Reverse Mortgages are a very good tool for many senior borrowers to enable them to access the equity in their home while never having to make another payment as long as they live in those homes. However, a Reverse Mortgage has always been a fairly expensive proposition, usually carrying a price tag of a 2% origination fee as well as a 2% government mortgage insurance fee, plus third party costs such as appraisal, title, escrow or closing, etc. In all, in some of the higher HUD areas, the total of all fees could total as much as $17,000. Even though these fees are not paid out of pocket and are rolled into the loan, the fees can still scare some borrowers away from obtaining a loan which could otherwise improve the quality of their lives until now!

The numbers don’t work with all reverse mortgages, but for those borrowers who planned to take a minimum of $200,000 or more on their reverse mortgage at the very beginning (not hard to do if you have to pay off an existing mortgage or if you already have plans for the funds and need them right away), borrowers can now obtain a reverse mortgage called the Independence Plan which will contain no origination fee! The lender has priced the loan so that the originator does not have to charge any fee to the homeowner for the loan. What more, if the initial drawn amount is over $275,000, then there aren’t any third party fees either because the lender will give a credit to off-set these fees as well.

Sound too good to be true? You start thinking that the interest rate has to be at or above 10% to offer this good of a deal, right? Well, it’s not too good to be true and the rate is excellent in fact much lower than many of the other programs available in the marketplace. So is there a catch? Well, the amount of money you get may not be quite as high as with some other programs, but considering that you only pay back what you receive plus interest and ultimately the amount you or your heirs pay back depends largely upon the interest rate at which the interest accrues, this plan might well be one of the best plans available in the market today. You don’t pay any costs or interest on any costs to start the loan, we’ve seen borrowers qualify for payments to them up to $3,5000,000 and the interest rate for a proprietary or jumbo product is among the lowest in the marketplace.

So if you have always thought that a reverse mortgage might be a good thing for you but always shied away from the high initial costs and your initial draw or loan amount would be $200,000 or $275,000 or more, now might be a good time to look into a reverse mortgage with no closing costs.

Michael G. Branson (CEO All Reverse Mortgage Company)is a Mortgage Broker who has over 31 years of mortgage banking experience. Toll Free (888) 801-2762

Click Here to visit our Homepage

Click Here to watch the Reverse Mortgage Benefit Video

Many senior homeowners have lived in their homes for a very long time, have no desire to move and have gotten reverse mortgages so that they can continue to live in their homes payment free for life while accessing their equity to help supply them with income or cash to meet their living needs. Still others have wished that they could relocate, choosing either to be nearer to loved ones or pick a property that was more conducive to their current life style or needs (such as a single story when their home of many years was a multi-level property, one that was a more appropriate size for their current needs, closer to their family or friends, or located in a senior community).

For these active seniors who were not ready to move into assisted living and yet did not want to stay in their current properties, it used to be that they could only use a reverse mortgage to purchase the new home they desired if they used one of the few higher interest rate, proprietary-type programs which allowed for home purchases. It looks like this is about to change!

The current bills in congress are going to change the way the FHA does business with many of its loan programs, but one of the changes that appears to be approved by both the House and the Senate concerns the addition of allowing the government Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM or Heck-um) to now allow for purchases as well as refinances of existing homes. There are many other changes being proposed as well that will probably go into effect very soon that we won’t discuss here but this one change alone is exciting because as soon as the changes are signed into law and become effective with the FHA, senior borrowers will be able to purchase the home that suits their needs by using a reverse mortgage, and not have to rely on conventional financing.

This is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, there is no income or credit qualification requirement for the reverse mortgage. Borrowers with limited and fixed incomes typically don’t qualify for conventional financing. Borrowers who needed to move or had a strong desire due to any of the reasons listed above, often had no alternatives unless they could purchase their new home for cash due to conventional financing qualification.

These borrowers most often made due in their present situations even though they really desired to make a move that would either make their lives so much easier or fulfilling. After the government reverse mortgages are made available for purchases, senior homeowners will have a real, viable option to be able to make choices about where they will live that weren’t previously readily available to them.

