Plunging Auto & Gas Sales Hurt Retail Sales in November

Posted on March 2, 2010
Filed Under foreclosure investing short sale | Leave a Comment

Dragged down by plunging gasoline prices and an auto industry struggling for survival, retail sales fell by 1.8% in November for a record fifth straight month, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

But a historic drop in retail gasoline prices and auto sales may have exaggerated the decline.  Filling-station sales mirrored the recent drop in prices from $4 a gallon in July to less than $2 a gallon recently. Auto sales fell 2.8%, confirming automakers’ assertions that business had sunk to the lowest levels in decades.

Excluding gasoline, which fell by almost 15%, retail sales fell just 0.2%.

In fact, without sales of autos, gasoline and building materials, sales actually rose 0.5%, the most since May.

“The financial markets were braced for a horrific retail sales report for November, but the numbers were actually not so bad,” Mark Vitner, a senior economist for Wachovia Corp. (WB), told MarketWatch.com.

Retail fell a projected 2%, according to the median estimate of 73 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Economists consider retail sales to be a bellwether for the overall economy since it accounts for about 50% of all consumer spending.

There were some promising stats, however. Aside from the automotive sectors, sales surged in almost every other important category.  General merchandise store sales rose 1.3%, the biggest gain in three years. Electronic stores had a 2.8% jump in receipts.

Purchases at department stores rose by the most in three years as Americans took advantage of discounts by retailers from Macy’s Inc. (M) to Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY) to start shopping for the holidays.

But while it appears retailers have been successful in getting consumers to loosen the spending reins with aggressive discounts, the devil may be in the details.  Retailers have been consistently warning that their profits will suffer from the heavy discounting they’re using to entice shoppers.

Neiman Marcus, the luxury retailer owned by ) and TPG Inc., which recently used heavy discounts to reduce inventories, said this week that profits dropped in the quarter ended Nov. 1.  Purchases of expensive goods are also falling because of tight credit restrictions imposed by banks.

Retail analysts have been increasingly concerned about “cherry-picking,” where consumers storm the aisles for heavily advertised items, but leave the store without making other purchases.

That has led some to question the validity of the numbers themselves.

“We are somewhat suspicious of the November results and believe that a seasonal adjustment quirk may have influenced the results,” wrote David Greenlaw, an economist for Morgan Stanley (MS), MarketWatch reported.

Same-store sales in the U.S. fell 2.7% in November from a year earlier, the biggest drop since records began in 1969, the International Council of Shopping Centers said last week.

And aworsening labor market is unlikely to sustain any rebound.  The employment outlook is likely to drag down holiday shopping, a time when many stores expect to reap up to half of their annual revenue.

The unemployment rate climbed to 6.7% percent in November, the highest level since 1993. Employers have cut 1.9 million workers from payrolls so far this year.  Surging unemployment usually leads to a plunge in consumer confidence and spending cutbacks.

A dismal holiday shopping season also bodes ill for retail sales throughout 2009.  That could likely lead to a consolidation in the sector with many retailers closing their doors for good.

In fact, bankruptcies of stores such as Sharper Image Corp. (OTC: SHRPQ) and Circuit City Stores Inc. (OTC: CCTYQ) are already having a negative effect on the sale of gift cards, with consumers afraid to bet on long-term survival of some retail franchises.

Counting on the survivors being the heavy discounters such Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) and the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT).

“This is Wal-Mart time,” Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott Jr. told Wall Street analysts during an Oct. 27 presentation at company headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., BusinessWeek reported. “This is the kind of environment that Sam Walton built this company for.”

News and Related Story Links:

  • MarketWatch:
    Retail sales fall 1.8% in fifth straight decline

  • Bloomberg:
    Retail Sales in U.S. Probably Fell for Fifth Month in November

  • BusinessWeek:
    For Exiting Wal-Mart CEO, a Victory Lap

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More on this topic (What’s this?) Auto Bailout Compromise Fails (naked capitalism, 12/11/08) Short Interest Down on Financials and Auto Companies (naked capitalism, 11/28/08) Auto Bailout Discussion….Schiff Is Right Here (Todd Sullivan’s - ValuePlays, 12/12/08) Plunging Auto & Gas Sales Hurt Retail Sales in November (Contrarian Profits, 12/15/08) Read more on Auto Makers, Gasoline Prices at Wikinvest

