Jumbo Loans

Union Bank of California, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase are all starting to come back to the table with better jumbo loan products, package discounts on first and 2nd mortgages, and are starting to explore more competitive pricing for loans between the $1 million and $1.5 million dollar mark.

Although this won’t cure all the problems in the Southern California Real-estate market; it is definitely a step in the right direction.

With 10 banks currently authorized to refund TARP money to the government, several banks increasing their liquidity to acceptable amounts, and the banking system doing a better job of underwriting and self regulating… it looks like the programs put in place at the end of 2008 by Bush and furthered early this year by Obama may have dones just enough to save the banks.

I’m personally still very worried about the overall economy, current and future plans to expand government spending, and our low national savings rate… however, for now the bank looks to be OK.

As always, if you need information on starting a new loan for the purchase or refinance of your home, contact me at  TrustYourLender@gmail.com

Housing Affordability Hits Record High Level

There is a lot of doom and gloom in the media regarding home prices and people losing their homes.

The silver lining is that the declining market, in conjunction with low interest rates, have created the highest “Housing Affordability Rates” in 18 years. Continue reading »

Pre-approval Documentation

In order to start the pre-approval process, your lender will need several documents.

Attached is a list of documents which will be a good jumping off point.  From these documents, several additional questions and request for documents will arise.  For example, if your tax returns have a schedule ‘E’ showing rental property; lenders may require updated lease agreements, tax bills, and insurance bills for these properties.

Below is a basic list of needed documentation: Continue reading »

Seasoning of Down Payment Funds

I get a lot of questions about the seasoning of down payment funds for the purchase of a home.

Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is that personal funds that aren’t a gift must be in your account / possession for 60 days.

However, due to underwriters wanting to “source” large deposits; I reccomend you revise the 60 day requirement to even longer.  Here is why. Continue reading »

No money down FHA loans… Not so fast

Many agents have been asking me about a recently announced FHA program that would have allowed the First Time Home-Buyers credit of $8,000 to act as a source of  down payment funds.

With FHA loans allowing clients to get into properties with as little as 3.50% down, and get up to 6.00% in closing cost credits from the seller, this could have created a scenario where buyers could get into a $250,000 property for free.

The attached story explains why this isn’t going to happen. Continue reading »