ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS
2014
How Can I Check if My Condo is Approvable with FHA? There are many different factors that go into an FHA condominium project approval. Some of them are involved and require time to go through, such as review of the financial statements and legal documents. Combined, those take up the majority o...
02/27/2014
115
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Do Not Set ActiveRain as Your Home Page Please take heed and listen carefully: do not set ActiveRain as your home page. I made this mistake a couple of months ago and have regretted it ever since. Initially, I had done this to remind myself to be more active here in the 'Rain because for years ...
02/26/2014
0
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Condominium Market Data for Ellington, CT Last week, in response to my other condominium market data for surrounding towns, I was asked to compile the condominium data for the rural town of Ellington, CT. Because of the size of Ellington and the limited number of condominium projects within the ...
02/24/2014
12
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"My Ex Trashed My Credit" One beautiful summer morning, I received a call from a Realtor-friend of mine. His real estate office had an in-house mortgage loan officer to whom the agents were encouraged to refer their clients. I would typically only get the fall-out. My friend called me about a p...
02/22/2014
3
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"We Have to Move By The End of the Month" In 2007, when Subprime lenders began dropping like flies, the focus of my business moved to CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) loans. At the time, Bank of America had a wholesale lending presence in Connecticut and because it had money on deposit in the st...
02/22/2014
43
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"My Daughter Has Leukemia" My introduction to the mortgage business was weighted heavily in FHA loans and helping people with troubled credit. My broker ran ads offering to help those who have been turned down for loans. Much of our time was spent writing dispute letters to the credit bureaus a...
02/20/2014
What is the Difference Between a Condominium and a Townhouse? I can answer this in one sentence: a condominium is declared a condominium. Yes, it is really that simple but I have read several articles on this topic and all missed this very important aspect. They have talked about building plans,...
02/17/2014
How Do I Know If I am Responsible to Fix Something? Condominiums and planned communities (and cooperatives) are forms of common interest ownership and when something breaks, leaks or malfunctions, there is commonly a question as to who is responsible for fixing it. The answer to the question is ...
02/17/2014
Can We Be Sued for Not Getting Our Condo FHA Approved? The answer to this question is “yes” but, then again, can’t you get sued for anything these days? In February 2013, a potential homebuyer in Ohio filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Commission. She alleged that she was discriminated agai...
02/14/2014
Funding the Reserve Account – It’s Not an Expense I think that one of the toughest concepts for folks to understand during the FHA condo approval process is the balance sheet – assets, liabilities and equity. I am by no means professing myself to be an expert; I’ll get back to you after I take a...
02/09/2014