is growing, says Nancy Thompson, senior media relations manager for AARP. She defines it as “co-housing” with a self-selected group of people who build a community together. It allows people to stay in their homes by providing easy access to services, especially transportation. Villages like this “are springing up all over the country,” she said.

Other co-housing units –also known as affinity communities — exist based on other shared commonalities. In Burbank, CA., the Burbank Senior Arts Colony is home to retired artists, musicians, actors and writers. The high-end Rainbow Vision in Santa Fe, N.M., is home to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents. In addition to its assisted living, it has a cabaret, an award-winning restaurant and a spa, reports AARP.

An AARP story notes that “With 3 million GLBT older Americans — a figure projected to nearly double by 2030 — and typically no adult children to care for them, such communities are expected to multiply.”

To watch a News 21 video featuring the Crispells, click here.

Also see: Baby Boomers Launch Remodeling Boom Rent Your Way to Retirement With a ‘Rental Mortgage’ Gay Housing Project Slated for Palm Springs

%Gallery-114282% More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Find rentals in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/10/28/happy-end-of-the-road-for-rvers-assisted-living-on-wheels/

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Filed under: News, Foreclosures, Credit

A Georgia homeowner was awarded $21 million in a lawsuit against one of the largest mortgage servicers in the nation. The homeowner, David Brash, a U.S. Army sergeant, claimed that PHH incorrectly reported his account as “seriously delinquent,” when payments had been made on time through automatic deductions from his paychecks. The hefty judgment, according to the plaintiff’s attorney, was necessary to get the mortgage servicer’s attention. Huffington Post Business reporter Yepoka Yeebo has the full story:

A federal jury has awarded a Georgia man more than $21 million in a lawsuit pitting the homeowner against one of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers.

U.S. Army sergeant David Brash was awarded the damages in March, after a Columbus, Ga., jury found that PHH Mortgage, the country’s eighth largest mortgage servicer, had incorrectly reported Brash to credit score companies as “seriously delinquent” despite the fact that all his mortgage payments had been automatically deducted from his paycheck.

According to court documents, Brash sent letters to the mortgage company that went unanswered, violating federal laws. When he called his mortgage company to find out why his payments were not going through, his attorneys said, he was repeatedly routed to overseas customer services staff who couldn’t answer his questions.

See the full story on Huffington Post Business.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/04/07/georgia-homeowner-awarded-21-million-in-mortgage-lawsuit/

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Filed under: Home Improvement

Motivated by greed and ego Those were the days when Americans were addicted to real estate. It seemed like on every cable channel, there was a different program featuring the nation’s collective obsession. Justo was in the middle of it all; a promo for “Million Dollar Agents” described him as “the biggest fish in Miami’s shark-infested pool of real estate.” Crews filmed him racing maniacally around Miami, showing luxury homes by

Motivated by greed and ego

Those were the days when Americans were addicted to real estate. It seemed like on every cable channel, there was a different program featuring the nation’s collective obsession. Justo was in the middle of it all; a promo for “Million Dollar Agents” described him as “the biggest fish in Miami’s shark-infested pool of real estate.”

Crews filmed him racing maniacally around Miami, showing luxury homes by day (from a helicopter) and going to parties at night (in a chauffeured Rolls Royce). Cameras captured his unorthodox methods of doing business: using a lunar calendar to plan deals, going barefoot during meetings, meditating with his sales team.

Justo was a natural on TV, with his amber eyes, bald head and perpetual tan. His custom-made, silk suits — white or black or occasionally red — looked suspiciously like pajamas, which he wore to closings and clubs alike.

“We get paid for having fun!” Justo roared in one episode.

Justo spent $1,000 on sushi lunches. $3,000 a month on life coaching. He didn’t accumulate many things — he enjoyed sparsely decorated, all-white furniture and rooms — and freely let his friends stay in the various homes he owned.

Justo says that during those years, he “wasn’t operating out of integrity” — and that many of the people surrounding him weren’t, either. Greed and ego were his motivation. He took advice, he says, from the wrong people and didn’t pay attention to details.

He also didn’t make many friends, says Kevin Tomlinson, a real estate blogger and Miami Beach agent who says Justo stole on of his clients in the late ’90s.

“When I got into the business, he was the king. He was the legend that everybody looked and aspired to be,” Tomlinson said. “But over the years, his reputation within the broker industry is a mixture of people being afraid or intimidated by him and his success or downright loathing.”

Justo took out mortgages he couldn’t afford, tapped into equity, splurged with credit cards. He didn’t diversify his portfolio and didn’t save a penny.

“I knew the market was going to crash,” he said. “It was irresponsible what we did, what all of us did in the United States. We took out huge loans, we bought things that people had no business buying.”

Checking account balance: $49.73

Friday, Feb. 13, 2009. A clerk at the federal court in Miami stamped “RECEIVED” on Justo’s bankruptcy filing.

For three years, Justo had tried to avoid filing Chapter 7, even borrowing $15,000 from his 85-year-old mother and $75,000 from his 83-year-old aunt to pay his monthly debts. But he was underwater on too many mortgages. There were other creditors, too, including the IRS, which claimed that he should have filed his taxes in the United States, not in the Virgin Islands, which Justo says is his principal residence.

He was named in two lawsuits, one filed by a former real estate agent who worked for his team, and another by Padron, his former business partner. Both sought hundreds of thousands of dollars, alleging that Justo didn’t pay commissions on various deals.

Justo had no savings, no stocks, no bonds.

His checking account hit bottom at $49.73. His financial picture was summed up in one dry sentence in the bankruptcy filing: “At the current time, the debtor has no income due to the state of the real estate market.”

That week, at the urging of a friend, Justo had offered his penthouse as a crash pad to a group of traveling Buddhist monks from Tibet. As the monks chanted in an even baritone, Justo’s mind reeled in turmoil.

