Couch potatoes haven’t moved far from the comfort of their living room to watch TV, despite digital devices designed so they don’t have to leave home without it. Among adults who actively stream and download video content, only 11 percent of their video consumption is via a computer. The overwhelming majority of their content, 75 percent, is viewed on a televisions set, according to Ipsos Insight from MOTION, the company’s study of digital video behavior.

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search for : Couch potatoes, download video

For these younger buyers, this isn’t an extension of the real-estate investment bug that bit a few years ago and is now fading as home prices flag in many markets. And they’re not throwing financial caution to the wind just because they want a second home. Instead, they’re crunching the numbers and making hard decisions about their personal finances. In some cases, they’re receiving an inheritance or a stock grant and are choosing to invest in their future real-estate needs rather than the stock market. In other cases, they’re altering their expectations about how long they’ll work and the kind of returns they’ll earn on their nest egg in order to pursue an emotional investment.

search for : real-estate investment, second home

87.5 +/- ACRES AVAILABLE FOR RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION

Mountain Development, 7 miles from West Jefferson, NC, 20 miles from Boone, NC.

$2,000,000 Purchase Price, Paved Road and Bridge Built To State Specifications, Average of $23,000 per acre, this Property Should Retail For Approximately $50,000 to $60,000 per acre.

ALL PROPERTY HAS LONG RANGE MOUNTAIN VIEWS

Contact Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247
or
email Greg at grstike@charter.net

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Bank of America’s new “no-fee plus” home loan program has competitors searching for sleight of hand tricks and gimmicks. But Bank of America says that its new program is for real, and comes with none of the usual grab bag list of origination, processing, title or closing costs. That means no application or origination charges, no credit check fees, no charges for the appraisal, title examination, title insurance policies, settlement fees or even tax service and floor certification.

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search for : no-fee plus, home loan, closing costs

Two weeks ago, the 10-year T-note traded under 4.65 percent; yesterday it touched 4.9 percent. Mortgages — as always, following the 10-year in lockstep — were trying to break 6.25 percent going down; now they are trying to hold 6.5 percent while going up. The case for holding is poor. Rates are rising because the global economy is taking off. Forget all the thoughts of drag from concerted tightening by central banks, Europe to top out, America to slide near recession on weak housing and manufacturing, Asian exports to be undercut by American weakness.

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The entry – and what surrounds it – are key to making a home welcoming. So the “Grey Poupon” yellow aluminum siding and tiny off-kilter portico on this home had to go. In fact, such “updating” had left the 1909 four-square looking like a shell of its former self. Relying on a vintage photograph, the homeowner set about restoring the facade’s original charm. Architect David Raino-Ogden drafted the plan for the facade, and a landscape-design course helped the homeowner devise her own plan and hardscape scheme.

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search for : aluminum siding, landscape-design course

The political debate over how to deal with a surge in defaults on home loans is raising a question that consumers ought to consider: Is my mortgage broker really working for me? Borrowers often see mortgage brokers as their allies, searching far and wide for just the right home loan at an attractively low price. But many brokers are making it clear they don’t see things that way. They are fighting efforts by federal and state politicians to impose a fiduciary duty on them to put their customers’ interests first, as lawyers, real-estate agents and financial planners generally are required to do with their clients.

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search for : defaults on home loans, mortgage broker

Event insurance is designed to protect you from financial loss if something costly goes horribly wrong during a host of events from anniversaries, baby showers and baptisms to quincea eras, retirement parties and wedding parties, including those held in your home, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Major providers, including Private Event Insurance; Fireman s Fund; Travelers; and Wedsafe, say there’s much small print to read, the coverage is focused and it’s subject to specific conditions, exclusions, limits, restrictions, and deductibles, but the one-time premium offers a host of protections, including weather — Provided the policy is purchased sufficiently in advance of the event — usually a few weeks — and adverse weather prevents the celebration from taking place or a majority of your guests from attending, the costs of rescheduling the event can be covered.

