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The
Pros And Cons Of
Tapping Your Equity
Consumers
enjoying increased equity in their
home don't always make the best
decision about how to tap their
equity.
In
a recent survey, during the first
quarter of 2000, 79 percent of
Freddie Mac-owned loans were
refinanced with loans that were at
least 5 percent larger than their
original mortgage, compared to 57
percent during the first quarter
of 1999. Among those who
refinanced fixed-rate mortgages,
they refinanced with loans that
were a median 0.3 percent more
expensive than their original
loan, according to Freddie Mac.
Refinancing
is down overall, due to
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higher
interest rates, but home
owners who did refinance
did so to tap the median
27 percent increase in
home equity during the
first quarter this year,
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It's
Your Move
It's
Your Move . . . and whether it takes you
and your family across town or across the
country it will go more smoothly if you
take time to do some planning and, most
importantly, take time out for yourself.
- List everything and anything that
comes to mind as you think of it. Keep
a notebook (preferably with pockets)
by the phone to capture and date all
phone calls, messages, notes, and
information given to you as it
happens. Jot down the names and phone
numbers of all the utility companies,
newspapers, physicians and such, that
you will need to notify.
- Insert a calendar in the front and
immediately pencil in appointments.
Plot out your time frame, beginning
with the date of the move and work
backwards, scheduling daily plenty of
time for sorting, packing, cleaning,
storing items, going to the recycling
center, dump, sending out change of
address notices. Schedule vacation
time if needed for the move. Determine
services to be scheduled at the other
end, such painters, and make
reservations for alternative
accommodations if needed once you sell
your home.
- Schedule time on the calendar or in
your daily planner first thing in the
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Remodelers,
Repeat:
I Will Not Lose My Mind!
In
life, three things are certain: Death,
taxes, and stress from remodeling
projects.
It's true.
Remodeling your house, even if you use
contractors, is invariably a burdensome
task. Novices believe they'll sit back,
relax and enjoy the fruits of others'
labors, but those of us who have been
around this block before are wise to two
facts: Remodeling projects always take
longer than we expected, and we always
spend more than we thought we would.
Remodeling
is a strain on families. It's the middle
of summer, and your kids are running
around a plastic-covered room with no
place to sit. There's an inch-thick layer
of dust sitting on top of everything in
your house. You'd like to serve dinner,
but suddenly you can't remember if your
silverware is in the bedroom or the
garage.
Face it. If
you decide to remodel, you're in for an
endurance test. So how do you cope with a
home in a mess? Here are a few strategies
for setting up temporary accommodations
for yourself in the middle of remodeling
projects:
If you're
remodeling your kitchen and need an
alternative kitchen in the meantime,
finding a source of running water is
obviously your first priority. You may
have to make runs to wherever your
refrigerator has taken up temporary
residence. Keep your microwave, if it's a
free-standing unit, nearby if you can
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Is
it Bait and Switch -- or
Just Good Business?
You're
shopping for a mortgage and you contact a lender
advertising competitive interest rates. You're
told that while the lowest rate is no longer
available, you might qualify for a loan at a bit
higher interest rate that has a prepayment penalty
built in. You decline; but are amazed when the
lender calls back in two hours to offer you a
competitive interest-rate loan without a
prepayment penalty.
What's going on? Is
it an illegal form of bait-and-switch or is the
lender just being competitive?
While the practice
might initially send up red flags to the consumer,
the lender was (hopefully) acting in a legal
manner. True bait-and-switch is luring a buyer to
a certain product without ever having that product
or service available, then placing the consumer in
a product that's more expensive and/or beneficial
to the company. The lender in our example
Daily
News and Advice
July 5, 2000
Read about the events
shaping the Real Estate market today, find
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