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 »
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 »
Hello Neil Armstrong. I have had a difficult time getting a mortgage, it is so complicated. I cannot understand it. Can you?
Albert Einstein, I cannot understand it either. Or your accent. But you were one of the fathers of the atomic age, one of the greatest scientists of all time, and came up with the theory of relativity. Are you being serious that you cannot understand the mortgage process?
I would rather formulate the photon theory of light mechanics than go through the mortgage process. I don't trust mortgage people. I would rather listen to politicians filibuster each other than go thru a mortgage process.
You clearly have not talked to Brian Martucci, he will help you get a loan and make it clear, easy, and transparent. Go to his website, www.getloans.com.
What, will I do their silly astronaut man?
You can read his amazing blog. And he has video on the entire process. You can get pre-approved there. You can use his mortgage calculators. You can apply for a loan. You can track the status of your loan. You can connect with him on different social media. The list goes on. Just surf his website and you will be amazed. There is not one other mortgage lender in America, not even the large banks, that have as much information, or work as transparently as Brian Martucci does. I love him.
Does he know about this love Mr. Neil Armstrong space man?
No, he is in love with someone else.
Who is this person?
It is not a person. It is his job. Everyone else pays lip service to adding value, getting back to people quickly, having a great website, and being transparent. But Brian Martucci loves his job so much that he actually does all of this. And that leaves no time for any other love. I am sad. But his clients are always happy.
Everyone wants to get the best deal reasonably possible when getting a mortgage. I say reasonable, because although some lending sources advertise what seem like unreal rates, most consumers are smart enough to discount what appears to be a free lunch. The reality is that even with hundreds of competitors, rates never vary by much more than 1/8% in rate. But hey, who does not want every 1/8% to be in their favor?! I do. So go for it. But here is the problem with shopping for that best 1/8% deal online: Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
There has been something that has been very problematic in the mortgage industry in the last few years, and is becoming more so lately. It is what we call trigger leads. A trigger lead is a lead that mortgage companies will purchase from the credit bureaus. When someone applies for a new mortgage the first thing that happens is they get their credit pulled. This is considered the trigger for another mortgage lender to call and try and steal the deal. So as soon as you apply for a mortgage the credit bureaus are selling your data to Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
I hear a lot of people who apply for a mortgage complain about the inability to get a simple, timely status on their loan application. Some people don't even get a weekly call. I think people should be able to know what is going on with their loan application whenever they want. So I created a way to do this that is easy for all. Read the rest of this entry »
Hello, today I'm going to be doing a video blog instead of my normal written blog and today's topic is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. So far, the tax payers are on the hook for $138 billion in losses to date since the firm started losing money, which has been 14 of the last 15 quarters. So, when people wonder why it's so difficult to get a mortgage, if you were buying a hamburger from a fast food chain that had lost money for 14 of the last 15 quarters, I'm going to assume that it would be a different experience than if you were buying a hamburger from a fast food chain that was making profits. Personally, I wonder if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac even want to be in business, and of course, they would not be if it were not for the government taking them into federal receivership.
So, here we now have a government that is talking about potentially privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and we, as a country, have been suckling at the government teat since the 1930's when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were first started and started to subsidize interest rates through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac secondary markets and the implied government guarantee. We've had tax write-offs of interest and property taxes and all that factors into prices for real estate.
So now, all of a sudden, after eight decades of big government entry in the mortgage business, now they want to privatize the mortgage industry. I'm not sure where all of this is going to go, but it's a scary proposition. But understand, when you apply for a mortgage, this is a little bit of the back story about why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who write all of the rules for the banks to follow, are cracking down on mortgage guidelines and making it so difficult. Clearly, it's not a secret to the state of the current industry and this is one part of it. More to follow in a future video blog.