Wyoming Town for Sale for $1.5M
For the less than the cost of some New York City apartments, you can buy your very own town in Wyoming.
Aladdin, Wyoming, a 30-acre hamlet located 80 miles northwest of Rapid City, South Dakota, is on the market for $1.5 million.
Aladdin features a post office and a general store, and it is home to 15 residents.
Image via Wikimedia/openclipart.org – Caleb Moore
VHA Loans Helping Housing Market Boom
As soon as U.S. troops began steadily returning from their service in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of FHA loans taken out began to soar.
Following a decade of combat, “everybody is just ready,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Claude Hunter.
VA loans accounted for 8.1 percent of all mortgages in the first quarter of 2014, which has seen the U.S. housing market slowly begin to recover.
Image via flickr/Kim Hill
Former Prison Officer Convicted of Mortgage Fraud
A former Westchester County corrections officer was convicted on Monday on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements to financial institutions.
The officer, Jacques Kelly, will spend 15 months in federal prison and has been given until Sept. 30 to begin his sentence.
Kelly and his co-conspirators collected about $56,000 by buying several multi-family homes and providing their lenders with inflated purchase prices. They made no down payments, and because the purchase prices were less than what they told their lenders, they collected large sums of money at each closing.
All of the mortgages went into default and have cost the lenders about $7 million.
Image via flickr/ Connor Tarter
Two Experts Say Home Prices Will Level Off, Then Drop
Two Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts are predicting that rising housing prices will level off in mid-2016 and begin to drop shortly thereafter.
This has not been the popular forecast among many experts, but Chris Flanagan and Gregory Fitter say that recent data has validated their theories.
Image via flickr/401(K) 2012
Don’t Buy Unless You Can Stay Put
It’s not wise to purchase a home unless you can plan to stay there for at least a few years.
With the various expenses incurred in each home-buying transaction, you may end up losing money, even if the value of your home increases. If the market drops, the loss is even worse.
If you can’t commit to staying for several years, renting is the best choice for you.
Image via flickr/DafneCholet
Average US Mortgage Rates Dip Slightly
The Associated Press is reporting that average mortgage rates dropped this week from 4.15 to 4.13 percent for 30-year loans, and from 3.24 to 3.23 percent for 15-year loans.
These rates are even lower than they were at this time last year, and down about four tenths of a percentage point from the beginning of the year.
Image via flickr/Money
Unorthodox Way to Pay Off Loan Early
In order to save some cash over the life of your mortgage, you may consider taking out a bigger loan than you need and making one large, lump-sum payment toward the principal immediately after closing.
By doing this, you will shorten the term of your loan and lower your interest payments.
Borrowing $300,000, for example, as opposed to the $280,000 you really need means you will have a higher required monthly payment. With the combination of the large chunk paid toward principal off the bat ($20,000 in this case), and the higher monthly payments, you will pay off the loan in less time.
Image via Flickr/Calculator
Mortgage Pre-Approvals May Help Home Buyers
In areas where you’re likely to be up against other buyers when bidding on a home, a pre-approval letter can be what sets you apart.
The letter, which should be signed by your lender’s underwriter, assures the seller that you have the financial means to purchase the house. In other words, it is evidence that you should be take seriously as a prospective buyer.
Image via Google/lossmit.com
Low Interest Rates Not Good for Selling
When mortgage rates fell below 4 percent in 2011 and dropped to a record low of 3.3 percent in 2012, many people purchased new homes or refinanced their existing homes. Good news at the time, but bad news for the future of selling.
Current rates – while still historically low – are back up over 4 percent and are expected to rise again later this year. Anyone with a sub-4 percent interest rate currently would end up paying more for a house of the same price if they ended up moving this year.
Image via flickr/muffet
Budgeting for your Mortgage
When budgeting for your mortgage, consider spending no more than 30 percent of your monthly income on your housing costs. Spending more than that makes for a cost-burdened household, making it difficult to afford other everyday living expenses. According to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, approximately 40.9 billion households in the United States were cost-burdened in 2012, the most recent year covered in The State of the Nation’s Housing report.
Image via flickr/iChaz
