The question first, then the answer… “I am thinking about adding my daughter to my mortgage. Will this become a lien on her Social Security number?” I am not sure what you mean by “become a lien”. I assume your mean will the newly added mortgage report to credit bureaus under the child’s Social Security [...]

Here is the question before I answer.. “I have a situation specific refinance question. I purchased a home in CA in 2004 for approx $600k using a 5/1 ARM with a 3.875 percent rate putting $60K down. In the interim my family had an unexpected financial strain and depleted a HELOC in the amount of [...]

I think it’s best to pay off one’s mortgage before turning 45! But given that’s not the question, I’ll repost it here then answer: “I will retire in about 2.5 years. I have a small mortgage, $100K. I have heard that it is best to pay off ones mortgage before retiring. My financial advisor says [...]

I’m going to post the whole question before answering: “At closing we were told the buyer did not actually have their loan approved yet. The sellers purchase of of a new home was contingent on the closing. The buyers realtor says she will buy the property if they can’t close in seven days. Can any [...]

Here’s the whole question: “My primary house was cash-out refinanced to pull out the equity to buy another house free and clear. Later I pull the equity out of the 2nd house and bought a 3rd house. Now it’s so hard for me to pay 2nd and 3rd house due to hardship and bad renters [...]

House foreclosure activity is getting worse and the recently released numbers for May prove it. House foreclosure filings are actually increasing when calculated year over year for 29 consecutive months ending in May 2008 according to RealtyTrac. The report also listed the following house foreclosure stats: - 1 in 483 homes received a foreclosure notice [...]

Home price declines are now so severe they have erased all home equity for more Americans than ever before. Home equity numbers have been recorded starting at the end of World War II and are now at there lowest level in history. For many home owners, their mortgage debt actually exceeds their home’s value…what is [...]

Paul Tharp writes in the New York Post yesterday on the plight of Countrywide Home Loan stock price taking a beating while the CEO, Mr. Angelo Mozilo, cashes in stock options worth more than $118 million! Anytime the executives start cashing out, you know there’s trouble. As the nations largest mortgage provider (I wrote a [...]

Mortgage approvals are getting harder and harder to come by…even for the previous “good” borrower. Lenders and the automated approval systems they use to approve borrowers underwent a major overhaul this month. On first blush one might think this was a knee-jerk reaction to the credit crunch, but there is more on deeper inspection. I [...]