Mortgage Guru

  Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a novice investor there are fundamentals that you should always be paying attention to when investing in real estate. The fundamentals for beginners may be second nature to experienced investors but they aren’t to the beginner. The beginner needs to keep these in mind every step in the process of making his or her first purchase and sale.

Money can be made in any type of real estate market but it takes different strategies that change on a regular basis. There are two basic investment strategies. One is to buy and hold as rentals and the other buy and flip as quickly as possible. Within those two basic strategies are many other options. Today, one of the better buy and hold strategies is the lease option where you hold for a few years but have a plan to sell to the renter at a future date. For those wanting to flip houses, being able to owner finance them (even using other people’s money) is a great strategy. Both of these strategies are working well today because of the tough lending qualifications and because so many people have damaged credit scores coming out of the recession.

Real Estate Investing for Beginners

First and foremost, have an exist strategy. Never buy a house just because you can get it at a good discount. Know exactly what you are going to do with it once you own it. It’s also preferable to have a plan “B” and a plan “C”. Once you have an exit strategy, join an investment club if you haven’t already. Decide on a couple of experienced members that you trust and possibly use the exit strategy you’ve decided on. Invite them to lunch. Explain your strategy to them and ask them to punch as many holes in it as they can. Use the information you learn to improve your plan.

Expert advice for beginners is invaluable. An example of a big mistake one beginner was advised not to make involved a double lot. The beginner had found a double lot at a deep discount in a lower to middle income subdivision. He saw a huge opportunity to buy the lot and then go through the permit process to subdivide it with the intention of more than doubling his investment by selling two individual lots at retail. When he discussed his plan with an expert, the expert suggested that before making the purchase he first look into his ability to subdivide the property. When the beginner did, he learned that it could not be subdivided because of a wildlife habitat issue. The only use the property was suitable for was building a small mansion in the middle of low-end neighborhood. Obviously not a good investment strategy.

Real Estate Investing for the Experienced

If you’re at the top of your game, the best thing you can do to stay there is remain humble. Lack of humility is the biggest problem any businessperson can cause for them self. People simply don’t like doing business with someone that is arrogant. The best deals won’t be made available to you. When you do find a decent deal, negotiations won’t go in your favor when you portray yourself as always coming out on top. Stay humble and you’ll do much better.

No matter what your politics, you must be aware of the ever-growing pile of regulations that confront anyone who wants to start a new business.

I knew a smart entrepreneur who once wanted to start a small business printing pricing books for contractors using a database and laser printers.He was in a large city in a state on the east coast, and thought it would be easy to get rolling, as he only needed to rent a few hundred square feet in a building dedicated to rental offices, and use two desks, a computer, and a couple of off-the-shelf laser printers.

Starting a business can be simple or very difficult depending on the business.

In jumping through the business licensing hoops at the county level, our entrepreneur found that they wanted plans of the building and a full report of all activities of those using the office. This was in spite of the fact that this building had been housing small business offices as rentals for many years. Then because he used the words “printing books,” he was tasked to report the chemical composition of the inks he would be using in printing and their possible hazards and remediation he would be doing. He finally managed to convince them that laser printer cartridges were safe and presented no hazard. Even so, his business license fee was hundreds of dollars each year because that’s what “printing businesses” pay.

The point of this little story is that these type of hurdles, valid concerns or not, jump up in the path of just about any new business that requires lease space, warehousing, employees, personal contact, food preparation, or customer traffic. A real estate investment business can, and most do, start at the kitchen table, requires no employees, and has no customer traffic. It’s the perfect business for the sole entrepreneur wanting to do something profitable without a lot of bureaucracy, licenses, and special insurance costs in the way.

A quote attributed to Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Of course that’s not the clinical definition, but it certainly pegs the reason so many people who want to change their financial futures are unsuccessful. Though they want to increase their income and build a retirement nest egg, they can’t seem to get out of their current rut. They are almost always confronted early on with the question from friends and relatives: “Are you insane? You can lose a lot of money in real estate; just look at the crash in 2007!” Or “Remember when Uncle Harold lost his rear on that piece of land he bought back in 1987?”.

If they let these questions and comments into their head, they’re going to keep going to work every day, getting the same paycheck, and they’re never going to take that step toward financial security. They keep doing the same things over and over again, but they just keep hoping that the results will change at some point. If they ignore the doubt and fear and concentrate on the reasons real estate investment is almost the perfect new business, they can get out of their rut.

