Creative Financing 101 » mortgage crisis

New Obama Mortgage Plan Helps Struggling States

Jamie Beck — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:36:28 +0000

Obama is pumping money into states hit the hardest by the mortgage crisis. The Los Angeles Times reports:

“Under the new policy, $1.5 billion that had been reserved for the bank bailout will be rerouted to five states that have seen housing prices drop more than 20% since 2006: Nevada, California, Michigan, Florida and Arizona.

The money will go toward homeowners who have lost their jobs, owe more than their houses are worth or cannot afford to make monthly payments.”

The new program is designed to help the people who have suffered from the mortgage crisis rather than give more to banks that have already recieved bailouts. Hopefully this will prove more successful than the Making Home Affordable mortgage modification program (many were excited, few have been able to get coherent answers from any bank…)

See Also:

Non-Conforming Bank Loans

Shrinking Equity & Tax Incentives Make Creative Financing Attractive

Jamie Beck — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:49:38 +0000

A lot of people can’t qualify for a traditional home loan in the current market, but that’s not stopping them from seeking creative financing strategies. The $8,000 first-time home buyer incentive and declining home values are making some people consider purchasing property while others are struggling to get out of upside-down loans.

Credit.com points out the massive losses homeowners have faced in the past couple years:

“The estimates are inconsistent, but it’s safe to say that we’ve collectively lost over 1 trillion dollars of value in our homes over the past two years. While it’s a monumental disaster already, many people – including me – believe that we’re not even close to out of the woods yet. I believe home values will continue to drop, which means we’ll continue to lose true equity and experience an increasing amount of negative equity.”

While these statistics are bad news for current homeowners (myself included), many potential home buyers are taking advantage of the opportunity to buy low. Creative financing strategies such as peer-to-peer lending, seller financing, and hard money loans allow for purchases the banks won’t approve. Now the only problem is estimating where the bottom of the market is.

A Return to Seller Financing in 2009?

Jamie Beck — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:42:05 +0000

Due to the tightening credit market, many experts believe that seller financing will make a major comeback this year.

Akron Ohio News reports:

“Creative financing’ is one of the items that is ‘in’ for 2009, according to an annual survey conducted by Mark Nash, a Coldwell Banker broker and real estate author who uses a network of 839 Realtors® in all 50 states and eight Canadian provinces to acquire consumer responses to a variety of housing questions.

Nash…believes that seller financing, or “carrying the paper” will return to popularity this year along with the lease-option.”

Not everyone is in a position to offer seller financing. But, for those who can, it’s often a smart way to attract buyers in a down market.

See Also:

Seller Financing Guide

Where to Find Seller Financed Properties

Seller Financing Laws