| Re: Investing in Mortgages |
| Posted by: REL |
| Date: June 27, 2005 01:10:39 PM |
| Investment in mortgages (or deeds of trust) can be very profitable. However, like any investment, you need to understand the pitfalls and how to protect against them. It is quite easy to lose one's entire investment in a mortgage investment.
First, you need to read and understand the documentation for a particular loan being considered, including interest rate, balloon payment, alienation clause, and other terms as well as knowing similar details about any senior liens. You will definitely want to require title insurance on the loan.
Second, you need to know the true value of the property. Owner occupied SFRs can often be valued fairly well from market comparables if you have access to the data. Income properties usually require access to detailed and verifiable lease and expense information and other data regarding the specific property (see RHOL's Valuing Income Property e-Course) and may require having a formal appraisal made.
Third, you need to determine the true equity. This is not just the difference between the sum of senior loans plus your loan and the value. You must also take into account the costs, including various possible costs of foreclosing, holding costs until sale, and selling costs.
Each of these issues include lots of details and there are other issues, but the above should alert you to some of the issues and make it obvious that mortgage investing isn't something you want to do without plenty of knowledge. |
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