Real estate is flexible in terms of strategies and time and money requirements.

Learning the right way to invest in real estate, and adapting the many ways in which profits are earned, there is little risk and start-up costs are almost nothing. Whether it’s locating deals for others for a fee, wholesaling, flipping houses, or rental property investing, there will be one or more strategies perfect for just about everyone.

If you're tired of staring at the same old walls in your home lately, consider interior decorating! Giving any room in your house a make-over can be fun, rewarding and even economically efficient. Consider the following tips to help you plan, prepare and produce your home decorating ideas with style.

When thinking of the type of colors you want to have in each room in your home you want to coordinate with the style of your home and the color scheme outside your home. Try your best to coordinate a color scheme with all the rooms in your home and try to make everything look likes it flows together.

Be a design copycat. If you are having trouble coming up with a design idea, look through magazines, catalogs, and on the internet for inspriation. When you find a design you love, just copy everything they've done. Find paint colors, furniture, and accessories that correspond to the picture. This will take the stress out of coming up with a new design and it guarantees that you'll end up with a designer look.

Tap into your creative side when you are redesigning the kitchen. Although tiles can look clean and fresh, scrubbing the grout can be quite a difficult job. These alternatives can be cheaper, and they can provide your kitchen with a custom look that reflects your taste.

If you feel that interior design ideas don't just come to you, gather ideas for yourself. Many cities have decorated showhouses designed by interior designers to help the public gain insight into designing. If you don't feel like visiting a showhouse, look at different books, home decorating and designing magazines or use the Internet as inspiration.

  There are many ways for both the seller and buyer to both benefit from rent to own homes. Rent to own contracts are not standard purchase contracts. The seller and buyer can write almost any clauses into the contract that meet their needs. Today’s real estate market is showing signs of recovery but it would be even stronger if more buyers could qualify for loans.

Back on January 10, 2014, new mortgage underwriting criteria went into affect requiring a debt-to-income ratio of less than 43 percent for most qualified mortgages. The result is fewer potential buyers qualifying for a loan. Under the right conditions, rent to own homes become a good option for both the buyer and the seller.

Structuring the Contract

Rules vary from state to state but you can create a contract allowing lease options that benefit both the seller and the buyer. Typically, a lease option agreement allows the renter to buy the house within a set amount of time but doesn’t require him or her to make the purchase. Often the down payment and debt to income ratio are the major obstacles preventing the want-to-be buyer from qualifying for a traditional mortgage.

The lease option agreement can be written so that the renter qualifies for a loan some time in the not to distant future. The lease option can help the tenant/buyer over come the common mortgage stumbling blocks by helping the buyer earn equity in the house. This can be done by charging a higher than market rate of rent and applying a portion of the rent towards the down payment.

If the house is selling for $125,000 and $400 of the rent is applied towards the down payment, it will take about 5 years for the renter to accumulate a 20% down payment. If the lease option fee is applied towards the down payment, needed equity will be in place sooner.

Another option for lease option can include a version of seller financing. This is when the seller carries the mortgage instead of having the buyer qualify with a bank. Since the seller is going to want all of their money sooner rather than later, a balloon payment is included in the contract. The buyer then finances the balloon payment with a traditional mortgage at a future date.

The seller can help the buyer qualify for a traditional loan by reporting timely payments to the credit bureaus. Of course, the buyer needs to stay current with the payments or the seller will foreclose on the house in a seller financing arrangement or evict the tenant in a lease option arrangement that hasn’t been converted into a sale.

How the Seller Benefits

There are several ways the seller benefits from a rent to own home contract. The first way is that typically the selling price of the homes is about 10% higher than the current market rate. The buyer should accept the higher selling price for a couple of reasons. First, a lease option allows the renter to buy the home but doesn’t require him or her to. This means the seller has more risk than in a traditional sale. Second, the house is most likely to be worth more money when the renter converts to a buyer at a future date.

However, rent to own home contracts need to have some built in protections for the renter as well. For instance, the current owner should not be allowed to take out a new mortgage on the property. The renter should also have the title checked to be sure the owner is fully entitled to sell the home.