The Stimulus Bill is expected to be signed into law by the President next week. Once the new provisions to the reverse mortgages are put into place by HUD, seniors will be able to utilize reverse mortgages for home purchases. Those seniors who have been thinking about how nice it would be to move into a home but always thought that there was no way they could qualify for (let alone make the payments on) a conventional loan, watch for the new provisions for government-insured reverse mortgages which should be available for purchases soon.

Michael G. Branson (CEO All Reverse Mortgage Company)is a Mortgage Broker who has over 31 years of mortgage banking experience. Toll Free (888) 801-2762

Click Here to visit our Homepage

Click Here to watch the Reverse Mortgage Benefit Video

It is easier than ever these days to target your audience and distribute flyers effectively. Advertising with real estate flyers enables you to target specific verticals, quickly generate new leads, and track your results.

First, you need to think about your ideal prospect and where to reach them. For example, if your target audience consists of married women, you will want to place your flyers in beauty salons, malls, and other locations that correlate with the demographic. Researching your target audience is always a great way to start your advertising campaign. Information is power in advertising.

You should also be careful as to how you distribute your flyers. You always want to deliver your ad in a professional manner. Don’t just leave your flyers lying around everywhere. Be sure to place them in key areas with high visibility such as waiting room tables, under windshields, on bulletin boards, and most importantly - in multiple publications. Distribution through newspapers and other targeted publications will yield the highest response rates, lend credibility to your business, and build your brand. There is more value to print advertising than simply generating leads; it will also build your business and reputation for the future which is key for long-term success.

While all you probably need is one conversion to justify your investment, print advertising is a process that requires risk-taking, creativity, and patience. Print advertising is a time-tested and proven marketing method, however, like any other ad campaign, it takes time to mature. Numerous large-scale advertising studies have shown that real estate flyers work best after readers become familiar with your brand. Studies indicate that it may take up to seven exposures for your ads to reach their peak response rate. If you want to benefit from advertising, be prepared to advertise long-term and make sure you are in it for the long-haul. Success doesn’t happen overnight.

Chris Barr is an experienced marketing professional and graduate of Christopher Newport University. For the lowest prices on printed flyers, newspaper inserts, brochures, menus, and postcards please visit http://www.taradel.com

Copyright © 2008 Taradel, LLC. All rights reserved.

Whether you have just started out as a loan officer or you have spent some time in the business and wondered why you weren’t doing as well as your contemporaries, it becomes important for you to think about the aspect of marketing. For a loan officer, marketing is one of the most important things that he or she can spend time on. There are plenty of ways that a loan officer can sell himself or make him more appealing, but at the end of the day, marketing is a skill that you need to learn. Take a look below for some of the best tips on how to market yourself and your services.

Loan Officer Marketing Tip 1: Know Your Audience!

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in terms of marketing your services is being too vague about what you can do for them. While you should briefly mention your skills and your experience, keep it focused on them. Chances are, there is a demographic that you want to work with, whether that is people who are older than 45 who want to buy their second home, or younger adults who are looking for a way to go back to school. One of the best ways to grab someone’s attention is to make it sound as though you are speaking precisely to them. You’ll also be able to tailor your marketing campaign a great deal more when you think about places you want your advertising to go up.

Loan Officer Marketing Tip 2: Make Them Move

If you have a marketing campaign going, don’t let it just peter off. You’ve given them a reason to be interested, now give them a place to release that interest. Have them call in, go to the website and get signed up, or meet you at your local office. While you should keep in mind that the less work they have to do the better (writing an email is preferable to calling in is preferable to going to your office) it is important that you get them motivated and actively looking for what you can do. Without this last step, there is a good chance that your advertising campaign will be going nowhere fast. Give them all the information they need to get a hold of you, and then tell them to use it!

