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Buying A Home "Non Contingent" On The Sale Of Your Current Home

January 31st, 2012

In some real estate markets, the close-in DC Metro area being one of them, the market is strong enough that sellers will not accept an offer contingent on the sale of the potential buyers current home. Sellers figure in a strong market, why should they accept an offer based on a buyer that has a house to sell, and who knows if the buyers are realistic, will price it to sell, and will do all the right things to market and sell it quickly. So sellers wait to get a non-contingent offer, because they know one will come along soon enough.

As a result, I get some buyers who ask me to get them qualified to buy a new home, without the new loan being contingent on the sale of the current home they own. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bridge loan, double move, home equity loan, non contingent offer
Posted in Loan Process, Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

Santa Or The Grinch? Which Do You Want With Your Mortgage?

December 20th, 2011

Santa versus The Grinch represents so many different scenarios in life, good versus evil, positive versus negative, tortoise versus the hare…..an on time mortgage transaction versus a delayed one. Huh? Wait. What does Santa and The Grinch have to do with the mortgage process? Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: loan process, on time settlement
Posted in Underwriting Rules | 2 Comments »

FHA Loans Limits Increased, But Only Thru 2012.

December 13th, 2011

There was some confusion as to how long the latest FHA loan limit increase is going to last, which I blogged about here. Was it through the end of 2011, or 2 full years through 2013, or just through next year and it ends 2012? So the verdict is in, and the latest FHA loan limit increase expires at the end of 2012. So come December 2012, there will be another political fight, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: FHA, FHA loan limits, loan limits
Posted in FHA, Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

If The Windows Don't Open, You Don't Get Your Loan?

December 9th, 2011

I had a file come out of the underwriting department recently, and learned something new…apparently windows need to be operable and open. Sounds silly huh? But operable windows are important due to safety reasons and ingress/egress to get out of the house in an emergency. You want to hear more? OK, read on. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: house condition, underwriting guidelines
Posted in Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

4 + 8 = 6?

September 25th, 2011

When you have any sort of income that varies, such as overtime, bonuses, commission, self-employment, etc; you need a two year history of that income. This way, when you have a two year history, the underwriter can determine an average income. For example: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: underwriting guidelines
Posted in Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

Dear Congress, Your Credit Application Has Been Turned Down.

July 12th, 2011

I came across an article I just had to re-post. We all know about the problems in the mortgage industry with people who are qualified but end up getting hassled, questioned, asked for piles of paperwork, or worse, they get their loan application rejected. Below is an article I found on Reason.com, which is exactly how I'd want to see a loan application from Congress for a mortgage get rejected:

"Dear Congress,

Thank you for your interest in the American Public Trust's Gold Card credit program. Rest assured your application has been given thorough and careful consideration by the American people. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: underwriting problems
Posted in Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

What Is The Differrence Between A Direct Lender, Mortgage Broker And A Bank?

July 6th, 2011

The way that a mortgage lender is structured is critical in the current mortgage environment. One structure that is getting a lot of attention is direct lenders (aka mortgage bankers). What that means is that the lender is allowed to do the appraisal in-house, the underwriting in-house, preparation of the closing documents, etc. You could say they operate as if they were the bank. Further, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: direct lender, mortgage banker
Posted in Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

"No PMI" Loans Are A Gimmick!

June 28th, 2011

Remember in the real estate boom, lenders would commonly make you a loan with a 1st and 2nd trust combined, to avoid PMI? You could put 5% down or 10% down and still avoid PMI. These loans were called 80-10-10, 80-15-5, 75-15-10, even an 80-20 where you got an 80% 1st trust and a 20% 2nd trust, and put no money down! Imagine my surprise when some of these loans started to resurface recently. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

Government Says Your House Needs A Band-Aid.

June 10th, 2011

In 2008 Congress decided the mortgage world and the economy in general were imploding, and one of the hundreds of ways they decided that they knew better than anyone else and that they would help (i.e. interfere), was to raise the maximum conforming loan limit that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offered for loans. They created a class of loan called "conforming-jumbo", also known as “conforming high balance." It used to be Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: loan limits
Posted in Loan Types, Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

The Basement Is Part Of The House, Or Not?

May 24th, 2011

I have recently had a re-occurrence of an appraisal issue that keeps repeating itself. I am not sure if its part of the tightening of underwriting standards, or if it's logical. But I'd like to explain the recent issue so everyone can be aware of it. This piggybacks off of Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: appraisals, below grade square footage
Posted in Appraisal, Underwriting Rules | No Comments »

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