“What happens if everything is gone?” he thought.

He wrote a $3,000 check as a donation to the Buddhist monks. It bounced.

‘A world with all possibilities’

Sparked by a former co-worker, Justo had studied New Age and Buddhist philosophy for years, visiting meditation retreats, spiritual centers and monasteries. But somehow, he said, the concepts of attachment and greed never really sank in until he went bankrupt.

It was the scariest thing he had ever done; scarier than meeting Fidel Castro twice in the mid 1990s, more daunting than coming out as a gay man to his parents.

“Fear is not something I’m familiar with,” he says.

It was scary, he said, because it forced him to confront the truth: He had failed. He had come close to bankruptcy before, always somehow pulling himself back from the brink by selling a property or getting a loan. There was no safety net this time, not in this economy.

When he first realized he was about to lose everything, Justo wondered whether it was better not to exist at all. It was the first time, he says, that he had ever considered suicide.

“Then I thought, I’m alive, I love my life. I have my health. I don’t have cancer,” he says. “I started to realize how little I need to really live.”

As he sheds mansions (five have already been taken by the bank, and it seems like the penthouse will be gone soon, as well) and possessions (he only owns about $6,000 worth of stuff, including furniture, clothing and, some Buddhist art), Justo insists that material possessions mean nothing to him.

And if he manages to make money again, he insists he won’t be foolish with it.

“I’m creating a real estate empire based on love,” he says, adding that he plans to give large chunks of his cash away to charity — once he puts a million dollars each in the bank accounts of his mother and aunt.

“In the past, I created my own hell. I needed to be brought to my knees,” he says. “Whatever you believe, you create. Today, I live in a world with all possibilities.”

But for Justo, those possibilities still include luxury. “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor, and I like being rich a lot better,” he says.

He says that after he pays his family back, he wants a yacht. And maybe a personal chef.

Which begs the question: Has he really learned from his mistakes?

He’s back and ready to sell

It’s 8:30 a.m. on a bright Miami morning and Justo has assembled a dozen people in his penthouse. They sit in a circle facing the boss and drinking coffee.

Four of Justo’s “Billion-Dollar Team” are in attendance. One of his lawyers is there. So is Justo’s masseuse. And a banker who is foreclosing on the penthouse. There’s also an interior designer, a former client who owns a $12 million estate and the architect who is designing Michael Jordan’s Florida home.

Justo talks, nonstop, for nearly two hours. The message: He’s back and ready to sell. If he is afraid of the future — one in which he has to borrow money to pay his bankruptcy attorney, his cell phone bill and food — he’s not showing it. It seems as though Justo is actually having fun talking about his troubles.

“That Bernie Madoff guy, the day he came clean and said he stole all those millions, that’s the day he was freed,” Justo says.

It’s Justo’s acceptance of his failure that will propel him back to the top, his friends say.

“I fully expect him to land on his feet,” says Jeffrey Rubenstein, one of Justo’s lawyers. “He owns what has happened to him. In this day and age and particularly in Miami, that’s a very unusual thing.”

But his brother, Alex Justo, is worried.

“To me, I don’t think my brother needs what he’s trying to build again,” said Alex, who thinks his brother should focus on what he’s good at — selling — and not involve others in his success. “Forget about making this billion dollar whatever. There’s no other Realtor in town that does what my brother does. He’s a genius.”

Justo and two of his agents descend from the penthouse and hop in a Range Rover — the Rolls Royce is long gone — and they begin a daylong frenzy of appointments and meetings. First, a cup of turbocharged Cuban coffee with his mother. Then, a powwow with his bankruptcy attorney. In the lobby, a flat-screen TV broadcasts a CNN headline: “Good Borrowers Go Bust!”

When Justo emerges from the hour-long meeting, an agent tells him that a Saudi Arabian sheik wants to know if there are any estate rentals in Miami for $20,000 a month. Justo orders the agent to follow up, immediately.

In the car, there are calls to clients, showings arranged, listings discussed. Then, a break for lunch.

There are no more three-hour lunches. Justo and a few of his agents go to South Beach to eat on lounge chairs on the sand. His sales manager — a man from Macedonia who started as his chauffeur three years ago — totes a small bottle of sake in a lunch pail for Justo. Another agent brings a plastic bag filled with plastic foam cartons of ceviche.

Justo kicks off his loafers and strips his white pajama-suit off. He’s down to his black Speedo.

Finally, he’s stopped talking. He runs on the sand alone, toward the turquoise ocean. Wading into the water, he dives, head first, into a wave.

Return to Page One: Superstar Agent Plots a Comeback

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Filed under: News, Economy, Financing, Refinancing

WASHINGTON — The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4 percent this week, nearly matching the all-time low hit just one month ago.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan dropped from 4.10 percent last week. Four weeks ago, it dropped to 3.94 percent — the lowest rate ever, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.31 percent from 3.38 percent. Four weeks ago, it too hit a record low of 3.26 percent.

Mortgage rates tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. They yield fell this week after investors shifted money out of stocks and into the safety of Treasurys on fears that Europe’s debt crisis could worsen.

The Federal Reserve is also shifting more money into longer-term Treasurys to try to force mortgage rates lower. Treasury yields fall when buying activity increases.

Less Home Buying Than Expected

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that low rates have failed to spur the increase in home buying or mortgage refinancing that government officials had expected.

High unemployment and declining wages have made it harder for many people to qualify for loans. Many Americans don’t want to sink money into a home that could lose value over the next three to four years. And most homeowners who can afford to refinance already have.

%Gallery-137999% The number of Americans who bought previously occupied homes fell in September and is on pace to match last year’s dismal figures — the worst in 13 years.