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http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/plunging-auto-gas-sales-hurt-retail-sales-in-november-686009.html

Loan Modification for Do it Yourselfers

Posted on March 2, 2010
Filed Under Home Foreclosure Investing | Leave a Comment

Visions of a glamorous lifestyle, back yard barbecues and pool parties that were fueled by teaser loan rates, not to mention negative amortization loans, wooed millions of homeowners into a false sense of security in the early years of this millennium.  House prices soared overnight and the dream of having a solid piece of real estate in a safe neighborhood, close to good schools, took on the utmost importance in the minds of millions of would-be homeowners.

The results of years of unchecked desire to become a buyer combined with irresponsible loan management have put American homeowners into a financial panic.  Over 2.2 million foreclosures were filed in 2007 and that was up 75 percent over the previous year.  The year 2008 is certainly sliding into the record books as well.

If these facts threaten to include you this year, STOP!  If you don’t want to join them, then this is the time to make some clear determinations about what you will do.  It could take approximately 30 days for you to gather and present your case to your lender with the expectation that in the end you will have renegotiated your loan to include figures you CAN live with.

          You can request a modification from your lender without having to use an attorney or loan modification company.  You will need to gather all the same documentation that they would request from you to handle your case, so why not save the $2500 - $4500 that would be charged by using an attorney or loan modification company. 

          You may ask if it wouldn’t be better to pay a financial expert to do this for you.  Maybe, but if you had the extra money to do this, you probably already took that route. And, like everything else in life, they cannot guarantee that this will work.   On the other hand, and without investing a lot of money, you can do this yourself and save thousands in the process.  The Loan Modification experts could not proceed without a great deal of input from you, so before you prepare to part with any more of your hard earned cash, consider handling the process yourself.

          Do not wait until the lender is ready to complete the foreclosure on your home, it may be too late to save your home by that point.  You will want to contact your lender as soon as you know that you are running into a problem with your payments. 

          There are many options that the lender may present to you other than a loan modification.  If your financial loss was due to some hardship, an illness, divorce, death of spouse, or some sort of unexpected tax levy, sick child or disability or other hardship, you can talk with your lender about a loan modification or one of the other options explained below.

          FOREBEARANCE - Forebearance happens when you have fallen behind in payments and are moving into the dangerous area of foreclosure.  It is designed to bring your past due payments current over a specified period of time.  As one of the most common options, it encompasses a written agreement that you will make your full payment each month and a partial payment on your delinquent amount.

          An example of this is that if you have missed three payments you will agree to make the full payment and then you will spread the amount of the missed payments over a 6 to 12 month period in order to catch up and be completely current.

          Do you have an FHA/HUD loan?  You may want to consider PARTIAL CLAIM, which is an interest free loan available to owners of that type of loan.   If this is negotiated, the delinquent portion can be tacked on to the end of the original loan and will go into effect after the first loan is paid in full.

          Next, look at SHORT SALES.  Your lender may allow you to sell your home to someone for less than you currently owe.  The main focus in this scenario is to talk with your lender first because he MUST agree to take a payoff that is lower than the current mortgage balance before the sale is final.

Last, but not least, is the LOAN MODIFICATION.  This changes the terms of the loan to include lower payments, longer term loans, interest only, principle reduction or any combination that the lender is willing to work out with you.   

It is very important to present a complete package to your lender when requesting any type of modification from your lender. You need to be prepared to document every hardship you claim with all of the encompassing legal paperwork.

 “The Complete Handbook on Loan Modification” that is presented by LoanModificationDIY deals with helping you get a successful Loan Modification. 

To learn about the different options that the lender may propose to you and how to prepare the best loan modification package, please visit <a href:”www.loanmodificationdiy.com”>LoanModificationDIY.com. </a>

Eli Zaken
http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/loan-modification-for-do-it-yourselfers-736604.html

Real Estate Investor Jargon Every Newbie Should Know

Posted on March 2, 2010
Filed Under Foreclosures Investing | Leave a Comment

Real estate investing is a new, exciting, and wonderful adventure when you’re first getting started. For me, the new hasn’t worn off. I love real estate investing as much as I ever have. But, if there’s one thing I would have changed, it would be my knowledge of the terminology thrown around by more seasoned investors. If you’re tired of feeling like a dunce for having to look up the meaning of a real estate term every time you hear one, here’s a primer that should help get you up to speed.

