Financing Houses
What Real Estate Lenders Look ForLenders control many programs -- some make use of over 200! Generally, lenders look for the following typical standards, with many exceptions:1. Absolutely no late mortgage payments 2. Credit score above 580 3. If bankruptcy, no charge-offs or collection accounts ... more...

Ending Your Private Mortgage Insurance Early
Private mortgage insurance, or PMI, is the safety net of the lender. PMI benefits lenders because it guarantees payment on the balance of loans not covered by the sale of foreclosed properties.If a borrower makes a down payment of 20% of the cost of the home, the lender can generally trust that he ... more...

Open the Cash Vault Inside Your Home
Believe it or not, many people do not understand equity and the power it provides.In its purest form, equity is money. With regard to real estate (specifically, your house or other investment property), equity is measured in terms of the value of the property minus what you owe. So, if your home is ... more...

Some of the Available Loan Types
There are many mortgage products available on the market today. We can help you find out which one is right for you. Here are the most common options.Fixed Rate Mortgages (FRMs)* Interest rates stay constant for the life of the loan.* Offered in 10, 15, 20, or 30 year terms.* Payments are made up ... more...

Bridging Finance Basics
Bridging finance is a short-term loan that is used as a way to provide funding for the purchase of a new property while the borrower awaits the sale of an existing property. Unless all the stars are in perfect alignment, its tricky to coordinate the sale of one property and the purchase of another ... more...

Home Mortgage and Financing Terms
Every business has it's jargon and residential real estate is no exception. Mark Nash author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home shares commonly used mortgage and financing terms with home buyers and sellers.-Adjustable rate mortgage (ARM): A type of mortgage loan whose interest rate is tied ... more...

Bridging Loans - Fulfilling Financial Shortfall between Real Estate Transactions
You are trying to buy a new property and selling the current one to raise money for the new purchase. It is usually difficult corresponding sale of one property with the buying of another. This almost always leads to financial gap. For this particular circumstance bridging loans are organized ... more...

Is a Reverse Mortgage Good for Me?
A reverse mortgage is a loan against the equity in the home that provides tax-free cash advances, but requires no payments during the term of the loan. Since there are no monthly payments during the life of the loan, the balance grows larger and the equity gets smaller. Meaning the interest in ... more...

Challenging the Gospel of Growth -- Must Business Grow to Survive?
A cherished business doctrine is that growth must be a primary business purpose: grow or perish is a mostly unquestioned truth. At South Mountain we favor certain kinds of growth, but not expansion for its own sake, which author Edward Abbey described as the ideology of the cancer cell. We embrace ... more...