  There are many real estate investing business models. Deciding on the one that is right for you determines the level risk you are willing to take with your investment money. Most investors decide between becoming a landlord or rehabbing and flipping middle-income houses. What few people consider is owner financing lower income houses. There’s more money to be made and lower risk with this real estate investing model.

Valuing Owner Financed Houses

Here’s where the big difference begins with owner-financed houses. The selling value of the house is NOT determined by comparables or assessed vale or an appraisal. The sales value of an owner financed home is closely associated with the dominate rents of the neighborhood. What’s important is that you find the right neighborhood to invest in. These are working class neighborhoods where people mostly live paycheck to paycheck but some manage to save a little for emergencies or towards a down payment on a house. These people might have $4,000 in the bank.

Let’s say it’s a typical family with two parents and two children and the parents are in their early 30s. They are renting a two or three bedroom apartment that is costing them $1,050 each month. They have noisy neighbors above them and below them and they have to fight for a decent parking spot when they come home from work every evening. They have the good old American dream of buying a home with a yard, a garage, and a white picket fence. However, in today’s real estate marketplace, these people can’t qualify for a traditional mortgage. Maybe they have a few blemishes on their credit score or more likely they don’t have the 20% to 25% down payment that the banks are requiring. The fact is these peopl

e don’t value the purchase cost of a home according to the appraised value nor comparable sales in the neighborhood. They value the purchase cost compared to what they are getting for their rent money. When you owner finance, you don’t need an appraisal nor do you have to show comparables. All you need is to come to an agreement on the sales price. When you can put these people in their own home for the same cost or less than they are paying in rent, most will jump at the chance.

How a Decent Deal Plays Out Financially

In most cities (especially mid-west cities and towns), there is an abundance of low cost houses that are ideal for owner financing to lower middle class and lower working class homebuyers. How a deal might work is you find a distressed seller needing to close a sale very fast. These are typically all cash sales. You need to have your financing in place before making the offer so that you can close in three days. Your financing is often a private lending source that you have built a relationship with and doesn’t require an appraisal. Today’s market is full of these private lenders.

The reason you don’t need an appraisal is because you’re going to buy the house for less than $25,000 and sell it for $45,000. You need to borrow the $25,000 but it’s secured by the $45,000 note and brings in an interest rate of between 8% and 10%. Why would a buyer pay $45,000 for a house you just bought for $25,000 and pay a high interest rate? It’s all about the cost to rent. Rent is costing the buyer $1,050 each month but buying the house with a whit picket fence is going to cost him or her about $500 per month. That’s based on a $4,000 (9%) down payment, a $41,000 mortgage at 10% and includes the cost of homeowners insurance and property taxes on a 20-year loan. Once you understand the numbers, it becomes clear this is a very lucrative way of investing in real estate. It’s a win-win-win for you as an investor, for the buyer, and for the private lender.

 News Source: http://www.applymortgageonline.ca/

Whether you have just recently moved into a new home or if you have been considering upgrades for safety and for property value purposes, consider the option of home automation. There are a few reasons to consider home automation regardless of the size of your home, how much you travel as well as where you are located.

Safety and Protection

With a home automation system installed, you have the ability to lock down doors, windows and any other access points to your home, whether you are inside or out. Home automation systems detect break-ins and alert authorities as well as homeowners as quickly as an incident occurs, regardless of the severity of the incident itself. Getting peace of mind with a home automation system is another benefit of having one installed.

Accessibility

Many home security systems today allow for the ease of accessibility. It is now possible to view installed security cameras with the use of your television, desktop computer and in some cases, even your smartphone. Using your smartphone or another computer is a way to monitor any cameras you have set up throughout your home or even any outdoor property you are protecting at all times.

Having the ability to check on your home from just about any location is a way to ensure nothing is out of place or that you are not at risk of a potential intruder or danger. Using an automation system with security and smartphones allows you to alert authorities immediately if you spot something that is out of the ordinary while away from your home.

Features and Options

Depending on the type of home automation system you have installed, it is also possible to use a temperature gauge and monitor. Monitoring the temperature in your home is an ideal way to ensure your heating or air conditioning unit is working properly when you are unable to check on it yourself. Be sure to review all of the features and options available provided from individual home automation systems to ensure you are getting the most for your investment. Comparing features and prices is a way to find a home automation that is ideal for your property, regardless of your own needs and its location or size.