Sales of new homes rose last month after four straight monthly declines. But the increase was largely because builders cut their prices. And it followed a peak buying season that was the worst on records going back nearly 50 years.

A Run on Refinancing

The low rates have caused a modest boom in refinancing, but that benefit might be wearing off. Most people who can afford to refinance have already locked in rates below 5 percent.

Rates have been below 5 percent for all but two weeks in the past year. Just five years ago they were closer to 6.5 percent. Ten years ago, they were above 8 percent.

The average rate on the five-year adjustable loan fell to 2.96 percent from 3.08 percent. That matches a record low hit four weeks ago.

The average rate on the one-year adjustable loan declined to 2.88 percent from 2.90 percent. It fell last month to 2.81 percent, the lowest on records dating to 1984.

The average rates don’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for the 30-year fixed mortgage fell from 0.8 to 0.7. The average fee on the 15-year fixed loan was unchanged at 0.7. The average fees on the five-year adjustable loan one-year adjustable loan were also unchanged at 0.6.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Also see: Open Houses of the Week: Hobnob With the 1 Percent Where Are the Real Home Bargains? Not Where You Think! Mortgage Giant Asks Taxpayers for Another $6 Billion

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Filed under: Advice, Selling

This real estate slump is a real drag, especially if you’re trying to sell your abode. So stage your pad to beat out the competition and draw in more prospective buyers. Most buyers have a hard time looking past pink walls and green shag carpet, so do the legwork for them and present their “new home” on a silver platter. If done smartly, the money spent staging will be repaid tenfold in the house sale — and you keep all the hot accessories for yourself afterward (or unload them on Craigslist).

Here are some tips I used when staging my San Francisco condo. This unit sold within a month and a half for just below asking price. The exact same (unstaged) unit, located one floor down, never even got an offer. So there you have it.

1. Clear it all out. I mean it, girlfriend, move every single thing out of your place. That goes for your beloved troll doll collection, leopard skin rug and the couch that your mom claims you were born on. As sentimental as these things might seem to you, buyers want to be able to imagine themselves in your space; seeing clothes in the closet, family photos and random tchotchkes prevents them from doing so. Then put back only necessary furniture, keeping in mind that you want the space to look BIG, CLEAN, SPACIOUS and UNCLUTTERED. This isn’t supposed to be a functional room. Nope. As I did in this living area (pictured above), you can lose the TV, stereo, side tables and ottomans if it creates more room.

2. Freshen up the style. You may be a diehard Shabby Chic follower, but even Rachel Ashwell would agree that not everyone is. Aim for a style that most buyers would like, even if it’s not your cup of tea. Furnishings that seem homey and comforting — yet fresh and contemporary — give an aura that your home is updated and well-cared-for. Neutrals work best; just add colorful touches here and there. For this office (above), I used a bright rug to punch in some color and pattern to an otherwise boxy white room. The clear console stands in for a desk. (If buyers saw my real desk stacked with papers and dirty coffee mugs, they’d run for the hills). Curtains hide the closet doors and soften the hard walls. Stick-on mirrors from IKEA reflect light and space.

3. Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who’s the fairest one of all? Your room, that’s who. Use mirrors liberally to make your area look bigger, lighter, brighter, and encourage sunlight to bounce all over the walls. In this small dining area (above), the mirror even adds color by reflecting the painting that’s hanging in the living area. How’s that for working double duty?

4. Don’t forget the details. Set the table. It’s easy to do and makes a big impact. Buyers walk in and instantly feel welcome, as if they’re coming over for dinner. Light clean and unscented candles, place plush towels and fancy soap in the bathrooms, a breakfast tray on the bed, and a pretty book on the coffee table. If all goes as planned, they’ll want to stay over forever.

5. Play with texture. Wallpaper, pillows, rugs, blankets, baskets, and other tactile accessories can play up texture in a room. It’s an easy way for anyone, even my colorblind husband, to add warmth to a blah room. Try grass cloth wallpaper on plain walls that need a little oomph, such as in this master bedroom (right), where buyers expect to see a little more luxury and style. Photos: Contemporary Space Design by San Francisco photographer Eva

Houzz is a leading online community for home design enthusiasts, bringing together homeowners and design professionals of all disciplines. The Houzz site and mobile apps feature over 175,000 high quality interior and exterior photos, thousands of highly-engaging articles written by design experts, product recommendations, social tools to manage the remodeling and decorating process, and more than 25,000 design professionals who can help turn ideas into reality.

More from Houzz: 20 Finds for Staging Your Home Find a Home Stager Near You Browse Inspiring Kitchen Designs

See also:

• Home Staging Mistakes Sellers Should Avoid
• Home Staging Tips for Every Season
• Home Staging: Hire a Pro or Do It Yourself?

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Filed under: News, Credit

With unemployment high, markets on a hair trigger and the memory of Washington debt-ceiling gridlock still fresh, many Americans are reluctant to put their money toward any venture that could be less than fully secure.

Despite efforts on the part of the White House and the Federal Reserve to encourage borrowing and spending, many consumers and investors are less than eager to take the kinds of risks that could stimulate economic growth — even as the economy risks entering a new recession. With businesses hesitant to hire workers, and with consumers hesitant to make big purchases, fears about the state of the economy could make the economy worse.

Last week, the Fed announced it would be keeping interest rates near zero through the middle of 2013, a policy meant to spur borrowing and keep the economy from slowing to a standstill. But many consumers remain skittish about taking on new debt, especially if they already have loans to pay off, the New York Times reports.

In the housing market, the low rates appear to have resulted in few new mortgage refinancings so far, according to NPR. The housing sector has been plagued by falling home prices for the last five years, and its recovery is seen as a precondition to the broader economic recovery.

Read the full story at The Huffington Post.