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Consumer groups recommend getting what is known as a FICO score, which ranges from 350 to 850 points, because it’s the score most creditors rely on. Equifax is the only bureau that sells FICO scores to consumers. With the other bureaus, you get a proprietary score. If you want FICO scores from all three bureaus, you can buy them at myfico.com from Fair Isaac Corp., the company that developed the scoring system. Lenders generally will pull all three of your credit scores and throw out the high and low ones. When you get your scores, you should receive an analysis that includes how you rate in terms of other consumers and tips for improving your scores.

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search for : FICO score, Equifax, myfico.com

“Foreclosure filings are skyrocketing in North Carolina. The main cause of the increase in foreclosures is the large and growing number of home loans made by subprime lenders,” says Alfred Ripley, legal counsel for Consumer and Housing Affairs at the NC Justice Center. “While subprime loans have been around for decades, they didn’t used to be as damaging or widespread as they have become in recent years.” In North Carolina, foreclosure filings have increased nearly threefold in recent years to an all-time annual high of over 45,000 in 2006.

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search for : Foreclosure filings, subprime lenders, subprime loans

My husband and I are in the market for our very first house. We believe that this is a good time to buy, especially when mortgage interest rates are still quite comfortable. We know that once we find a house we like, we have to enter into a real estate contract with the seller. Who prepares this contract? What real estate professionals will we (should we) work with, and when do we get them involved in the transaction?

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search for : mortgage interest rates

Congress enacted TILA to avoid the uninformed use of credit, the judge said. TILA requires lenders to disclose to the borrower information about the loan, such as interest rate, monthly payments, and total payments over the life of the loan, he explained. TILA includes a notice allowing the consumer to rescind the loan within three business days after consummation of the transaction, delivery of the notice of the right to rescind, or delivery of all material disclosures, whichever occurs last, the judge emphasized. “If the creditor fails to provide the required notice, the right of rescission continues for up to three years after the consummation of the transaction,” the judge noted.

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search for : TILA, interest rate

Recently listed is this one of a kind, 2.87 acre Waterfront Lot with a beautiful view of W. KERR SCOTT LAKE.

It features easy lake access and is dock approved.

The lot is alredy cleared and is ready for building your beautiful home.

Important for lake lots, the property has been “Perc” tested and approved for a septic system for a 3 Bedroom 2 Bath home.

$400,000 for this unique NC lakefront property.

Contact Greg Stikeleather, Broker, 704.880.5247 or email Greg at grstike@charter.net

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Mortgage fraud rose 30 percent last year; it is spreading nationwide, and it’s getting the blame for the housing bust. Once concentrated in relatively few state, “incidents of mortgage fraud are now more evenly distributed across nearly all states,” according to the institute’s “Ninth Periodic Mortgage Fraud Case Report To the Mortgage Bankers Association.” The report says most fraud comes from so-called “liar loans” where applicants (either on their own or because they are cajoled) are not truthful about their employment history and clamed income — a crime punishable by up to 30 years in jail or fines of up to $1 million or both, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations which, in recent years, has gone after mortgage fraud for what it is — organized crime.

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search for : Mortgage fraud, liar loans

In many areas of the country, the real estate downturn grinds on longer than the housing economists had been predicting (go figure). According to a recent teleconference with numbers crunchers from the National Association of Home Builders and the Joint Center for Housing at Harvard, spending on remodeling is also dropping, but just 1.5 percent after adjustment for inflation. According to NAHB chief economist David Seiders, the slower growth of remodeling this year and next would be more evident in highly discretionary jobs like remodeling kitchens and baths and adding rooms. So now I know why the bank made the offer and suggested adding a room.

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The AARP says taking the appropriate measured steps to save your home from foreclosure includes avoiding scoundrels who would take advantage of your vulnerability and reporting the frauds to the authorities. Nowhere is the need for consumer activism more obvious now than in the mortgage arena. Because of over-selling loans to borrowers with a questionable ability to repay them, millions are losing homes and criminals who prey on them would like to add to that trend.

