New London Phil's Blog

1938 HURRICANE

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:38:14 -0500

Go to www.theday.com to read a series of articles today about the 1938 Hurricane that hit New England. My parents talked about this hurricane as the worst storm that they ever witnessed. It hit New England with no warning and wreaked tremendous havoc destroying everything in its path. The shoreline of Connecticut and Rhode Island still show the scars of that hurricane. When I read about the destruction of Ike, Katrina, Andrew and the multitude of other storms that have hit the US over the years I always think of the stories that my parents told about the 1938 Hurricane (no names back then). Check out The Day's website today.

DO YOU HAVE A LISTING THAT'S GETTING OLD?

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:15:48 -0500

Do you have a listing that has 50 year old kitchen cabinets, a bathroom from the last century, old gray area rugs, drafty windows and a roof that is on its 35th year of a 25 year warranty?

It is probably hard to sell a house like this in a short time pertiod for the best price. You may have a seller who can't do the upgrades and who just wants to sell the house.

If this sounds like a situation that you find yourself in, you may want to speak to us about the rehab/renovation program that we will be offering.

One week from now (September 29th), McCue Mortgage Company will be offering the STREAMLINE FHA 203 K program.

This is not the old standard FHA 203 K progarm with its overwheming paperwork and lots of hassles and delays. This is a viable rehab/renovation program tied into FHA. We will be able to provide up to $35,000.00 on top of the sales price for upgrades and improvements to the subject property.

The funds may be used for rehab. and renovations to the existing house. Windows, roofing, plumbing. heating, electric, appliances, kitchen cabinets, bathroom fixtures, etc. are all allowable improvements.

Your homebuyers will negotiate with the seller to buy the hosue "as is" and then will have access to the $35,000.00 for the work to be done after closing.

This progarm may be just what is needed to help you sell those "tired" listings. Check it out.

NEW LONDON POLICE ARE SPECIAL

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:41:50 -0500

The New London Police Department is special. They are the first police department in southeastern Connecticut to be approved to participate in the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (www.chfa.org) Police Homeownership Program. They become one of 20 police departments participating in this program.

A NLPD member is able to purchase a home anywhere in the city of New London and enjoy the benefit of a below market interest rate. The current rate for this program is 5.75% with 1 point for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage. The Downpayment Assistance Program for closing cost and down payment monies is able to be tied into this program allowing for 100%+ financing. A Connecticut State Police officer may also take advantage of this program.

Since New London is also a Target Area for CHFA, the traditional income limit is waived for this program. The Target Area program also allows previous or present homeowners to purchase a home with the Police Homeownership Program.

At McCue Mortgage Company we have helped over 40 New London Police officers purchase a home with one of our mortgage loans. This positive addition of New London to the Police Homeownership Program will make it easier to be the next police officer we help. Welcome NLPD !!

HOME BUYERS WERE OUT TODAY

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:17:54 -0500

Five of six Open Houses that I visited today, representing McCue Mortgage Company, were being visited by prospective home buyers. According to the media real estate is not selling. It appears that the prospective buyers hadn't read this or had not heard this on the TV or radio news.

The people out visiting the Open Houses today were younger, some with children, some without. They probably fit the profile of newly married or new parents and are looking for a home. Things are not as bad as they are being portrayed. There were thunderstorms all over southeastern Connecticut today and people were still out looking.

I GUESS THEY CAN'T BE POSITIVE

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:54:34 -0500

The headline on the front page of our paper The Day (www.theday.com) today was: HOUSING BILL: TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?

The new housing bill was only sent to the White House on Saturday for President Bush's signature but the lead article written by Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane of The Washington Post and printed in The Day discusses all the ways that the bill will not help people. It seems that a bill that includes a plan to prevent 400,000 foreclosures would be perceived as positive. Granted the housing bill may not help everyone but you do have to admit that 400,000 families saved from foreclosure is a good thing. This fact did not appear until the 16th paragraph which also was on the back page of the first section of the paper.

At McCue Mortgage Company, I am going to make every effort to spread the word amongst my clients that the new housing bill is worth looking at and let's start doing this now.

