Do You Have A Question About Real Estate, Mortgage, Insurance?

Originally posted 2009-02-03 11:10:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I created this blog to answer your questions about <a href=”www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com”> real estate</a>, <a href=”www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com”>mortgage</a>, and <a href=”www.taylorbrownrealestatetalks.com”>insurance</a>. So, I need to hear from you.  What topics are you concerned about?  Is it short sales, foreclosure, how to prevent foreclosure, selling, buying, etc.    Click on the title and put your question in the comment sections to see your topic in the news of Taylor-Brown Real Estate Talks with 24 to 48 hours after you ask.

Discovery in Economic Challenging Times

Originally posted 2008-11-29 22:13:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

It is interesting when you discover that even in challenging economic times that there are people who can and will find a way to overcome challenges.   I discovered that when you combine like minded people and your own self drive that may things thought impossible becomes possible.  On last night, I attended a Mastermind Meeting.  What is a Mastermind Meeting, you ask?  A mastermind is an alliance that is build from two or more minds the work together for a common goal.  The goal of our goal is to help and encourage each other in growing our business despite the economic downturn.

At the meeting, I learn several things to help do that.  One was developing a vision or mission for your chosen business.

Another was writing your goals down.

However, the most important thing that I learned was something that was restated more than once.  It was believe in yourself.  Believing in yourself is one of the most important ingredients in the formula of success according to the host.

Another key to success is speaking success not negativity into your life.  You’ll heard of the old adage “you are what you eat”, well guess what it is the same for we speak, “we are what we speak.”  So, speak, “Goodness and Goodness will come.”

Land Trust is a Good Option for Investors in This Market

Originally posted 2009-01-29 14:53:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

There was a great post at www.whataboutloans.com on the advantages of a land trust.  The post goes on to list advantages to the land trust to include:

• ease of control
• ease of transfer
• privacy of ownership

The article further defines the parties that own and use the trust and their roles in the transaction of a trust in relation to the purchase of real estate. 

Another key advantage to the trust that the article depicts is that the “beneficial interest in a trust is considered to be personal property, not real property. Therefore you can assign your beneficial interest in a trust to another party without a formal closing.”

Remember due to recent changes to Fannie Mae’s financing criteria investors need to reconsider how they take ownership of their new investor property.   Those changes are affecting investors who want to refinance the properties in their portfolio and have those properties under the entity, limited liability corporation (LLC). 

Freddie Mac backs many of the conforming loans on the secondary market, so any changes in the rules is very important and should be headline news; hence, this news release. 

The land trust is the best solution to combat this issue. 

History Behind a Midwest Town

Originally posted 2009-01-11 10:37:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Did you know that an industy or company could develop a community or city?  In most of the Midwest this was a common practice, hence the development of the community of East Chicago, Indiana.

The city has a history of being described as the “Twin Cities”.  This description was due to the city being divided into as east and west sides by the citizens at the time of inception.  The east side was known as Indiana Harbor and the west side was known as Sunnyside.

East side was comprised of Inland Steel and several other industries, and the west side was comprised of 140th Street North, south of Columbus Drive, west of Alder Street, and east of Cline Avenue.

The city grew and it 1920 had a population of approximately 36,000.  It was in 1920, that the section of Sunnyside was developed as a new community in Indiana Harbor.    This new community was comprised of 100 duxplexes that still stand today.   The homes were owned and rented to Inland Steel employees.   The rent was reasonable, so there was always a waiting list.

As times and financing changed, so did the ownership of the development, in 1963 the Purdue Calumet Development Foundation took over operation of the development.  The Development decided to sale the duplexes in 1969 with Inland employees getting first choice on the purchase of the homes.

With the sale of most of the homes, there was a need to develop more homes in the area.  In 1970, 38 homes were built.  With another eight homes being added to Evergreen Estates in 1974.

With the growth of Inland Street, the company committed to renovating the 100 duplexes in 1971.  This renovation was named the largest renovation in Midwest history.  The homes received many upgrades at the time to include upgrades to the plumbing, electrical wiring, and heating.

