Many homeowners opt for a second mortgage which is an additional loan against your home. If planned well a second mortgage can be your savior in bad times or a trap of financial edge. There are many things to keep in mind while applying for a second mortgage. We will provide you with a complete guide about the second mortgage, and how it works. Advantages, disadvantages, and everything you would want to know.
What Is a Second Mortgage Loan?
A second mortgage means taking a loan against the equity of your home, which means the equity acts as collateral. This loan is also known as a ‘second mortgage’ as you already have a prevailing loan on your property. The amount that a lender offers for a second mortgage depends on the built equity of your home. The repayment of a second mortgage will only proceed only when you pay off the primary mortgage. Usually, the interest rates for the second mortgage are higher and the amount borrowed is lower than of the primary mortgage.
How Does A Second Mortgage Work?
A second mortgage is provided by lenders by employing your equity as security. In such an instance if you have a mortgage on your property or not, you can still secure a second loan by redeeming the equity that was heaping over the years.
The amount given for the second mortgage is calculated by estimating the current market value of your home and subtracting the installments paid for the first loan. For example: If your home costs 300,000 dollars and the remaining debt from the first mortgage is 210,000 dollars then you have collected 900,000 dollars of equity. Here, the lenders may lend you around 60% to 80% with respect to your equity.
Types of Second Mortgages
There are three types of mortgages that fall under the broad term of the second mortgage. The names of the mortgages are –
Standard Home Equity Loans
A home equity loan is the traditional category of loan where a fixed amount is given to you for a fixed term. The amount remunerated is spread over the span of 5 – 15 years. Once the loan closes you receive all your money in a lump sum amount.
Home Equity Line Of Credit (HELOC)
A Home Equity Line Of Credit gives you the liberty to draw money whenever you need it until the maximum amount of credit line. HELOCs also have a draw period which is usually 10 years. During this period you can utilize the line of credit while you only pay the interest on your principal. Post the draw period your payments (including interest and principal) are remunerated over the remaining loan tenure.
Piggyback Loans
A piggyback loan is a category of the second mortgage that acts as an additional loan to your primary mortgage. Instead of trading your home equity for borrowing money, a piggyback loan becomes your supplementary loan. Many homeowners choose to piggyback loans to elude the hassles of PMIs.
A piggyback loan means using two loans to finance the purchasing of a single property with less than 20% equity. The loan has a ratio of 80/10/10 meaning: you’ll be lent 80% of the amount from the lender, 10% will be provided by the piggyback mortgage and the remaining 10% will be the down payment that you will provide.
Tips for Opting For a Second Mortgage
It is advisable to always make a full-fledged plan before you proceed to apply for a second mortgage. We would like to share some tips on how you can get yourself prepared before applying for a second mortgage.
Craft a Financial Strategy
Ask questions to yourself like how will you utilize the money from the second mortgage? What will your repayment structure look like? Will you have enough money as a backup for emergencies? Asking such questions will help you plan a better framework for repaying and employing your second mortgage.
Understand your credit score
Extracting your credit score will give you a better understanding and provide you with options to choose a suitable loan. Your credit scores affect the amount you will be lent hence, it is also important to keep it on the positive side.
Organize documents
There is a complete list of documents that you need to provide while applying for the second mortgage. Although you might be asked for additional documents depending on what kind of loan you apply for, there are some necessary ones listed below –
- W2 earnings statements or 1099 income statements for the last two years
- Federal tax returns for the last two years
- Bank statements for the last few months
- Recent paycheck stubs
- Proof of other income, such as tips, Social Security payments, investment income, etc.
Ways to Use a Second Mortgage
A second mortgage equally stands to be a big amount to spend. You’ll have to put your funds at appropriate places where you can increase your property’s worth. There are some common ways to do so like –
Home Enhancements
These stand to be the most common choices amongst homeowners as they directly improvise the sale of your home. When your home looks good, it bids for a higher price which means profits and easy repayments.
Debt Consolidation
A second mortgage has lower rates but, it might significantly change your situation from losing a home to a better repayment structure.
