Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

Taking cash out of the equity of your home could be a legitimate way to fund a temporary cash crisis now or to have it on-hand if the need arises.  Most homeowners can pull out the difference in 80% of the fair market value of their home and what they currently owe. The most frequently cited reasons for refinancing are to lower the payment, eliminate the private mortgage insurance, combine mortgages, consolidate debt, convert an ARM to a fixed rate mortgage, remove a person from the loan or to take cash out for another reason. The option of using your equity to deal with unexpected living expenses or potential lost wages in the future could be a good reason for doing a cash-out refinance.  It is important to consider that it could increase your monthly payment instead of lowering it which would result in higher expenses during uncertain economic times. Some lenders have recently raised the minimum credit score requirement but borrowers with good credit and the ability to repay sh

Everyone knows someone it has happened to or has heard a tragic story.   It could have been a fire, a flood, a burglary or some other disaster but to file a claim on their insurance, they need the receipts or a list for what is being claimed. Since you're at home anyway and may even have kids at home who need something to do, now is a great time to get a current home inventory done.   One of the easiest ways to accomplish this seemingly, daunting task is to put together a collection of pictures of every room in your home.      The more valuable, the more important it is to take a close-up picture.   It will be necessary to open the drawers and closets and, in some cases, to pull things out in order to show everything in the picture.   That's why having someone to help you makes it faster and easier. Not to get distracted from the job at hand, you may discover things that you had forgotten you had which is why you should do an inventory rather than trying to reconstruct it

The American bank robber, Willie Sutton, was asked why he robbed banks and his answer was "because that is where the money is."   During his 40-year career, he stole about $2 million but Internet scammers are stealing many times that amount in phishing schemes preying on unsuspecting home buyers. These crooks know where the money is because buyers have the down payment and closing costs and are expecting to transfer it to the close the sale of their home.   The FBI, in their 2018 Internet Crime Report, stated victims lost over $149 million and the CFPB estimates the losses at over $1 billion as a result of fraud in real estate transactions.      The scammers want to take advantage of the situation while it is still in the buyer's account. Commonly, during the closing process, scammers will send spoofed emails to homebuyers from someone they expect to hear from regarding the transaction like the real estate agent or the settlement agent.   They will include false instr

While you're isolating at home, there are things you can do to help buy a home now or in the near future.   Instead of spending time surfing the Internet looking at homes, do the groundwork necessary to be able to purchase the home that you find. There is a lot of documentation necessary to qualify for a mortgage and to be approved.   This part of the homebuying process can be done in advance, long before you even start looking at homes much less finding the one that you want. Assemble all documents to make a pre-approval Photo ID Two months current pay stubs Last two years' W2s Complete copies of checking and savings statements for last three months Copies of statements for IRAs, 401k, savings, CDs, money market funds, etc. Employment history for last two years with addresses and contacts Proof of commissioned or bonus income Residency history for last two years with address