How Long Do I Have to Wait to Qualify for a New Mortgage After a Short Sale?

 

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How long do I have to wait before I can obtain a mortgage if I sell my property in a short sale?  You have to wait at least a minimum of two years before you are able to apply for a mortgage if you have been foreclosed by a federally insured lending institution.  Some lenders may require a longer waiting period than two years but that’s the minimum and you need to of course have your credit recover since that period of time.  There is certainly no harm in applying to refinance or obtain a mortgage on your home after a short sale.

 

So if you have any questions about that, well give me a call at 847-2288.

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Can I Pay a Family Member to Be My Caregiver?

 

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Can I pay a family member to be my caregiver?  The answer is yes you can and it’s called a personal services contract and is used to help qualify people for Medicaid.  If you would like to see about qualifying for Medicaid I suggest that you give my office a call and ask to speak to Jaleh or Thomas Mitchell.  They do elder law and are familiar with and can provide you with a personal services contract.  It’s important that you do sign a contract for paying a relative for your personal care because if you do not, and then when you pass away, they will have a difficult time receiving any compensation from your estate for their services because they are not liquidated. We do not know how much you have agreed to pay them and furthermore it is presumed, if they are a family member that they were doing it for love rather than for money.

 

So, if you would like to set up a personal services contract, give my office a call and ask to set up an appointment with Jaleh and/or Mr. Mitchell and they will be glad to prepare the contract for you.

 

Give us a call at 847-2288.

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Does It Cost Money to Refinance My Home?

 

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Does it cost money to refinance my home?  The answer is yes it usually does.  You usually have to go through the entire underwriting process and have to pay various fees.  There are some programs such as a streamline FHA or a VA program where the costs are minimal.  At one time there was a program involving mortgages that were not in default for a period of two years which is the making homes affordable wherein there were not any costs to refinance your property or modify your mortgage.  But by in large, you have to go through the underwriting and pay the fees.  They may not be quite as much as what they were when you initially got your mortgage but yes, you will have to pay to have your mortgage on your home refinanced.

 

One of the savings you can have is if you have your owner’s title insurance policy, if you contact me I will be glad to give you a credit towards your refinancing and when you do apply for refinancing. And you can designate who you wish to have at closing and who would be your title agent and assist you with the paperwork.

 

My phone number is 727-847-2288.  Thank you.

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Should I Invest In a Vacation Rental Property?

 

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Should I invest in a vacation rental property?  Well these are usually timeshares and my experience over the years with timeshares are is that you use them maybe once or twice and after that you get very tired of paying for the dues that are required or the yearly assessments.  And I will tell you that there is a very, very limited resale market for timeshares.  They’re very difficult to get rid of.  Sometimes I tell folks that ask me about it; it’s sort of like having the plague, you can’t get rid of them.  Also the value of timeshares or what you pay for timeshares, a very, very high percentage of that purchase price has to go into marketing and that the actual value of the timeshare is not that much and that they have to spend a lot of money to market the timeshares.

 

Now recently I don’t know if this question that was posed to me was not directed to timeshares but I think that to finish up on timeshares is that think long and hard before you buy a timeshare.  And you need to be sure that you want to use it.  You can trade them if you are ready to travel and I think that there’s any number of ones now where you get points so you don’t necessarily have a fixed time period.  So if you use it I think it’s great but don’t call it an investment because I don’t think you’re gonna get your money out of it.  You’ve got to use it or it’s of no use and they’re very difficult to get rid of.

 

Now I was about to talk about vacation rental properties and that there is a new phenomena or use of property now.  In some communities they don’t have any restrictions on single-family homes and you rent them out on a weekly basis.  Now in Pasco County they do have a restriction and you have to get particular land use for zoning for a property to be able to use them as a vacation rental property.  So if you’re an investor and wanting to buy that type of property, well I think it’s a good investment but you’re running a hotel and it’s high maintenance as far as managing the property.  So investing in a vacation time rental, particularly if it’s a timeshare, think long and hard before you do it because once you buy it, you’re not gonna get your money back and it’s very hard to get rid of.  So if you have any questions about them you can give me a call.  Not that I have too many answers.  My phone number is 727-847-2288.  Thank you.

 

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How Do You Avoid Probate and Have Asset Protection?

 

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How do you avoid probate and also have asset protection?  Well, the easiest way to do that is if you’re a married couple.  Of course I don’t know – you’ve gotta be a couple I guess if you’re married.  But in any event, as a husband and wife, if you hold assets as a husband and wife or the term tenancy by the entireties and you should hold all your bank accounts and all your assets as husband and wife except automobiles.  And that way if something would happen to either of you, then the property would automatically pass to the survivor.  And so you’ve avoided probate by holding your assets in your names, as husband and wife.  The asset protection comes in so that if either one of your are sued, and they get a judgment against one spouse, it will not attach to assets that are held in the name of husband and wife or as tenancy by the entireties.

 

I suggested that you not have automobiles in your joint names as husband and wife since an automobile is considered a dangerous instrumentality so that if it’s involved in an automobile accident they can sue both the owner and the driver.  So whatever spouse is driving a particular automobile, they need to have it titled in their name as the primary vehicle so that if they are involved and they don’t have enough insurance coverage and they do get a judgment against one spouse that was not attached to the assets that are owned as tenancy by the entireties and also motor vehicles can be transferred without a probate proceeding whenever the first spouse passes away.

 

I gave you a quick overview as far as husband and wife property.  If you’d like some more information if you’re single as to what to do about asset protection and avoiding probate, well give me a call or if you have any questions as a husband and wife give me a call and we can do some estate planning for you at 727-847-2288.  Thank you.

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