As I discussed last week, HUD recently released new guidelines for borrowers who have experienced an “economic event” in the last few years. These new guidelines allow qualified loan officers to help borrowers who were forced to declare bankruptcy buy a house if the borrowers meet certain guidelines, and if they experienced an economic event. […]

In a continuing effort to help people rebuild their lives after the great recession, HUD released new guidelines this week which open up the availability for borrowers to qualify for an FHA loan after a “economic event.” Under previous guidelines, to be eligible for an FHA loan, you needed to wait 3 years after a foreclosure,  short […]

When it comes time to calculate a mortgage payment, most of my clients simply ask me what the payment will be, and decide if they are ready to move forward or not. Occasionally, I have clients who want to know the interest rate, term, and loan amount I am basing my figures on so that […]

Most mortgages financed in the last 10 years include something called escrow. And all that escrow is, is a monthly payment to cover the taxes and insurance on your home. Instead of paying your insurance twice a year when the payments are due, or having to worry about a large tax bill at the end […]

Ultimately, the most important factor in getting any mortgage closed is the applicant. And by this, I don’t mean the credit worthiness, income, or anything else; I mean the willingness to collect documents, the willingness to provide information, and the openness at the beginning of the process. When I submit an application and it is […]

The Pay it Forward Promise is a program which I started in January of this year as a way to give back to the community. I made a resolution to help people more, and this has been a great way to do that. It is something I am proud to offer, and something which makes […]

Preapproval letters, also called prequalification letters, are an important part of the modern home buying process. Many of my clients who have been down the home buying path before get upset when asked for a preapproval letter by a realtor before the realtor will even take them to see houses. I have been told by […]

This is, of course, one of the first questions most of my clients ask when we first talk. Understanding how much house you can afford helps to determine what houses you should even look at. I find that first time home buyers generally underestimate how much house they can afford and veteran homeowners overestimate how […]

Credit is one of the most important factors in anyone’s ability to qualify for a mortgage. For this reason, it is important to always strive to protect your credit if at all possible. Unfortunately life happens, and it may be necessary to do something which can damage your credit. Last month, I had a customer […]

With interest rates steadily declining over the last two years, and finally hitting all time lows recently, it is no wonder so much attention is being paid to refinancing. Refinancing is, basically, just trading your existing mortgage in for a new one with a different rate and term in an effort to lower your costs. […]