Education and Healthcare
The second mortgage can provide you with a substantial amount for funding your child’s educational needs like college or tuition fees.
Emergencies are very unfortunate, you never know what surprise life might have for you. It is important to have a healthcare plan with lower interests on your side.
Advantages and Disadvantages of a Second Mortgage
Each thing has its pros and cons similarly, it is the case with second mortgages as well. We will state some advantages and disadvantages of having a second mortgage.
Advantages of the second mortgage
- Large loan amounts become accessible
- You get lower interest rates
- Tax benefits
Disadvantages of the second mortgage
- Reduces your home equity
- Limits the ability to borrow
- Additional closing costs and monthly payment
- Higher interest rates
Bottom line
By now you might have understood the complete process, pros, cons, and a lot about the second mortgage. Although second mortgages are extremely convenient it is also important to determine if they fit your needs.
If you need any assistance with respect to real estate, you want to sell your house fast or have any other requests you can contact us on ‘Elite Properties’ and we’ll provide complete assistance to your queries.
Take each step carefully or you’ll lose it. With multiple processes involved, home selling is a big and difficult transaction. You’ll have to deal with certain things across the lengths of the process to make a speedy sale. There are numerous tips and tricks to make a fast-paced sale as far as first-timers home sellers are concerned.
As nobody explains the whole scenario of the home selling process to beginners. We are here to share the 5 tips for first-time home sellers. The tips below will help you with an effective sale, promising greater profits.
Set Your Home Selling Goals
It is extremely important for you to set your home sale according to the timeline. Ask questions that satiate your purpose for the sale. Your timeline influences differently on how you sell your home and also set a price.
For example: If you want to sell your house fast then you have to propose a lowballed offer. In another situation, if your timeline is flexible, you’ll probably want to wait for some time, make required repairs, and then sell for a higher price.
Prepare Your Home for Sale
There are two phases in which you’ll have to work for preparing your home for sale.
- The first is enhancing the curb appeal.
- Second, make necessary repairs in your home that requires special attention like an ill-fitted drainage system or constantly leaking sewage tanks.
- Lastly, you can choose to stage to attract potential buyers. As a first –timer it is important to keep in mind not to go overboard with staging as it might look fake.
1. Curb Appeal
A buyer will always see your home’s exterior first hence, enhancing the curb appeal of your house is important.
How do you enhance the curb appeal of your exteriors?
If you have a front yard check if the grass is trimmed, the porch is swept neatly, no garbage bags are kept on the front door. See if the exterior of the property does not have any cracks or peels. You can also paint a coat of fresh color if required to make the exterior more enticing.
2. Pre-sale Repairs
If you are thinking about how to sell my house fast. Then the sole answer for it is “Repairs”.
Repairs play a vital role in the home selling process and will improve the expectation of the home sellers. Although, it is important for you to understand over expenditure is a big no as it affects your closing costs. You can start by making a list of minor and major repairs.
Major improvements will consist of curing ceilings, painting walls, bathroom fixtures, etc. whereas minor repairs can be stated as changing upholsteries, polishing the furniture, etc.
3. Staging
While major change requires dollars, minor ones can be covered by staging by spending less money. As staging requires no money, we’ll tell you how it is done.
- You can strategically arrange the furniture in such a fashion that your room looks spacious.
- Change the dull white lights to bright yellow lights to provide a sense of warmth in the house.
- Clean up your upholstery, blinds, and curtains to make them look fresh.
- De-clutter the extra furniture or handicrafts that block walkthroughs.
- Mow the lawn.
- Clean the windows till crystal clear.
- Keep flowers on the center table to add color to the room.
- Put aroma candles in rooms and bathrooms.
- Put carpets and welcome mats.
By performing as little as stated above you can make a big difference in your home sale. Staging attracts many buyers and provides you with a profitable sale.
Research and Decide a Feasible Home Price for Selling
When you are selling a house by owner or self-listing in the market, pricing the home stands to be the most crucial part of the home selling process. A seller will always want the highest bid in the shortest span to close the sale quickly. Carry a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) and look for a feasible price that suits your needs. Keep in mind the price should also cover your closing costs including improvement charges. A CMA will enable you to understand the current price of the market as well as the neighborhood and locality around.