What are planning to do to help off set the negativism of the media?

HOPE, INC - ANOTHER HOME AVAILABLE

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:34:49 -0600

HOPE, Inc, a New London, CT based non-profit organization works to provide affordable housing to families in this area. Over the years HOPE, Inc. under the leadership of Marilyn Graham, has provided new or totally renovated housing to a growing number of families that meet the HOPE. Inc. criteria.

The homes are absolutely gorgeous with new appliances, new mechanicals and both the exterior and interior totally renovated or in at least one case, brand new. HOPE, Inc. works their miracles with the help of donations and tax credits. The houses sell for below market prices and do have deed restrictions limiting the resale prices. HOPE, Inc. has a home ready for purchase right now. I have not seen it yet, but based on my past experience with HOPE houses, I am sure that this one is just as nice as the others that they have sold. Contact Marilyn at (860) 447-0812 or stop by at her office located at 187 Williams Street, New London, CT for more details. She will be happy to speak with you.

We at McCue Mortgage Company have been able to help the buyers with their mortgages under the CHFA mortgage program(www.chfa.org).

HOYO - HOME OF YOUR OWN PROGRAM FROM CHFA

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:40:44 -0600

If you have clients that a disability they may be eligible from the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (www.chfa.org) Home Of Your Own program, also known as HOYO. CHFA offers below market 30 year fixed rate mortgage loans primarily for first time home buyers. Their current rate is 5.75% with 1 point. The CHFA HOYO program allows a prospective home buyer with a disability to obtain a rate of 1/8% lower than the regular CHFA rate. The Downpayment Assistance Program (DAP) also will lower their rate by 1/8% for a person with a disability. This break in the rate will lower a person's payment by $16.00 on a $200,000.00 mortgage loan.

If you have a client, friend, co-worker or relative with a disability, please keep this beneficial program in mind. We at McCue Mortgage have worked with a number of clients that have been able to take advantage of this mortgage program.

CHFA HOMEOWNERSHIP PROGRAM

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:18:12 -0600

Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (www.chfa.org) offers special benefits to tenants of public housing or subsidized housing. If a prospective homeowner currently lives in this type of apartment, they can borrow their CHFA money at a rate of 1/8% lower than the going CHFA rate (currently 5.75% with 1 point). The break of 1/8% will save a borrower $16.00 per month on Principal and Interest (P & I). In addition to this break, CHFA offers the Downpayment Assistance Program at a rate as low as 1% for the money used for down payment and closing costs. This is a great help to people making the effort to become homeowners.

In southeastern CT the HOMEOWNERSHIP Program has helped a number of people living in Norwich, Groton, New London and various other communities with subsidized or public housing. Programs such as this will help prospective home buyers take advantage of the good prices, low rates and large inventory of homes available.

This is just one of the many programs that McCue Mortgage Company has always tried to offer to help first time homebuyers. Please keep this program in mind when talking to your next client.

CT FAMLIES UPDATE

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:58:46 -0600

The CT FAMLIES mortgage program is the State of CT's effort to help subprime borrowers. One changes was made on Thursday that may open it up to more people.

The original program was limited to borrowers who had used the subprime mortgage to buy their first home. The change made on Thursday is allowing people to be considered that had owned their home and refinanced with a subprime mortgage. At least half of the people contacting our office had been precluded from CT FAMLIES because of the previous guideline.

It is anticipated that this change will help.

The rate offered for CT FAMLIES will be the going CHFA rate ( this week: 5.75% ) a thirty year fixed rate with no prepayment penalty. We at McCue Mortgage are working to make this program work for as many people as possible.

VA ENERGY EFFICIENT IMPROVEMENT LOANS

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:51:52 -0600

The Veterans Administration offers a guaranty for mortgages of up to $417,000.00 to eligible veterans with -0- money down. In addition, the VA allows the veteran to borrow money at the time of the purchase for energy efficiency improvements to the home. Up to $6,000.00 can be borrowed with documentation to show the work to be done and the potential savings on utility bills. More than $6,000.00 can be borrowed with a review of the work by the VA appraiser to determine the increase in value to the house.