For more insight on mortgages and refinancing see these AOL Real Estate guides:

• Mortgage Jargon in Simple Terms
• Refinancing Do’s and Don’ts
• Time to Refinance? 4 Questions to Ask
• Four Ways to Benefit From a Cash-In Refinance

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/08/16/low-interest-rates-no-help-to-housing-market/

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We’re coming to the end of another wonderful year. 2011 gave us the opportunity to prove time and again that this company is based on quality, not quantity. We’re looking forward to the many opportunities 2012 will bring us to better serve you, our community, and we thank you for making us the Pacific Northwest’s [...]

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Here’s a new video we just did explaining Balloon mortgages. Give it a quick view, it’s very short and informative! If you prefer to read a more detailed version, you can find that at Balloon Mortgage Explained.

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Impatient Buyers Target Homes Before They Go on Sale

By Jim Buchta

 Print Article

(MCT)—House hunters frustrated with the market’s supply of homes have shifted their search from the streets to underground.

More buyers are targeting homes that haven’t yet hit the market, a trend agents say will grow as inventory shrinks and the mismatch of what’s available and what’s desired continues.

Such back-pocket deals used to involve mostly luxury homes where buyers and sellers wanted to keep the sale hush-hush. But lower-priced houses are becoming a bigger part of the mix because even those are in short supply. 

Working behind the scenes gives buyers access to the deep well of homeowners who would like to sell, but don’t think the market is healthy enough to list. Agents say they identify these sellers through referrals, as well as track those who listed their homes but backed out when they couldn’t sell. There are also buyers who work with agents to make unsolicited bids on homes they think fit their needs.

“There is a shadow market out there with a lot of people who want to sell,” says Joe Grunnet, a broker in Minneapolis. Homeowners “just don’t know they can sell in this market. They still think the world is coming to an end.”

Housing experts say there is a robust stash of homes that aren’t on the Multiple Listing Service. CoreLogic says that for every two houses available in the United States in January, there was one in the “shadow,” or not yet on the market. There’s also a deep overhang of prospective sellers who have already decided to rent their homes rather than sell.

Mike Blood, who struggled to find a $150,000 to $200,000 home in the northern suburbs, recently caught a break. He spotted a construction dumpster in front of a house in Blaine, Minn., that he saw during an earlier hunt.

After learning that it was being readied for resale, he and his agent made an offer even though the home was months from being listed.

“I was so frustrated,” says Blood, who expects to close on the home next month. “And felt like I didn’t have anything to lose.”

Blood didn’t disclose the purchase price. He said he looked at about 60 homes, but they needed too much work or he got outbid.

Grunnet, whose firm specializes in sales and rentals of urban condos, said the stock of available units downtown is so tight that he often runs down the list of owners who are renting out their units to see whether they would sell.

During the first four months of this year, he said his brokerage has already sold more off-market properties than in the previous three years combined.

For Alison and Fred Parks, the decision not to list was a way to test the market and avoid having strangers traipsing through their $1 million-plus condo near the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis.

“We’re private people, living in a popular neighborhood,” they said.

The Parkses contacted Cindy Froid, a local agent who says that, on average, 30 to 40 percent of her deals come together before a public listing.

The couple gave Froid three months to sell, and it ended up selling within days to someone who already lived in the neighborhood for the full list price of $1.4 million.

Unusually low inventory is forcing Froid to get more creative in her efforts to reach prospective sellers. “It is a function of necessity,” she said. “It’s hunting and gathering. If it’s not online, I’m going to try to find it for you.”

Graham Smith, the agent who helped Blood, said that in some ways these premarket deals are simply a return to the basics.

“It’s good old-fashioned networking, that’s all it is,” he said. “It’s just using the tools available today to make it easier and more efficient to sell houses.”

©2012 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Distributed by MCT Information Services

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Filed under: Home Improvement