Acceleration clause – a provision in a mortgage loan that allows the lender to demand immediate payment of the entire outstanding balance because of the violation of a loan provision, such as defaulting on the mortgage.

Addendum – an addition to a contract adding a provision that wasn’t in the original document. Once agreed to by both parties, the addendum then becomes a part of the original contract and is enforceable in court (assuming the provision is legal).

Appreciation – the increase in value of an asset.

Balloon payment – a required large final payment of a contract, frequently a large percentage of the original amount borrowed. Many times a contract will consist primarily of interest only payments for a period of time followed by a large payment that pays off the entire balance. For instance, someone might make interest only payments on a property for five years and then have to pay the entire balance off at the very end.

Cash flow – the amount of money left over on a monthly basis after paying all operating expenses on a property. This amount can be expressed as either a positive or a negative number. For example, if a property has total income of $1500 per month and expenses and debt service of $1000 per month, monthly cash flow on the property would be $500.

Closing – a meeting between the buyer and seller of a property where legal ownership is transferred. When this happens, there is typically a large stack of legal documents that needs to be signed by both parties. At this time, the seller receives certified funds as payment for their property, all closing costs are paid, and the buyer signs mortgage and other legal documents and receives a large stack of papers related to the purchase.

Closing costs – expenses that must be paid in order to legally transfer ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer.

Depreciation – a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that allows the owner of a property to take a tax reduction for the value lost through the year. One unique aspect of this provision is that the federal tax code allows a real estate investor to take a depreciation allowance on their tax return even though their property actually increased in value.

Due on Sale Clause – a provision in a mortgage contract requiring that the entire loan balance be paid immediately on demand in the event of the sale of a mortgaged property. Certain things can trigger the due on sale clause in the contract, such as the legal transfer (or equitable transfer) of ownership from the original loan borrower to another party.

Earnest money deposit – when someone places a written offer on a property, the seller will normally require that the buyer provide a small deposit (usually $500 or $1000) to prove to the seller that they are serious about making the purchase. These funds are normally placed into an escrow account by the real estate agent and will become the property of the seller in the event that the buyer fails to execute the contract as agreed.

Foreclosure – the legal process involved in repossessing a property, usually for nonpayment of a mortgage contract. There are two kinds of foreclosure: judicial and nonjudicial. Specific foreclosure laws vary from state to state, but in general the foreclosure process takes considerably longer in a judicial state because the lender must go to court and prove that the borrower has failed to make their payments as agreed. In a nonjudicial state, the process is much shorter and simpler because the lender is not required to receive court approval prior to forcing the removal of the borrower from the property.

GRM – also known as the Gross Rent Multiplier, which is a ratio you can use to estimate the value of an investment property. To figure the GRM, you need two pieces of information about the property: the sales price and the market rent rate. The way you figure the GRM is by taking the sales price and dividing by the monthly rent. For instance, pretend you have a property with a list price of $125,000 that would rent for $1600 per month. 125,000/1600=78. In this case the GRM would be 78.

Home Equity Loan – a type of loan where the owner of a property borrows money from a lender based upon the value of the property. Proceeds from a home-equity loan are typically used to make repairs to the property, pay off other debt, or to fund additional real estate investments.

HELOC – Home Equity Line of Credit is a type of loan where the borrower pledges the equity in their home as collateral. In exchange for receiving a HELOC loan, the homeowner usually receive a checkbook that they can use to access funds. While the homeowner is typically notified at the time that their loan is approved how much money they are qualified to receive, they don’t normally receive cash at that time. Instead, they use the checkbook to access HELOC funds, so they only pay interest on the portion of the loan that they are utilizing at any given time.

HUD-1 settlement statement – this form is also known generically as the closing statement. Put simply, it is nothing more than a detailed accounting sheet that discloses where every dollar of a real estate transaction is going. It lists things such as real estate commissions, mortgage broker fees, escrow amounts, etc. At the very bottom of the sheet it details the total amount of money paid by or on behalf of the buyer to the seller.

