June 1st, 2010
Welcome back from Memorial Day Weekend! Today is June 1st, 2010 and there’s an important change in the lending world that could affect your close of escrow if your clients are not educated upfront with this information.
Effective today, your client’s credit report will be REPULLED on the Day of Funding! This means if your client incurs any NEW Credit between the time they were preapproved and the time their loan gets funded and their credit report reveals a new inquiry or trade line, underwriters will be required to call the new trade line and get proof that no new credit was extended. If new credit was extended, they will add the new debt into the debt to income ratios and the application would need to be re-underwritten. This could potentially ruin your deal and the loan will not close or fund! This is VERY important to stress to your clients and advise them not to have ANY New Inquiries and not to incur ANY new credit until their loan has funded and you have closed your escrow!
If you have any questions regarding this new law, please give us a call so we can help explain in further detail.
May 27th, 2010
REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month.
REMINDER …. all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.
…YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone 888-382-1222
It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for (5) years.
You must call from the cell phone you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.
HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON. It takes about 20 seconds.
April 7th, 2010
Hi
We have a Solution for Non-Borrowing Spouses with Bad Credit!
Scenario: You have a married couple and one of the spouses qualifies for a home purchase with their income and credit, but the Non-Borrowing spouse has bad credit and debt which is causing your clients to miss out on a home purchase.
The Real Estate Agent ONLY TEAM is always looking for solutions to today’s lending problems and we’ve uncovered a program that can help you qualify buyers who are running into this problem.
If this sounds like a scenario you are running into with your current clients or previous clients give us a call so we can explain the program which can help you close more escrows and help your current and former clients purchase a new home.
Real Estate Agent ONLY TEAM – Experience the Difference!
www.realestateagentonly.com
Michael Ciglar Eilo Baboneh
Office: 925-701-3192 Office: 925-701-3191
Cell 925-998-5478 Cell 510-701-4000
Fax: 866-804-4095 Fax: 866-741-0662
mciglar@mmcdcorp.com ebaboneh@mmcdcorp.com
4301 Hacienda Drive, Suite 100 4301 Hacienda Drive, Suite 100
Pleasanton, CA 94588 Pleasanton, CA 94588
February 18th, 2010
Now that 2010 has begun and we are half way through February there are a few things you need to begin speaking with your potential buyers about to help encourage them to get into contract and purchase before April 30th, 2010. Here are some bullet points you should bring to your clients attention immediately to help get your buyers off the fence.
- FHA is raising their Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium from 1.75% to 2.25% starting on applications taken after 04/05/2010. This means it will be more costly to your FHA clients. Along with this increase, FHA is planning to increase the monthly mortgage insurance as well. This means your FHA clients will have a higher mortgage insurance payment each month.
- After 04/15/2010 (TAX DUE DAY) Lenders will begin to request tax returns for 2009! This is a very important item to cover with your buyers! The reason this is so important is because currently we can use 2007 and 2008 tax returns for qualifying. If your clients had a slow 2009 (which is the case for a LOT of people) underwriters will have the option of declining a loan for “declining income”. They compare your clients 2007,2008, and 2009 tax returns and if 2007 and 2008 are higher then 2009 it will be very difficult for your clients to get a loan approved because of this “declining income” scenario.
- $8,000 Tax Credit – If you client is NOT in contract by April 30th, 2010 and their loan does NOT fund by June 30th, 2010 they will NOT qualify for the $8,000 tax credit. These dates are set in stone and unless there’s an extension to this program your clients getting in contract on May 1st, 2010 will miss out on this opportunity.
For more information regarding current and upcoming changes in the lending environment, give us a call so we can help advise you of the changes.