No matter the style or vintage of your house, a workable, up-to-date kitchen is a must. A kitchen remodel will make everyday routines more efficient and enjoyable. And if you’re thinking of selling your home anytime soon, it will be a focal point for potential buyers and a big factor in their perception of your home’s overall value.It’s true that a kitchen remodel can cost a pretty penny, but there’s a lot that you can do to spruce up a kitchen on a limited budget. Choose a few of the following kitchen elements as targets for change and an upgrade in home value, whether you plan to sell or stay for a while.#mini_module { width: 265px; height:220px; border: none; float:left; margin:10px; font-size:12px;} #mini_module img {border:none; width: 265px; height:131px; border: none; margin:0px; } #mini_module .mini_title { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:265px; height:131px;} #mini_module .mini_main { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:265px; height:85px; background: transparent url(http://www.aolcdn.com/travel/bg-short)} #mini_module .mini_item {padding:12px 0px; margin: 0px 20px; border-bottom:1px dotted #CCCCCC;} #mini_module a { color: #49A3CA; text-decoration:none; } #mini_module a:hover { color: #F98419; text-decoration:underline;} Creative countertops: Change the view and upgrade kitchen workspaces by replacing the countertops. If you have a small kitchen, enjoy one of the benefits of its scale: By shopping for natural stone remnants, you can get a high-end look at a fraction of the usual cost. Natural stone tile makes for another appealing, cost-effective countertop option, and there are also several green countertop materials with both the sustainability and style to appeal to potential buyers. Find a local expert contractor who has been pre-screened by ServiceMagicA better backsplash: Don’t stop at the countertop! Continue or complement your countertop look behind the sink in the backsplash zone. Tile is not only a beautiful choice, it’s also now easier than ever to install — thanks to advances in sheet adhesives like Bondera, which allow you to tile and grout in the same day, without the use of messy mastic.Cabinet camouflage: Cabinetry can be a huge kitchen cost, so don’t yank your cabinets down just because they look a little dated and tired. Instead, refresh the cabinets you have by refinishing or repainting them.Accessorize: Also consider re-accessorizing cabinetry. “Add crown molding to your cabinets, if you don’t have any already,” advises Matt Hedstrom of LPI Kitchen & Bath in Kenosha, Wisc. “For added visual interest, use crown molding in a finish that contrasts with that of the existing cabinets. That’ll accentuate the architectural detailing and give your kitchen a fresher look. And upgrade or add cabinet hardware. New hardware can change the whole look of the kitchen if you do it right.”Fresh faucet: Another easy, affordable way to update your kitchen is by switching in a stylish new faucet with the kinds of conveniences cooks love. One innovative example is Delta Faucet’s Pilar Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet with Touch20 Technology. It has the sleek, high-arc swivel spout that’s so popular in contemporary kitchens, and to start or stop the flow of water, you simply tap anywhere on the faucet’s spout or handle. The Pilar design also incorporates a two-function pull-down spray that switches from stream to spray with the click of a button, for faster food prep and kitchen cleanup.Star-worthy appliances: Dated appliances can bring down a kitchen’s overall look while keeping energy bills higher than they need to be. So shop for replacements bearing the Energy Star seal, which tells both you and potential homebuyers that an appliance exceeds Department of Energy guidelines for energy efficiency by at least 10 percent. According to a recent survey by the National Kitchen & Bath Association, energy-efficient products are among the top trends in kitchen upgrades that deliver long-term value to consumers, so follow the crowd to enjoy savings and style in your kitchen space.Better lighting: Improve function and highlight architectural form in your kitchen with a better lighting scheme. Continue the theme of energy efficiency with the latest in compact fluorescent and LED light fixtures, and integrate dimmer switches to manage lighting use and create kitchen drama.New flooring: Kitchen flooring that’s worn (or way out there, color-wise) can blind buyers to the rest of your kitchen’s features, so look for a solution that will stand up to moisture and household traffic. Vinyl flooring comes in more styles and colors than ever, and laminate systems are simple for even the novice DIYer to install. Also check out striking tile styles: Daltile offers Franciscan Slate with Reveal Imaging, which is a ceramic tile that looks identical to real slate without the maintenance issues. It also combats the growth of stain- and odor-causing bacteria thanks to integrated Microban technology, and keeps things green with the highest recycled material content of any tile in the industry.Updating the look of your kitchen isn’t always a project that requires a second mortgage. Take small steps with high value updates like these and enjoy a big impacts thorough every stage of the project.Tom Kraeutler is a home improvement expert for AOL Real Estate and host of “The Money Pit,” a nationally syndicated home improvement radio program offering cost effective home improvement tips and ideas.Thinking about a kitchen upgrade? Here are AOL Real Estate Guides to help:

• Kitchen Islands: Create Your Own Perfect Kitchen Oasis
• Guide to Home Lighting: The Kitchen
• Going Green in the Kitchen

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2010/10/15/kitchen-upgrades-to-add-value-whether-youre-selling-or-staying/

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Filed under: News, Buying, Economy, Other, Selling

Think the high-end of the market hasn’t been felled by the economic downturn? Guess again. Here’s a lovely four-bedroom contemporary home in Malibu, Calif., that is now being offered as a short sale with a recent price drop of $1 million. Ouch.

The 5,000-square-foot home is now listed at $2.85 million, subject to the lender’s short sale approval. So what does this really mean? It means the lender could say no to that price or it could mean someone is going to pick up a bargain. The home has been listed at $4.2 million.

The home has whitewater ocean views, top-of-the-line finishes that include Viking and Miele appliances, granite counter tops, Brazilian walnut floors and high wood-beamed ceilings. There is a fossil stone wine cellar and an 1,800-square-foot balcony made of Chinese slate stone. The property is an easy walk to the beach and membership in a private tennis club is included.

Click on the images below to see other premium homes for sale in Malibu, Calif.:

See more Houses of the Day and more homes for sale in Malibu, Calif. on AOL Real Estate.

Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email ann.brenoff@huffingtonpost.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to respond to each submission.)

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/30/house-of-the-day-malibu-short-sale-with-a-steep-price-drop/

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Filed under: News, Home Improvement

Robert Van Winkle, better known as the rapper Vanilla Ice, shot to fame in the early 1990s with his hit single, “Ice, Ice Baby” — the first hip-hop single ever to top the Billboard charts. Fast forward two decades later, and Van Winkle is making headlines again thanks to his completely, er, renovated career.

The former bad boy has traded his microphone for a power drill, tattoos for a tool belt (though he still boasts some from his rapper days) and instead of destroying property, he is building, renovating and flipping them. And he couldn’t be happier.

And neither can his new set of fans, apparently. His hit reality television show, “The Vanilla Ice Project,” was renewed for a second season that’s set to premiere this Saturday, Jan. 21 on the DIY Network. The weekly series, which first aired in October 2010, documents his skills as a handyman and follows him and a team of workers as they renovate a foreclosed and abandoned home in Palm Beach, Fla.

Though many were originally cynical of the ex-rapper’s expertise in the field of home renovation, Van Winkle proved to be anything but a neophyte. In fact, during an in-depth interview with AOL Real Estate, the rapper-turned-renovator shared his long-time passion for real estate and his extensive knowledge about home-flipping.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time, I just never put a camera to it! I began buying houses when I was 19 years old,” Van Winkle said of his early forays into the real estate market.

“From Star Island, to Laurel Canyon in California. Even on Bleecker Street in New York. I remember first bringing a decorator into my own 15,000-square-foot mansion at the time and that was the coolest thing that could ever happen to a young person. I’d walk in and I had these purple rooms, green rooms and yellow carpet. Totally discotheque. Soon I got sick of it all and thought I’d re-do the whole thing myself. And so I did.”

