Plan your next Portland hike, bike, or walk with The Intertwine

 

It’s that time of year again!  To plan your next outdoor excursion in Portland, go to The Intertwine and use their extremely informative and easy to use interactive trip planner.  This new website provides detailed information about Portland’s extensive system of places to hike, bike, jog, paddle, walk, and explore, including favorites like Forest Park, Powell Butte, and Oaks Bottom, along with other destinations that are off the beaten path.

 

Tips for a smooth and painless closing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that you have found your dream home, gotten approved for a mortgage loan, and made an offer to purchase that was accepted, it is time for the closing.  MSN Real Estate has shared with us these six valuable tips for a painless closing:

1. Ask questions

Knowing what to expect and communicating with all parties involved in the deal are key to a successful closing, says Neil Garfinkel, a real-estate attorney at Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson LLP in New York.

2. Anticipate human error

Richardson says he recently represented a buyer whose closing failed because of missing loan documents. The buyer was a co-signer on his brother’s mortgage, and the lender had requested 12 canceled checks showing that the brother, not the buyer, was paying the old mortgage. The buyer could come up with only eight checks, and the loan officer said that would be enough. That was weeks before closing.

“I kept saying that wasn’t going to work,” says Richardson, who also has worked as a mortgage broker. “The requirement is 12 checks. How can eight checks be sufficient?”

Three days before closing, the lender said it couldn’t issue the loan without the 12 checks, and the deal was canceled.

3. Review loan documents in advance

One way to ensure all is going as planned is to tell the lender that you want to review the documents before closing, or ask your attorney to do so.

By law, you have the right to review the closing-settlement statement, or the HUD-1 form, at least 24 hours before closing. Compare that form to the good-faith estimate you received when you applied for the loan.

4. Take a check

Another reason to review the loan documents in advance is so you know how much money you must bring to closing. And yes, you will need a check at closing, most likely a certified one.

5. Take the day off

A smooth closing may take less than 30 minutes, but you won’t know for sure if your closing will go as planned until it’s done.

6. Expect the unexpected — including typos

You’re at the closing table. You’re told everything is good to go. All you need to do is sign.

You must double-check the numbers on the mortgage note you are signing, even if you have received the HUD-1 form before closing.

“One of the biggest holdups in closing is when the mortgage documents are incorrect,” Castellanos says. “Sometimes, you have to correct the interest rate, or the amount is wrong and you need to fix it.”

Because of a simple typo, your loan documents may need to be sent back to the lender to be redone.

To prepare for these unexpected delays, borrowers should try to schedule their closings for earlier in the day. And don’t wait until the last day on the contract to close.

Read the entire article here.

Portland real estate inventory at its lowest in 5 years!

According to the most recent RMLS Market Action Report, housing inventory is at a 5, which is the lowest it has been in the last five years.  What this means is that market demand is high, and NOW is the time to put your home on the market!

Click here to view the most current inventory chart and residential highlights.

*Inventory in months is calculated by dividing the active listings at the end of the month in question by the number of closed sales for that month.

Source:  www.rmls.com

 

Bank of America faces bad home equity loans and mortgages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to the Niche Report, Bank of America Corp., whose home-equity mortgage portfolio exceeds its stock market value, probably will say about $2 billion of junior loans are bad assets tomorrow even as some borrowers are still paying on time.

That’s what Barclays Capital estimates the bank will report in its first-quarter results, following decisions by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and Citigroup Inc. to reclassify $4.1 billion of junior liens as nonperforming.

Regulators are pressing for the change on concern that falling home prices have wiped out collateral on many second mortgages, leaving them as unsecured debt. About 20 percent of the nation’s $845 billion of home-equity loans exceed the value of the properties when combined with primary mortgages, according to CoreLogic Inc., and about 36 percent of Bank of America’s were at least partly “underwater” at the end of last year, according to regulatory filings.

Read the entire article here.

 

USA Today reports that this spring could be the strongest selling season in years

According to a recent article in USA Today, this spring could be the strongest home selling season in years.

Home sales in February were up 9% from the year before, and the spring market has been heating up quick.

This spring season “will be the best in four or five years,” says economist Paul Dales of Capital Economics.

Read the entire article here.

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