Another feature that is available with many home automation systems today includes timed lighting. Timed lighting helps to ensure you are not keeping the same lights on when you are not in the home. By having a timed automated system set up for lighting, it is much easier to leave the home or travel without looking conspicuous or becoming a target to potential thieves who have been looking into your neighborhood.

Home Warranty

Opportunities Working together with home warranty companies is another way to ensure that your home security system is always covered and can be repaired or inspected at any times. A home warranty company is capable of offering long-term warranties to ensure your household is entirely protected for years to come. Having a home warranty for your automation system is a way for you to feel protected whether you are out of state or even traveling globally.

Less Hassle

When Traveling and Out of Town Although it is still advisable to inform close family friends, and even neighbors when you are going tout of town for vacation or business, there is less need to do so with a proper home automation system installed. With features such a timed lighting and the ability to check on your home and all of its rooms at any times, leaving your home unattended has never been easier.

  News Source: http://www.applymortgageonline.ca

The real estate market is frequently at the center of national economic news. Mostly it’s about whether or not homeowner values are increasing or decreasing but there is plenty written about real estate investing. When it comes to taking the step up from personal residence investing to more diversified real estate investing, it can be a frightening proposition for many. It can also be more responsibility than many people want to take on. Before any beginner invests in real estate, he or she needs to first understand the many options available. Especially the low risk options without direct ownership responsibilities.

Low Risk, No Ownership Real Estate Investing

Earn wealth in real estate without owning anything. This is something many beginning (and experienced) investors don’t understand how to accomplish. There are multiple ways you can create wealth in real estate without the hassles of ownership. A few ways of building wealth in real estate include:

Lease options

Assigning contracts

Government tax liens

Buying deeply discounted mortgages

The goal here is controlling valuable contracts without the liabilities and hassles of ownership. No plugged toilets in the middle of the night or broken hot water tanks on Christmas Day.

Think Low Risk Wealth in Real Estate Producing wealth in real estate is much lower risk when you control the paperwork without out right owning it. A lease option can be walked away from for very little cost if the deal falls through. Assigning contracts is a form of wholesaling. You put the house under contract with the provision that you can walk away if you don’t find an end buyer. If you don’t execute the contract, you never have ownership of the property.

Tax liens pay a high interest rate if the owner redeems the home. Or you may become the owner for dimes on the dollar if the owner fails to bring the property taxes or other government lien current. Private investors buying mortgages has recently become a popular way of earning wealth in real estate. You finance someone else’s real estate purchase with the property as security for the loan. You don’t have any of the hassles of a landlord. The buyer is fully responsible for the property while you collect interest on the loan of 12% or more.

Earn Wealth in Real Estate by Investing Other People’s Money

Another great strategy to wealth in real estate is using other people’s money to control properties. In this scenario, you are more likely to become a landlord and have more hassles but for that trouble, you eventually own the real estate, creating long term wealth in real estate.

  What makes a good or great rental property is a personal decision. It depends on the types of tenants you want to deal with. The vacancy rate you’re willing to deal with (which can include vandalism and other property crimes). The amount of profit you want to earn on your investment. And a host of other questions or issues that you need to be knowledgeable about before making a long term investment.

Where to Find Neighborhood Information

As an investor, you’re best off doing your own research of neighborhoods before investing. The type of information you want to learn includes:

Property taxes – from your local tax assessment office.

School quality – state and local superintendent of schools

Crime – local police departments

Employment – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Amenities – visit the neighborhood and take notice of parks, malls, gyms, movie theaters, public transport hubs, and all the other amenities. Future developments and building permits – municipal planning department.

Real estate listings and vacancies – local real estate and property management companies.

Rents – property management companies, advertisements, door-to-door survey.

One very good source of information is visiting neighborhoods during evening hours and on weekends when people are home from work. Talk to people working in their yards and walking dogs. Try to find renters in the neighborhood. Renters are more likely to give you the most realistic opinion of the neighborhood because they don’t have a financial investment. Once you have a significant interest in a specific neighborhood, visit it on different days of the week and different times of the day to gain real knowledge of what goes on at different times.

Understanding Income Levels

In my personal opinion, I favor rentals in urban settings that have a dense population of working class people. Neighborhoods with a mix of rental properties and homeowners. These are often a short distance from inner city war zones where gangsters rule instead of the police, vandalism is high, and the unemployed can’t make the rent payment. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly don’t recommend investing in these war zones. However, adjacent or a short distant from them is where you often find neighborhoods that are a mix of rentals and homeowners where blue collar workers take care of homes and work with police to keep the crime level down.