While listing you can also mention the expiry date on your house’s offer. Mentioning an expiry date creates hustle between buyers further, you can pick the one offer which feels appropriate.
List Your Home in Market
The majority of the home sales take place virtually, potential buyers view listings online to check multiple offers. You can utilize social media to your advantage, click true images of your home and post them on public platforms. Write a beautiful convincing description of the property to engage prospects. You can also do Virtual Tours and Vlogs to give an in-depth look at your home. Furthermore, you can opt for the traditional way of marketing your home by posting ads in newspapers and mass media.
Note: Try to sell your house in the peak season which is spring. Spring is the busiest season which means more prospects and offers.
Sell Your House Fast
Selling your home to “we buy houses for cash” companies is the easiest option when you want to you home sellers. Companies like ‘Elite Properties buy your house as-is and provide you with an all-cash offer. While approaching such companies you don’t have to worry about the staging and improvements. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about the sale season as these companies buy houses throughout the year. As selling a home is a daunting and difficult task companies tagged under ‘we buy ugly houses’ label act as saviors.
If you are residing in New York and are selling a home for the first time then get in touch with us or call us at 718-977-5462, we will buy houses within 3 days and pay you the closing costs as well. Rest assured home selling would be as simple as you could imagine.
Foreclosure on a house is a very unfortunate situation in a homeowner’s life. As stated in foreclosure statistics, 1 out of 200 homes faces foreclosure every year. The reason for foreclosures on a house is the financial edge that most homeowners undergo.
What is Foreclosure?
In simple terms; Foreclosure is an act of taking ownership of a mortgaged property. The lender or the bank has the right to sell the property for recouping the money and interest respectively.
How does it work?
The Foreclosure of a house is a process that consists of a legal course. The lender takes control of the property by evicting the homeowner, and further selling or auctioning the property. Foreclosures on a house generally occur when the borrower (homeowner) fails or stops paying the mortgage payments.
If you are one of them who are seeking help then read the options to consider when facing foreclosure below –
Defend Yourself in Court
Although homeowners are melancholy while facing foreclosure, they still have some options accessible to stop foreclosure. The first option is to fight back against the bank. If you think the bank has made an error like sending untimely notices, improper service of notice and loan closing breach of contract, etc. You can defend yourself in court and countersue the bank for unethically handling the case.
Rent Out the Property
One of the best possible options to stop foreclosure on a house is to rent your property. By renting you are generating a passive income that will possibly cover your monthly mortgage payments. Talk with your lender clearly before moving out. They might charge you with higher interests as you won’t reside there anymore. Also, make sure you offer a mutually feasible rent that would satiate the mortgage payments as well as your personal needs inclusively. Employ your asset and lodge a part of it, it will surely help you in making faster repayments.
Consider Refinancing and Loan Modification
Opting for refinancing will lower your burden of paying heavy installments. If you have an ample amount of equity and you’re not much behind the payments then refinancing is the best option. By refinancing you are requesting a brand new loan with lesser interest rates that help in faster payments.
You can also choose loan modification as per your preference to stop home foreclosure. As similar as it sounds, refinancing it is completely different from it. In a loan modification, the lender modifies the prevailing mortgage so that the payments become more affordable. In most cases, the time span is also altered and made feasible.
Consider a Short Sale
Another option to avoid foreclosure is opting for a short sale.
What is a short sale?
A short sale is when a homeowner sells their property for a lesser amount when he or she is on the verge of being financially distressed.
Here, the buyer is a third party; all the profits from the sale go to the bank (lender). If there is still some outstanding debt on the homeowner, the lender will forgive the difference or will file for a deficiency judgment against the homeowner. If the lender files the deficiency judgment then the homeowner is liable to pay the remaining amount within the given time span. Although your credit score is affected for some years during a short sale, it is better than ending up with a foreclosed property.
If you are considering a short sale then you have nothing to worry about. You can contact us here at Elite Properties NY and we will take care of the rest of the proceedings.