That was over 15 years ago. Since then, Van Winkle has been practicing renovation on his own homes (“because nobody lets you practice on theirs,” he jokes) and has become a savvy house flipper, thanks to a great eye, some formal training and a very hands-on approach to home renovations.

And his efforts have been paying off remarkably. Despite launching “The Vanilla Ice Project” in the midst of a depressed housing market, the renovated home from the show’s first season — a tax-lien property bought for $400,000 outright — was sold almost immediately after the final episode aired for more than double the original price, at $875,000 (“with no haggles!” Van Winkle said).

The same, if not better, is expected from the second season’s property. Van Winkle nabbed the foreclosed property, also in Florida, for $500,000. (Despite being in shambles, it was appraised at $850,000 at the time.) Though he says that he spent over $1 million in renovations to the home, Van Winkle is already receiving offers from $2 million to $2.3 million (“incredible for the market we’re in right now,” he admits) — though the show hasn’t even officially aired. Unlike the first season, however, he is refusing to sell. Instead, he wants to showcase the home and “let it marinate” for a while.

Ice’s Advice to Regular Joes

Though the renovated mansions featured in “The Vanilla Ice Project” are a far cry from your average American home, Van Winkle still believes that the lessons learned from his show can be applied by anyone to any property — no matter how much, or little, money is involved.

“It’s all about inspiring people,” Van Winkle told AOL Real Estate. “Even during an uncertain economy, it’s about inspiring people to get out there and get to work and make their houses a real home. Even though they may not get the money back out of the house or flip the house, [the show] motivates them to live that dream of having your own home and fixing it up, and it’s a great feeling.”

And with more and more homeowners turning to remodeling their homes and investing money in their property despite plunging home values, the advice dispensed by DIY reality shows is welcomed and highly valuable. When we asked Van Winkle what his No. 1 piece of advice was for homeowners wanting to spruce up their own homes, Van Winkle barely stopped to think.

“Re-do your kitchens,” he said. “It’s the most cost-efficient improvement you can make and you’re always going to feel better if you spend money in your kitchen first. The kitchen is the main focus of the house; 80 percent of everybody always migrates to the kitchen at all times. So Formica’s gotta go. I’m sorry, it’s gotta go — the ’70s aren’t coming back like that.”

Van Winkle adds that if you don’t have enough money to do an entire renovation of your kitchen, there are subtle changes that you can do, such as painting kitchen cabinets, replacing Formica with granite or materials such as limestone, or replacing your counter tops.

For the serious renovators and flippers out there, however, Van Winkle warns not to “go crazy” as over-customizing your home can hurt the home’s resale value.

“You gotta keep it open for the buyer to think ‘I can add this, I can add that.’ ” But you don’t want to under-do it either so that they don’t think there’s too much work to be done. And stay within your appraised value. Know what your budget is!”

Season 2 of “The Vanilla Ice Project” kicks off on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 10 p.m. EST on the DIY Network.

Also see: FHA Says ‘Flippers’ Free to Play Through 2012 Messy Yard Brings Jail Time for SC Woman, Then Help

%Gallery-114126% More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/01/19/ices-advice-what-vanilla-ice-wants-homeowners-to-know/

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Filed under: News, Financing, Refinancing

WASHINGTON — Today’s record-low mortgage rates are out of reach for millions of U.S. homeowners who would benefit from them most.

One in four homeowners with a mortgage — 11 million people — owe more than their home is worth. These “underwater” borrowers have virtually no shot at refinancing.

Their plight is a drag on the housing market and the broader economy.

The Obama administration is hoping at least 1 million of these borrowers will take advantage of its refinancing program under more lenient rules unveiled Monday. Homeowners who are current on their payments will be eligible to refinance no matter how much their home’s value has dropped. #mini_module { width: 265px; height:220px; border: none; float:left; margin:10px; font-size:12px;} #mini_module img {border:none; width: 265px; height:131px; border: none; margin:0px; } #mini_module .mini_title { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:265px; height:131px;} #mini_module .mini_main { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:265px; height:85px; background: transparent url(http://www.aolcdn.com/travel/bg-short)} #mini_module .mini_item {padding:12px 0px; margin: 0px 20px; border-bottom:1px dotted #CCCCCC;} #mini_module a { color: #49A3CA; text-decoration:none; } #mini_module a:hover { color: #F98419; text-decoration:underline;}

Still, it’s unclear how many borrowers will benefit. Lenders will remain under no obligation to refinance a mortgage they hold.

A growing number of these people are missing mortgage payments and falling into foreclosure. And the higher rates they’re locked into limit how much they can contribute to a weak economy. If they were able to refinance at today’s rates, it could boost consumer spending by tens of billions of dollars, economists say.

Underwater homeowners are paying an average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 5.7 percent, according to an analysis of mortgage data by CoreLogic and The Associated Press. That compares with today’s average rate of 4.11 percent on a 30-year fixed mortgage. For a homeowner with a $250,000 mortgage, the lower rate would save more than $200 a month.

For many Americans, a few hundred dollars each month would mean the difference between paying their mortgage on time and in full and losing, or walking away from, their home.

Underwater borrowers are the “most desperate population in the country today,” says Barry Bosworth, an economist at the Brookings Institution.

Dan and Maggie Micoff bought a two-bedroom home in the Detroit suburb of Marine City in 2003. They paid $119,000. Eight years later, they’re underwater with a 6 percent loan.

If they could refinance, the Micoffs, both 58, could shave at least $120 from their monthly bill.

“The banks won’t work with us,” Maggie Micoff said. “We helped bail them out, and now we can’t even get a personal loan to get by. We could rent something for a few hundred dollars cheaper.”