Real Estate Agent ®NLYTM TEAM – Experience the Difference!
www.realestateagentonly.com
Michael Ciglar Eilo Baboneh
Office: 925-701-3192 Office: 925-701-3191
Cell 925-998-5478 Cell 510-701-4000
Fax: 866-804-4095 Fax: 866-741-0662
email: mciglar@mmcdcorp.com ebaboneh@mmcdcorp.com
February 12th, 2010
The Real Estate Agent ONLY TEAM wants to thank each and every one of our active Realtors for their continued support. We just surpassed 125 Active Bay Area Realtors and our list keeps growing each week. Your word of mouth referrals and continued support encourages us to continue to strive for the best services and products available. We are dedicated to our Realtors and will continue to expand our services to ensure you and your clients are treated with respect, honesty, and an experience they won’t forget. If you have any suggestions you think would help close more transactions, please let us know so we can implement them in our process. We are currently closing purchase transactions for all loans (including FHA) in 25 days or less.
Announcing another new and exciting Real Estate Agent ONLY TEAM’s exclusive product. We are developing a list of active and upcoming properties that we’ve complied from all of our REO, Short Sale, and listing agents and cross referencing them with our buyers agents clients. The feedback from this program has been an overwelming success. We are matching up our buyer’s agents fully pre-approved clients with listing agents to help move these properties in a faster and more efficient manner. If you currently have listings or buyers in any of the bay area cities/counties please let us know so we can add them to our database.
We understand this market has seen better times, but let’s continue to be positive and move in the right direction to make 2010 a great one for all of us! Thank you all again for your support, Eilo and I appreciate all of you.
www.RealEstateAgentOnly.com – Experience the Difference
Michael Ciglar Eilo Baboneh
925-701-3192 925-701-3191
mciglar@mmcdcorp.com ebaboneh@mmcdcorp.com
4301 Hacienda Drive, Suite 100
Pleasanton, CA 94588
February 11th, 2010
The Real Estate Agent ONLY TEAM @ Mason McDuffie Mortgage recognizes how much time a short sale can take from contract to close. So instead of waiting to underwrite a file until we receive the bank’s short sale approval, we have decided to change our internal process to serve you better.
Mason McDuffie will now underwrite short sale purchases that are 100% complete credit files, prior to receiving the pending short sale approval back from the bank/lending institution. Once the bank approval is received, we will then order the property appraisal, do a quick final review and we’re headed to docs. By making this change alone, we expect to shave approximately 2 weeks off the process to meet your COE dates on time, or before!
The Real Estate Agent ONLY TEAM @ Mason McDuffie wants to be your Short Sale Solution by staying one step ahead of the competition! Please call or email us today to find out more about our process and how we can help you close your short sales faster!
Real Estate Agent ONLY TEAM – Experience the Difference!
www.realestateagentonly.com
Michael Ciglar Eilo Baboneh
Office: 925-701-3192 Office: 925-701-3191
Cell 925-998-5478 Cell 510-701-4000
Fax: 866-804-4095 Fax: 866-741-0662
mciglar@mmcdcorp.com ebaboneh@mmcdcorp.com
4301 Hacienda Drive, Suite 100
Pleasanton, CA 94588
February 2nd, 2010
Hot off the Presses!
We can now offer FHA financing for properties with NO SEASONING! For more detailed explanation or clarification please call us or email us.
Michael Ciglar
mciglar@mmcdcorp.com
925-701-3192
Eilo Baboneh
ebaboneh@mmcdcorp.com
925-701-3191
For properties
which have been owned less than 90 for FHA financing. The loans must meet the following criteria:
- Must be an arms length transaction
- Seller must be on title and on the appraisal.
- Sellers which are LLC’s, corporations or trusts must be established and in compliance and good legal standing with all laws.
- No pattern of flipping on the subject property can exist within the last 12 months. The appraisal must show a three year chain of ownership.
- Appraiser must document that the property was marketed openly and fairly thru MLS, an auction or other valid method.
- Contract may not have been assigned to the buyer by the seller.
- If property sales price is 20% or more above the Seller’s acquisition cost the following is required:
- Appraiser must describe what improvements the Seller completed, including renovations, repairs and rehabilitation of the property to substantiate the increase in value.
- If no work was performed, the appraiser must provide appropriate explanation of the increase in value
- If the value increase more than 100% then a second appraisal is required.