Lien – a type of encumbrance that can be placed on a property by a creditor that prevents the property’s sale without the payment of a legitimate debt. For instance, if a homeowner loses a lawsuit and is bordered by the court to pay the winning party a certain amount of money, many times the winning party will place an encumbrance upon their real estate to ensure that the judgment is paid.

LTV – a numeric value that can be used to determine how heavily leveraged a property is. If a borrower takes out a loan in the amount of $100,000 and the property is worth $125,000, the LTV is 80%.

NOI – the Net Operating Income of an investment property is the amount of money left over each month after making all debt payments and paying all operating expenses, such as insurance, maintenance, and repairs.

Owner financing – a method of financing where the seller acts as the bank and agrees to take payments for their equity over a period of time. This is a very common and creative real estate financing technique utilized by a lot of real estate investors who for one reason or another have decided to forgo institutional bank financing or the use of hard money lending sources.

PITI – an acronym that stands for principle, interest, taxes, and insurance.

ROI – an acronym that allows a real estate investor to determine their return on investment, which is expressed as a percentage. For instance, if you invest $100,000 and you receive $10,000 in annual returns, your ROI would be 10%.

Title insurance – an insurance policy that the purchaser of a real estate property can purchase to guarantee that there are no outstanding liens or other encumbrances that would affect the transfer of ownership from one party to another.

As you can clearly see from this list of real estate investing terminology, there is a huge vocabulary for you to learn as you begin to fully immerse yourself into the world of real estate investing. This is by no stretch of the imagination a full list. It is, however, enough of a starter list that you can feel a little more comfortable with getting up to speed. Your eyes won’t completely glaze over if you happen to overhear more experienced investors talking, and in many cases you can smugly smile – knowing that you’re a member of a select club of special entrepreneurs who have their own secret language. Plus, you won’t have to wear a special uniform or try to explain to people where the Klingon empire is located.

To learn even more of the jargon used by real estate investors, navigate over to www.REIconferences.com and look around a site built by investors for investors. It’s packed with all the tips, tools, and information you need to turn the corner and reach all of your investing dreams.

Charrissa Cawley
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/real-estate-investor-jargon-every-newbie-should-know-671669.html

Posted on March 2, 2010
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Real Estate Investing- the 6 Myths That Will Kill Your Chances of Succeeding

Posted on February 28, 2010
Filed Under foreclosure investing classes | Leave a Comment

In every business and every industry there are people who just seem to drip with success. They seem to know all the right people, make all the right decisions, be in all the right places at exactly the right time. They seem destined for success whether they even try or not. Real estate investing is no different. In every city or town, there seem to be real estate tycoons that struck it rich through real estate.

 

In this article we will bust myths that will hold you back if you buy into them.

 

Myth #1: You have to have a large sum of money to invest in real estate. They think it is like saving for their first home or that it’s something they can only do once they have made their fortune elsewhere. Both of these thoughts couldn’t be further from the truth. You don’t need hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank to invest in real estate and you certainly don’t need millions. All you need is a good real estate deal that makes sense and one that has profit potential and is based on solid financials.

 

Myth #2: You Need to Start Small-Big Deals Are Too Risky. There is nothing wrong with starting small, but why rule out a $2 million, fifty-unit building? Mortgages on smaller properties like single-family homes are almost always guaranteed through the buyer’s own personal earning potential and wealth. You may be surprised to learn that larger investment property loans are secured by the asset itself. In other words, instead of the $2 million building riding on your own wealth, it is riding on its own valuation. This is less risk to you.

 

Myth #3: You can “Flip” Your Way to Success or Get Rich Quick with No Money Down. Many people think that flipping property is the way to grow wealth. The people who believe strongly in this have been lucky enough to make money this way. In my opinion, this is like day trading in the stock market. It isn’t easy, and it is very risky. No money down is another way of saying that the property is 100% financed. That means a much larger part, if not all, of your cash flow is going toward the monthly payment. In no-money-down deals, you’ll be paying higher interest rates becuase there is greater risk to the lender, have higher loan costs, and have virtually no money to improve the property or even repair it should something break. With this model, you are banking on the property appreciating to make money rather than improving the operations of the property and making money through cash flow.