Even among homeowners who do have equity in their homes, few are refinancing. Many have already refinanced within the past year. Others can’t meet tighter lending standards. That’s why underwater borrowers represent the best chance for refinancing to unleash spending that’s otherwise going toward mortgage bills.

With millions locked into artificially high rates, foreclosures are rising. Mortgage default notices surged nationally last month.

Whether the administration’s revamped mortgage refinancing program will reach more Americans this time is unclear, said Mark Vitner, senior U.S. economist at Wells Fargo.

“No one knows if it will spur a lot more people to refinance, but it’s a start,” Vitner said.

Also see: Viewpoint: Obama’s Drop-in-the-Bucket Idea for Housing The Mortgage Fix That Can Save the Economy Republican Candidates: Short on Housing Policy, Long on Houses

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/10/25/obamas-refinance-plan-who-will-benefit/

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Filed under: News, Advice, Financing, Refinancing

There’s a surprising new finding that says women get lousier mortgage rates than men, but not because of gender discrimination. It’s because instead of shopping around for cheaper loans, they rely on the recommendations of friends.

To recap: When it comes to mortgages, women don’t shop enough.

The report published in the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics set out to explain why women were 32 percent more likely to get a subprime mortgage than men in a 2006 study. According to a team of researchers led by Florida Atlantic University’s Ping Cheng, the answer wasn’t discrimination because of gender or even income disparities.

Women pay higher rates because they are more likely to listen to friends’ recommendations, whereas men are more likely to shop around for the best deal.

“Our empirical test confirms that search effort is rewarded in marketplace, and suggests that gender disparity in mortgage rates may be addressed by policies aimed at improving women’s financial literacy and search skills,” the report summarizes.

It makes sense to Daily Finance columnist Laura Rowley. “It’s not surprising, because mortgage shopping can be incredibly complex, so we look to people we can trust to help make the decision,” says Rowley. “But this is one area where you don’t want to get by with a little help from your friends.”

Instead, she advises, call two mortgage brokers and a direct lender, preferably a local small or mid-size bank, and try the following script: “Hi, my name is ____ and I’m in the market to buy a $____ house, and I’m going to put down ____ percent. I’m getting three written estimates, and then I’m going to choose. Can you email me a cost-estimate worksheet stating all the fees and the interest rate?”

Be sure to get the estimates on the same day, as rates can change quickly. Also, don’t ask for rates and fees by phone; unscrupulous brokers will simply low-ball their estimate to get you in the door, says Rowley.

For more tips on shopping for a mortgage, see these AOL Real Estate guides:

How Much Can You Afford [Video] How to Get a Low Mortgage Rate Mortgage Jargon in Simple Terms

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. See celebrity real estate.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/18/when-it-comes-to-mortgages-women-dont-shop-enough/

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Q: I have heard that we should get pre-approved for a mortgage loan before looking at homes in Washington or Oregon. Why is a pre-approval the important first step in the home buying process? A: I am glad that you asked that question because getting pre-approved for a home loan is the best way to [...]

Source: http://www.hassonblog.com/2011/11/why-is-pre-approval-important/

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Filed under: News, Home Improvement

The U.S. housing recession is so deep that an average home takes nearly a year to sell. In the hardest hit areas, it can take several years. Just ask residents of Detroit, Nevada and parts of Florida, Arizona and southern California. As if that were not enough, there are hidden costs associated with an unsold home in which the owner still lives, including upkeep and repair costs incurred while the house is on the market. 24/7 Wall St. looked at the ten most expensive repairs and what they cost. Some frequently needed repairs can cost over $10,000 to fix.

The costs of the ownership of an unsold home are already at historic highs. Research firms that track home trends say that over 11 million U.S. homes have underwater mortgages. Owners have no equity in these homes to tap to pay for upkeep, so damage to a home has to be paid out of pocket unless the event that caused the damage is covered by insurance. Homes on the market for several years obviously have an increased risk of eventually incurring some repair problem.

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Owners of unsold homes face two financial problems. The first is that many of the repairs are essential to simply have a livable home. These cannot be put off. The second is that a home with substantial problems that are not repaired becomes more difficult to sell. Buyers have enough alternatives as it is in this over-supplied housing market.

In order to identify the most expensive costs homeowners have to incur, 24/7 Wall St. consulted a number of contractors, contracting associations, the National Homeowners Association and several other organizations to come up with repairs and replacements that generally cost the most. Because these costs can vary widely depending on the region of the country, the extent of the damage and the size of the home, we provided approximate estimates on the range of these costs. –Michael B. Sauter, Charles B. Stockdale, Douglas A. McIntyre

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/08/17/top-10-hidden-costs-when-you-cant-sell-your-home/

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Filed under: News, Economy, Financing, Foreclosures, Other, Credit

Foreclosure via Facebook? With roughly 4 million foreclosures in the pipeline in this country, some legal experts say it’s just a matter of time until lenders win the right to serve foreclosure documents through the giant social network.

That day has already come for one couple in Australia. When they defaulted on a six-figure loan and couldn’t be found via a physical address or email, the lender’s enterprising lawyers located them on Facebook. The lawyers were able to verify the couple’s identities by matching up their names and birthdates — and, of course, the fact that they had “friended” each other.

Australian courts upheld the lender’s right to send foreclose notices via Facebook, citing the fact that the couple didn’t enable privacy protections on their Facebook accounts and were frequent enough visitors to the site that they would “reasonably receive notice as a result.”

While Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, says he is unaware of Facebook being used in the U.S. to deliver legal notifications, but “it’s bound to happen,” he said. “The real concern the courts have is whether it’s a fair notice that the person actually receives.” According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, courts in New Zealand, Canada and the U.K. already have adopted the Australian example to avoid having cases stall when people can’t be located and served in person.

