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Just a quick post to say “thank you” to our sponsors who make Reverse Mortgage Daily possible. If you enjoy RMD, please consider supporting these companies!

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If you are interested in becoming a sponsor please contact me.

Thanks for reading!

Technorati Tags: Reverse Mortgage,Reverse Mortgage News,HECM,FHA,HUD

I have just inched past the 150th blog post for the Connect2Agent Home Buyers and Sellers blog. It has been a ride of learning, researching and writing, writing and then some more writing.  

The thing about the blog is it is never ending. You may start on one topic, only to discover and unearth another. There is a lot of information to share and a lot to learn from others along the way. The blog never sleeps; I might be blogging at 8 a.m. or 10 a.m., or I might be blogging at 2 in the morning. The blogging mind is a funny thing and the Internet is a 24/7 information highway.

I really enjoy blogging about real estate. Connect2Agent Home Buyers and Sellers corporate blog is a great venue to write on, because it allows me to discuss everything from finding a mortgage broker to the economic stimulus plan. 

Along the way, I've had guest contributors and Lee Greve, owner and broker of Connect2Agent, discussing all things real estate. Our Connect2Agent members have also provided a lot of food for fodder for our corporate blog, as well as tales of unusual real estate stories.

As the Connect2Agent Home Buyers and Sellers blog surpasses this 150th-post mark, it is also undergoing some spring cleaning. I will be keeping some of the advice posts, but there will be more goodies lying right around the corner. Regular columns, including a lighter side of real estate with true-to-life, out-in-the-field stories, will hit this blog's postings.   

You will also read what Connect2Agent employees see, hear and feel about different real estate topics. I will continue our guest contributions from professionals throughout the real estate industry. I will continue reviews of marketing tools, industry websites and real estate "breaking" news stories, as well as tried-and-true advice posts. Our real estate agent members will help to educate readers on the local beats in markets throughout the United States and Canada.

So stay tuned! If you have enjoyed the past 150 posts on Connect2Agent Home Buyers and Sellers blog, then the best is yet to come.

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to read:

• Connect2Agent has a wealth of real estate resources for real estate buyers and sellers
• What housing gems have you found in the past year? Connect2Agent wants to know
• Connect2Agent wants homeowners to tell us about the 25 most secure places to live

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Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

A few reverse mortgage news headlines from the week:

• Slump slows swell in reverse mortgages (InBusinessLasVegas)
• Bill contains valuable updates to FHA’s reverse mortgage program (Newsday)
• Reverse mortgages provide more seniors with a safety net (LATimes.com)

Have a great weekend!

So, you have made an offer to purchase a house and now are ready to close. It's the day that transfers the property from the seller and makes you a new homeowner. 

What should you expect at the real estate closing? If you are prepared, a pretty simple transaction and a house to call home. Although I cannot speak from personal experience on other regions of the country, if you live in the Midwest, here are a few things you should know:

• Make sure to bring the real estate funds you need at closing in the form of a certified or cashier's check. The title company will not accept personal checks. You can make the check payable to yourself--in your name, not the word "yourself"--and then you will sign it over to the title company at closing.
• Bring a copy of your homeowner's insurance policy to closing. This document needs to be presented to the title company, as it will be a condition of the mortgage company you close with, unless you are purchasing a dwelling that is covered by the homeowner's association.
• Have your transfer tax stamp at closing. If you live in a town where it is a buyer's expense to purchase a transfer tax stamp, make sure you have this at closing. If you are unsure about the current requirements, ask your real estate agent or attorney. 

• Do your final walk-through and make sure everything is in good working order, all the personal property that was to be conveyed with the house is still there and any home inspection repairs have been completed. Once you sign the paperwork at closing, it will be difficult, if not nearly impossible, to seek recovery from any damages. If there is anything amiss on your final walk-through, make sure your real estate agent knows and communicates that to the seller's agent. Also let your attorney know. If push comes to shove and you are limited on time, make sure to address any discrepancies before you sign the papers at the closing table.
• Bring a current photo ID. This could be a driver's license or a state ID that has not expired. Do not bring a Social Security card or a library card. These are not valid picture IDs.
• Come prepared. If you cannot find or do not have a babysitter and will be bringing your children to closing, make sure they have something to entertain them. While most closings are scheduled on the hour, many exceed the 60-minute mark. If you expect that your real estate closing is going to run exactly this long and you do not bring coloring books, crayons, portable game players or books, you and your children will be in for an unpleasant ride.

