Don’t let your credit score fall down. There are many current homeowners who can afford their mortgage, but are upset that their home is not worth what it once was. These people are called “strategic defaulters”. But walking away from a mortgage, especially one you can afford, is a bad idea. Read the rest of this entry »
Most people do not know what it means to co-sign a mortgage. Some people think its a curse, and some think its no big deal. The truth is somewhere in between.
The good news is that co-signing a loan does not hurt your credit, as long as the person you are co-signing for does not make any late payments. Most co-signing situations are a parent or parents who are co-signing for a child. Other good news is that the co-signers will not have the mortgage they co-sign for count against their credit and their debt ratios, as long as the child they helped can produce canceled checks for one year showing the payments have been made on time by the child. Read the rest of this entry »
Alexandria Virginia was hoping that Verizon would bring its high speed internet and video service called “Fios” to the area, and Verizon chose not to. Now Alexandria Virginia is hoping to be a test site for a new high-speed internet service being developed by Google. And anyone that owns real estate in Alexandria should hope this happens! Read the rest of this entry »
What affects real estate prices? Perception. The macro-economy. The city. The neighborhood. The street. The curb appeal. The house. The square footage. The bedroom count. The view. The neighbors. The local economy. The condition of the house. Local zoning issues, if any. Access to transportation. Marketing. Government. Tax breaks. Interest rates. Rents. The weather. The landscaping. The Realtors involved. The sellers. The buyers. Emotion. Local income patterns. Local employment. Competition. Supply. Demand. Chocolate chip cookies…and more?
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Does traffic affect real estate in Washington DC, of course it does! We plan our lives around traffic, we look for the best routes to get where we are going, we think about the best times to come and go, we telecommute to beat traffic, we move into the city to beat traffic, and we work late to avoid rush hour. We do anything we can to avoid traffic! Read the rest of this entry »
I could tell you how Washington DC had an influx of population in 2009. I could tell you how strong the job market is in Washington DC. Or I could even tell you how real estate prices were up 2.9% in Washington DC last year. Instead I am going to regale you with some anecdotal stories to illustrate what is going on here in the real estate market. Read the rest of this entry »
Hey Chicken Little, the sky is not falling in Washington DC!
Everyone Just Figured Out Washington DC Is Not A Declining Market!
A few of the major mortgage insurance companies just announced that they have taken Washington DC off their declining markets list. Read the rest of this entry »
If you have an FHA loan, you have probably heard you can do an FHA streamline refinance. This FHA loan is a type of refinance where you can refi without an appraisal. Read the rest of this entry »
It seems all banks and all types of loans today require a credit score to get a mortgage. I know of only one bank that still allows what is called “an alternative credit history”, it seems 99% of all banks now mandate the need for a credit score. But there are a few people, very few, who don’t use credit, have not gotten a credit card, and pay cash or write checks for everything. I find these people to be younger, or much older. The younger people still have not considered building a credit history, and some much older people just never used credit or were never comfortable with it. Read the rest of this entry »