It’s likely that they’ll have to have a re-inspection completed on the property by the original appraiser, to verify that no damage was been done and that the value of the home did not change by the storm, according to a recent statement by John Walsh, president of Total Mortgage Services, which is a lender based in Connecticut.

Homeowners who had pending home purchase and refinancing applications in FEMA-designated disaster areas before the hurricane are the ones most likely to be affected by this issue.

According to FEMA, at least 11 states are designated as federal disaster areas impacted by last weekend’s storm. Walsh also said that somewhere between 15% and 50% of his firm’s pending mortgage applications will require a new inspection.

Requiring re-inspections does not mean all of those properties were actually damaged by the storm, but the costs and delays are frustrating for both applicants and lenders. For instance, a homeowner who has already sold their previous residence would face a significant challenge if the home they were purchasing is one of the many now severely damaged by the storm.

“If I’m buying that house and I can no longer purchase it, and I’ve already sold my own home, the domino effect of that could be a big problem,” Walsh said.

This isn’t good news for sellers or the overall health of the market, but is great news for buyers who are still shopping for their dream home, or even still saving up for their down payment. Rates are still staying low as well, another bright spot for aspiring homeowners.

According to the Commerce Department, the seasonally adjusted rate of new home sales in July decreased 6.8% from a year ago, which was a significant amount below analyst expectations. Sales for this year dropped under the 300,000 market, near the low of 278,000 units in August 2010.

This could be due to the fact that new home sales have a lot to compete with considering the glut of distressed and previously foreclosed properties. The Commerce Department estimates that roughly 165,000 new homes are for sale on the market, roughly equal to a 6.6-month supply. However, according to the Mortgage Banker the shadow inventory of distressed property hovering in the wings ranges as high as 4.5 million properties, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Recent reports hint that it could take as long as 44 months to work through the shadow inventory, likely a large factor in the pessimism of the analysts’ new home sale forecasts.

Overall, despite spelling trouble for investors in the general housing market and private sellers, it’s a great time to hop in the game not just for hopeful homeowners, but also for property investors looking for an avenue for rental income. With the increasing demand and according rise in rental prices, now is a great time to look at both single family and multi unit dwellings.

We want to hear your thoughts–is this new report a blessing in the form of a curse?

Home DIY doesn’t always have to be big projects that consume your whole weekend. In fact, even if you did all ten of these green, eco-friendly tips, you’d still have enough of your Sunday left to barbecue!

1. Add a bottle of water to your toilet tank. The water it displaces will save between 3,000 and 5,000 gallons a year.

2. Use a backyard clothesline instead of a dryer. You’ll not only save on energy, but your clothes will have the fresh smell of the outdoors.

3. Don’t buy environmentally harsh drain cleaners. Sprinkle baking soda into a drain, and then add vinegar. After about 15 minutes, pour in hot water to clear everything out.

4. Supercharge the water you pour on your plants! After boiling or steaming vegetables, save the water and pour it on after it cools–the nutrients left in the liquid are extremely beneficial.

5. Choose an area of your home for a “charging station” for phones, games, and the like. Plug all of the chargers into a power strip, and unplug the power strip when it’s not in use.

6. Instead of tossing stained t-shirts, rip them up for cleaning cloths. You’ll save on paper towels and dust cloths.

7. Install a dimmer switch to conserve electricity

8. Save seeds from those pretty heirloom tomatoes you found at the farmer’s market–in a few months, you could be enjoying a few from your own garden.

9. Olive and coconut oil both make wonderful moisturizers without harmful chemicals or irritating dyes.

10. Tea tree oil is one of the best mold killers out there, and all natural to boot. Apply to a cloth and sweep over moldy areas.

The housing market is seeing a startling trend: Homeowners who are abandoning their mortgage voluntarily, in a new move called a strategic default.

According to Experian, the typical strategic defaulter is high income, high in liquid assets, financially savvy, with good to excellent credit scores. They may also have applied for other credit lately, and are usually dealing with an underwater mortgage, meaning that they owe more than the property is worth. They are most frequently found in regions where the rate of mortgage balances rising above home values is increasing.

