Did you ever consider that maybe you should apply for a VA loan ? That very same thought has occurred to lots of people. Lots of people have had the exact same idea, and some have even done something about it. Most never get past the daydream stage. Sometimes it is because they do not know how to start. Sometimes it is because the whole idea can be a huge unknown area. In other cases they drop taking that approach because they think that they cannot get it done.

Let’s not get hung up within the negatives before we start. We ought to think and be more analytical. Let’s check out the for and against register on how we could apply for a VA loan and consider them one by one.

Firstly, in its favor, allow me to mention that they can provide up to 100% loan financing. Sure, I understand your objection that you can only get the loan if you’re a veteran. That which you say is true, I agree, however if you’re a veteran with a loan certificate of eligibility, this is the loan for you.

Secondly, you truly should consider that there is no pre-pay penalty on VA loans. And, in addition to that, there is no mortgage insurance requirement. Plus, even better, You can roll closing costs into your VA mortgage.

Third and finally, you’ll get a great loan option which will result in homeownership. In addition to that, you can refinance with a VA streamline in the future if needed.

Once you have had an opportunity to check out the reasons, and think about them, you’ll find that a pretty good case can be made in favor of apply for a VA loan.

Just think about it. Maybe you really, in all seriousness, should apply for a VA loan.

Discover methods to Apply for a VA loan by visiting this website website at www.tendayclose.com/.

Ever Considered Applying for a VA Loan? is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

According to the Arizona Republic, a growing number of complaints are reaching the city of Mesa about the lack of maintenance on abandoned properties, and Mesa is trying to figure out who to hold responsible.

Mesa residents tell stories of their neighbors being there one day and being gone the next without any word that they were leaving. The messy home they leave behind is just one more abandoned property in a sea of already vacant homes. Mesa saw nearly 1,000 foreclosures in May according to RealtyTrac reports.

But what happens when the City of Mesa makes their code enforcement rounds? At this point, all Mesa city officials can do at this point and tag the property as abandoned by placing a sign in the window noting that the property is vacant. Many abandoned houses are still listed by the county assessor in the last homeowners name. Likely, this indicates the house is somewhere in or near foreclosure. At this stage, the city of Mesa doesn’t know who to hold responsible.

300 other cities have adopted abandoned-property registration ordinances, and Mesa is likely hopping on board.

“The real goal of that program is to try to find a responsible party between when a person walks and it actually goes into foreclosure,” said Tammy Albright, Mesa’s code-compliance supervisor.

Here’s how it would work:

• Mortgage companies would be required to inspect the property immediately following the loan delinquency to determine whether or not it is vacant.
• If it is vacant, the company would have to register the property with the city, secure the property and begin maintaining it. They would be responsible for maintenance until the home is occupied again.
• The company would have to make monthly inspections to make sure the property was still within compliance codes. The city would also require a company contact, or a local property management company contact for out-of-state lenders.

The staff report doesn’t address some issues like what plans would be enforced to make sure that the lending companies were meeting these compliance standards and codes, and what penalties they face if they don’t.

The Mesa city council is currently on a six-week break, so there likely will be no further discussion until the end of summer.

Mesa May Hold Lenders Responsible for Abandoned Homes is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

The Wall Street Journal reports that once again, mortgage rates have fallen, extending their record lows another week according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates.

The declines come as the Treasurys market has seen continued strength, pushing yields down. Mortgage rates, all of which have at least touched multi-year lows recently, generally track yields.

For the week ending July 8, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.57%. The prior week averaged 4.58%. At this time last year, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.2%. Freddie Mac has been tracking these rates for 39 years, and this is the lowest recorded rate in that history.