 

Myth #4: You Don’t Have Time. This really comes down to choices and priorities. There is always time to do the things we need to do like go to work every day, mow the lawn, feed the dog. Often there isn’t time to do the things we really want to do. Learn to speak a second language, build a bookcase, or volunteer in the community. There is a difference between need and want. The investment real estate business is something you should want to do and may even need to do. It’s work. To be truly successful, especially in the beginning, you will be involved in the day-to-day activities of finding and evaluating property, negotiating deals, or overseeing contract repair work.

 

Myth #5: You Have to Know Somebody to Get Going in This Business. While knowing a few key people such as a real estate agent, an attorney, or a banker may save you some time, you don’t need to know anyone even remotely connected with investment real estate to get started.

 

Myth #6: You Have to Know a Lot About Real Estate. This myth holds people back every single day. They feel they have to already be experts in a field in order to be successful. Success is a journey, it’s not a destination, and all successful people start at the same place. We gain expertise through experience. On your first deal you’ll learn a ton and even more from your second and third.

Shawn L Charles
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/real-estate-investing-the-6-myths-that-will-kill-your-chances-of-succeeding-686596.html

1 Step-by-step Guide to Affiliate Marketing

Posted on February 28, 2010
Filed Under foreclosure investing short sale | 9 Comments

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which you get paid for helping others earn profits by marketing for their product and getting commission for each sale that happens through your reference.

It is a way where people earn millions and millions of dollars each year.

Affiliate marketing can be done in numerous ways. Being, new to this business, I will give you directions towards how you can be one of those who do earn a lot. And mind it, they really do!

Affiliate marketing is internet marketing for somebody else’s product. It is better than having your own product and selling it. As you are relieved of all the tension that grips you in regard to sales of your product. I have tried a lot of means of earning money online and this is the best of all. In this, you work less and earn more.

I have compiled the basic steps towards Affiliate Marketing:

* Review Site Marketing: In this type of marketing, you build a review site for the product you want to affiliate with. Review site can be made on one of the free blogging sites that we have. If you want to use your own domain, then you can build it on your own server. This is the best practice that I have come across in this business so far. Make sure your review site is search engine optimized, so that it is easily indexed by the search engines.

* Article Marketing: In this type of marketing, you write short articles related to your affiliate product. After this, you can submit your articles to article submitters, directories, blog sites, social-bookmarking sites. Once your article gets accepted in the article directories that you submitted to, you need to populate the bio-box and byline provided at the bottom with your references (i.e. your affiliate link) and contact information.

* E-mail Marketing: This is possible if you have an e-mail list of buyers. The conversion rate in this case increases by many folds, if the buyer list that you have is a targeted niche. This is by far, the fastest way to rake in Commissions but creating an E-mail list of your own is the most difficult task to accomplish and is a long term process.

*PPC( Pay Per Click) Marketing: If your open to investing money for the Marketing, then this is a very profitable business as well. . This is a method of advertising your website on search engine results (in the sponsored result listing) where advertisers bid against each other to be the top search result on particular keywords or keyword phrases. Cost per click is the bidding amount you agree to pay whenever there is a click on your result. http://www.easyaffiliatepack.org/

Kurt Rorbakken
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-opportunities-articles/1-stepbystep-guide-to-affiliate-marketing-719133.html

Real Estate Investors Help People

Posted on February 28, 2010
Filed Under Home Foreclosure Investing | 3 Comments

In this business, you don’t sit in front of your computer all day and trade. You actually interact with people, and help them in their situations, whether you are buying a house from them or selling/leasing a house to them. We do make a profit at what we do, of course, but we are helping people solve their problems at the same time. We are not taking advantage of people. ‘Filthy rich’ people may do that, but their ill-gotten gain will be temporary. That’s what Proverbs 13:22 means when it says, ‘The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.’ God has promised the wealth gained through manipulation or deception will be transferred to those who choose to be ‘righteously rich’ and gain their wealth with integrity and honesty. We make it a win-win situation for everyone involved in our real estate transactions or we won’t go through with the deal.

We may buy houses from people who are facing foreclosure or behind on their payments, are in a divorce situation, are building a new house and can’t afford two payments, are in a job relocation, or just want a quick sale for numerous reasons. We have some properties where people sold them to us simply because they didn’t want to spend the time and resources to fix the house up in order to get it ready for the traditional retail market. The bottom line in these situations is that the sellers were thankful that we bought their houses, and we have their testimonies to prove it!