Loan Officer Marketing Tip 3: Stay On Top of Your Own Numbers

If you are putting the effort and the manpower into an advertising and marketing campaign, you need to find out if it is profitable. A good marketing campaign might be one of the priciest expenses that you deal with all year. Crunch your numbers and make sure you keep track of everything from how expensive it was to run the ad, to how long it ran, and what your numbers and calls were after it ran in certain areas. As any good scientist will tell you, the more data you can get, the more you’ll be able to tell if something is working or just making things worse!

As you can see, there are a lot of things that separate a good loan officer marketing campaign from a bad one. Make sure you hit these all-important things and get the goods!

Jeffrey Nelson helps loan officers increase loan originations by getting referrals from real estate agents.

Click here to get a free Video Book. It shows Jeffrey’s exclusive marketing solution for getting clients from real estate agents in as little as 30 days.

Visit us at www.Loan-Officer-Marketing.com

If anyone had told me five years ago that selling a home through an auction would become big business, I would never have believed them. Today, with plummeting house prices and developers with a glut of excess inventory sellers are looking for alternative ways to market their homes. As a result, the real estate auction market increased 5.3% in 2007, generating $58.4 billion in sales.

It seems that the more house sales decrease, the busier auctions get. Buyers feel as though their getting a deal and sellers are happy to unload their homes quickly and for good prices. In the normal housing market, buyers are hesitant, and reluctant to commit. An auction creates a sense of urgency that facilitates a “buy now or lose out” type of selling atmosphere.

Even developers have been turning to auctions as their choice of marketing. It gives them the ability to unload more lots in a shorter amount of time then by selling them individually through model homes.

Auctioneer Marty Higgenbotham claims “auctions give buyers confidence that they are paying a fair price”. Recently, he sold 188 of his 200 new homes in a Minneapolis auction. His goal was to get 60% of the asking price, but the end result was closer to 55% to 57%.

Sellers love the convenience of a quick sale, as opposed to agonizing over months of constant open houses and showings. Arkansas home owner Mark Bratton recently sold his lake home for $25,000 more than the minimum bid. He was happy; all that was required was two weekends of showings and the house sold.

The process could not be simpler; a winning bidder must have a certified check or cash of $10,000 to $20,000 for a nonrefundable down payment. Most sales are generally completed in less than 60 days.

Sellers pay about 1% to 2% of the sales price to the auctioneer, and some charge a fee if an auction does not result in a sale. They also determine ahead of time whether the sale will be absolute (property is sold no matter what price is offered), or reserve, which gives the seller the right to decline a bid.

Visit UtahPropertyFinder.com for an extensive list of all available Utah real estate. Acquaint yourself with all the surrounding areas including the Summit County real estate listings.

So many people are now turning away from the house buying situation, but what of buying a condo? Many condos are big enough for a family and have the added luxuries that are not available in many homes. They are also less expensive than buying a traditional home on a piece of land.

The upkeep of a condo is everyone’s dream - it is non-existent. Just a small monthly payment that you can budget for - and no nasty surprises!

If you buy a condo with a fixed rate mortgage you can budget it all down to the last cent. Fixed rate mortgages are extremely cheap right now. The big worry in your life will be gassing up the vehicle you drive!

Yes, life is a lot easier when you can count on the fact that the bank can’t push up your mortgage and the flooding water pipe is not your worry! Think condo!

One good reason for buying a condo is the price. If you are a first time buyer and looking for an inexpensive start to your real estate investment career, think condo. You will have a piece of property at market price that will get you on the bottom rung of the property ladder; as the market rises, so will your condo.

The investment factor is a no-brainer, but there are several other aspects of condo life to consider before you do make the condo choice.

Almost all of us can give up the idea that we will have no more maintenance to do on our homes. Even mowing the lawn is not your job; neither is shoveling the snow, mending the roof or fixing the plumbing. No decisions to ponder there. However, because of these pluses, there are also rules that go along with them.

Condo rules vary considerably. Maybe renovations are not allowed to be carried out by you or your contractor. Perhaps you cannot rent out your condo if you move away, or perhaps you can. These rules are different in each condo and need to be checked by you before buying.