The request for these funds has to be done at the time of purchase and the funds have to be included as part of the loan and also appear on the HUD-1 Settlement Statement at closing. After the closing it is too late.

No money down, market rates, energy efficiency improvements, loans for 1-4 family homes and condos - VA is hard to beat. With the Naval Submarine Base (Subase New London) located in Groton, CT, the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, along with a USCG Station in New London and USArmy facilities in Norwich, New London, East Lyme & Groton, the VA mortgage with the EEI loan on top should be a loan to consider if you are looking for a home in southeastern Connecticut.

WHAT IS BEHIND THE 14 ADVERTISEMENTS?

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 09:18:12 -0600

The local newspaper (www.THEDAY.com) included 14 legal notices advertising foreclosure sales in our area. As a mortgage banking professional I read these notices and wonder what has happened behind the scenes for each of these foreclosures.

Did these people lose their jobs? Was their a death in the family? Was their a divorce? These were the traditional reasons that people lost their property to foreclosure.

Today, I wonder if these people lost their homes because of the mortgage program that they chose. Did these people sign up for interest only, option ARM's, no doc, stated income? Did the lender try to help these people stay in their home or was the original lender no longer in business and not able to help. What went on that led to this point?

It is not easy to determine what has happened in each of these cases but it is probably not as simple as it used to be to pinpoint what has happened. These 14 advertisements reflect the state of one portion of the market in southeastern CT. I hope that we are all looking at what caused these foreclosures and will continue to try to insure that this will not happen in the future. It does not help any of us to see this happen.

AMERICAN DREAM DOWNPAYMENT INITIATIVE (ADDI) IS BACK

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:00:19 -0600

The American Dream Downpayment Initiative program is back. ADDI, as it is known, allows prospective home buyers to receive a forgivable grant of between $10,000.00 and $25,000.00 to help with the purchase of a single family home. This money may be used for down payment and/or closing costs and prepaid items. If the homebuyer stays in the home for 5 years, they do not need to pay back the grant. If they do sell before the five years, then 20% of the grant is forgiven for each year the ADDI recipients own the house. Sally Williams of an agency called ECHO (Eastern Connecticut Housing Opportunities) administers the program. Sally can be reached at (860) 447-8055 to provide more details about qualifying for the program. There are income limits based on family size. The funds may be used to purchase a hom anywhere in New London County. We at McCue Mortgage Company have been happy to help clients with their CHFA loans while Sally and ECHO help out with the ADDI monies.

It is worth checking into.

IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:41:50 -0600

The local Multiple Listing Service has provided some very interesting statistics for New London County, CT.

21 towns and cities make up New London County. According to the MLS statistics 7 of these town had a drop in median sales prices for one family homes during 2007 which means 14 towns had an increase or in the case of Montville, the median sales price stayed exactly the same. At the same time 16 towns saw a lower number of one family homes sold, while 4 had an increase in the number of units sold and in the case of North Stonington the number stayed the same.

This is not exactly backing up the media reports of "THE SKY IS FALLING". In some towns the increase was very small. Colchester only saw an increase of 0.7% while Salem saw an increase of 20.7%. Other towns saw a decrease of < than 2% (North Stonington) while the city of New London saw a decrease of 11.5%. ( New London's statistics were impacted by the sale of a number of homes that went into foreclosure due to alleged fraud that is currently being investigated by the FBI and the State of CT Atty. General).

Again, these figures do not lead you to believe that the entire market is collapsing. It appears that we may be being influenced by all of the bad news to believe that the entire county is having a tough time. It does not appear to be true.

Maybe the glass is fuller than we think. We better keep checking this glass.

