Even though I do own a house, mortgages confuse me.  I know the reason is not that I am not smart enough to understand, rather I am just not familiar with mortgage loan terminology.  You can’t blame me for my lack of understanding - I am not a real estate investor, so I do not use it everyday.

There are just so many options when it comes to picking the right mortgage - it just doesn’t seem as easy as it used to be.  In the olden days, the only thing that you needed to watch for was the mortgage loan rate otherwise everything was pretty much standard.

Things have changed.

The last time I went to get a mortgage I had so many options I just about cried.  Thankfully my broker suggested a few good mortgage loans websites that explained everything I needed to know in English.

Now I don’t feel so bad, but I still feel a little confused - I will just make sure I ask enough questions and get the answers I need.

Now let me open this up saying that having your home repossessed is never a good thing.  It can mean that you are homeless and stuck with bad credit.  To be honest, it won’t look good to any landlord that you submit an application to - if you couldn’t make your mortgage payments, then how will you pay rent?

Instead of heading down this road, there is a way to avoid becoming another one of your bank’s repossessed properties - and not have to move.

You see, there are companies that have a sell and rent back program.  Now, I am sure that you have never heard of this before, but the way it works is easy: they buy your house from you (which solves your current money crisis) and you can rent it from them.  That way, you do not have to move and can still have a roof over your head.  In fact, many of these programs also allow you to buy your house back at a later date when your finances are in order.

Home refinancing can be a good option for many families.  It allows you the borrower to roll other debt into your mortgage in order to lower your monthly payments, and reducing the stress on your budget.  Quite often, people will refinance their homes to reduce their credit card debt or other consumer loans. 

There are many methods to go about doing a home refinance.  For example, if you have your loan through a bank, you could approach your bank about the refinancing and they will take you through the necessary procedures.  I would encourage you to shop around and find the best rate for your income level.

Speaking of income level, there is one thing I should mention for lower to middle income earners.  You can apply for a FHA mortgage refinance loan and in most cases get a lower initial interest rate.  Check with your lender for details on the program.

I would suggest speaking to a qualified professional before making decisions of this nature, as the advice that is given here is general.  They would be able to offer specific advice for you in your situation.

My grandma is getting older now (83 years old to be exact - don’t tell her I told you) and she has been considering downsizing from her home.  She lives in one of the most beautiful houses I have ever seen on an acreage just outside of town, but the five bedroom house is a little big for her to maintain.  She was thinking that she would like to purchase a condo in town with a view over the river.

I did help her find a few places, but she also needed help figuring out what the Arizona mortgage rates were, so that we would be able to figure out what she could afford.  We found them online, and with a simple calculation, we were able to figure out what she could afford.

We then contacted a realtor to look at her home to find out what she could expect to sell it for and then asked what was available in her price range.  We have arranged to get together with him this week to look at a few places - and hopefully one of them will be just right for Grandma.

I spend a lot of my time looking at the Canadian real estate market.  Today I thought I would broaden my horizons and look at another country’s property market.  I decided to check out the leaders in the South Africa property market.

I found two people that seemed to come up on many different property websites.  They are both excellent at what they do though their roles are a little different. 

The first person that came up was Ian Slot from Seeff Homeloans.  Originally a lawyer, he saw opportunity in 2000 to start up his business that facilitates agents and home buyers to purchase a home.

The second person that came up was Pam Golding, founder of Pam Golding International - the largest independent real estate company in South Africa.  From selling her first home to running 140 branches with over 1600 licensed agents, her journey has been one of inspiration.

I recently listed my home on the market, expecting a quick sale.  Boy was I wrong.  

I had a few people take a look at my house, but no one was really interested.  According to my realtor, the price I was asking was reasonable, but for whatever reason, no one seemed interested in buying.

I was in a little time crunch, as we were expecting to move out of state at the end of the month.  It sucked that I may be stuck with my house ? I didn?t know what to do.

We needed some milk for the kids, so I went to the supermarket.  I took a quick peek on the bulletin board there where I put a flyer for my house for sale.  No one even took a phone number off the sign.

I was just about to leave when another flyer caught my eye.  It read:

?We Buy Houses?

That got me a little excited.  On the sign there was a website that I could visit.  I couldn?t wait to get home to check it out.

Sitting at the computer, I punched the website into my web browser.  This seemed to be the site I needed (funny how that sometimes happens) and I started to read how to get a fast home sale.

The whole purpose of the site was to get leads for a motivated home seller.  I submitted my information and received a phone call a few days later.  Guess what?  My house is sold.

If you live in Brooklyn or you are thinking about moving to New York and you need to secure a great deal on a mortgage loan, then your best opportunity to get a low rate is to compare 3 or 4 lenders quotes. Shopping for a mortgage loan can be very complex.  We found that there are a number of sites that offer comparison shopping and used a service offered by LoanNetwork.com where they actually had lenders contact us with there mortgage quotes. It was super easy to shop for a mortgage and helped us save a ton of time in trying to compare offers. Comparing refinance and purchase home loans for closing costs, interest rates and programs has never been easier. The site offers free mortgage calculators, a forum to ask their expert response team and offers mortgage loan quotes for all 50 states including: New York Mortgage loans, second mortgages, equity loans, interest only and deferred interest mortgage programs.