Financial Foundations» Real Estate

Money Merge Account Overview

Steve Baker — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:21:58 +0000

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Loan Modification Solutions Can Help Avoid Foreclosure

Steve Baker — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:36:23 +0000

We offer the consumer three major services:

1. Loan Modification

2. Deed in lieu of Foreclosure

3. Short Sale Negotiations

Loan Modification

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The Mortgage Crisis

Steve Baker — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:24:06 +0000

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

How did Americans progress from being the world’s economic leader to becoming the world’s economic anchor?

Friends and clients keep asking me, “What happened? Three years ago our economy was booming and our home values were rising at an intoxicatingly dizzy rate. Last October, the US stock market was making historic highs. Today, home prices [...]

Top 10 Things You Need to Know About Foreclosure

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 03:21:36 +0000

No one wants to hear the F word, but in today’s market, everyone is talking about it. What exactly is foreclosure and how does it affect you? Let me break down what you need to know about the process.

Foreclosure is a process, not a thing. People often misuse the term “foreclosure.” Foreclosure is a series of events, [...]

Foreclosure Defined

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 03:16:24 +0000

Foreclosure is not the most cheerful thing to think about, but it is an element of reality every homeowner should be aware of and comprehend fully.

We fear what we don’t understand. The concept of “foreclosure” is frequently misunderstood and frequently feared. Understanding the concept of foreclosure with precision maximizes your ability to take action to improve [...]

The Stages and Phases of the Foreclosure Process

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 03:13:06 +0000

Foreclosure is the sequence of legal proceedings by which a lender sells or repossesses a home when the homeowner has stopped making payments on the mortgage. As a homeowner, understanding the individual steps of the sequence is critical to understanding your rights and responsibilities along the way.

These days, very few states require the lender to take [...]

7 Steps to Avoid Foreclosure

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 03:09:24 +0000

If you have missed fewer than three mortgage payments or are anticipating that you might have to miss them in a month or so because of life circumstances, put your smarts in action and implement this simple plan to avoid foreclosure. Don’t confuse simple with easy; avoiding foreclosure can take time, patience, money and effort, but [...]

How to Deal With Your Lender When Facing Foreclosure – Part 2

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:58:36 +0000

How Can You Max Out Your Chances of Working It Out?

Explain your financial hardship and why it is/was temporary. If you lost a job, explain why and give details as to why you believe you will be re-employed soon. If your mortgage rate and payment are adjusting, explain that and show that you made your payments on [...]

How to Sell Your House Fast When Foreclosure Looms

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:54:17 +0000

When foreclosure looms, many homeowners try to sell their homes. For them, the goal is not just to get the home sold, but to do it quickly. Foreclosure rates are the highest in buyer’s markets, when homes take a longer than average time to sell. What’s a homeowner to do? Get aggressive, and get your home [...]

How to Sell Your House Fast When Foreclosure Looms – Part 2

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:53:08 +0000

Marketing Your House

Make sure your home is well-marketed on the Internet. This is your real estate agent’s responsibility, but you should make sure that it gets done. More than 80 percent of house hunters start their home search on the Web. So your listing should be on all of the top real estate listing sites like [...]

5 Ways to Stop the Foreclosure Process

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:52:04 +0000

If you have missed more than three mortgage payments, or your lender has filed a Notice of Default (NOD), you might think the loss of your home is inevitable. Even at this stage, there are five strategies you can use to stop the foreclosure process.

Foreclosure Workout. Up until the time your home is scheduled for auction, [...]

The Skinny on the Short Sale

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:50:41 +0000

There are many flavors of compromise you can strike with your lender if you are facing foreclosure. One of the toughest to execute is the short sale.

What Is a “Short Sale”? The title “short sale” is somewhat misleading; many assume that “short” means quick, implying a transaction that has a short escrow period. Au contraire. A [...]

How to Deal With Your Lender When Facing Foreclosure

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:50:06 +0000

Why would an impersonal institution — a mortgage bank — want to compromise with a homeowner who is behind on his payments? Well, some banks have more of a “compassionate personality” than others, but the bottom line is that it costs a bank up to $80,000 to foreclose on a home!

What Is a Workout?

A workout is [...]

The Skinny on the Short Sale – Part 2

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:49:44 +0000

How to Get Your Lender to Agree to a Short Sale . With all that said, short sale transactions are completed every day! Because the lender is likely to take so much time processing your short sale request — and because time is of the essence — you must ensure that your short sale request itself is [...]

How Foreclosure Affects Your Future

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:42:55 +0000

Foreclosure is far from the worst thing that could ever happen to you. If your home ends up in foreclosure, chances are there are lots of things you should thank your lucky stars for: your family, your health and your good looks. Foreclosure doesn’t mean you are irresponsible or not deserving of prosperity. It can be [...]

Advantages and Disadvantages of Buying a Foreclosure

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:39:03 +0000

Many buyers associate buying a foreclosure with getting a steal of a deal. This can be true, but there are also potential pitfalls. The pros and cons of buying a home involved in foreclosure vary with the phase of foreclosure the property is in when purchased. Use this handy guide to figure out what sort of [...]

What to Know About Your Mortgage to Avoid Foreclosure

Steve Baker — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:36:48 +0000

Ask homeowners who have lost their homes to foreclosure and a surprisingly large number complain that they were unaware of important mortgage features when they signed on the dotted line. Whether you are buying, refinancing or already own your home, a clear understanding of your mortgage is key to avoiding the foreclosure process. Smart owners should [...]

How To Get Top Dollar When Selling Your Home In Today’s Market

Steve Baker — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:59:59 +0000

The Market for selling your house in America is a lot like riding a roller coaster. There is the long slow buildup to the construction of new homes, both houses and condominiums. There is the exhilarating rush of quick sales, even of homes, which are just blueprints. There is the slow build up out of recession [...]

Homeowners lose equity lines

Steve Baker — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:55:18 +0000

Delinquent Homeowners Get a New “Lifeline”

Steve Baker — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:29:15 +0000

Six of the big mortgage companies involved the Hope NOW Alliance announced that the Alliance is expanding its efforts to help homeowners facing foreclosure.

The rate freeze program announced by President Bush in December applied only to borrowers who were facing resets on subprime adjustable rate mortgages but who were current, in fact had never been delinquent, [...]