“There are people who exist only online,” Joseph DeMarco, co-chair of the American Bar Association’s criminal justice cyber crime committee, told the publication. The ability to serve documents by social-media networks would be useful, he said.

Facebook has taken heat before about its policies protecting the personal data of its 694 million users worldwide. Following the case in Australia, which happened in 2008, company spokesman Barry Schnitt said the company was pleased to see the Australian court validate Facebook as a reliable, secure and private communication medium. (Facebook did not respond to messages left by AOL.)

Is it appropriate to use social networks to find people and deliver legal papers to them via the network?

“No one likes to receive a legal service,” said Rotenberg. Legal service, after all, usually isn’t good news: Someone wants you for something. And yes, he adds, “There are going to be privacy concerns, but in some respects they’re almost inescapable.”

Email, by contrast, is generally not considered by courts to be a safe or reliable way to deliver legal notices. We get too much email, much of it winds up in spam and we don’t always open everything in our in-boxes. Legal notices delivered this way can easily be discounted with a simple “I didn’t see the email.”

But Facebook, said Rotenberg, is different. If you don’t have thousands of friends and you regularly post status updates indicating that you are active on the site, you lose the excuse that you likely overlooked the notice. Of course not everyone with a Facebook page visits the site regularly, but save it for the judge whether you’re one of them.

Bottom line: It’s probably going to be determined to be legal, just not likely to be popular. And should use of Facebook as an electronic process-server escalate as a norm, you can expect it would have some adverse impact on the site’s participation levels. In the meantime, if you don’t want the banks to find you, the best defense is enabling your privacy settings on Facebook and be mindful of the personal data you post.

For more on mortgages and related topics see these AOL Real Estate guides:

• How to Buy Foreclosures
• Spot Foreclosure Scammers Before They Spot You
• Foreclosure: What it Means for Renters
• Foreclosure Help: What a Housing Counselor Can Do

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Get property tax help from our experts.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/06/17/your-facebook-status-foreclosed/

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Filed under: News, Home Improvement, How To

By Lisa Frederick

We’re all for empowering homeowners to take on their own house improvements. You save money, gain confidence and get the satisfaction of custom tailoring your home with your own hands. But when it comes to certain tasks — plumbing, for instance — we draw the line. Although these 10 jobs might be within the scope of a very experienced owner, for most of us, they require help from someone who handles them for a living.

1. Foundation repair. If your foundation is in trouble, so is the rest of your house. Wall cracks, sagging ceilings or floors, lopsided doorways and other red flags add up to one solution: a call to a foundation contractor. It’s worth investing in professional help to ensure your house remains on sure footing.

2. Electrical wiring. We haven’t yet met a builder who thinks that wiring is a DIY job. That doesn’t mean you can’t replace an old ceiling fan or install a garage door opener — we’re talking about serious, behind-the-walls electrical work. Not only do you need thorough knowledge of the most updated building codes, but the worst-case scenarios are really, really bad (house fire, injury, death). Hire a licensed electrician for your own safety and peace of mind.

3. Removal of a load-bearing wall. Knocking out a wall sounds simple, right? Well, if it’s load bearing, meaning it carries and distributes weight, things get a lot more complicated. Eliminating such a wall wipes out support for the ceilings, floors and other structural elements that rest on it — and that can have disastrous consequences for the entire home. Plus, the wall could contain wiring or ductwork that you don’t want to disturb. Leave this tricky and time-consuming job to a remodeling contractor.

4. Major plumbing. Two words: water damage. You can probably install a new faucet, a showerhead or even a toilet, but when it comes to the bigger stuff, pro is the way to go. Pipe connections and other trouble spots can spring leaks that may cost you dearly in the long run. Here’s a good rule of thumb: If it involves work behind the walls, don’t try to handle it on your own.

5. Natural gas lines. Remember the worst-case scenarios with electrical work? Same with gas. It may sound simple to run a gas line directly to your grill or fire pit, but it isn’t. Call the gas company and thank us later.

6. Tile and tub resurfacing. Although this is an affordable alternative to ripping out and replacing dated tile or an old bathtub, don’t be tempted to save even more by trying it yourself. From the chemicals used to strip off the old finish to the delicate technique of applying a new one, it’s a specialized job that calls for specialized help.

7. Roofing. Besides the fact that roof goofs can wreak costly havoc if they leak, balancing on a steep slope of shingles with a toolbox is dangerous, especially if you’re not properly trained. Hire a roofing pro to be sure that the job gets done right and that you won’t face a treacherous fall.

8. Tree removal. Smaller trees (say, 10 or 15 feet high) are OK to cut down on your own, but anything larger should have you speed-dialing the tree service. First, amateurs and chainsaws rarely mix well. Then there’s the art of gauging where the tree will fall — miss the mark, and it could hit a power line or crush a wing of your house. And trying to balance up high while you saw off limbs is an ER visit waiting to happen.

9. Stripping old paint. Don’t take a chance with this one. Paint that dates from the late 1970s or earlier could contain lead, and breathing in the dust as you scrape it off may lead to health problems. Protect yourself and your family by turning the job over to a licensed lead-abatement contractor.

10. Wood-burning stove or fireplace installation. Fire safety is the biggest concern, but this also is an extremely complex job that requires an understanding of special considerations beyond the fireplace itself, such as insulation. Attempt it yourself, and you’re literally playing with fire. And you know what they say about that!

See the original story over at Houzz.

More on Houzz: Browse 380,000+ Inspiring Home Photos Houzz News: Remodeling Heats Up Find the Right Architect or Designer for You

More on AOL Real Estate: Find out how to calculate mortgage payments. Find homes for sale in your area. Find foreclosures in your area. Finds homes for rent in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/03/30/10-home-fixes-that-require-a-pro/

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