Every condo building has to be governed by a set of rules called Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs). These are unique to every condo and they are usually implemented by the Home Owners Association (HOA)

To a very large extent these rules simply protect your way of life. However, you do need to be reassured that the rules ‘fit’ your lifestyle; (i.e. no noise after 11 p.m. will not fit if you are a late night party person). As long as the rules agree with your way of life, they will be unobtrusive to you.

There are many different styles of condos to choose from. Think about what you like: Large balcony? Great view? Two bathrooms? Luxury kitchen? Once you have a list, go and see a real estate agent who knows the condos in your area. He or she will narrow the field and then you can both take a while to check the choicest ones out.

Visit UtahPropertyFinder.com for an extensive list of available real estate in Utah. Acquaint yourself with all the surrounding areas including the Utah County real estate listings.

Packing a Punch in Your Mortgage Broker Marketing Tools

Are your mortgage broker marketing tools bringing you the attention you need? If you aren’t getting a responses or sales, it could be that your marketing tools lack the sparkle to attract your prospects attention. Fortunately, by following just a few easy tips, you can retool your marketing efforts and client approach to capture the attention of your prospects and get the response you need.

Tip #1 - Headlines Draw in Readers. Regardless of your marketing material (letters, postcards, ads, etc.), a headline grabs attention. Headlines are teasers that get the reader thinking. The best headline tells the reader the benefit they’ll get by reading more. Who doesn’t want to read something that will help them? Some examples of headlines with benefits are, “4 techniques to protect your credit score” or “3 steps to reduce your monthly bills”. Make sure a headline is on all of your marketing materials.

Tip #2 - Toot Your Own Horn. When you do something right, make sure the client knows about it. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes - sometimes the client doesn’t realize how hard you are working to help them. They will never know if you don’t tell them. You can educate the client without seeming like a braggart. For instance, “The financing on this loan was touch and go, but I was able to show the lender that your credit has improved in the last two years.” Let the client know just how valuable you are as a mortgage professional.

Tip #3 - Mind Your Manners. Your mother always told you to write thank you notes. Little did she know how important it could be to your business today. A hand-written thank you note could do more to bring in repeat business than any other marketing tool. A thank you shows clients that you appreciate them. You spread good will every time you give a thank you, whether it’s to clients, to underwriters that help you out quickly, to processors that speed through applications, or realtors that give referrals. A thank you note shows that you are a caring individual.

Tip #4 - Strive to be Better. Even the best run machine runs better with regular maintenance. Your goal should be constant improvement throughout your business process. If you are doing something well, what could you do to be even better? If you can implement one small change a day, you’ll have completely restructured and improved your business in a couple of months. For instance, attend a conference on improving marketing, show testimonials from clients on your materials, personalize your email signature, add consumer help links to your website. Find ways to constantly improve and continually add value to your services.

Tip #5 - Look for Inspiration. Lots of other businesses are great at adding innovations to their services. Don’t be afraid to adapt their ideas into your own business, especially when it makes you stand out amongst other mortgage brokers. Think about the services other business use, and how you can adapt them to the mortgage industry. For instance, some booksellers send out an email with a notice of the hot, new bestseller. Why not send out daily rate information to clients that request it? How about a checklist for clients for post-closing, or maybe a daily email to inform them as their loan processes? Think about ways that you can add additional service to your clients.

Your mortgage broker marketing tools are critical to your success. Your marketing efforts bring the attention of prospects and clients to your services. With the right marketing, you’ll have prospects lined up around corner.

Jeffrey Nelson helps loan officers increase loan originations by getting referrals from real estate agents.

Click here to get a free Video Book. It shows Jeffrey’s exclusive marketing solution for getting clients from real estate agents in as little as 30 days.

Visit us at www.Loan-Officer-Marketing.com

I saw a report on Good Morning America this morning that the number of suspected arsons has risen 50% over this time last year, and as it turns out, a shocking number of those fires happened on homes that were just days away from foreclosure. Hmm, surely no one would burn their house down to avoid a foreclosure, right?

