MSNBC reports:

“The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that sales of existing homes fell 5.3 percent to an annual rate of 4.49 million last month, from 4.74 million in December. It was the weakest showing since July 1997, and some analysts don’t see sales bottoming out until later this year as prices continue to sink. Sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 4.79 million homes, according to Thomson Reuters.”

Creative financing strategies such as loans provided by the seller make it possible for people who don’t qualify with a bank to purchase a home. Offering such incentives can be risky for the seller – you certainly don’t want to offer financing to someone who won’t pay you back. But, in today’s market there are a lot of lower-risk buyers who still can’t qualify due to self employment or a shorter work history.

See Also:

Seller Financing Info

Peer-to-Peer Lending Essentials

Here’s what can happen if you choose the wrong broker for a hard money loan:

1. The broker you pick doesn’t know where to find hard money investors. He tries to put your mortgage through with traditional lenders and gets turned down. He tells you a hard money loan is impossible.

2. Rather than doing any research into the issue, the broker responds to your queries with “Oh, no, we can’t do that. It’s illegal.” You’d be surprised how many will claim that something is illegal when they actually mean “I don’t know anything about that.”

3. Despite never having completed a hard money transaction, your broker is overconfident. He makes outrageous claims without double-checking the facts. He reassures you that you can take out a hard money mortgage without a down payment or that your interest rates will be the same as those given for traditional loans (both false).

As you can see, choosing a hard money mortgage broker is an extremely important decision and can have a big impact on whether or not your loan goes through at all. Unlike traditional transactions, a lot of brokers don’t have any experience with hard money loans and won’t even know where to begin.

I’d suggest gathering references and calling your top picks to get some information about their business and direct experience with hard money loans. Take a look at my complete article How to Choose a Hard Money Mortgage Broker for some of the most important qualities to consider.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

See Also:

Answers to Common Hard Money Mortgage Questions

How to Take Out a Hard Money Loan