This week has been NUTS..... yes rates are the lowest they have been EVER.... but people lock a loan and then the rates drop then they want that lower rate.... do they not understand what rate lock means?  Bad thing is if you dont try to get them the lower rate they will leave and go somewhere else... where has the loyalty gone?  We cant help that the market is SO volitile that they can range a .5 - 1% in a matter of days if not hours.... yet people remember the last commercial they see.... What people dont understand is when we lock a loan we have a commitment from that investor that your guarenteed that rate for say 30 days.....no more no less....but people seem to only care if its benefiting them.... what about the investor if the rates go up?  Should they come back to you and say..." hey you locked in at 5.00 but the rates are now 6 so you will have to pay this higher rate now."  How much you think that dog will hunt? People still take for granted credit and lent money..... i have a customer that was locked at 5.25 last week.... well when they rates got to 4.5 he is freakin out.... but ALL year i told him and everyone else... when the FEDs have cut rates the 30 yr rates go up..... except for this time... and only reason they didnt is because the goverment and pimpco bought up a bunch of mortgage backed securities....same thing that happened in jan....its a phase...I try to get my clients the best rate and advise them what to do but the way this market is you cant tell what to do..... if you look at the bonds trading all year it looks like a heart monitor... up down up down.....people need to get with something they are compforable with and stick with it because you can NEVER truely get the best rate.....This is why i am thinking about charging a committment fee up front of say 500.00... this money will be gave back at closing but if they jump ship then i use it to pay the appraiser, credit report, and title company along with my time.  Maybe having some skin in the game they will stay with you and close the loan... we will do everything we can to get the rate reduced but sometimes it cant happen.....give me your thoughts 

As many of you may know the news and lobbiests are talking about the government may make rates go down to 4.5%.  First of all what has dropping the FED funds rate down to 1% did to help?  Prime is at 4% now and the market is still struggling.  The main problem is that lending issues..... people that used to could get a loan cant now.... truth is some of those that cant buy now never should have been able to buy.... but one thing i think they need is more 100% loan options.... even people with good credit have to put down 5% on most loans now, and even 3% on FHA.  Another problem I have been having in some areas is appraisal issues.... lower rates wont help that.  The credit market drying up is what is causing alot of this...investors dont want all these risky loans anymore due to fall out.  I do think that rates being down in the low 5's will help start a refi boom, but how does this help people in trouble? It dont!  Most people that need the lower rates wont be able to get them because they have had lates on their mortgages now and wont qualify.....The talk about the 4.5% money is a mortgage coupon that will be used for purchases mainly... not refi's.  So all these people that have been wanting to wait on rates to get to 4.5% are playing Russian Roulette because in this volitile market you can get too greedy and miss out on the lowest rates in a long time!  Tell me your thoughts...

I put my links up on 2 of my websites and i have yet to recieve any points for them... anyone know what may be the problem with them?

Just to show you the power of follow up... i had a client i was referred abotu 6 weeks ago that is supposed to close next week on a 1.9 million dollar purchase....He had decided to go with his bank because they promised him a certain deal he wanted to stick with who he had used to before... which is fine.... well they over promised and under delivered.... they told him they could do a loan for him putting 15% down at most 20% down... well they came back 3 days before closing telling him now he has to put down 35%... thats ALOT on 1.9 million....I had been following up with him about once a week just checking to see if all was good then he calls me this week saying he may need my help... then friday he told me its yours make it happen!.... so if i hadnt followed up with him i may not have had a shot at this.....so the moral is in this market... FOLLOW UP even if they say they are going somewhere else because alot of banks and lenders are doing this to people then most people never allow pride to not call you back... also the time to close had been messed up by the other lender.....

Just to who you the power of follow up... i had a client i was referred abotu 6 weeks ago that is supposed to close next week on a 1.9 million dollar purchase....He had decided to go with his bank because they promised him a certain deal he wanted to stick with who he had used to before... which is fine.... well they over promised and under delivered.... they told him they could do a loan for him putting 15% down at most 20% down... well they came back 3 days before closing telling him now he has to put down 35%... thats ALOT on 1.9 million....I had been following up with him about once a week just checking to see if all was good then he calls me this week saying he may need my help... then friday he told me its yours make it happen!.... so if i hadnt followed up with him i may not have had a shot at this.....so the moral is in this market... FOLLOW UP even if they say they are going somewhere else because alot of banks and lenders are doing this to people then most people never allow pride to not call you back... also the time to close had been messed up by the other lender.....

Just to who you the power of follow up... i had a client i was referred abotu 6 weeks ago that is supposed to close next week on a 1.9 million dollar purchase....He had decided to go with his bank because they promised him a certain deal he wanted to stick with who he had used to before... which is fine.... well they over promised and under delivered.... they told him they could do a loan for him putting 15% down at most 20% down... well they came back 3 days before closing telling him now he has to put down 35%... thats ALOT on 1.9 million....I had been following up with him about once a week just checking to see if all was good then he calls me this week saying he may need my help... then friday he told me its yours make it happen!.... so if i hadnt followed up with him i may not have had a shot at this.....so the moral is in this market... FOLLOW UP even if they say they are going somewhere else because alot of banks and lenders are doing this to people then most people never allow pride to not call you back... also the time to close had been messed up by the other lender.....

Just to show you how follow up pays of in our business i will tell you about an experience i have recently had.... I had a client i was referred about 6 weeks ago.  He had decided to go with his bank he already had talked to about his loan before me.  Well i continued to follow up with him and low and behold the bank over promised and are under delivering....They promised him a certain rate and a certain loan to value and now they have increased his rate 4 days before closing along with his down payment.... he was told he can put 15% down and now he has to put 35% down....this is a 1.9 million dollar loan....so now he has decided to come back with me and let me do his loan for him... moral is always follow up even if they decided to go elsewhere because in this market alot are promising the world just to get the business in the door and  then they change it on you.....

Today i was listening to my Breakfast with Todd (Todd Duncan) and his topic today was about courage.  He talked about hard markets like this will define ones soul.  You will have to dig deep in your soul and find the courage to fight to stay in the game and find out who you are.  When times are tough like this can help define the person you are.....Be couragous and keep your focus ...this market has broke alot of people and i REFUSE to be broken!

Well the big reason for inflation the past year or more has been due to cost of gas to ship and make. Now that oil has come down $100 a barrell the past 2 months or so i havent seen any reduction in goods..... whats wrong with this picture? I think this is just another myth for people to make more money

I want to ask all the realtors out there what they look for in a good loan officer.  I would think good communication, closing on time, and getting the customer a good deal are the main things, but I want to clarify this with realtors across the country and make sure there isnt a way i can better my services.  Please give me your feedback so i can tweek things if i need to....