Do You Have Renters Insurance Yet???

Ok this week I want to ask a serious question one that will affect the entire outcome of your life…well that might be a little stretch! But it is an issue that I want to address.

I know everyone has the same attitude…”Oh it won’t happen to me…it always happens to the other person”. Well someday you will be the other person! Renters face the same risk as homeowners in cases of disasters striking their dwelling but guess what, your landlord or condo association may have insurance, but this only protects the building, not your things in it.

Renters insurance can protect your belongings in case of disaster or theft.

When my wife and I bought our first home our truck was broken into and my laptop and a few other expensive items were stolen. The total cost of the items came to around $5000! I still can’t believe how just a few little things added up so quickly! I figured this would be covered in my auto insurance policy…right? WRONG! It’s covered under your homeowner’s insurance or renter’s insurance policy because it is considered personal property. Now let’s say that we didn't own the home and this incident happened just 2 months prior to us moving in…then what? Well, we would have been out of luck and had to cover the cost of the items out of pocket. Fortunately renters insurance will cover instances just like this one.

What most of my clients don’t know is that majority of the time your insurance agent will be able to help you reduce the cost of the insurance if you roll it under the same policy that your car is on. Usually the savings that you will have from putting it all in one is enough to pay for the renter’s policy itself! And by the way, if you’re thinking that the renters’ policies are pretty expensive…there not. In most cases they are anywhere from $15 - $25 per month!

So moral of the story is, GET RENTERS INSURANCE! Seriously, you can’t afford not to have it.

If you would like me a referral to one of my insurance agents that specialize in renters insurance for our tenants, I would be more than happy to give you their information.

Dedicated to Your Financial Success!


Kenton Becker
kentonb@empireoptions.com
Managing Partner / Lakemont Mortgage Specialist
License # 510-LO-36929
http://www.empireoptions.com/

Does Your Down Payment gotcha…well…Feeling Down?

I can’t blame you. This is another cause to the mortgage meltdown that we are experiencing. Realistically if you don’t have 5% to put down, it is going to be even harder to get financing for the home you want.

MGIC, the nation’s larges mortgage insurance lender has now tightened up their guidelines on down payment rules. What does this mean for borrowers? Well, if you have less than 5% to contribute to your down payment…you better have a 680 credit score. If you don’t have that, then sorry, you’re out of luck.

Just to give you a little educational moment…brought to you by Kenton Becker, What is Mortgage Insurance? Well, simply put it is the insurance that lenders take out to make sure that if you don’t make your payments they will still get paid. Easy enough, right?

What’s that you ask…How is mortgage insurance calculated, well thank you, I’m glad you asked. Mortgage insurance is calculated as a premium you pay monthly if your loan amount exceeds 80% of the value of the home. For example, if a home was worth $100,000 and you borrowed anything more than $80,000, you would be responsible to pay mortgage insurance every month.

SO essentially you are paying the insurance payment. Not all that bad if you don’t have to bring in the extra cash for a down payment. Consider it financing your down payment. Well, as of March 3rd, 2008 you will have to think twice about that as an option.

For more information about this new change in MGIC’s guidelines, go to http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2004185092_harney17.html

What are my options?

You have 2 options if you don’t have the money or credit to put on the line.

1st Option: FHA / VA loan.
Now, not everyone can do these loans. They are government regulated loans and it takes a very very special person to do them…that’s me! I’m just kidding, well not about the fact that everyone can’t do them. These loans are very old school, make sense underwriting, fully document everything loans. SO be prepared to show it all…literally. But the benefit is that you can do a loan with as little as 3% down…and some of that can even be covered by the seller.

2nd Option: Lease Option (Rent to Own)
Why does this make sense? Well, have you not been paying attention to all of my previous emails…ok, ok…I will explain it again, but really brief this time, this email is getting long :).

Lease options are when you lease a property for a certain period of time, with the option to buy it at a future date. It also allows you to essentially borrow someone else’s perfect credit while you get yours in line. The benefits are:

• That the down payment (the reason why I am writing this article) is very minimal, basically 1st and last months rent!


• You get the opportunity to buy the home in the future at a discounted price.


• Best of all you get into the home of your choice now, rather than waiting years to repair your situation and eventually get priced out of the market.

