A past filing of bankruptcy does not mean you can’t buy Rancho Cucamonga real estate.  Your real estate agent may be able to help you get a mortgage or find other ways to buy a home, if you do get turned down for a traditional mortgage.

Before you meet with your Rancho Cucamonga real estate agent, here are a few ways to prepare:

• Have a copy of your current bank statement
• Have written proof of your monthly income
• Make a list of all your current monthly bills
• Collect all your recent credit card statements
• Have a copy of your bankruptcy agreement

Put all this info in a file folder and take it to your meeting.  Your Rancho Cucamonga real estate agent will appreciate you doing your homework!

If you have straightened out your credit since the bankruptcy, you are in a much better position to get a mortgage. Hopefully, you are currently paying all your monthly bills on time and rebuilding your credit rating.

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When you look for a mortgage, you want to find one that allows you to buy the biggest house possible for a monthly payment you can afford. This seems simple enough. All you need to do is a little division to determine your monthly payment.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the entire picture of your monthly mortgage payment, and lenders don’t always explain this to you. Here are three things you need to know about your monthly mortgage payment for your new Corona home:

1. Interest and Principal. Only part of your monthly mortgage payment actually pays down your loan. A portion of your mortgage payment goes toward your loan principal and part of it pays the interest. The longer you have your loan, the more money goes toward your principal. Be aware that at the beginning of your loan term, most of your payment goes toward interest and does little to reduce the amount of money you owe on your home.
2. Homeowner’s Insurance and PMI. Typically, your lender collects money to pay your homeowner’s insurance premium. This increases the amount of your monthly payment and can change if your insurance company raises or lowers premiums. Depending on your loan amount and property value, you may also have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI) which protects a lender against loss if you default on your loan.
3. Property Taxes. In most cases, your annual property taxes will be paid through your lender. The lender collects extra money each month that they pay to your local government at the end of the year. When local taxes increase or decrease, so does your payment

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A little-known tool that I use to keep updated on national and Fontana real estate news is Google Alerts. It’s a handy tool. A few days ago, Google Alerts sent me a list of online links, along with one talking about an individual being indicted for real estate fraud. Today, I received another Alert with a link to real estate fraud. Unfortunately, it turned out to be another case, rather than the same one.

I love Fontana real estate. I enjoy being able to help home sellers find buyers, and buyers find their dream homes. With all those trying to sell homes, buy homes or keep the homes they have, I get angry when I see reports of fraud like these:

• On June 18, 2010, Sacramento Today reported that two individuals were arrested for six counts of real estate fraud, pretending to be licensed with the Department of Real Estate.

• On July 8, 2010, Fraud News reported that three individuals in New York were found guilty of real estate fraud to the tune of $23 million.

It’s become enough of a major issue, in fact, that the IRS has created a page on their website specifically for information on real estate and mortgage fraud.

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We, meaning the real estate industry, say, “It’s a buyer’s market!”  Buyers think that means that deals are available out in the big wide world of Fontana homes for sale. Although that’s true, it’s not the whole truth. The whole truth is that money pits, bad deals and half-hearted sellers still exist. Without careful consideration, you may not get the deal you expected.

If you’re in the market for one of the Fontana homes for sale, follow these tips to help you get a great deal:

1. Go back to school. In other words, do your homework. Yes, due to the buyer’s market, you have an advantage, but you still need to do your research.  Talk with a real estate agent who specializes in the area and look at the prices of homes sold within the past year. The main point of the research is to find out how much homes are actually selling for in the area in which you want to live, and to determine if you can afford to buy there.
2. Line up the home team. Be prepared to jump on a deal as soon as you find it. Get pre-approved for a mortgage. Gather your real estate agent, home inspector and insurance agent. By having this team of real estate professionals on hand, the transaction will be smoother and faster. (more…)

Not just Fontana real estate, either. Since the end of 2007, as the real estate market started to decline, new rules, regulations, mandates and more have come down the pipeline.

State Specific Laws

Take Michigan, for instance. Ranking sixth in the nation on the number of foreclosures, Michigan legislature enacted the “Lifeline Law.”  This law gives an extra 90 days for homeowners to work with banks to come up with solutions other than foreclosure.  California did the same, with the California Foreclosure Prevention Act.  In New York, judicial hearings are mandatory for both borrowers and lenders before foreclosure can go through.

Nationwide Laws

Other laws have been enacted throughout the United States, such as Congress lowering homeowners’ tax deductions.

Before 2009, if you used your Fontana real estate as a primary residence for at least two years out of the last five, you could keep up to $500,000 (married couples – $250,000 if single) in real estate gains on your tax return. That exemption is now pro-rated to the time you spent in the house, which could be quite substantially less than what your tax exemption would have been last year.

As well, new appraisal rules went into effect May 1, and, although they aren’t government rules, they do affect Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. With the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) put into place, every lender that goes through Freddie or Fannie has to follow the HVCC to the letter. The HVCC stops mortgage brokers from having home appraisals done themselves. Instead, the home appraisals must be done by a third party appraisal management company in the same area as the home.

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