In those days, the companies were involved in your life to make your life better on and off the job.  I think that we may be headed by to those times.  Remember history has a habit of repeating itself.

Are the Reforms Governor Daniels Proposed Going to Affect You?

Originally posted 2009-01-06 14:07:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Indiana general assembly will be in session soon.  Governor Daniels is planning to outline several proposed reforms.  Will these reforms affect you? Let’s examine.

Below are the outline of the proposed reforms:

• Governor Daniels is proposing replacing the county commissioner with one county executive.
• Governor Daniels is proposing combining election cycles to reduce spending.
• Governor Daniels is proposing making several now elected positions appointed positions.  Those positions include the county assessor, surveyor, coroner, and treasurer.
• Governor Daniels is proposing reducing the health care department.
• Governor Daniels is proposing consolidating smaller school districts into larger ones.
• Governor Daniels is proposing consolidating the local library to a county library.

The proposals that Governor Daniels are outlining in this session of the Indiana General Assembly is according to a Ball State University study estimated to save the state $630 million dollars.  While I happy that the Governor is attempting to save the state money, I have to wonder if there safeguards in place for all the changes that he propose.

Let’s examine each proposal seperately. 

Proposed one has to do with the county commissioners being consolidated into one executive commissioners.  The concerned here is will there be equal representation for all cities and/or all citizens in the county.   Needless to say, there is no safeguard under this proposal for the equal representation of all areas of the county.  Will there be a vote or speaker for each city or town on all issues or will there be one person who decides what is good for the whole with out hearing the whole opinion?

Proposed two is about combining election cycles.  I think this is a good idea.

Proposal three is about appointing not electing certain position to include the county assessor, surveyor, coroner, and treasurer.  I feel this to is a good idea if the people who are appointed to these position are qualified for the position.  I do feel that if this is approved there needs to be an outline of the qualification of the person appointed to these positions. 

Proposal four is about the health care departments.  According to the proposal some areas have too many health care departments.    Once again, there is no safeguard in this proposal for transportation for the low income and elder to the facility that will remain open. 

Proposal five is about consolidating smaller school districts into larger ones.  There is no safeguard in this proposal for equal funding for all schools in the new combine districts.   

 Proposal six is about consolidating the local libraries into a county district library.  I think this would be a good idea if all libraries remain open and equal funding is available to all.

I am sure the officials have their collectively hands full, but it is definitely time to bring Indiana’s government from the Dark Ages.  It is time to reform.  It is time to make changes because the future of the state depends on it.

Trust Transfer Made Easy

Originally posted 2009-02-12 10:32:22. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Due to recent changes to Fannie Mae’s financing criteria, an investor may want to consider putting his or her properties in a trust to be able to refinance the properties.  The change affects all investors who have his or her investment properties under a limited liability corporation.  

Today, I found an article at http://blogs.tldlaw.com/estate_planning/2007/02/transferring_re.html that explained a simple and economical way to transfer the properties in to a trust. 

The article goes on to explain what to do if you want to transact any other business with the properties under the trust. 

It is also important to understand the advantages to a trust and consult an attorney before entering in to the trust.

Get $25 off of Your Next Home Inspection

Originally posted 2009-03-02 12:25:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Expiration: 06-01-2009

MC2 Home Inspections 8435 Catchfly Dr. Plainfield IN 46168

What is a Land Trust?

Originally posted 2009-01-29 08:00:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Changes to Fannie Mae’s Financing Criteria Affect Investors

Recent changes to Fannie Mae’s financing criteria have created a need for investors to reconsider how they take ownership of their new investor property.   Those changes are affecting investors who finance the property in their portfolio and have those properties under the entity, limited liability corporation (LLC). 

Freddie Mac backs many of the conforming loans on the secondary market, so any changes in the rules is very important and should be headline news; hence, this news release. 

 

The changes are as follows:

• Freddie Mac will no longer approve refinance for any property that has been under a limited liability corporation entity for the previous six months. 
• Freddie Mac is limiting the number of properties the investor can have financed to four not ten as in years passed.