Why would someone in effect commit financial suicide? It appears that rather than attempt the paperwork and red tape of a modification or refinance, these homeowners are instead lining up a new home and loan. Once they gain approval, they simply discard their old home and its mortgage. For someone with a credit score of 790 or higher, the 140 point foreclosure penalty may not seem as intimidating.

However, some of these people engaging in strategic defaulting may not fully understand the repercussions of their actions. 38 states in the USA allow lenders to pursue foreclosed homeowner for the remainder of the money that was agreed upon in the mortgage but was not collected in the foreclosure sale.

Credit scoring companies are devising ways to track characteristic behaviors of strategic defaulting so that they can alert lenders. New research also shows that despite their attempts to escape their mortgage obligations, the majority of these homeowners were still having financial difficulties 18 months after foreclosure.

The actions of strategic defaulters are far too extreme for most homeowners, even those that may be struggling with payments. Refinancing is always a better option than home abandonment, and there are many resources to help homeowners with the process. Lenders have responded to the needs of their borrowers, offering education and assistance through their websites and in person. JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America have both expanded their loan modification programs in an effort to help keep families in their homes, and will continue to offer more solutions to avoid mortgage default and foreclosure.

On the flipside, there are some downsides associated with a streamline FHA refinance. For one, this kind of mortgage loan does not permit the homeowner to take out any money. Thus, for homeowners who are hoping to pay off some bills with their built up equity, this is not a possibility. In addition to the foregoing, there are closing costs associated with this kind of loan. They are often a lot less than other loans, and therefore at times give rise to ambiguous advertisements, such as ads which promise no cost refinancing. In fact, these costs may be rolled into the loan – if there is sufficient equity – or they may take the form of a slightly higher than average interest rate to offset the fees.

This kind of semi creative financing makes FHA loans an attractive mortgage for those borrowers who simply want to take advantage of lowered interest rates, but who have no need for any cash-out refinancing. In some cases it shows that the costs rolled into the loan actually add too much money to make this a profitable undertaking and consumers are urged to find alternative means of paying the closing costs. Financing the fees over the course of 30 years adds more eventual costs than the consumer is actually saving. A loan broker or reputable bank can quickly and easily disclose the actual cost of the loan with the help of an amortization schedule that sheds light on the amount of money the consumer is expected to pay as opposed to the amount s/he will expect to save.

Other loan products receive a lot more airtime on radio and television than streamline FHA refinancing, in part because these fiscal vehicles are a lot more profitable for the lender. At the same time, the consumers who actually benefit from a streamline FHA refinance are not as plentiful as you might think. There are plenty of reasons why a refinance should be advantageous to both consumer and lender, and in this case only a select number of homeowners can actually benefit from a redo of their FHA mortgage without the ability to tap into the cash and use it for expenses.

To find and compare the lowest mortgage rates, visit our site at Lender411.com.

A mortgage loan workout plan is a legal agreement between the mortgage lender and the borrower. It is usually entered into when the mortgage default jeopardizes continued homeownership, but the borrower is responsible and makes contact with the lender and keeps the bank appraised of the financial situation s/he is facing and what the plans are for coming up with a way to undo the default. The center piece of a mortgage workout plan is the intent to keep the homeowner in the home. To this end, the lender and the borrower covenant and enter into a side agreement that gets tied onto the initial promissory note of the mortgage loan.

This agreement details the steps the borrower will take to repay the defaulted amount. It also outlines under which conditions the lenders will accept these payments, what deadlines have to be met, and how such a situation will be avoided in the future. In addition, the lender agrees not to foreclose on the customer who is trying to make things right and actually pay off the debts owed. Each workout plan differs from the next; these plans are uniquely crafted for the benefit of the borrowers. To some, as little as three months forbearance is all that is needed for getting back on their feet. In such cases a lender may agree to move three months worth of payments to the end of the loan, thus actually extending the loan.