MORTGAGE RESCUE UPDATE

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:19:19 -0600

On December 22, 2007 I wrote a post about the Connecticut mortgage program called CT FAMLIES (yes, the spelling is correct). The program was designed to try to help Connecticut residents who had ended up with subprime mortgages that were now becoming unaffordable. Three lenders, McCue Mortgage, Webster Bank and New Alliance Bank are working with this program. It has not done what was hoped for so far. Over 600 borrowers have been in touch with the 3 lenders. Thus far, only one borrower has fit all of the parameters and has been helped. An effort is being made by the lenders and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (www.chfa.org) to loosen up some of the guidelines to make it easier for people to qualify for. As of today, it remains to be seen if the changes will be made. I will keep you up to date as I hear more information.

URBAN REHABILITATION NOW BELOW 5%

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:13:58 -0600

Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (www.chfa.org) and McCue Mortgage Company offers a mortgage program called Urban Rehabilitation. The UR programs makes a grant of up to $20,000.00 for renovations/improvements to a one family home and up to $25,000.00 for 2-4 family homes.

I have written about this program in previous posts so I will not repeat all of the details in this post. What I do want to make everyone aware of is that the rate on this program for the purchase money is now down to 4.875% with 1.5 points. The 4.875% rate is the first mortgage rate. If the buyer of the home needs help with downpaymen and closing cost money the Downpayment Assistance Program ties in with the CHFA loan at a rate of 3%. Along with the grant for Urban Rehabilition, it is hard to beat this combination of mortgage programs.

If you are interested in buying in New London, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Hartford, New Haven and parts of Willimantic and you work in the city that you are buying in then CHFA Urban Rehab. may be for you.

Enjoy below 5% 30 year fixed rate mortgage financing. Hard to beat.

CHFA HELPS OUT VETERANS - PART TWO

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:50:53 -0600

In early December I wrote about changes to the CHFA (Connecticut Housing Finance Authority - www.chfa.org ) Military Homeownership Program. At that time, the CHFA rate was 5.875% with 1 point and the Military Program was offered at 5.75% with 1 point.

As of this past Thursday, CHFA lowered their rate to 5.125% with 1 point which means the Military Homeownership Program is now at 5% with 1 point. This .75 drop in rate brings the mortgage payment for a $200,000.00 loan from $1,167.50 down to $1,073.50 for principal and interest. Over 30 years this will save the veteran $33,840.00 assuming that the veteran stayed in the house for the entire 30 years and never paid anything extra on the principal.

We have to get this word out to the veterans. Please mention this to any veterans, active duty, discharged or retired. With the changes discussed in my previous post on this subject all of the veterans are eligible for this program. McCue Mortgage and the other CHFA lenders in Connecticut can help our veterans with the new and improved CHFA Military Homeownership Program.

OFF AND RUNNING

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:26:22 -0600

So far so good.

According to the media the real estate world is in trouble. This may be so in some cases but not for the first time home buyers. From Wednesday January 2nd up to today, the phones are ringing at McCue Mortgage, potential clients are getting prequalified and pre-approved. Some people can't do anything right now but they are starting to work on clearing up credit issues. Other people are ready to go and have gone out in the marketplace and found the home of their dreams. Mortgage application appointments are being scheduled. There are a few refinance transactions but most appointments are with first time homebuyers. These clients realize that rates are low, prices are getting better and the inventory is available for their viewing.

This start means that 2008 has the potential for being a good year in the real estate and mortgage business. It's time to keep working and turn off the TV news and put down the paper or at least stop reading the negative articles. We can do this. We just have to keep working at it.

OPEN HOUSE VISITS

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:18:24 -0600

Sunday is a popular day for Open Houses in southeastern Connecticut. I intend to visit 8 Open Houses in Norwich, Montville, Stonington and Niantic/East Lyme. Some are being hosted by experienced long time Realtors, others by newcomers. I hope to meet them all and leave my Open House flyers designed by Active Rainer George Souto. There is business out there and I intend to make sure that we at McCue Mortgage Company be in a position to help as many homebuyers as possible.

CHFA, VA, FHA and RURAL DEVELOPMENT are all available mortgage programs with low rates and low or no downpayment. This is a great time to be a homebuyer.

Open Houses don't always attract a lot of people but I have found over the years that they have been a good source of business for me.