A funny thing happens in the mind of someone facing foreclosure, they tend to be caught in a downward spiral of despair, and consequently make bad decisions that most people in their right mind would never consider. There are a number of reasons why someone might come to be in this situation, but none of those reasons should involve committing a felony as a potential way out.

Let’s take a look at this for a moment. If you have gotten behind on the house payment to the point that foreclosure is likely, have you considered selling? A large portion of people that are asked this question say no. People tend to get very emotionally involved with their home. The kids grew up there. There are still tick marks on the door frame showing the growth of the kids as they got older. Videos and memories of good times become clouded by the frustration of the current bad times.

As you are contemplating your options during this difficult period, you should consider the following:

1) You can not continue to do nothing. If you are past due, and the problem is getting worse, you have to be willing to face it head on and deal with your mortgage company directly before you reach the point of no return.

2) The day before the foreclosure sale takes place is not the time to decide to sell. You will need time to market, find a buyer and get the home sold before the bank sinks their teeth in too far. By the time you get to the foreclosure sale, it is basically a done deal.

3) If you have tried to sell, but can’t get an offer, your price is too high! It is just that simple. The solution is to pursue a short sale. A short sale involves the act of receiving a contract to purchase the home for less than the current balance. You then take that offer to the mortgage holder and ask them to accept it as a short sale payment in full.

4) If I short sale, I can’t get any equity back at closing. Well, you’re right. But, if you have had it listed for what you want to get, and there have been no offers, then the house is priced too high regardless of the outstanding balance on the mortgage. The market doesn’t know what your mortgage balance is, nor do they care most of the time. All they know is what they are willing to pay for a home like yours in the area where yours is located. If the price the market will pay is below the balance of the existing mortgage, then by definition, you have no equity. Selling as a short sale will not provide you with cash at closing, but it will save you from foreclosure with the minimum damage to your credit so you can move on with your life later.

Try, as hard as it may be, to remove emotions from the equation. I realize that is a difficult proposition, but in the long run you will be much better off by acting quickly and decisively now.

Steve Russell is the Co-Founder of REO In Motion, LLC. (a Florida based internet marketing firm), and a contributing editor for http://www.PreForeclosureFSBO.com His background consists of over 10 years in the retail and wholesale mortgage industry.

Turn on the television or open up your internet explorer and chances are you’ll see ad after ad for reverse mortgages, all of which are targeted toward senior citizens. With so many scams these days that revolve around mortgages, and those geared toward senior citizens, you do well to want to explore all the details of mortgages before ever signing on for such a deal. So, what are they and how do they work? And why are these ads only geared toward seniors?

First of all, it’s important to understand that reverse mortgages are advertised to seniors not because they are some type of scam but because they are only available to those 62 and over in the United States. Sorry, but you must be a senior to be eligible.

It’s also good to understand how a typical mortgage works. For a regular mortgage, the homeowner borrows a certain amount of money at a certain interest rate and pays monthly payments to the bank. Because of the way the loan is amortized, much of those payments go toward interest, but as the principal of the loan is paid down, the homeowner builds equity in the home. This equity is an important factor in mortgages. Equity in a home simply refers to the fact that the home is now worth more than what the homeowner owes on it; if he or she were to sell the house, that excess amount they would receive over and above the loan amount is equity.

In many cases, a person may buy a home when they are younger and as they pay over the life of the loan, by the time they are a senior citizen the mortgage may be entirely paid off. When they are in their 60’s, it’s assumed by many that they don’t have a mortgage or have very little of the mortgage balance left. The home by this time should have quite a bit of equity in it. This type of mortgages tap into that equity of the home by giving it to the homeowner by way of a monthly “allowance” or one lump sum. Rather than needing to be paid back to the bank every month, however, the mortgage do not become due until the homeowner dies, sells the home, or leaves the home permanently (such as to move to a nursing home or other full-time facility). If there is no payment arrangement at that time, the bank would then seize the home the way they would with a typical mortgage foreclosure.