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search for : AARP, save your home from foreclosure

Mortgages are one example among many where plans — and the intentions they spawn — may prove expensive. The longer it takes to repay the amount originally borrowed — the principal — the greater the total interest charge. According to a survey released this year by the federal Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, “Three-quarters of all respondents to the 2006 Mortgage Consumer Survey indicated that their goal is to pay off their mortgage as quickly as possible.” This is a common plan, but paying off the mortgage in fifteen years or less is not commonplace. The financial complications of raising a family, establishing a career and living today’s have-it-all-now lifestyles derail many plans and add to the cost of borrowing.

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search for : Mortgages, 2006 Mortgage Consumer Survey

If you’re a creditworthy customer known as a “prime” borrower, you should qualify for a mortgage interest rate less than the prime rate, which is 8.25 percent. In the middle is not-so-prime-time lending — or the “Alternative-A” mortgage world. These loans are made to people who are considered less risky than a subprime borrower but aren’t as creditworthy as someone in the prime category. Then there’s the subprime market. Such loans are typically made to borrowers who have spotty credit records. The interest on these loans are usually at the prime rate or higher. Generally you enter subprime territory when you have a credit score in the low 600s. But a low credit score isn’t the only factor. You might only qualify for such a loan if you have a low downpayment or you can’t accurately document your income.

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search for : mortgage interest rate, subprime borrower

Today’s mortgage lenders have become very savvy about the profitability of making low- and no-down-payment home loans, even to borrowers with poor credit. Last year, according to the National Association of Realtors, over 30 percent of home sales involved 100 percent financing in one form or another. In real estate “nothing down” means zero cash from the buyer’s pocket. However, it doesn’t mean the seller won’t receive 100 percent cash for the home. Personally, I bought several zero-down-payment houses where the sellers walked away with all cash. Nothing down really means the buyer is borrowing the entire purchase price.

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search for : mortgage lenders, no-down-payment home loan, nothing down, zero-down-payment house

I am considering either refinancing or taking out a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Currently, we have a first and a second mortgage on our home. The first is for $246,500 and the second is for $46,500. We took out two loans initially because we wanted to avoid private mortgage insurance, or PMI, which we would have had to pay since the down payment on the house was less than 20 percent. Can I open a HELOC while having a first and second mortgage? Or do I need to refinance the two loans into one and then take out extra cash within the refinancing or then open the HELOC?

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search for : refinancing, home equity line of credit, HELOC, private mortgage insurance, PMI

The “800″ section on any lenders good faith estimate is reserved for lender charges. That’s where you compare one lender to the next. Some lenders have a lot of little fees and some don’t. Some have processing charges while other lenders do not. Ditto for tax service or administration or commitment or whatever. The final trick in evaluating a good faith estimate is to also pay attention to “missing” fees or the names given to a particular lender charge. If a charge is not there it doesn’t mean you’re getting a discount on anything or having a fee waived. If one lender charges an administrative fee that doesn’t mean every lender does. It’s simply a junk fee.

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search for : “800″ section, good faith estimate, lender charges

For many real estate investors or simply folks looking for a cheaper home to live in, finding a deal in foreclosures has become increasingly difficult. A lot of the homeowners now in foreclosure have drained the equities in their homes with multiple refinancings, have mortgages for more than 100% of the property value or simply bought at the height of the market. This is bad news for flippers, as many houses now go to foreclosure with upset prices that are higher than what the homes are worth. Couple that with the increased inventory on the real estate market — hence more homes for buyers to choose from — and it’s no wonder flippers’ profit margins have narrowed recently.

search for : foreclosure, multiple refinancings, mortgages, flippers

It is important to remember that home-loan-interest deductions simply reduce your taxable income. They are not dollar-for-dollar tax credits that are subtracted from your tax bill. If you have a $1,000-a-month mortgage payment and are in the 15 percent tax bracket, only about $150 a month escapes being taxed in the early months of the loan. You can deduct the loan fees (”points”) paid to buy or improve your main home in the year of purchase. You cannot deduct these fees in the year you refinanced if you refinanced only to obtain a lower interest rate on your loan. The term “points,” once used to describe only prepaid interest on government loans, now is used to describe charges paid by a borrower to secure any mortgage. These points can be loan-origination fees or prepaid interest to “buy down” an interest rate. To be deductible, these charges — or points — must represent interest paid for the use of money and must be paid “before the time for which it represents a charge for the use of the money.”

