Buy a House Fast

Besides giving you advice on buying and selling homes, we make it a priority to keep you aware of the pitfalls that exist in the real estate world.  One scam that’s been growing in popularity involves loan modification.  A new breed of swindler has appeared offering to facilitate this process, but modifying loans and doing your taxes are alike in that you can do both by yourself.

Negotiating

Scammers often claim they can help you bargain for a loan modification, but the truth is there isn’t much a third party can do to get you a better deal.  This isn’t the same as bringing a mechanic when you scope out a used car, or asking a friend who knows the language haggle for you at a flea market.  The servicer determines whether or not you qualify for a loan based on a pre-established set of criteria; this isn’t a decision that can be influenced by a third party.

All that paperwork…

It’s true that a long, detailed questionnaire can look daunting, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay someone to fill it out for you.  If you’re unsure of how to proceed, there are a number of free counselors and websites that can guide you through the process.  Calling an organization called Hope Now at 888-995-HOPE can line you up with free counseling.  If your issue is finding the information required by the lender, give www.mtgprofessor.com a look; the site does a good job of explaining the requirements and information you’ll need to have ready and where to locate it.

Modifying a loan isn’t as hard as it looks.  If you’re the type whose eyes glaze over when you see a stack of official-looking forms, get yourself a free counselor to go over the fine points with you, or check out a website that talks you through each step.  What you need to remember is that you have options, and paying someone a hefty fee to help you with a process you can do on your own should not be one of them.

Sales are down

March’s national home sale numbers are in, and as they say in the movies, there’s good news and bad news.  Based on data from a National Association of Realtors report released last week, sales of existing homes went down from 4.71 million units (units include condos, co-ops, townhouses and single family homes) in February to 4.57 million in March, a 3% drop.  To put 2009’s falling sales numbers in perspective, there were 4.92 million existing-home sales in March 2008, 7.1% more than this year.  In light of the struggling economy, a drop in sales makes complete sense: with jobs disappearing, many are hesitant to commit themselves to a mortgage they’re worried about being able to pay a few years (or worse, a few months) down the line.  The silver lining here is that many homes are now available for less than they would be in a good economy, when demand for property would be high.  In fact, homes went for 12.4% less in March 2008 than they did in March 2009, at an average price of $175,200.

First-time buyers to the rescue

We’ve been saying for a while that, contrary to popular belief, now may be the right time to pull the trigger on a refurbished home, especially if you’re a first-time homebuyer.  According to the numbers in the report, first-timers accounted for 53% of all sales, a percentage that’s likely to get a lot higher since the $8000 tax credit provided by the government had only recently become available by the time these statistics were compiled.  As more people begin to take advantage of this offer, it’s likely that first-time homebuyers will continue to establish themselves as the driving force behind the real estate market.

Our purpose in presenting you with these numbers is to make sure you know how things stand around the country as you decide how to proceed.  If you’d like to learn more about the homes we have available, get in touch with us here at www.ExpressRs.com.