15-year fixed-rate mortagges were slightly up, averaging 4.07% as opposed to last week’s 4.04%. Last week’s rate was the lowest since Freddie Mac began tracking these rates in 1991, and down from last year’s 4.69% at this time.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.75%—the lowest level since Freddie started keeping score in 2005—down from 3.79% and 4.82%, respectively. One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs were 3.75%, yet another fresh six-year low, dropping from 3.8% and 4.82%. To obtain the rates, the mortgages required payment of an average 0.7 point. One point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged as prepaid interest.

Mortgage rates have been dipping slightly these past few weeks, hovering at record levels. From the looks of the recent reports on the housing market and overall economy, they are likely to stay low for a little while. This is good news for buyers who want to lock in a low rate because now is the time. There has also been a recent increase in refinancing mortgage applications as well.

Are you considering refinancing your current mortgage? Do you need financing on the new home you wish to buy? We can help you take advantage of these great rates.

Mortgage Rates Continue to Hit Record Lows is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

Have you ever had anybody give you the advice that you should start a Roth IRA? That very same advice has come to me a fair number of times. The topic seems to come up at every business mixer I go to. All for the good, but it took me a long time to get in gear and get my Roth IRA started.

I thought about starting a Roth IRA occasionally over a long time before I did something about it. I think many people just think about it briefly – like I did – then dismiss the idea or something else gets in the way that keeps them from taking action. For me, it’s like anything else, when something seems like it will take a lot to get started I don’t do it. Other times I get hung up on the unknowns and decide that it is not worth my time.

But wait a moment. Let’s slow down a bit, and consider this: 2 reasons why you should start a Roth IRA.

Before I go any further, allow me to offer that a Roth IRA is simple to get started. Sure, I realize your embarrassment about calling your financial planner after all these years and asking for help. What you say is true, I agree, but still it is worth the time to pick up the phone to make the call to get the paperwork for your IRA rolling.

The first reason for starting your IRA is that the future ramifications of starting an individual retirement account are huge. In the case that you are serious about making contributions on a annual basis you can save a lot of money by the time you reach retirement.

Second, there are tax free and penalty free instances where you can access your IRA to pull money out. One instance is the case where you are buying a home as a first time buyer. A second instance is in the event that you need some financial help in the event of a serious medical setback.

Think this through seriously for just a moment: adding to your financial security in retirement and access to extra cash in certain instances without penalty. Perhaps you actually should talk to your financial planner first instead of listening to me. I finally did and I started my Roth IRA shortly after.

Two Reasons to Start A Roth IRA – Retirement and Buying a Home is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

In the first month after the first time homebuyer tax credit expired, pending home sales plummeted 30%, as reported by Housingwire.

Prior to the tax credit expiration, the housing market experienced three solid month-over-month housing sale increases. The National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) pending home sales indexed declined to 77.6 in May, down from 110.9 in April—a 30% decrease in a month. It is also down 15.9% from its May 2009 level. The index is used as an indicator of future sales.

NAR Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun says that despite the drop in existing home sale prices, the tax credit helped stabilize home prices.

“Without the tax credit, there will be more aggressive price negotiations between buyers and sellers,” Yun said. “The key test on whether the housing market can stand on its own without stimulus medicine will depend critically on private sector job creation in the second half of the year.”

Yun also said that buyers are rational and that the rush to sign contracts by April followed by a slump in May is to be expected under the circumstances. He likewise predicts similarly low levels of contract activity in June numbers. This conflicts with projections he made in March where he claimed existing home sales would surge in April, May and June. He attributes these changes to a delay in the closing process and the 180,000 buyers who were in danger of losing the first-time-homebuyer tax credits. This has since been remedied with the recent extension of the closing deadline.

Yun is now projecting that home sales in June will remain elevated and then decline in July and August.

“If jobs come back as expected, the pace of home sales should pick up later this year and reach a sustainable level of activity given very favorable affordability conditions,” he said Thursday. “In most areas of the country there will be no sharp snap back in home prices in the upcoming years, although some local markets have experienced double-digit gains this year.”

