All Posts Tagged With: "insurance"
How To Read The HUD-1
Since January 1st, 2010, all real estate transactions have been settled using a new HUD-1. The HUD-1 is a standardized form which allows real estate buyers and sellers to clearly understand the costs of their transaction. The original HUD-1 was developed as a by-product of the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act of 1974 — [...]
8Nov2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Can You Avoid Foreclosure With A “Second Look”?
We usually think of foreclosures as battles between lenders and borrowers, but in many cases there is actually a third party in the process, mortgage insurance companies. Mortgage insurance companies have a big stake in bad times because when insured borrowers fail it’s the MI companies that can face big claims. The good news is [...]
28Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
How Do We Get Rid of the FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium?
Question: I bought a home with FHA financing. We have a monthly insurance premium (MIP) with each payment. How do we get rid of this cost? Answer: When you bought your home you purchased with little money up front, perhaps 3.5 percent down. This means a lender put up as much as 96.5 percent of [...]
20Oct2008 | Peter G. Miller | 1 comment | Continued
Are Reverse Mortgage Premiums Justified?
While most of the mortgage marketplace is in a funk, reverse mortgages are a significant bright spot. HUD says it originated more than 107,000 reverse mortgages in fiscal 2007 — a figure up more than 40 percent from a year earlier. The HUD numbers are important because the FHA is generally said to insure about [...]
19Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Is Your Home Insurance Up To Par?
The end of the year is upon us and with it a series of benchmarks and yardsticks that are easy to measure. As one example, we are soon to make New Year’s resolutions — and not long after we are fairly certain to break them. But the turn of the calendar is also a good [...]
18Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
California Law Ends Insurance Abuse
Imagine that you call your nearby, friendly insurance provider to ask about coverage — do you have enough? Should you get more? Are you covered in case of this event or that one? And what about pricing? In addition to answering your questions, some insurance companies interpret such inquiries as a “claim” to be reported [...]
15Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
“Canine Redlining” And Other Issues Impacting Homeowners Insurance
A few years ago, when two of the nation’s most powerful groups — dog owners and insurance companies — collided in the state of Washington, it was the insurance industry which won that round, defeating legislation that would have prevented it from establishing higher rates for homeowners with big dogs and dangerous breeds. Welcome to [...]
12Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Should FHA Billions Be Refunded?
Here’s a problem we’d all like to have: FHA has more than $16 billion in surplus funds, including an excess $5 billion collected in just the past year from FHA borrowers. This would be great news if FHA were a private company, but it isn’t and so we need to figure out who should get [...]
6Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Why Do We Need Private Mortgage Insurance?
Question: We’re buying with 10 percent down. Our lender says we can get a loan but only with private mortgage insurance. What is private mortgage insurance and why do I need it. Answer: Lenders want as little risk as possible when they make a loan — a not-unreasonable position. To limit their risk they want [...]
2Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
What’s A Bedroom?
A bedroom is not merely where someone sleeps. Please check local zoning regulations. They may require an external exit (such as a window with a bottom sill not more than 44 inches above the ground and 5.7 square feet of space when open). Or, they may require that a “bedroom” cannot itself be an entrance [...]
30Aug2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
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