The Pros and Cons of Reverse Mortgages

You might immediately be thinking of some drawbacks of reverse mortgages. For example, if the homeowner is getting this loan as monthly payments and then he or she dies, chances are there will be no cash reserves with which to pay back the loan. This means the bank is likely to seize the home. For those who had been looking to leave their home to their children or grandchildren as part of an inheritance, this can be a complicated problem. When the home is sold, monies owed for the mortgage get paid first; any and all equity above and beyond that go back to the estate, but this often takes time and of course there are always added fees and costs tacked on when the bank needs to seize a home.

However, reverse mortgages might work for seniors that need cash for their health care or other reasons. If they only take a small amount and leave other cash reserves, such as their 401(k), then there may be a cash reserve from which to repay any mortgage when they become due. Or, seniors who do not have children or do not plan on leaving the home to the children can tap into this money while they are still alive and may need it.

Examining all these details of reverse mortgages is the only way to really be sure if such an arrangement is appropriate for you.

David Cowley has created numerous articles on real estate investing. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to real estate investing. Visit Real Estate Investing

If you are a realtor or a real estate investor looking to become independent from your current employer, you may be wondering if starting a Real Estate LLC company is right for you. You may know of other colleagues who have gone this route, and some who haven’t, and may ask what the difference is between this type of company and just working with an Assumed Name certificate. Let’s see what a Real Estate LLC really is and how it’s different from a corporation and then perhaps you can make the best decision from there.

Note first of all that LLC stands for Limited Liability Company, and as the name implies, it limits the liability of the owner or owners of the company. A LLC would then allow for more than one person to become owners of that company without having to form a joint partnership and without one being the sole owner or proprietor of the business. Because of the potential liabilities with real estate, an LLC may be the best option for those in the industry. While such things as title insurance and appraisals from outside sources protect a realtor from what is called errors and omissions, there are still times when he or she may be liable for what a home buyer perceives as inaccurate information or even downright misrepresentation. While it’s very rare for a realtor to be sued by a home buyer, it does happen in certain circumstances. By forming a Limited Liability Company you are giving yourself and your company an added layer of protection above and beyond your Errors and Omissions Insurance.

There is also some leeway in the tax structure of a Real Estate LLC. If you have multiple members that are forming this company, you may choose to be treated as a C corporation, as an S corporation, or as a partnership when it’s tax time. With a C corporation, there is usually taxation of the company’s income and dividends. With an S corporation, the company itself does not pay taxes but rather the revenue is divided among the owners of the company and they report it as income on their personal taxes. Depending on your own personal tax structure and base, and the advice you receive from your CPA, a Real Estate LLC may result in you paying far less by way of taxes than you would pay if you were working under an Assumed Name or Doing Business As. There are of course restrictions on whether or not your Limited Liability Company actually qualifies as an S corporation, for example, you may not exceed 100 shareholders. If this or other restrictions are disregarded, your LLC immediately reverts back to being treated as a C corporation.

Forming a Real Estate LLC is no more difficult than forming any other basic business. Typically business paperwork is filed with the county in which you live. Most counties today have business paperwork available online; you can simply print off the necessary forms, have everyone involved in the Limited Liability Company sign the papers, and send it in to your county clerk’s office with a small check for their processing fee.

While a Limited Liability Company may be a very simple structure for a business, it’s always important to speak with an accountant and possibly even a business lawyer before you decide what to do, and follow his or her advice carefully. With today’s volatile real estate market and with so many mortgage companies being investigated for out-and-out fraud, you definitely need to protect yourself, your family, and your business partners. Forming a Real Estate LLC is a great first step in doing just that, but of course you should view it as only a first step. Make sure you’re following your accountant’s and your lawyer’s advice and you’re sure to have success in the real estate market.

David Cowley has created numerous articles on real estate investing. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to real estate investing. Visit Real Estate Investing