Selling a Foreclosed Property
There are multiple ways to stop foreclosure some are effective some are not, and it relies on the situation you are in. If you sight foreclosure nearing, you should act fast and sell your home to cash-buying companies. Companies like ‘Elite Properties’ buy houses within 3 days in all cash-offer. Once you sell the house to us you receive hard cash, which is always a great deal. Selling the home to cash buying companies crafts the deal on the current value of the property. They provide you with certainty concerning the costs and timescale. Furthermore, you can pay your outstanding debt with the help of that money and start afresh.
If you are suffering from any other real estate crisis and need assistance we will be happy to help you in your tough times. Get in touch with us, rest assured we’ll provide you with the best possible solutions.
Maximum homeowners with big houses wish to keep tenants for a passive income. Although, the dream of having cooperative tenants who timely pay rent hardly exists, in most cases it is non-existent.
In such situations, you tend to feel helpless and are likely to seek help with the home selling process. If you are one of those who are stuck in a rut, then you can learn how to sell a house with bad tenants.
Difficulties That Occur While Dealing With Tenants
Troublesome is the word; tenants are known to be the problem creators of the tiniest issues. There are multiple reasons that landlords are forced to evict tenants or drag them to court. Reasons like property damages, inopportune rent/bill payers, pet owners, whiners, etc. These are some of the difficulties that occur while dealing with bad tenants. Here, you have to make sure that you screen your tenants thoroughly before letting them in.
1) Issues That Landlords Face While Deciding To Sell House Fast
Every issue has a specific outcome. Selling a house that has a bad reputation is impossible, nobody invests in a property that is low in standards. While you are planning to sell your house fast, there are obstacles that influence the home sale. Issues like high turnover rates, late rent payments, legal troubles, constant evictions, and disruptive tenants make it much more challenging. Other secondary things like pest problems, broken appliances, and roofing issues are some of the improvement issues that a landlord faces.
2) Is It Possible To Sell My House With Sitting Tenants?
Nothing stops you, you can still sell your house fast and list your property on the market. The only struggle will be to spot potential buyers. You’ll have to try hard to collect interested buyers and tell them about the complete tenant situation. If you are still struggling to get access to the property then you are left with two options which are –
- Look for a clause in the agreement that allows access under specific circumstances, where one can legally access property by giving 24 hours of notice.
- Option two, offer a one-off reduction to the tenants
2.1) Consider Eviction
If your tenant is violating clauses from the agreement you can take legal action. It is highly advised not to lose your calm as it will make things worse. If situations still slip out of your hand then eviction is the only option left. You’ll have to approach a legal upper hand and go through the legal processes. You can contact we buy houses New York companies and get things done. The company will buy your house for cash and also take care of the tenants as well.
Companies like ‘Elite Properties’ will provide you with a fair, all-cash offer. You can sell your house within 3 days in any condition and still get a profitable deal.
2.2) Know Your Landlord’s Rights
The most important thing you would want to note down is the decision of selling the property is not affected by any means. If you have a tenant that has an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement then it gives them the right to stay until the contract expires.
If you have signed an open-ended agreement that has no expiry date then start looking for a break clause that permits you to lay off the tenancy agreement. Lastly, if you are uncertain about the situation then consult a solicitor.
3) Sell My House Fast
Many people get stuck while selling their house, why? People have a misconception that if they sell their house fast, will they receive the cash? The answer is yes. Selling your house to companies that buy houses for cash will provide you with fair deals additionally, they buy your house as is. If your situation is desperate and the tenants are not willing to move out, this is an ideal option for you.
You can also sell your house as is with or without tenants, get in touch with we buy rental properties company like Elite Properties. They buy houses for cash and take care of the rest of the procedures like sending notices to tenants, preparing documents, etc. Selling your home to a ‘we buy houses for cash’ company will make the home selling process quick and keep you away from all the legal hassles as well.
Before You Dive In To Sell Your House with Bad Tenants
We hope you consider the given conduct and try to take each step with utter precaution. In the blog above we have mentioned how to deal with bad tenants and make faster sales. Furthermore, you can contact ‘Elite Properties’ in New York and get all your real estate issues sorted before you end up in a mess.