Of course, income levels across the U.S. vary significantly from region to region and state to state but the most recent Census Bureau numbers show the national medium income at $51,324. Other statistics show that households earning above the income medium have a home ownership rate of 79.5% and those earning below the medium income have a home ownership rate of 49.8%. What this implies is that neighborhoods with average incomes slightly below the national average are going to be a good mix of rentals and homeowners.

Finding the Right Mix

  The spike expected in homes prices during the traditionally busy spring and summer buying season never really developed. Prices in much of the nation remain higher than a year ago but didn’t go up as much as expected. Last year the gain from the second quarter to the third was three percent. This year it looks to be a meager one percent based on early data. That’s despite of a lower inventory of houses available for sale.

Could it be that the small gain during what should have been a busy buying season is a forewarning that prices may go negative as we enter the slow seasons of fall and winter? The western market may be a leading indicator.

Distressed Western Market Shrinks

According to Clear Capital, the West, which has some of the largest metropolitan markets in the nation, has seen a dramatic drop in the sales of distressed houses. In 2009, at the peak of distressed home sales, a full half of all sales were distressed houses. Today that number has dropped to about 12 percent.

For major investors, this means looking to the South and Midwest for better investment opportunities where distressed properties are still selling at bargain prices. Fewer buyers in the West mean less price appreciation and the possibility of prices actually declining for the first time since the bottom of the Great Recession. Regarding home values, the West has been the trendsetter. It could be an indication that as the market finally absorbs the remaining distressed properties, national homes prices could again retreat.

Other Statistics

You don’t want to only look at the statistics of one group. Although different numbers are tossed out, the trend is the same from CoreLogic. Their numbers say that national average house prices increased by 6.4 percent in August, year-on-year. But that is half of the increase that occurred in the same season from 2012 to 2013.

According to Credit Suisse analysts, “The combination of higher mortgage insurance costs, higher interest rates, and higher home prices have already brought affordability back to the long-term averages for first-time home buyers.” What this implies is that first time housing costs are approaching previous highs and will further shrink the number of buyers in the market. Of course, fewer buyers in the market reduce pressures for higher prices.

Time will tell what direction housing prices will go in the near and not too distant future. Consumer confidence is generally negative towards the housing market. There could well be a drop in average prices over the next couple of years. Or there could be modest appreciation in the range of 2 to 3 percent during 2015 and 2016. What is almost certain is there will not be a major run up in prices as many analysts had previously predicted.

  Tax lien investing has long been a popular method of investing in real estate but it should not be taken lightly. Although potential returns are huge, so are the risks.

Approximately $425 billion in state and local real estate property taxes are owed across the U.S. each year. Of that, about $6 billion goes delinquent. In 28 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands these delinquent taxes allowed to be sold to private investors. The reward to investors is the chance to collect the delinquent tax, a penalty, and interest. Depending on the state, the accumulative return on investment can range between 12% and 36%. If the taxes and penalties remain unpaid, the investor can potentially end up owning the property through foreclosure but regulations for this vary greatly from state to state.

Pros to Tax Lien Investing Tax lien laws vary greatly from state to state and you absolutely must understand the laws in the state and even the county before investing. Basically, a lien is placed against a property when the owner fails to pay the property tax. Counties are highly dependant on property taxes to deliver the services people depend on. To maintain a reliable income stream from property taxes, many counties sell these liens to investors. These liens carry a high interest rate that then becomes owed to the investor. That’s on the pro side of tax lien investing.

How long property owners have to pay the delinquent taxes varies across the county from six months to three years. Also, the final solution to collecting the taxes varies. Some states allow the lien holder to foreclose on the property. Taking ownership can be attractive to investors if the property is significantly more valuable that what was paid for the tax lien. Other states auction the property and repay the investor for the back taxes plus the interest owed.

But there can be serious cons to this…

Cons to Tax Lien Investing

The biggest risk when paying someone else’s property taxes is the property owner could very well be going into or already be in bankruptcy. You might think that’s no big deal since the property can be auctioned. However, people in bankruptcy typically also owe IRS taxes. The IRS will place its own lien on the property and IRS liens override all other liens. If the property doesn’t sell for more than what is owed to the IRS the investor ends up with nothing and a loss on the back taxes he or she paid.