Everything will be all right

Closings get delayed, papers are sometimes drafted incorrectly and figures are changed at the last minute. Life happens. So come prepared to spend some time at the closing table.

If you enjoyed this blog post, you might like to read:

1. Homebuyers: How to avoid surprises at closing by having a final walkthrough
2. Home Buyers: How to tell if your dream house is not overpriced
3. Homebuyers: Three tips on lowering your closing costs

Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson

Last week, the Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about seniors using payday lenders to make ends meet. Generally payday lenders require someone to have an incoming paycheck but with seniors they are using their social security benefits to secure the loans. “These people always get paid, rain or shine,” says William Harrod, a former manager of payday loan stores in suburban Virginia and Washington, D.C. Government beneficiaries “will always have money, every 30 days.”

While the law bars the government from sending a recipient’s benefits directly to lenders, they have found ways to get around this. According to the article, lenders have forged relationships with banks and arrange for prospective borrowers to have their benefit checks deposited directly into bank accounts. The banks immediately transfer government funds to the lenders. The lender then subtracts debt repayments, plus fees and interest, before giving the recipients a dime.

There are no publicly available statistics on the proportion of payday loans that are backed by Social Security and other government benefits. But dozens of legal-aid lawyers, senior service groups and credit counselors across the country say they are seeing more and more clients on Social Security struggling with multiple payday loans.

The Treasury Department, charged with ensuring that Social Security payments reach beneficiaries, says privacy rules forbid it from monitoring recipients’ bank accounts without cause. Social Security Administration officials say the agency isn’t responsible for benefits once paid out and that beneficiaries who run into problems should consult an attorney.

An analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows many payday lenders are clustered around government-subsidized housing for seniors and the disabled. The article provides a map that shows how storefront lenders have targeted recipients of government benefits which you can see here.

While this isn’t exactly reverse mortgage related, I encourage everyone to check out the full story at the link below.

High-Interest Lenders Tap Elderly, Disabled (WSJ.com)

Technorati tags: Reverse Mortgage, Reverse Mortgage News, Seniors, Social Security, Wall Street Journal, Payday Loans

Every industry has branding prejudice. Construction workers are dolts, people in tech support are all geeks, all marketers are liars. You get my point.

Then you cross a barrier--in church, a store or meeting a parent for your child's playdate--and you find that your experiences have been limited to a certain point. You come to this conclusion because your preconceived barrier gets knocked down as you meet the person as an individual, and not a worker, techie or advertiser. Heck, you may even get to like the person and find more in common than you might think.

When Connect2Agent was established in 2002, President Lee Greve wanted real estate buyers and sellers to make an educated decision on the real estate agents they chose to interview. To do this, he established Connect2Agent as the matchmaking site for real estate buyers and sellers. 

Greve knew from his background selling real estate and managing a real estate office, as well as his experience in placing relocating transferees with real estate agents, that there is a good match for every real estate buyer and seller in the marketplace. The needs of the customers and the skills of the agents determine the success of the match. So began the brainchild of Connect2Agent.

Last year, Greve decided that although he had received great feedback from sellers, buyers and real estate agents about the website and the daily matches by real estate consumers, something was missing. Real estate is the business of moving people. Greve wanted real estate buyers and sellers to get to know Connect2Agent members on a more personal level and see the people behind the industry for who they really are.

Connect2Agent staff started interviewing real estate agent members of the website. They discussed everything from their bowling hobbies to the charities they are involved in, to the communities in which they love to live and sell real estate. 

As you peruse the Connect2Agent website and read our Home Buyers and Sellers blog, take a peek at the interviews conducted by Connect2Agent staff with real estate agents, who are real people too.

Posted by Rebecca D. Levinson