I hope to see you out there.

OFF TO A GOOD START

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 14:18:00 -0600

January 2008 seems to be off to a good start. Although we only worked W-TH-F, we had a large number of phone calls, e-mails and faxes come in to the office.

A number of new clients called inquiring about what needed to be done to start the home buying process. A number of pre-approved buyers or their Realtors called seeking out letters to go along with offers being made.

The best calls were from clients calling to set up appointments to complete their application paperwork.

Almost everyone is a first time home buyer. That appears to be where the market will be this year in southeastern CT.

CHFA rates came down to 5.375% with 1 point this week. In light of the fact that CHFA was quoted at 6% with 1 point about 6 weeks ago, it is much more attractive to prospective homebuyers now. Also CHFA's change to the Military Homeownership Program, opening it up to all veterans, not just active duty, has generated interest from home seeking veterans.

Let's have a great 2008. McCue Mortgage intends to do so. Come along with us.

THE SKUNK SAGA - PART 4

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 14:06:35 -0600

The third skunk was trapped this morning and has now joined the other two wherever they are now. I am not going to ask.

The pipes are no longer frozen, the building does not smell and the hole is filled in. Hopefully next week is back to writing mortgages and not fighting skunks.

This should be the last skunk post.

(Don't count on it.)

THE SKUNK SAGA CONTINUES - PART 3

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:43:01 -0600

It's not over yet.

The skunk trapper is coming back tomorrow to catch our latest skunk friend/enemy.

Meanwhile the area that he has dug out for himself is right next to the drain pipe and trap for the sewer drain pipe form our building. Guess what? When the temperature drops to 10 degrees in New London and the cold and wind get under the building, the trap sewer line trap freezes. This meant that when we flushed a toilet today, it backed up and came flooding down from upstairs to the first floor where our McCue Mortgage Company office is located.

We have the skunk below us and the water coming down from above.

......and you thought the mortgage business could be a challenge?

The saga continues and in between all of this we are pre-approving clients, writing up mortgage applications and closing loans.

As I said at the beginning - it is not over yet.

2007 - A REAL STINKER (SKUNK - NOT MORTGAGES) (cont.)

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:36:26 -0600

Heeeeee's back.

If you read my previous post about the never ending battle with the skunks, here's my update.

I came into work this morning at McCue Mortgage Company and the entire building had the aroma of skunk in it.

Sure enough, I went outside to check on the concrete, wire and stake barrier and the skunk had dug down below the stakes and concrete and still got in. It looked like he had a back hoe doing the work.

I assume that he was so mad that once he got back in he sprayed the bottom building just to make sure that we knew he was there.

The battle continues. Stay tuned.

2007 - A REAL STINKER

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:50:05 -0600

I bet most of my AR members think I am talking about the real estate and mortgage business. NOT !!!

We have become home to a family of skunks. The office building in which I have my McCue Mortgage Company office is in the heart of downtown New London, Connecticut. It is a fairly typical commercial building but with a little more grass and shrubbery than normal for downtown New London.

About a month ago we noticed that something was digging under the building. I filled in the hole and checked it each day. Everything was OK until it happened again. I filled in the hole again. Of course the hole was dug out again.

One morning, as I approached the building I saw a dead skunk in the middle of the road. (Wasn't there a song about that?) I figured our problem was taken care of. I filled in the hole and sure enough it was dug out again.

I called a local trapper who came by and set a trap. Sure enough he caught a skunk.

I filled in the hole and for a few days nothing happened. Then the hole was dug out again. Called the trapper again and caught another skunk. I figured this had to be all of them. No way. The hole appeared again.

Yesterday, I filled in the hole again, drove in flashing and stakes all around the hole and covered it with a light coating of concrete. Today I checked and the hole was dug again. Talk about persistent. The light coating of concrete probably had probably not even set yet.

This afternoon I went back with an 80 pound bag of concrete, mixed up a huge batch of concrete and also added some steel mesh screening. The hole is filled and the concrete all around the edge of the building where the hole was is 4-6" thick.