Pending Home Sales Drop 30% After Tax Credit Expiration is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

Like all home sales in the U.S., May numbers slipped significantly from April, as shown in the Phoenix Business Journal. However, sales in the West fared better than any other region.

The National Association of Realtors said that overall, existing home sales in May were over 19% above those in May of 2009 nationally.

The biggest gains were in the West. May sales rose up 4.9% from April, and prices were up 15.2% over prices a year ago. The NAR does not break down numbers by state, but Arizona is in the western region.

“We are witnessing the ongoing effects of the homebuyer tax credit, which we’ll also see in June real estate closings,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “However, approximately 180,000 homebuyers who signed a contract in good faith to receive the tax credit may not be able to finalize by the end of June due to delays in the mortgage process, particularly for short sales.”

The good news is there’s been a small reprieve for those 180,000 pushing paperwork to get the benefits of the tax credit. Congress recently passed a tax credit closing extension that now places the closing deadline at September 30, 2010.

Arizona State University also recently released a report showing projections that Phoenix housing prices will gain a little and taper off in the coming months.

In April, 49% of existing home sales were from first-time homebuyers seeking to use the tax credit, and 46% of those first-time homebuyers accounted for existing home sales in May. These first-time homebuyer numbers are expected to trickle into June sales, and with the recent deadline extension, it’s possible those numbers could trickle further into the next month or two.

At the end of May, total housing inventory represented an 8.3 month supply, down from the 8.4 month supply that existed in April. A healthy housing market is generally supposed to have less than a 6 month supply. There are plenty of houses available, interest rates are at record lows, and housing prices are way cheap. If you’re thinking of buying, ask us how we can close on your new home in just 10 days.

Western U.S. Existing Home Sales Up is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

In an attempt to hinder future economic crises, the House approved the Financial Overhaul Bill last week, according to the New York Times. It was the source of much debate and opposition from both sides and had been drafted over the course of the year. It passed 237 to 192.

The bill gives government regulators the authority to liquidate failing financial companies by breaking them apart, selling assets and forcing creditors and shareholders to take losses so that taxpayers do not pay the bill.

It also expands regulatory powers of the Fed, and establishes a risk council held by high-ranking officials led by the Treasury Secretary to detect potential threats to the financial and economic systems. It also creates a powerful new consumer bureau to protect consumers and prevent practices that may potentially lead to economic hardship. The Securities and Exchange Commission also gained new powers in fund regulations and credit rating agencies.

The measure restricts the ability of banks to invest and trade for their own accounts — a provision known as the Volcker Rule, for its proponent, the former Fed chairman, Paul A. Volcker — and creates a new regulatory framework for derivatives, the complex financial instruments that were at the heart of the 2008 crisis.

The bill comes with many changes to several areas:

• Mortgages
• Credit/Debit Cards
• Equity Indexed Annuities
• Fiduciary Duties
• Credit Scores

Find out what major changes you can expect from the mortgage industry.

The Financial Overhaul Bill comes during a global economic downturn and the worst financial crisis we have faced since the Great Depression. Oddly, the bill does not address the two government controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who recently de-listed their stock from the New York Stock Exchange because of their decreased value. Time will tell if new regulation is to come, but for now, these are the latest changes.

Congress Approves Financial Overhaul Bill is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

The New York Times reports that the slow number of home sales and new home builds in May hit record lows highlighting the importance of new job growth and government stimulus programs.

These low numbers coupled with an increase in job loss makes the economic recovery look further away than before (unemployment in May was 9.7% and 9.8% in June). New statistics show that both new home construction and pending sales declined. Some manufacturers did report gains last month, but they were still down from May and below estimates.

“The idea of a growth slowdown in the second half of 2010, a long-held belief of ours, is catching on as the data increasingly reinforces this idea,” said Dan Greenhaus, the chief economic strategist for Miller Tabak & Company.

