Key Takeaways When a reverse mortgage borrower dies, the loan becomes immediately due — heirs typically have 6 months (extendable) to sell the home, refinance, or pay off the balance. Heirs are not personally liable for the reverse mortgage balance; if the home sells for less than the loan amount, FHA mortgage insurance covers the […]
What Happens With a Reverse Mortgage After You Die? Read More »
Key Takeaways A construction-to-permanent (C2P) loan combines a short-term construction loan and a long-term mortgage into one product, converting automatically when construction is complete. During construction, you pay only interest on the drawn amount; once the home is finished and the loan converts, full principal-and-interest payments begin. C2P loans require more documentation than standard purchase
Is A Construction to Permanent Loan Right For You? Read More »
Key Takeaways A credit score below 620 will make conventional mortgage financing very difficult; FHA loans allow scores as low as 500 (with 10% down) or 580 (with 3.5% down). The fastest ways to improve a credit score before buying: pay down revolving balances below 30% utilization, dispute errors on your credit report, and avoid
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Key Takeaways A zombie property is a home where the homeowner has vacated believing foreclosure was imminent, but the lender never completed the foreclosure — leaving the property in legal limbo. The original homeowner remains legally responsible for property taxes, HOA dues, and code violations on a zombie property until the title actually transfers. Zombie
What is a Zombie Property and is it a Good Investment? Read More »
Key Takeaways Pre-qualification is a lender’s informal estimate of how much you might be able to borrow based on self-reported income and credit — it is not a commitment to lend. Pre-approval involves a full credit pull, income verification, and asset documentation — it is a conditional commitment to lend up to a specific amount.
Pre-Approval vs Pre-Qualified: What’s the difference? Read More »
Key Takeaways The grantor is the seller (the party transferring the property); the grantee is the buyer (the party receiving the property). Both names must appear correctly on the deed — misspellings, missing middle initials, or wrong legal names can break the chain of title. The grantor signs the deed; the grantee’s job is to
Grantor Vs. Grantee: What’s The Difference? Read More »
Key Takeaways Form 2553 is the IRS election form a corporation files to be treated as an S-Corp — it does not create an entity, it changes how an existing corporation is taxed. S-Corp taxation can save real estate professionals significant self-employment tax by splitting income into salary (subject to payroll tax) and distributions (not
Form 2553: How to Use It & Save on Corp Taxes! Read More »
Key Takeaways An appraisal contingency allows a buyer to exit the contract (and recover their earnest money) if the property appraises below the agreed purchase price. If a home appraises low, options include: renegotiating the price, making up the gap in cash, challenging the appraisal, or exercising the contingency to exit. In competitive markets, buyers
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Key Takeaways A quiet title action is a lawsuit filed to “quiet” (resolve) competing claims of ownership to a property and establish clear title in court. Common triggers: adverse possession claims, boundary disputes, undisclosed heirs, clerical errors in historic deeds, or properties with no heirs after an estate. Quiet title actions must be filed in
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Key Takeaways Pre-foreclosure is the period after a borrower defaults but before the lender completes the foreclosure process — the borrower still owns the home. A foreclosure auction is a public sale of the property by the lender (or a court) to recover the outstanding loan balance; winning bidders take the property as-is. REO (Real
Pre-Foreclosure, Auction, REO: What’s the Difference? Read More »