Well, I’m going to stop there. If you’re reading this then I congratulate you for making it through the email. Your prize is in the mail…just kidding. If you have any additional questions about your options, feel free to call me or email me and I would be more than happy to answer them.

Dedicated to Your Financial Success!


Kenton Becker
kentonb@empireoptions.com
Managing Partner / Lakemont Mortgage Specialist
License # 510-LO-36929
http://www.empireoptions.com/

Top 10 Things to Love about Home Ownership

So for most of us Valentine’s Day is a day that we can reflect on all the things that we love or are thankful for in our lives. For me that would be my wife, my dogs, and my home. But for some of you…probably more than I can even imagine…the home would not be on the list.

So here’s one way to see if you truly love your home. I have put together a top 10 things you love about your home list. I would say that if you can’t say yes to at least 7 out of the 10 things…we need to talk.

10 Things That You Will Love About Home Ownership

10) Back Yard – Now for some of you the idea of a yard is not a good thing. 1 word, condo. But for the rest of us, it is a place to relax and let the kids (dogs) unwind!

9) Garage – no more defrosting the windows on the cold winter mornings.

8) Neighbors – dang noisy neighbors, you won’t be able to hear them anymore.

7) Personal Touch – you can make all the changes you want to the home. You can finally hang pictures! (Everyone who lives in an apartment knows what I'm talking about).

6) Tax Advantages – talk to your tax advisor, they can deduct the interest from the mortgage.

5) Space - a home will provide more room for you to live.

4) Landlords – don’t have to deal with the landlords anymore…enough said.

3) Appreciation – our market is still increasing at 7% per year! What, you mean the news lied to you…no, never!

2) Fixed Payment – talked about this last week, if you missed it shame on you…just joking, just look at last weeks blog.

1) Finally a place that you can say is YOURS!


I’m sure everyone just got the warm and fuzzes when they read through the list, I know that I did. Maybe you’re saying “that would be nice to have all those things” to which my response would be…”WHY CANT YOU HAVE THEM”? I would bet that most of you haven’t even looked into your options yet to see if you can get into a home. Its easier than you think, that’s why I’m here, to make it easy on you.

But for the rest of you that have tried and failed (for lack of a better term) there’s still hope for you (that sounds so negative, I’m sorry). Seriously, that’s what I do, that’s what Empire Options was created for., to help families that are turned down for financing to get into a home. Pretty simple mission statement huh?

I want to help you make 2008 be the best year of your life. Please, give me a call and we can look into your options and help provide your family with the “Pride of Ownership” that you have been dreaming of, what are you waiting for?

Dedicated to your financial success,


Kenton Becker
kentonb@empireoptions.com
Managing Partner / Lakemont Mortgage Specialist
License # 510-LO-36929
http://www.empireoptions.com/

Rental Rates Not So Reliable Anymore, huh?

So let me see a show of hands for everyone that has had their rent increase in the last 2 years…I can see the hands raising from here! It’s common to see and it doesn’t matter if you are in an apartment or a home, your rent will raise, it’s a fact!

Rent rates are not as reliable as you may think. I pulled this statistic out of the Seattle Times on Sunday:

Last year, the average rent in King and Snohomish counties for all apartments rose 8.6 percent, reaching $1,012 in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the most recent report from Seattle-based Apartment Insights Washington, which surveys 150,000 apartment units on a quarterly basis. Over the past two years, since the first quarter of 2005, rents have climbed 16.7 percent.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

I have dealt with many individuals that have been scared to get into homeownership because they are afraid of their payment and rate increasing. Didn’t Einstein say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result??? Hmmm, so you continue to have rent increases and say that you don’t want a home because you don’t want it to increase…am I painting a clear picture.

Well maybe you say “I cant get into a home because I cant get financing” Ok, ok, ok…here’s what you are going to do, go to www.EmpireOptions.com, then review our program, then call me…presto! Answer to your problem!

We are helping countless families get into homeownership even though they have been turned down for financing. If you don’t understand how we can do this…go to www.EmpireOptions.com, then review…ok that’s enough. Seriously though, if you want to provide homeownership for yourself and your family, don’t wait…especially for your rent to increase. Get on the right path today, YOU can do it!


Dedicated to your financial success,


Kenton Becker
kentonb@empireoptions.com
Managing Partner / Lakemont Mortgage Specialist
License # 510-LO-36929
http://www.empireoptions.com/