Credit Blemishes

When life unexpectedly takes a turn for the worst, it’s not always possible to come out without a few bumps and bruises. Every day, people are faced with late or missed credit card payments, mortgage foreclosures, bankruptcy proceedings, auto repossessions and even civil judgments that will affect their credit reports for years to come. Whether it’s from a job loss, injury or just a simple case of temporary hardship, credit blemishes are often a part of life. The good news is that they no longer have to prevent you from becoming a homeowner.

Give Yourself A Little Credit

After experiencing a credit problem, most lenders will want to see an attempt to rebuild your credit through a steady payment history with a new account. This can be accomplished by applying for a credit card and maintaining a responsible use of the account. If you aren’t approved for an unsecured card, you can always apply for a secured credit card. Either will rebuild your credit over time and will help to show lenders that your past credit problems are just that – in the past.

Clean Up Your Credit Report

Before applying for a home loan, make sure that you check your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. Every 12 months, consumers can request a free copy of their credit report from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. If anything is incorrect or found to be inaccurate, filing a dispute with the credit reporting agency can help to get the information corrected before speaking with a lender.

When you apply for a home loan, the lender will access your credit report for the purpose of determining your creditworthiness. In an effort to ensure that you have the best possible chance at being approved for the loan at the best possible interest rates, making sure that your credit report is accurate is a must.

Save Up For A Down Payment

Some home buyers often qualify for a mortgage with down payments as low as five percent (three percent for FHA loans), but those with past credit problems may be required to shell out up to 35 percent or more for a down payment on their new home. A buyer who pays a larger down payment obviously has more vested interest in the home and may, thereby, be less likely to default on a loan. If you have past credit problems, check with your lender about specific down payment requirements and start saving!

Creative Financing Options

If you’ve exhausted all of your conventional efforts and are still turning up empty, don’t give up just yet. Alternative financing is an option that many home buyers use to purchase a home. Your REALTOR® can provide you with details regarding any lease purchase and/or owner financing properties, which may require no credit check, no bank qualifying, a low down payment and competitive interest rate options.

On our Short Sale and Foreclosure property search website you can find bank owned homes in Saint Louis City and County, Saint Charles County, and Jefferson County Missouri. As more and more people are not paying their mortgage on their homes there are more and more Short Sales, FHA owned HUD foreclosure homes for sale, and even VA loans. If you want something not on the MLS, contact our office, 314-802-0797 directly because we have lists of non-mls homes from local banks and credit unions that do not list their short sales and foreclosures on the MLS.

Foreclosures, Bank Owned, and HUD Homes

Please see the Hermann London Home Search website to search specifically for foreclosures and bank owned homes in every single city, school district, and zip code in the greater Saint Louis Metropolitan area. If you have more questions about foreclosures and HUD properties, feel free to peruse our website for resources and information all about the process. We have some of the top agents in Saint Louis when it comes to representing home buyers and investors on purchasing REO, foreclosure, and bank owned properties.

Short Sale

Before the banks foreclose on a property, often the home seller is 30,60,90 days late on their payment and they will contact a Realtor like us. The Realtor works with the Short Sale Home Owner to sell their property for short of what they owe the bank. These short sale homes are an attractive way to purchase a home in the Saint Louis Market. Our Home Search website has a complete list of Short Sales directly from the Realtors MLS. Make sure you click on Short Sales on our search to obtain homes for sale that are specifically short sales anywhere in the greater Saint Louis metropolitan area.

Facing Foreclosure or Short Sale?

If you are a homeowner or Real Estate investor who is needing help to stop foreclosure, you are in the right place. Contact one of our Short Sale Foreclosure experts at our office today. If you have already been receiving notification from your bank that you are late on your payments or have received notice from the Trustee that the foreclosure on your home is scheduled, dont give up, it may not be too late.

Are you late on your payments?

Is your home worth less than what you owe on it?

Have you already tried a short sale?

Are you facing Foreclosure?

Did you try to obtain a Loan Modification?

If your answer to any of these is YES, then don’t wait to contact our Short Sale and Foreclosure experts today. We have relationships at the banks, we have relationships with Short Sale and Foreclosure attorneys, and we understand the process of completing a Short Sale and stopping foreclosure in Saint Louis. You can reach one of our experts by calling 314-802-0797 today.

Most of my clients are choosing to commit to a one year lease term and then at that point, evaluate the market again.  If homes seem to be selling at a better pace than they are right now, the home can be put back on the market.  Or, the home owner may be happy to simply continue renting their home and continue collecting the supplemental income from their tenants.  One other possible agreement that can be made with a tenant is a lease with the option to purchase.  This option often allows the property owner to ask for more per month from the tenant which ends up going towards a down payment at the end of an agreed upon rental term.  The tenant still has the option not to go forward with the purchase, but their monthly contributions tend to create a feeling of ownership.  Either way, it really becomes a “win-win” situation for the property owner.

On another note, over the past weekend our company helped sponsor the Loop Ice Carnival.  We contributed a respectable donation to the event and also operated a booth on Delmar Boulevard.  It was cold but there was so much going on that I didn’t really have time to think about it.  Lots of families were there partaking in all of the different things going on in front of all of the businesses.  Hermann London’s booth was doing a “Minute to Win It” contest and was clearly the crowd favorite on the entire street.  All of the agents that attended the event were interacting with the crowd and getting them excited about the games being played.  It was a great event and I look forward to doing it again next year.

Mortgage rates held relatively steady last week despite an increase of roughly 7 basis points on the 5 year and 10 year treasury notes. A majority of the rate market activity recently has been in treasuries with mortgage rates remaining surprisingly stable. The stock market remains confined to a wide trading range with many large investors still sitting it out while more data is released about the near term economic outlook. Many experts believe the economy will resist a double dip recession but remain very skeptical about an increase in economic activity.

Looking ahead, many economists believe that U.S. interest rates will remain low for an extended period of time. Words from Fed Chairman Bernanke last week seemed to reiterate that the economy continues to struggle particularly with jobs and a housing sector that remains in recession. After a strong week last week in the stock market and selling in the bond market, one focus will be treasury auctions. Strong demand continues for treasury bills with a total of $104B set to be sold Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. June new home sales are to be announced Monday and are expected to be up 4.25% from May. Other key data announcements this week include early estimates of 2nd quarter GDP and the Chicago Purchase Managers’ Index.

Greg Iverson
Mortgage Banker
Envoy Mortgage LP

10121 Paget Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63132

314-993-6690 Office
877-907-6907 Toll Free
636-751-1068 Cell
866-560-1801 Fax