The National Association of Realtors‘ chief executive, Lawrence Yun, said that now the determining factor in the housing market recovery sans a federal stimulus is potential job growth. The association noted that their housing indexes of pending home sales shows that after the tax credit expired, home sales are now down 16% from where it stood in May 2009. That is the lowest reported figure since the association started tracking these indexes in 2001, and it reversed three months of reported increases when homebuyers were pushing to utilize the tax credit.

“How much growth depends on what starts to happen in the next few months,” he said. “We need to see some further support from things like construction, consumer spending, and we are a little nervous about the export picture over all because Europe is weak an there are some early signs that China is slowing down.”

New home construction is also dependent on the labor market, and construction spending also fell in May.

Manufacturing is the only area to report any gains. In a survey of 18 different anufacturing companies, employment was still expanding though it slowed by 2% in June when compared to May figures.

Home Sales and Building Decreased in May is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

Post-recession buyers are on the prowl for the perfect house at the perfect price, according to the New York Times.

Exacting buyers are upending the battered real estate market, agents and other experts say, leading to last-minute demands for multiple concessions, bruised feelings on all sides and many more collapsed deals than usual.

Before the boom, the sellers often had the upper-hand in the competition over the sale of their home, but the roles have now flipped. Many brokers are seeing a new trend in buyers who make demands at the last minute knowing the seller’s other alternative may be to place their undervalued home back on the market.

After the $8000 tax credit expired, a temporary housing slump was expected, but the results have been more drastic than initially expected. In some places sales dropped 20% from May 2009. Builders are also seeing a decrease in home sales, down 17.2% since April. Building permits for future construction dropped 10% which will result in a decrease of home building this summer.

Even the lowest home mortgage rates in decades are not doing much to invite deals. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that applications for loans to buy houses were down by a third compared with last year. Applications are back to the level of the mid-1990s, when the country’s housing market was smaller.

Buyers feel they are being smart, yet many sellers cannot afford to make many concessions. A few $1000 could push them under the water and push the sale into one directed by the bank.

Since many of the sales were initiated just before the April 30th cut-off for the tax credit, the numbers will continue to be reported through June. The real result of which will not be known until the fall of this year.

On the upside, some experts argue that come July people will need to start buying again, and the Mortgage Bankers Association did note that the purchase application index rose slightly this week after a 5-week decline.

Buyers Demands Slow Housing Market is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com

The Arizona Republic reports that The Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport revealed their new PHX Sky Train transit system. The transit system area includes transport to:

• A lightrail station
• Sky Harbor airport terminals
• Parking
• Airport rental car facilities

It is a 4.8 mile project. The cars are being designed by Bombardier Transportation Holdings USA to model those at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport but modified to better accommodate a desert environment. The cars are designed with white roofs and silver casing and minor black accents to keep the Arizona heat out. Cars are also air conditioned. Cars are about 36 feet long, 9 feet wide, and 11 feet high holding roughly 53 people in each train (each train is 3 cars long).

The dark-colored bottom, or “skirt,” of the train has vents that will help the components underneath stay cool. The airport officials also made sure the air conditioning system was powerful enough to maintain 72 degree interior temperature during triple-digit summer temperatures.

In total there will be 18 cars and a maintenance facility on site in the transit system. The first test car is scheduled to arrive in August of 2011. The first stage of the PHX Sky Train project is scheduled to open in 2013 with total completion expected in 2020.

The project is being paid for by bonds which will be paid pack with monies collected from customer fees at Sky Harbor.

The PHX Sky Train system is another step in Phoenix area transit efficiency, connecting to the current Phoenix lightrail transit system that takes passengers through Phoenix and many of its suburbs while also passing through three university campuses. There are also future plans for lightrail system expansions with the growing communities and popular appeal among commuters. Many Arizonans working in Phoenix commute from Mesa, Tempe, Gilbert, Scottsdale, Chandler and surrounding areas. All the more reason to check out homebuying opportunities in the quieter suburbs if the city-life is not as appealing.

New Transit System at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a post from: mesa-az-mortgage.com