Here's hoping this will be the end of the story. Stay tuned. Luckily we haven't been sprayed.(yet)

CAN'T WAIT TO START ON #29

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:20:59 -0600

28 years ago on January 3rd, 1980, I started working in the mortgage banking business with McCue Mortgage Company in southeastern Connecticut.

Rates were 12-13 % for VA & FHA mortgage loans. The average sales price was approximately $40,000.00 for a one family home and the average mortgage was about $38,000.00. There were no ARM's, no option ARM's, no hybrid ARM's just good old standard 30 year fixed rate mortgages. The concept of a subprime mortgage did not exist.

VA required that the veteran be qualified using disposable income - a certain amount left over based on family size, to put food on the table and gas in the car. FHA used qualifying guidelines of 28% for PITI and 36% for PITI and debts, if I remember correctly. Credit scoring did not exist. We had FIDO the dog but no FICO the credit score.

CHFA (Connecticut Housing Finance Authority) would release funds periodically and each CHFA lender would receive a certain amount of money to lend until it ran out.

The time frame from application to approval was usually almost 2 full months and then the closing would be scheduled about 2-3 weeks later.

Keep in mind that we did not have fax machines, PC's, laptops, scanners, cell phones, e-mail, IM or copiers that did more than one copy at a time. No uploads, downloads or iPods. ( and no Active Rain )

McCue Mortgage Company and Lomas & Nettleton Mortgage Company were the only two mortgage banking firms in CT at the time. All other mortgages were obtained at local savings banks, savings and loans or commercial banks.

We didn't even have a microwave in the office to heat up lunch !!!

As I look forward to 2008, with all of the handwringing that is going on in the real estate and mortgage industries, to me it looks like we will just be getting back to the basics that I learned so long ago in 1980.

Have a great year. I can't wait to start on my 29th year.

CALLING ALL VETERANS

PHILIP TURNER-MORTGAGE BANKER SINCE 1980 (MCCUE MORTGAGE COMPANY) — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 18:57:32 -0600

VA mortgages with their 100% financing up to $417,000.00 is an increasingly attractive way to finance a home. We have lots of active duty veterans, discharged veterans and retired veterans in southeastern Connecticut. We have National Guard facilities in Norwich, New London and Niantic/East Lyme. We also host the United States Coast Guard Academy and a US Coast Guard station in New London. The largest military facility in this area is the Subase New London located in Groton, CT just up the river from Electric Boat/General Dynamics, the maker of submarines for the United States.

With these facilities throughout southeastern Connecticut we also enjoy having lots of veterans in our midst. These veterans, in most cases, can purchase a home using their VA benefits. VA guarantees the mortgage for the veterans allowing them to borrow 100 % of the sales price of 1-4 family homes and VA approved condominiums and PUD's. VA does not come up with the monies for the loans, just the guaranty.

The VA Funding Fee is charged to the veteran and can be built into the mortgage. The financing of the VA Funding Fee will add $53.00 to the mortgage payment on a $417,000.00 loan. The cost of Private Mortgage Insurance would be $271.05 per month on a conventional loan if a borrower had put 5% down and was borrowing $417,000.00. That's a tremendous difference.

A sales price of $439,000.00 on a conventional loan would require 5% down ($22,000.00) and then the payment would have the PMI cost of $271.05 per month.

The veteran could buy a $417,000.00 property with no money down and only pay $53.00 per month to cover the financing of the VA Funding Fee.

There has always been a concern about government backed mortgages having stricter appraisal guidelines than conventional mortgages. My own experience is that VA may be a little stricter, but not much stricter. Most conventional mortgages allow for an "as is" appraisal. VA still looks for the appraiser to comment on health and safety issues, but my experience at McCue Mortgage Company has shown that most veterans have a home inspection completed on the proposed property. This will pick up on issues to be addressed much more so than the VA appraiser.

As we head into 2008, returning to traditional mortgage programs, please consider the benefits of mentioning VA to prospective clients. You will be surprised at how many people are veterans. Don't forget this program and the opportunity that it presents for the veteran and family.