Easy Investing Strategies » mortgage rate trends

Peer Lending

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:33:47 +0000

Peer Lending can be a mutually beneficial investments from both the standpoint of the lender and the borrower. There are many classifications of peer lending ranging from friend-to-friend loans, family lending, as well as organized methods of orchestrating peer-to-peer lending solutions. Benefits of peer lending are that it can provide an above average income or cash flow stream compared to main stream investments, and terms/fees are completely negotiable. From the borrower side, benefits include easy access to money without the need for credit checks, bank statement reviews, and lower upfront loan costs.

Of course there are downsides to peer lending as well. Default rates are generally higher due to the eagerness of lenders wanting to achieve above average rates of return. Also, sometimes terms are worse than bank loans or mortgage loans in the aspect of pre-payments and/or fees. It all depends on how the loan agreement is structured.

There are a few popular peer-to-peer lending sights available on the internet today. The most popular two are Lending Club and Prosper. Both sites allow you to become either a lender or a borrower. Note that lenders are limited to specific states that have been approved. Advertised rates range from 6% up to 30% depending on the risk a lender is willing to take. The downside to these peer-to-peer lending sites is that they usually require a credit check, and adjust the rates based on credit score. Prosper.com works more along the lines of an ebay style site for loans. So the credit rating is not as critical for Prosper.com. Lending club rates are completely based on credit score, assets and background information you provide during the sign-up.

Other means of peer lending or private lending is simply to ask friends or family members for loans. There are sites (Virgin Lending) and documents that exist to make these peer loans more official instead of just taking your friend of family members verbal commitment to pay you back. These are the best loans to come by and can be structured to be very flexible depending on the needs of the person loaning the money and the borrower requirements.

Peer loans can be used for real estate purchases, credit card debug consolidation, home remodeling, home rehabbing, or simply to fund at dream vacation. Next time you are in the need of money, consider bypassing conventional bank and financial institution loans and consider Peer Lending.

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Getting the Best Rates on Investment Property Loans
Mortgage Rate Trends
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Mortgage Rate Trends

admin — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:36:21 +0000

Determining mortgage rate trends is thought to be a difficult activity, however with access to many mortgage, banking and economic indicator sites, figuring out mortgage rate trends is easier than you think.

Sites like zillow.com and bankrate.com are excellent resources for tracking and predicting where mortage rates will be headed. For example, on zillow.com, you can track mortgage rates for the average 15 and 30 year rate based on daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly charts. Note that rates are different for each state, so rates shown on sites like zillow.com show the average rate across all states.

To find local rates, it is best to search for mortgage companies in your local area. For example, if you live in Austin Texas, one of the local mortgage companies called SweetWater Mortgage shows rates for the local area and Texas. Rates can be as much as a 0.5% difference from state to state, so make sure to check your local rates in comparison to the US average mortgage rate trends.

Bankrate.com provides a zip code input form so the site can cater mortgage rates to your specific area. The search results will provide the lowest rates around and disclose any points or fees associated with obtaining that specific mortgage.

Next time you are looking to find out current mortgage rate trends and understand what direction mortgage rates are headed, look no further than you local mortgage provider web sites or industry specific sites like zillow.com.

Other Articles:

Getting the Best Mortgage Rate on Investment Property Loans
HUD Foreclosure Properties
Residential Hard Money Loans

HUD Mortgage

admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:59:48 +0000

HUD, or the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has a primary goal of helping families purchase and own a home. This is accomplished by providing FHA low cost and low down payment loans which are backed by the federal government. These FHA loans are easier to obtain as credit history is usually not as important, and down payments can be as low as 1 – 3% instead of the typical 20%. This makes it extremely feasible for first time home buyers to obtain an FHA loan and purchase a primary residence.

It should be noted that HUD mortgages (which are really FHA loans) should not be confused with HUD homes. HUD homes are homes that have been foreclosed on which were financed with a FHA loan. These homes can be purchased with HUD mortgages (FHA loans) as long as the purchaser is a first time home buyer and qualifies for the HUD program. HUD homes can be a cost effective way for first time home buyers, but beware that these homes usually require a lot of repair work. Since HUD homes are foreclosed homes, they are usually not in the best of shape. The benefit rather is that usually HUD homes can be purchased at a discount compared to comparable homes in the same area.

Other Articles:

HUD Foreclosure Homes
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Investment Property Loans – Getting the best rates

admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:14:48 +0000

Have you ever wondering why investment property loans have higher rates compared to primary residence loans? The simple answer is that banks and lending companies consider the property a higher risk since the owner does not plan to live in it. Since the owner is not occupying the property, the consensus amount lenders is that the property will not be taken care of as well, resulting in a greater risk for the lender. Investment property lenders generally have a 1% – 1.25% adder to the current mortgage rate trends. So if the current 30 year fixed rate is at 5.5%, lenders will offer investors a mortgage of 6.5% – 6.75%. It is very wise for a property investor to get rate quotes from several lenders, and start negotiating between the lenders. The reason is that some lenders consider investment property to be minimal risk, especially if you have an excellent credit score. Rates vary drastically between lenders, and with some simple steps you can acquire an investment property loan with a rate close to or within 0.25% of the what primary mortgage rates are offering.

So how can lenders offer such low rates for investment properties? Lenders can wrap up the 1.25% into closing costs, and some even reduce their fees by this amount to win over borrowers so they do not go with other lenders. So it is very wise for those seeking investment property loans to shop around, as there are very competitive rates out there.

Learn how to compare investment properties through Cap Rate or Capitalization Rate analysis.