Rehab Loans For Alaskan Investors August 18th, 2007
I often talk with people who are interested in purchasing “fixer-uppers” as an investment in Wasilla and Palmer.
Problem is, usually these properties are so degraded that they don’t qualify for financing and the investor is stuck in a catch-22. It is the kind of house that you can make money on, but you need cash to purchase it.
I recently discovered from Jo Oxentenko that the rehab loans work for investors as well. I thought these loans were only available to people that were going to occupy the home themselves but she informed me that investors can use them as well.
The difference is that there can be no self-help on the investor loans. That means that you will need to have all the rehab work done by a qualified third party, not yourself. One of the most successful rehab investors that I know never does any of the work himself other than the basic clean-up. He makes good money on almost every house.
How do you find these houses? Well, that’s one in the upper left photo. Only $115,000 on one acre. It needs a little TLC but someone could make some money on it. Here is the info if you want to do a drive-by.
Alaska Avalanche Needs Homes August 18th, 2007
The Alaska Avalanche of Wasilla is looking for three more homes for their Junior Hockey Players. If you have any extra space in your house and like hockey you should give them a call.
You will receive $250 per month to host a player plus free season tickets.
Call Dawn Godfrey at 376–5954 or Ak Avalanche at 357–8257.
Van Diest Family Reunion August 18th, 2007
On August 2nd my uncle Bill Noren and my cousin Julie with her husband John and their three children arrived from Arkansas. Over the next week the rest of the family trickled in. At the height of our family reunion there were 36 of us traipsing around the Mat-Su Valley.
My sister Jeannette and her husband Paco showed up from Spain with her three children and my other sister Joanne with her husband Kevin and their five children came from Washington. My Dad and Mom, Gale and Jean Van Diest also came up from Washington.
They joined my brothers Mark and his wife Lorri, Jay and his wife 
Susan, along with Grace and I. All of us Alaskans have three children each at home. My daughter Teressa was the only one who couldn’t make it because she was working for the National Park Service in Virginia.
We went to Hatcher Pass, floated the Knik River with an armada of 5 canoes and 3 small boats, 
picked blue berries up by Gunsight Mountain, caught silver salmon in Jim Creek, went to Whittier, Valdez, and Seward, camped out in wall tents, went on a Kenai Fjords tour, and ate…a LOT.
We told a lot of stories, and generally let all the cousins get to know each other again.
We had a birthday party at the Matanuska River Park for my Mom and her brother Bill who were born on the same day but four years apart and heard more stories about the old days.
Tim Berberich took family photos in Jay’s back yard. He is a real professional who did a great job with this bunch. I would recommend him to anyone looking for a professional photographer. It’s a good thing we didn’t depend on me and my camera…I had the wrong settings for most of the reunion.
I do like this one however.
All the while I tried to keep up with my real estate responsibilities. Please forgive me if I have been hard to reach. The last family just left this morning.
Give me a call Monday, I promise I’ll be a good Realtor.
More Mortgage Madness August 16th, 2007
First Magnus shut down yesterday. The 16th largest US home lender and 2nd largest private lender that provided money to quite a few mortgage brokers shut it’s doors. This company provides money to some mortgage brokers in Alaska but I’m not sure which ones. I wouldn’t be surprised if this affects Wasilla Real Estate.
All buyers who have prequalified with anyone but the most solid companies should check to ensure that they will still be funded when their transaction closes. I’m going to go through all our files today to make sure there are no problems.
With Countrywide maxing out it’s credit line to stay afloat it makes my wonder if I’ll be making my own mortgage payment to someone else soon. Apparently Countrywide provides a lot of the backing for Quicken Loans so this will be affecting internet lenders as well.
This isn’t all bad, the solid companies will continue to do business and their businesses will grow. Many of the most solid companies have good policies in place and are in the business for the long term.
Alice Roe at US Bank, (866–306–8666), confirmed that they are cooking along just as solid as ever. All their many loan programs are still on line. Alice has rescued quite a few transactions for me over the years when the buyer thought they had a loan lined up but suddenly found that that their lender couldn’t do the deal.
Facts About Mortgage Lending August 16th, 2007
I want to thank Kirsten Forbess or Alaska USA Mortgage in Wasilla,(907–352–8306), about this information on Mortgages. It is a good reminder that most people have mortgages on their homes and that most people are not having any trouble paying their mortgages.
I had heard before that 35% of people owned their homes outright but hadn’t thought much about that. Those people have a solid position to weather tough financial times.
Some of these facts almost seem to contradict one another. One fact says that there is not evidence that there is no evidence that hybrid ARMs, (adjustable rage mortgages), are a cause of increased foreclosure rates, while another says that nonprime borrowers have always had a higher foreclosure rate and that they have a higher share of ARMs.
Still, investor analysts are blaming poor performing lending institutions for a slide in world wide stock markets. We all know that they need to name something and that a higher than normal home foreclosure rate is likely only one cause of the current stock market woes. That doesn’t mean it won’t affect buyers as they shop for homes.
Buyers will have fewer choices in loan programs and many will have to put up higher down payments than they would have a year ago. But people need to live somewhere and I believe that it is generally better to own rather than rent your home. I will discuss that issue in a future article.
Marty Van Diest, Tele 907.232.7900 / marty[at]valleymarket[dot]com
- Property Information
- Palmer, Alaska
- Categories
- 365 Things To Do In The Mat-Su Valley
- Sold Listings
- Pacific North Construction
- About Wasilla Real Estate News
- Alaskana
- Blog Roll
- Closing Costs
- Commission Rates
- Consulting
- Cottonwood Shores
- Deals of the Week
- Financing Your Home
- For Buyers
- For Sellers
- Getting Ready For The Sale
- Healthy Homes
- Listing Your Property
- Market Trends
- Matanuska Valley Businesses
- Monday Market Memo
- My Listings
- New Construction
- Wells
- Wasilla Real Estate News
- Archives
- Listings This widget is temporarily unavailable. Please refresh the page or try again later. Error code: 1000