Not only that, but we are helping people toward home ownership through our lease-option programs that perhaps could not buy a home any other way. These buyers may have credit issues and need a second chance. The buyer may be a single mom who was turned down by a traditional mortgage company. Again, our buyers are very thankful that we have allowed them to move into one of our houses, and we keep their testimonies as well.

Look at the story of Joseph and the famine that begins in Genesis 41 and goes through chapter 47. God gave Joseph the interpretation of Pharoah’s dream, which indicated there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. What did Joseph do? He gathered all the grain and stored it during the seven plentiful years. In modern terms, he was basically investing in the commodities market! He actually profited from his investments! To state it more accurately, he made all the money so that no one else had any (Genesis 47:14-15).

But Joseph didn’t stop there. When everyone ran out of money, he asked for their livestock in exchange for bread (Genesis 47:16-17). Then, when Joseph had all the livestock, he became a real estate investor! Joseph bought the entire land of Egypt in exchange for grain (Genesis 47:18-20)! Of course, this truth is so beautiful to us as fellow real estate investors, it brings a tear to our eyes just thinking about it! But even after this, Joseph took it one step further. After Joseph collected all the money, the livestock, and the land, he loaned it all back to the people he had gotten it from and charged them twenty percent interest (Genesis 47: 23-24)!

Was Joseph taking advantage of the needy and hungry people by taking everything from them and loaning it back to them? No, he didn’t take advantage of the people, but he did take advantage of an opportunity! In fact, they were thankful to Joseph. Genesis 47:25, the people say to Joseph, ‘You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my Lord.’ Joseph was a wise and intelligent investor! Pharoah may have controlled that money for a time, but it later financed God’s work when Moses led Israel out of Egypt.

I call you blessed!

Billy O’Neal

Billy O\\\’Neal
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/real-estate-investors-help-people-706645.html

Loan Modification and the Scams Involving it

Posted on February 28, 2010
Filed Under Foreclosures Investing | Leave a Comment

The growing economic pinch has everyone scrambling to secure their finances as best as they can, and that includes trying to make sure they don’t lose the roof over their heads, considering that foreclosure was already a grave threat on families even before the recent recession. People have increasingly turned to loan modification as the primary means to try to save their homes from foreclosure, but it seems that there are some unscrupulous individuals who see this last ditch effort to save homes as an opportunity to scam already desperate people.

People needing a loan modification, already pretty much distraught and willing to cling on to whatever little sliver of hope they can see just to save their homes, are just ripe for the picking for scam artists and snake oil peddlers. All that is needed are some well-written and rehearsed pitches to get them to sign on for what they think is a chance to evade foreclosure on their home, by investing whatever little money they have left in a fake loan modification deal perpetrated by crooks who are not in the least bothered by stealing from frantic people already steeped in debt.

These scammers will ask for an exorbitant upfront fee, supposedly to work out a loan modification for the person seeking it, with a bogus guarantee of returning half the amount in the event of failure in the deal. These scammers will then claim to have already contacted the mortgage company or the lender to work out the deal, but add that, unfortunately, the deal wasn’t successful. They will then claim half of the upfront fee they charged you, and then return the other half, having already put the person into a deeper hole than what they were already in before the deal.

These scammers can be found virtually everywhere, even online. They will try to lure unwitting victims with spectacular stories of success in securing a loan modification and just how many homes they had managed to save from foreclosure. In many cases, they are so good in pretending to be legitimate that it is almost impossible to tell if they are scammers or not. One sure way is to try and consult with a real estate lawyer. Be sure, however, to seek out a real estate lawyer that is versed on the issue of loan modification. It is also a great help if the lawyer you happen to consult with is quite familiar with the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, as well as in the Truth in lending Act, primarily so that they can speak the language of the lenders.

To make things easier, however, look for a legitimate firm offering a decent loan modification procedure. It pays to study any firm or service you are about to contract, as most scams are quite transparent under close scrutiny. Most scams are only able to fly because of the haste most people practice, precluding any attempts at a close look at the legitimacy of the service. Hence, it pays to really look through and think over anything before fully committing to it.

Rico Franco
http://www.articlesbase.com/loans-articles/loan-modification-and-the-scams-involving-it-731195.html

Posted on February 26, 2010
Filed Under Foreclosures Investing | Leave a Comment

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