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An eight-year-old North Carolina statute has become a model for federal lawmakers who want to protect borrowers from predatory mortgage lenders. But the state’s experience demonstrates the difficulties of protecting unwary consumers in a fast-evolving marketplace. The law is designed to prevent lenders from coaxing subprime borrowers — those with spotty credit histories or high debt-to-income ratios — into taking mortgages they can’t afford. Among other things, the statute places a duty — known as a “suitability” requirement — on subprime lenders akin to the one that requires stock brokers to recommend investments that are in clients’ best interest.

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search for : protect borrowers, predatory mortgage lender, spotty credit histories, subprime lenders

Community groups that help subprime borrowers try to save their homes from foreclosure would receive $300 million in aid under legislation introduced by Democratic Senator Charles Schumer Thursday. The infusion of federal money would help consumer groups reach out to troubled borrowers and, in some cases, provide new financing directly. The groups that would benefit from the money are in direct contact with delinquent homeowners and guide them through the complicated steps they can take to save their homes, said Sen. Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of a Senate subcommittee on housing and sponsor of the legislation.

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search for : subprime borrowers, Charles Schumer, delinquent homeowners

Morning commuters in Boston, Chicago and Phoenix are slapped awake by the voice of a pugnacious Texan shouting out of the radio. “When your mortgage payment goes up 400 bucks a month, you can dislocate your jaw and swallow it like a snake eatin’ an egg,” the voice says. “Or spend another seven grand and have some predator redo your mortgage. Unacceptable.” The voice belongs to Jon Shibley, 39, the president of Lenox Financial Mortgage. Over 13 years he’s built his business from a one-man shop in Atlanta into a 200-employee company that arranges mortgages and refinancings in 24 states.

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search for : mortgage payment, Lenox Financial Mortgage, refinancings

Unless you’re looking to buy a new home right now, you may be having a hard time imagining the upside to the bursting of the real estate bubble. Well, here’s one: There are a lot more places to rent at the beach. Usually the best shore rentals are snapped up while the snow is still on the ground. But this year inventory in vacation markets is up. Real Estate Speculators – once lured by mega-appreciation – are having trouble selling, says David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv Lending Solutions. “And if they can’t sell their homes, the next best option is to rent them out.” But even though there’s more out there than in prior years, it’s getting late for summer 2007. The sooner you start shopping, the better choice you’ll have in terms of quality, location and price.

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search for : bursting of the real estate bubble, Real Estate Speculators

Having purchased a home a year ago, I did 80/20 financing. The mortgage I chose was a 2/28 ARM. The housing market was doing quite well at the time. Since that time I am afraid the value of my home has dropped. My questions are: Can I subordinate my first mortgage and refinance it when it is time for the loan to adjust or am I stuck? Is this possible without touching the second mortgage?

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search for : 80/20 financing, 2/28 ARM, subordinate my first mortgage

The population of Asheville, N.C., is only about 70,000, but this midsize city ranked No. 1 on a list of the most popular places to live in 2007. Asheville, NC made its second appearance on Relocate-America.com’s annual top 10 list, compiled each year since 1998. Though Asheville is best known as the location of the 19th-century Vanderbilt manse the Biltmore, the site highlights the city’s downtown, where “artists and street musicians converge with tourists and locals for a vibrancy rarely found in a city of this size.” The average home price in town is $265,000, according to the site, and the housing stock includes new construction, older Victorians, condominiums, single-family homes and town houses.

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search for : Asheville, NC, the Biltmore

Home buyers face to much information when trying to make pivotal decisions about which mortgage may or may not be the right one for them. According to a soon-to-be-released study, the Federal Trade Commission says that while consumers clearly benefit from information, they suffer from “info overloadus” when bombarded with stuff they don’t understand — or don’t care about. As part of its follow-up to 2004 research into the effect disclosures on how brokers are paid have on borrow choice — specifically how brokers are compensated by funding lenders in the form of yield spread premiums. The FTC said in a preliminary report last week that the disclosure of complex transactions, such as yield spread premiums, may confuse borrowers and lead to make a poor decision.

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search for : yield spread, borrowers