Halloween: What is Scaring Me?
This year, some of the most popular Halloween costumes are Elsa and Anna from Frozen and a Hazmat suit inspired by our current Ebola scare. The dichotomy of the innocence of Disney princesses with the macabre of a terrifying and, IMHO (ask your kids for translation) not very funny healthcare worker’s protection suit, can be an analogy for this holiday, this season and, as applicable to this email, the housing market.
In the housing arena, there are the Annas who see beyond the isolation that many have felt in losing their homes to foreclosure or seeing their equity ...
5 Things You Should Know about Credit Reports
One of the biggest issues facing homebuyers today are problems with their credit scores. Unlike in the past, the available loan products and interest rates will vary significantly with a person's credit score. Below are 5 Do's and Don'ts to make sure that your credit score is as high as it can be:
1. DO-Make your mortgage on time and in no event later than the 30th day of the month. Even one 30 day late mortgage in a year can drop your credit score by 40-50 points and make you ineligible for certain mortgage products. If something has to be paid late, make it anything ...
Mortgage Industry Update
I am pleased to announce that I, along with my co-owner and the staff of FCMC Mortgage Corp., have now joined Classic Mortgage LLC. Classic Mortgage is a mortgage banker in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. At Classic, we will be able to offer the same excellent service; low lender interest rates and variety of brokered mortgage products as we did at FCMC Mortgage Corp.
However, in addition to brokering loans, since Classic Mortgage LLC, is a mortgage banker, Classic will make the loans themselves on many conforming, high balance conforming and FHA ...
What is really wrong with mortgage lending or why is it so hard to close on a mortgage?
[Note, this Blog post is my answer today to an actual client's email regarding a nearly 10 day delay on confirming the client's identity. In answering it, I detail the real problems in the mortgage industry. The email trail (with identifying information removed) is attached below for context.]
Dear Borrower (“B”):
The name of the lender is _______ Here is the Wikepedia link about them. They are a huge financial institution headquartered in the Midwest with over $100B in deposits. We have done many loans with them and once they close have not had ...
Thanks, Hurricane Irene-As If Closing A Mortgage Loan Was Not Tough Enough….
....it has just gotten tougher! Due to the severity of the storm, a lot of properties suffered flood damage. As a result, the lenders want to make sure that the property, which is their collateral for the loans, is still worth what it was before the storm. So, they are requesting two items to confirm this. As is the case nowadays with lender's underwriting requirements, one is perfectly reasonable and understandable while the other is unnecessary and will continue the cycle of loan closing delays.
The first requirement (i.e the reasonable one) for any ...
Underwriting Times Are Increasing! Start Your Refinance Now!
If you are considering refinancing your mortgage, you should submit an application to your mortgage broker or mortgage banker as soon as you can. By this, I mean, this week or, certainly by some time next week. The low interest rates are causing a mini-boom in refinance business that the banks are not prepared to underwrite and close "efficiently!"
Over the past year, the banks have shed mortgage staff in droves due to the slowdown in business. They are not likely to ramp up now (or at least not too quickly) to account for a few weeks' worth of refinance ...
Job Description for Lenders: Must have brain. But, prefer a new one that has seldom been used!
I have a lender who has suspended 2 files in the past 2 days because they did not contain paystubs. On both of those files, the borrower was not a salaried borrower (where paystubs are the proper income verification documentation). One was a partner at a large accounting firm and provided K1s (along with federal tax returns) and the other was self-employed as a small business owner (who supplied tax returns and aP&L statement).
Self-employed borrowers and partners at accounting firms do not receive paystubs since their income is not in a consistent amount. ...
The Wrong Form
The Commitment Letter provided that a certain broker disclosure needed to be given to the borrower and then signed by the borrower. I did not have the form and asked the lender to provide it. The lender emailed the form to me which I gave to the borrower, had signed and faxed back to the lender. Upon receipt the lender told me that it was the wrong broker disclosure. I then informed her that this was the form she provided and if it was incorrect to send me the right one. She replied that she "Sent me the right form!" Only after forwarding her original email to her ...
December 2009 Changes
Recent Changes in the Mortgage Industry
A. Homebuyer Income Tax Credit
* WHO QUALIFIES:
a. First-time buyers, people who haven’t owned a principal residence in the three years before purchasing the home. The principal residence may be a new or resale single-family home, condo, town home, mobile home or houseboat.
b. Repeat home buyers purchasing a principal residence.
* AMOUNT: Ten percent of purchase price, up to $8,000 for first time buyers and $6,500.00 for repeat home buyers.
* TIME FRAME: You must close on the home between November 6, 2009 ...