In other cases the default may be more serious and the lender and borrower could work out a plan that would give the borrower up to 24 months to pay off any default plus costs, penalties and other amounts indicated. This agreement is just as legally binding as the initial mortgage, and it has the advantage of allowing the borrower to once again make normal mortgage payments without the staggering weight of late fees added to them. Budgeting of the secondary payment is also made easier, since the repayment is spread over a sufficient amount of time to not actually adversely affect the borrowers overall budget. Whatever option works for the homeowner, it is crucial to remember that only a borrower, who is in contact with the lender when things go wrong, can hope for such deals.

To find the best mortgage rates, visit our site at Lender411.com.

When changes to the bankruptcy code were submitted – making it much more favorable for unsecured creditors like credit companies – and kept consumers repaying outstanding balances as part of their filing requirements, the fast paced return to a life without fiscal woes was greatly curtailed. As the housing boom bottomed out, and a waning economy sent more and more homeowners into bankruptcy, the amounts of seized parcels of real property skyrocketed and empty homes litter residential streets, driving down home prices.

Since there is hardly a waiting number of consumers for these foreclosed properties, a number of state attorneys general have now come out in favor of a further amendment to the bankruptcy code that would put the bankruptcy court in the position to order banks to proceed with mortgage loan modifications. Proponents believe that this step will protect large numbers of bankrupt homeowners from actually having their homes seized and added to staggeringly high inventory of already foreclosed homes.

Bankers and mortgage investors are not too keen on the idea, since it essentially places the risk of bad mortgages back on them, leaving them to figure out how to make a home affordable for a debtor who is essentially out of disposable income. Banks argue that such a move would greatly increase the cost of mortgages for all consumers, since banks would have to protect themselves against the potential for high impact costs this kind of program might have for them.

The current political climate in Washington, however, does not have a lot of sympathy for creditors and for banks that are crying foul and as such the Obama Administration is favored to see this measure through. What is more, since proponents crunched the numbers, they came to the realization that the actual increase would only be about 0.15 points to current mortgage rates, keeping them still rather competitively priced for those considering the purchase of a home or the refinance of an existing home.

With so much opposition, it is not surprising that banks might find themselves in the unenviable position of having to change their business practices. While thus far they have been extremely slow to let go of the bailout money they previously received for the funding of consumer loans, they might before long find themselves to be court ordered to do so. It is anyone’s guess what the long tern effect of this kind of financial climate will be. As it stands, beleaguered homeowners appreciate the opportunity to remain in their homes, even as their finances are in shambles.

In order to compare the lowest mortgage rates, you can visit our site www.lender411.com.

There are some shortcomings associated with mortgage loan qualifications, however, which must be disclosed ahead of time. For example, a prequalification is not a loan guarantee. While the lender is making an educated guess based on information obtained from the would-be borrower and from the credit profile, there are times when a prequalified loan cannot be granted. This usually occurs when the borrower cannot verify income, length of employment, or eligibility to contract for such a large amount of money in the United States. This information does not usually show up on the credit report but is discovered after a prequalification letter is issued.

Another problem with a prequalification letter is the fact that it is only applicable to the moment in time when the applicant requested it. Job losses, a change in professions, and also other factors may adversely affect a would-be borrower’s ability to qualify for the actual loan, prequalification letter or not. In the cases of troubled financial institutions, there is also the danger that a bank may not have the funds needed to follow though on the mortgage loan for which it prequalified a consumer, and while this is an exceedingly rare occurrence, recent economic turmoil shows that it can happen. Of course, if the applicant is a good credit risk, the prequalification letter may be honored by any of the bank’s competitors, and there is a chance that the real estate transaction will still go through.

There are also other reasons that influence a real estate transaction, with or without a prequalification letter. For example, if the piece of real property fails to appraise at an amount that is close to the sale amount, then there is a good chance that the bank will refuse to fund such a loan. Generally speaking, a bank will fund a loan up to the amount of the real estate appraisal, but will not go beyond. If a consumer insists on purchasing a property that is sold for more than it is worth, s/he will have to come up with their own funding to make up the difference. This might discourage a good many consumers from pursuing the transaction, and thus escrow may still fall through, even though the would-be borrower presented a prequalification letter to the would-be seller.

In order to compare the lowest mortgage rates, you can visit our site, www.Lender411.com.