Joe Knows Mortgages

The First step in the homebuying process should be your pre-approval. A pre-approval could save you significant time and money, and allow you to make your offer with confidence. Please contact me today for your free, no obligation, pre-approval meeting.

Currently, there are very few ways to get 100% financing to purchase a home in Brevard County.  If you are a veteran with VA eligibility or you are purchasing a home in a USDA declared “rural” area, you may be eligible to purchase a home with 0% down.   However, for everyone else, mortgages require a down payment.

What do you do if you do not have the money necessary for a down payment, but you are an otherwise excellent candidate?  There are some other options out there;

• FHA loans require a 3.5% down payment, and the whole amount can come as a gift from an eligible source.

• On a conventional loan, you can get a gift from an eligible source too; however, if the gift is not for 20%, the buyer must have 5% of their own funds for closing costs.

• Brevard County has a first time homebuyer program through Brevard County’s
  First Time Home Buyer Program that will give qualified applicants money for down payment and closing costs.

Whether you are planning on getting gift funds, taking advantage of community or governmental funds, or selling your antique GI Joe collection, make sure to speak with your mortgage professional to assure that you are properly documenting the funds for the underwriter.  There are many rules and regulations surrounding gift funds and cash to close and improper use could spell disaster.  Please contact me anytime for further information.

This is probably one of the biggest concerns that my valued clients have when making loan application.  Because gambling with a client’s interest rate is never advisable, I always advise my clients to lock in their interest rate at the earliest opportunity.  In my business, I have a standardized system in place that we adhere to for all of our clientele.

When considering a lock, there are three main elements to take into consideration: 

 • Interest Rate     

 • Points   

 • Length of the lock
Locking a loan eliminates any risk of the borrower being exposed to market volatility. It provides the security of having time to complete the mortgage and real estate transactions with some sense of order. The lender must disburse funds to complete the transaction within the rate-lock period, or else the original commitment to provide a loan at a certain interest rate will expire.

When a lender permits an extended lock-in period, the borrower will usually see either a higher interest rate or more points associated with the loan. The lender does this to minimize their own exposure to market volatility; hence the borrower pays for the lender to take on this risk.

For example, a 30-day rate lock commitment may cost the consumer one-half point, while a 60-day rate lock commitment could cost 1 full point. If the borrower needed an extended lock period, but did not want to pay points, the lender could make up the difference in the interest rate. In this case, typically, a 60-day lock would have a higher interest rate than a 30-day lock.

My team’s standard procedure is to lock in a rate as quickly as possible once we have received the loan application. My team and I let our clients know that while interest rates fluctuate daily, most lenders do not want to lose any business. We know that in many cases, if there is a significant rally in the market that causes interest rates to drop .25% or more, we can ask the lender to renegotiate the rate. or understand that we will take the loan to another lender. Often the lender allows for a renegotiation of the rate to avoid losing the loan to another lender.

If we allow our clients to sit on the fence and not lock in a rate quickly, we would leave them exposed to market volatility. Then, if rates do increase, the borrower may be unable to qualify for the loan they want, which is a situation we try to avoid at all costs.
By knowing our clients’ needs and working intimately with them to make the right decisions, my team and I are proud to say that we have many clients who are raving fans.

There is much talk out there of retail lenders in Brevard County not closing loans in 30 days.  I am still closing loans in 30 days.  While there are instances where more time may be needed, a normal transaction can be completed in this time. With the First time homebuyer program coming to an end on November 30, make sure that you are working with someone who can close your loan in a reasonable amount of time.

Of course that timeline comes with some conditions, and here are the caveats: I need to have all necessary documentation including a clear fully executed copy of the contract and all addendums, and all needed buyer documentation and signed disclosures.  There may be items outside of my control ie…appraisals, inspections, audits, and the like that could affect that timeframe, but again these are outside of anyone’s control.

With many different options and choices for my valued clients and business partners, there is no reason to go anywhere else.  I have a level of service that will astound any client or business partner, and I always keep all parties informed throughout the process.  With a proven track record, and hundreds of wowed clients I am the person who you can trust with your business.

The FHA insured loan is a great loan option for many borrowers as it gives home owners a very low down payment option, allows features that conventional loans do not (a conventional loan is any loan that is not a government loan), and has historically very low interest rates.  Currently the FHA will allow a loan amount up to $291,250 for a single family residence in Brevard County, Fl.  Right now this limit is good through the calendar year 2009, however, there is talks of extending the limits into 2010.

Just to recap, here is a list of some features of the FHA loan:

Source of Down Payment Flexibility  - Your required down payment can come as a gift from many different sources, as well as approved community assistance programs.

Great Rates and Low Monthly Mortgage Insurance  - While the rates change on a regular basis, they are currently very low, and do not much differ from conventional financing.  Depending on credit score, FHA rates could actually be lower than conventional financing.

Low Down payment option – Minimum of 3.5% down payment

Seller Paid Closing costs - seller can pay up to 6% of the purchase price towards closing costs and prepaids to help you purchase the home with very little out of pocket expenses.

No penalty for lower credit scores - you are not penalized in the rate for having a lower qualifying score, however, your credit score must be over 620 as most lenders have set that as the minimum allowable score.

Rehabilitation loan option - there is even an FHA loan that will allow you to finance repair or updating into the loan.

The FHA insured loan remains a great option for so many different situations, however,it may not be right for every borrower.  This is why it is imperative to contact a mortgage professional to help you find the product that best fits your situation.  Please feel free to contact me anytime with questions.

There is much new regulation coming down the pipe for the mortgage industry with Regulation Z changes, and RESPA changes; many of my peers are beside themselves and raving mad about the changes.  In the next years many of the rules that hold professionals in the mortgage industry accountable will become stricter.  This may sound crazy, however, I invite the changes with open arms.

 

Why are Mortgage Professionals any different than other professionals?  It is my job to be as exact as possible.  Wouldn’t you be upset if an engineer or architect got “close” to building the road or building correctly?  If you got in any legal trouble you’d be hoping your attorney got better than “close” on the facts.  Certainly if you were sick and needed an operation you would be looking forward to your surgeon being well prepared and informed in the profession he chose, and was exact on his procedure.  

 

Long gone will be the days that someone can make a living in this profession without knowing what they are doing.  Also, I truly hope that those who made boat loads of cash by misleading their clients have also left the industry.  To be a professional means that you study the trade, learn the rules, and know you business just like other professionals.   The public has requested more attention to detail in the mortgage profession and I for one think that’s what they should get.

 

While I am not a fan of rules, regulation, and government intervention, I also believe that the clients should be protected.  We have gone way to long with many making a bad name for few. I think it is time for those many un-professionals to play by the same rules that the true professionals have been playing by all along.  If these rules will weed out the un-professional, and protect the clients, than I welcome them with open arms.