 

Land Trust is Answer to Recent Fannie Mae Changes

  

The ownership option that will combat the change to the financing institutions’ criteria changes is taking ownership of the new investment property under a land trust.  What is a land trust?

 

A land trust is a method of real estate ownership in which the trustee has legal title to the property.   The beneficiary, though, has full power to control the property to include disposing of the property and management of the property. 

 

The trustee for the land trust can be an attorney, law firm, or a bank.  Remember, the trustee holds the legal title.  However, whether the trustee is an attorney, law firm, or a bank, those entities can not act without the written consent of the beneficiary who has full power to control the land trust.

 

 

Benefits of Land Trust

 

The land trust is not only the solution to the changes for financing, but the land trust also has great benefits such as:

• Privacy
• Succession
• Litigation
• Probate
• Flexibility
• Financing
• Asset protection

A land trust is considered to be superior to most business entities such as corporations, limited liability corporation, etc because the land trust has the added benefit of privacy.  The land trust does not have to be registered that means there is no public record of the officers, directors, shareholders, or beneficiary.  The trustee must keep the beneficiary and trust records in a secure location, and the trustee can not reveal the information unless subpoena.

 

Along those same lines, it is recommend that at time of purchase that of the new investment purchase for it to be conveyed directly to the trustee to avoid the owner’s name ever being part of public record.   There is other reasons anonymity or privacy is beneficial.  It can prevent unfair price increases on purchasing of property.  For example, when the land was accrued for the Disney World, Walt Disney used a land trust to disguise his intentions for the usage of the land to prevent increases in the price of the land. 

 

Still yet, another advantage to a land trust is asset protection.  The beneficiary is protected from judgments and liens.  The land trust prevents the judgment to automatic be attached to the real estate owned by the investor since the title is not in beneficiary’s name.

 

However, it is important to note that because the investor maintains control of the trust, the control or interest can be subject to creditor’s claim.  To avoid creditor’s claims, the trust needs to be irrevocable not revocable.   

 

The land trust is flexible because it allows for ease of multiple ownership.   Even though there are multiple owners all owner do not have to sign for the acquisition of a new property just the trustee who has written instruction from the owners sign the documents for acquisition of the new investment property. 

 

The land trust does can not be partition when one of the owners’ part, but the parting owner can transfer part of his or her interest in the trust.

 

The best is advantage of the land trust is ease of succession.  If the beneficiary of the land trust passes away, the interest in the trust is simply transfer via the previous written instructions to the trustee.  This eliminates the need for probate and the lengthy and costly process involve with the probate proceeding. 

 

The beneficiary of the land trust can be an individual or an entity, so if you have a limited liability corporation the LLC can be the beneficiary. 

 

The cost of the land trust may vary, but the investor may be charged as little as $100 to open a trust and $75 a year to maintain the trust for an investment property valued at $250,000.

 

Remember, the land trust is a legal document that must be review by an attorney to ensure that all of your interest is address.  If you have a LLC make sure your LLC has instructions in it as well for your beneficiary interest in the land trust. 

 

 

Guest Blogging

Originally posted 2009-03-30 05:28:38. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I recently was a guest blogger on Socialmatic Blog.  I wrote on a tool that I recently learned about that help optimize this blog.  The title of the blog was “Optimization is Essential to a Successful Blog.”

The site that I was a guest blogger on has nothing do with real estate, but it does contribute to this site’s success.  It is a site about improvement of one’s blog.  I feel that it is important to provide great content to my readers so I educate myself by following and learning from other guru like Alvin Phang, Gideo Shalwick, Yaro Starak, and others.    These individuals have added very unique and essential ingredients to my blog that helps me provide the great content that I provide to you about read estate, mortgage, and insurance.

Visit their sites and you will soon agree that there is something worth revisiting their sites again and again for.

Happy Reading.

Business Products and Services

Originally posted 2008-12-22 01:40:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

If you are looking to start a business these business products and services may be what you are looking for:

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