- Lender must order a property inspection report and provide a copy to borrower. Cost may be charged to borrower. The inspection must include the following:
i. Structure, including foundation, floor, ceiling, walls and roof;
ii. Exterior, including siding, doors, windows, appurtenant structures such as decks and balconies, walkways and driveways;
iii. Plumbing, electrical and heating and cooling systems;
iv. All interiors; and
v. All insulation and ventilation systems, as well as fireplaces and solid-fuel burning appliances.
January 20th, 2010
In today’s market there are a lot of 1st time home buyers looking for “the perfect deal” at the “perfect time” and with the least amount of down payment. When they realize they can own instead of rent they typically begin looking at condos or town homes because the price is low enough for them to justify owning a property compared to renting. What most 1st time home buyers don’t realize is the recurring monthly costs associated with purchasing a condo or townhome with HOA dues could make it more expensive monthly then purchasing a higher priced SFR.
When looking at the cost of all three options, SFR’s are more often a better purchase for buyers. Let’s start with condo’s and townhomes with HOA dues. The HOA dues can range anywhere from $100 to $450 a month! So let’s compare a condo/town home for $200,000 with average HOA dues of $275 to a SFR for $250,000. When you own a condo/townhome with HOA dues, each month you pay your dues to the HOA association and they maintain the property based on community specs. This is good for someone who doesn’t want to do yard work or any household maintenance but it’s going to cost you $$$ every month for as long as you own the property.
In this instance the borrowers have to pay principle, interest, taxes, insurance, and HOA dues along with MMI if they put less then 20% as a down payment. This makes a condo or town home unattractive to 1st time home buyersbecause they see all the monthly fees associated with owning a property and get cold feet. The monthly payment/cost for a $200,000 loan based on 5.25% interest for a condo/townhome with HOA dues of $275 is around $1,104.41 principle and interest+ $209 taxes + $50 insurance + $275 HOA + $92 MMI* (*if applicable based on $200k loan amount) for a total of $1,730.41. You will always have to pay the $275, and in some instances the HOA dues can go up because of increased maintenance costs or other people in the community foreclose and less people are putting money into the HOA.
On the other hand you can spend an extra $50,000 and try to get a bargain on a SFR for $250,000. The monthly payment/cost for a SFR with a $250,000 loan based on 5.25% interest is - $1,380.51 principle and interest, + $260 taxes + $50 insurance, and $114.58 MMI* (*if applicable based on $250,000 loan amount) for a total monthly payment of $1,805.09.
So the moral of my post today is to look at SFR’s for that picky borrower who won’t commit because the townhome or condo lifestyle isn’t what they want. Use the leverage of the “home (SFR)” compared to condo/townhome to your advantage. Most people will pay an extra $75 more per month (or $900 more per year) to own a SFR with a white picket fence and the extra $50,000 cost won’t deter them. For most people paying $50,000 more in purchase price for a SFR compared to a condo/townhome with HOA dues is usually a winning combination.
January 19th, 2010
Tomorrow the FHA is planning on announcing an increase in the upfront mortgage insurance premium they charge. The current premium is 1.75% of the loan amount and is typically included in the final loan amount. Currently FHA’s reserves are below standard and they believe the increase will add money to their reserves. I haven’t heard if they are going to raise the MMI (Monthly Mortgage Insurance) premium from the current 0.55%. The difference in loan amount for a $200,000 loan is equivalent to $1,000. I don’t think borrowers will be too concerned with the UFMIP because of the minimal difference it will make to their final loan and I believe it’s better then if they were to raise the MMI. If they raise MMI it would increase a borrowers monthly payment which is typically what borrowers are most concerned with.
January 15th, 2010
Great news came out today regarding the FHA 90 Day flip rule! As of 02/01/2010 there will no longer be a 90 Day Flip rule for FHA! It’s only good for 1 year and can be terminated at anytime by HUD if they find out it leads to increases in defaults. It’s going to be important to move these properties quickly and it will be important to have your clients be pre-approved with a lender that can close FHA deals in a timely manner. This means investors will now accept more FHA offers and allow more buyers to qualify for properties. Attached are the flipped properties guidelines from HUD! For more information regarding this rule please give us a call. We are currently closing FHA loans in 25 days or less!
For more details visit the following link from HUD
http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-011
