All Forum Posts by: Afsheen Akbar

Hi all
I am not sure if this is the correct place to post my question.
I need some suggestions on a similar situation.
I own a condo in FL which is extremely under water. The current loan balance is $102,000 where as the property value is a about $45k. I purchased it in 2006 for $120K. My interest rate is 6.25%. It is a 30 yr, convinential loan from Freddi Mac. The situation is that I have moved out of state for last three years and have been renting here. I have been making my mortgage payments on time. I no longer have homestead on my condo so my taxes have gone up. I have tried to do some sort of refi but was not able to up till now due to the LTV and the condo not being my primary residence. Also I was told that because I am current on my payments I dont qualify for the other loan re-modification programs or assistance programs....doesnt make sense to me as to why you would penalize someone who is making payments on time?? I had someone rent the place towards the end of last year so I have showed rental income on my 2011 taxes. Currently I have no renters and have not been be able to find any.
I have looked into HARP 2.0 refinance but I am running into some issues. Citi Mortgage tells me that because this condo is now considered an investment property the refi interest rate will be like 4.75% instead of 3.5% and I have to pay close to $4k in closing cost.
1. I am wondering if I could try to refinance this as a 2nd home instead of investment property? Because I dont have any renters right now and honestly I cannot afford to spend $4K on an empty condo.
2. How do I know what qualifies it as a 2nd house or investment property.
3. Can I qualify for a loan reduction cuz it is underwater and I thought that was the criteria? or any type of Hardship program
4. If I want to take advantage of HARP 2 do I have to go with my current lender (Citi)?
5. Because the condo and the loan is in my name and not my husbands...do I just show mine or his income as well?
6. Or the best option is to just do a short sale??? If yes, what are the implications.
Any other suggestions that anyone can give me would be helpful.
Thanks

Hi
I totaly agree about the home warranties company. I had the contract for my parents house and we needed some work done on the AC. It was crazy it took them so long to take a look at it and then they were like it needs Freon gas which is dangerous gas so our contractor companies dont keep them. Not to mention I did not renew it afterwards.
AA

I totaly agree with Brendan...I got the weekend millionaire for a dollar plus S&H from ebay
AA

Harmanmyles I really like ur advice cuz I dont think every program or boork or writer for that matter woould have the same effect on each person.
AA

Good advise . I got both books ordered just waiting on them. I'll definately look in the previous posts as well :D
Thanks alot

Hi guys

I am in the process of trying to understand of how to get started with the rental business. I am starting off posting few questions about it. If anyone else wanna add another question that would be gr8

1. How do u find wholesale deals....do u just talk to a Realtor as u would to buy a house to live in? Are there specific places to look for these deals or r u better off searching for it ur self.

2. If you r buying a property to rent do u just get a regular mortgage or investment loan. Does it even matter? Or does it depend on if u r getting it in ur name or under an LLC or some other entity?

3. Is the best place to look for a property at discount is pre-forclosures or forclosures?

4. If the answer to #3 is no, then where in this market could u find properties with good amount of equity in it?

5. Do u look for property first or financing first?

Some of these questions could totaly be irrelevant please lemme know and also the reason why. Thanks in advance for the help.

Good discussion. Good tips AustinRealtor.
1. Untill the time u cant pay off ur credit card in full I heard that if u r keeping any balances on ur credit card make sure it is lower than 40% of ur credit limit o.w it starts looking really bad for ur credit history.
2. Also if they keep on increasing ur credit limits thats not a good thing either......but Im not sure how tru is that.
3. The other thing that will help u is if u have a credit card from a long time to use it for a little bit and pay it off in full the same month........it shows that u could carry a card responsibly for a long time and also pay it off on time....good thing.

lol ... definately true. I'll was shooting for a bit more. Good Advice.
Thanks

Hi guys
What is your opnion on Carlton Sheets No Money Down Real Estate Course. I have seen people loving it and others not. Is this a good course for a starter. As u know there are certain of these courses out there for people w/some experience and some for totaly brand new-- clue less kind. So would you recommend it for new people?
Thanks for your input

Hi,
Can anyone shed some light on what "Flipping a contract" is? Is that something usually done just in Canada (I am assuing that because of most of the post r for Canad in this thread) or in US too.
Thanks
AA