Also, consider why an owner might not being paying the property taxes. The value of the property may be significantly less than it once was. The owner may have been trying to sell the property for months or even years. The property simply will not sell or is worth less than what is owed on the mortgage, so the owner stops paying taxes and allows the property to go into foreclosure. If this is the case, the probability of the investor recovering the tax lien is not realistic.

Tax liens are auctioned off. Reality is there is stiff competition for these liens. These auctions are handled differently in different states and counties. At some auctions, you bid the amount of taxes you’re willing to pay and at others you bid down the interest rate you’re willing to take. Any interest owed that you don’t get, the county receives instead.

Lowes recently released a survey on smart homes, and discovered that more than 70% of Americans who have smartphones would like to be able to control some feature within their home, without having to move. According to the article in RisMedia, the survey looked at people’s attitudes towards home automation as well as their experiences.

It also examined the most important features for home automation, and people’s reasons for owning or wanting to own particular smart home products. Overall, the study found Americans are generally open towards the idea of smart homes, and 62% thought a smart home would be a beneficial way of being able to monitor security and home safety. The Smart Home Survey was an online poll of more than 2,000 adults aged over 18, and it found that just over half of those surveyed feel that having a smart home is somewhat important. When it comes to purchasing the equipment required for smart home automation, some 26% say the overall cost of equipment is important, while 31% feel this way about the monthly fees. Some 13% feel the ease of use is important and just 11% think this about security.

The survey found that Americans generally feel positive towards products that could make their homes easier to manage, more energy efficient and more secure. When it comes to actually purchasing smart home products, Americans more than twice as likely to prefer a solution they can fit themselves and which doesn’t have a monthly fee associated with monitoring the system, or an installation fee. Around 40% feel the benefit of owning a smart home would be to make the home more energy-efficient, and to cut down on energy bills. Out of those polled, 62% felt home monitoring and security was the most beneficial reason for choosing a smart home. Americans aged 65 or older were more than twice as likely as those aged between 18 and 64 to rank ease of use as being the most important factor when considering a smart home purchase.

  Even though pending homes sales fell slightly in August, contract signings were at their second highest level over the past twelve months, according to an article in Propertywire. These figures were based on data from the National Association of Realtors. Just one region bucked the trend which was at the West, where pending home sales increased for the fourth consecutive month. With the exception of the West, all major regions saw pending home sales figures decline. The index dropped from 105.8 in July to 104.7 in August, and was 2.2% to the below figures seen in August 2013 when the index was 107.1. In spite of the decline, the index is still above 100 and has been for four consecutive months. Anything above 100 is considered to be an average level of contract activity.

Real estate experts point out that even though figures did drop slightly, the number of contract signings is holding steady. The reason the figures declined is likely to be due to less investor activity and fewer distressed sales. Fewer distressed homes are available at knockdown prices, and this factor combined with the likelihood of rising interest rates may be causing investors to hesitate over purchases. The declining numbers of investors means the market is returning towards more normal conditions, relying on first-time buyers and traditional buyers who need a mortgage to purchase a home.

The National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows that 81% of first-time buyers who purchased the home last year used an FHA or conventional loan. During the housing market recovery first-time buyers have accounted for less than a third of all buyers every month over the last couple of years.

It’s expected that the numbers of first-time buyers should gradually rise, in spite of increasing interest rates and tight credit conditions. This is because employment prospects for young adults are beginning to improve and their incomes are increasing. More disposable cash will help them repay student loans and should lead to higher sales growth in this area during the next two years.

  Naturally, Memphis was on the list when the Travel Channel went looking for locations to film “American Grilled”. In a city famous for its many grilling chefs, it doesn’t hurt to have the show label you as a star Master Griller. Those are impressive bragging rights and the $10,000 prize money doesn’t hurt either.

The title of the episode is “Battle on Beale Street” with Clint Cantwell beating out three other contestants to be declared the winner. This is the show’s first season and it’s filmed on location in different cities across the country. It’s similar to the format of the Food Network’s “Chopped”. Local ingredients are used as mystery ingredients and one of four contestants are eliminated in three rounds. A panel of three judges makes the decisions of who moves forward after each round. Clint Cantwell was the one still standing at the end of the Memphis episode.

Clint’s Story Chef and judge Kelly English complimented Clint for his unique and nontraditional use of the mystery ingredients bologna and red cabbage in round one. Clint came up with a bacon wrapped smoked bologna with mustard and a grilled red cabbage sauerkraut. Clint commented that his goal was to showcase the local ingredients in the best way he could think of.

Clint has a background in grilling but only recently moved to Memphis from NYC. However, he’s originally from Texas so he was showing New Yorkers a thing or two about grilling while he was there. And he’s not brand new to Memphis either. His wife’s parents live in Memphis and Clint and his wife have been coming to Memphis BBQ contests for many years.

Clint entered his first BBQ competition in Long Island, New York in 1997. After that, he has been competing in dozens of competitions every year. While in New York, Clint organized the competitive BBQ team “SmokeInDaEye” that caught the attention of Kingsford Charcoal. The company hired him to help develop and edit the blog grilling.com. A part time job he still does today. By career, Clint owns and operates a public relations business. One of his clients is the Memphis Barbecue Co.

Making the Cut for the Show The original interview process was done long distance via Skype.

The original group was narrowed down and those making the cut were brought to the network. When Clint made the first cut, he knew he had a real chance at being on the show. In preparation for the contest, he did try practicing a little at home. However, he said there wasn’t much he could really do to prepare because no episodes of the show had aired and he had no idea what the cooking set up would be, the time restrictions he would have to work within, or what curve balls might be thrown at him. About the only thing he could do was to experiment grilling some unusual ingredients.

Winning the “American Grilled” Grill Master title in Memphis isn’t Clint’s first experience with television. He has also appeared on CNN, Fox News, Nightline, Food Network, Spike TV, Newsweek, SeriousEats.com, Eater.com, Today show online, and others. Clint continues traveling the country in search of the people, places, and tastes behind our shared grilling culture. One thing you can say about Clint is that he takes his grilling and BBQ seriously. Clint is now one more grilling legend hailing from Memphis.

News Source: http://www.applymortgageonline.ca/

There are benefits to being self-employed. Not having to answer to a boss is a big one, as is being able to set your own work hours. However, when it comes to qualifying for a mortgage, being self-employed has drawbacks. The “stated income” loan application was originally intended to help the self-employed qualify for a traditional loan. However, leading up to the height of the real estate bubble, so many people abused this method that it has been discontinued by all traditional lenders and some private lenders.

Here’s How the Self Employed Qualify for a Mortgage

You need to prove your income using your tax returns. There are two typical problems this causes the self-employed. First, most self-employed maximize their expenses on their income tax returns to minimize the taxes they pay. That means they show the lowest amount of income possible. Second, the process requires that the two most recent tax years be averaged to determine your stable income. Due to the slow recovery of the economy, previous year incomes were likely low and will bring your income average down compared to what you are currently earning.

Stated income loans are making a small come back on the secondary private lending market but only for the most qualified borrowers. Those with a credit rating of 720 or higher. You’ll also likely need a 30% down payment and have to have six months of financial reserves available to cover all monthly obligations.

Showing Income From Your Tax Return

Your more likely option is showing income from your tax returns. Self employed loan applicants have to complete and submit Form 4506-T to the IRS. This form authorizes lenders to access your tax records. The lenders must receive the tax records directly from the IRS rather than a copy from you.

It’s not unusual for the self-employed to report $90,000 in income but have $80,000 in expenses (or something similar). Of course, at the bottom line, this means only $10,000 of adjusted income is being shown. You’re not at all likely to be given a mortgage if that’s what your tax return is showing.

However, all is not lost if you can show an unusual expense such as a one time purchase of equipment or something else that will help you earn more income going forward. You might also still qualify if you can show a one time loss that is unlikely to happen again.

Other Options

The bottom line is that in today’s economy, the self-employed need to decide if avoiding taxes is more important than qualifying for a larger mortgage. You also need to plan at least two years in advance so that you can qualify under the two year averaging requirement. Your best first step is speaking with a qualified loan officer who can help you understand your options based on your personal financial situation.

  Housing activity likely will continue to pull back this year, mostly due to a sluggish job market, but a modest recovery will likely resume in 2015, according to the results of Fannie Mae’s August 2014 National Housing Survey.