Geoffrey's Blog

The Little Apple

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:44:30 -0700

Here is the home I grew up in; glad we did not have an HOA as with 5 of us kids, there were a few cars parked around here 24/7!

The Little Apple - that is what my home town is called, Manhattan, KS and last week I went back for my 25^th high school reunion. Great to see folks and reconnect - I think Facebook really helped get folks talking as we had a awesome turn out. Do you get back to yours or help plan them?

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

Honored as one of the Best Mortgage Brokers in Dallas! for D Magazine, 2011 & 2010. Ranked 24^th in 2010 in the category Largest North Texas Residential Mortgage Lenders, according to the Dallas Business Journal!

Buy American

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:44:08 -0700

Whatever happened to those American-made products? Are the shareholders and the companies looking only for the bottom line killing the country?

After an email prompted me to 'Buy USA' I went to the grocery store to look at some products I currently buy. What I found was that very few of them are made here in the United States. What would happen if Target started a campaign to only sell made in the USA products? Could they do it? Probably not with clothing any longer. Probably not with sporting goods, games or groceries, either.

So what are we doing to ourselves? What are we doing to our country? Companies move their manufacturing overseas because of the cheaper labor cost. Companies move their profits overseas so they don't have to pay taxes. Do we need to change the way we think about taxes? Do we need different laws in place for manufacturing?

Where we going and what are are we going to become?

If we don't make anything here and all we do is buy - where are the jobs? Are we just saying that we don't want those jobs anymore? We don't want manufacturing jobs? I want us to buy American. I want people working in factories here with good wages. And I guess I'm okay with paying more. How much more would it cost if the companies produced things here in the States and couldn't hide their monies overseas, would they have to raise the prices per category per product to stay profitable? How high?

What are we going to do? Who makes the change? Do we leave it up to our president, congressmen, senators, mayors, city councilman? Who makes the change? Maybe we do. Maybe we are the ones to tell Target and Kroger's and other shopping venues that we are going to buy American from now on. Maybe we should look at the items we buy more carefully and leave them on the shelf if they are not produced in this country. It could all be up to us.

Let me know what you think. Are you concerned about this?

Thanks for reading...

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

Below is a list of things that we are either involved with or want to attend:

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:13:35 -0700

Frisco Sunrise Rotary: We meet at 7:30am each Tuesday morning at Randy's Steakhouse. Our speaker will be about our Interact Club. Nikki Simon is our Rotarian of the day!

Mayors Golf Classic benefiting Frisco Family Services Center on May 23rd.

Manhattan High School Class of 1986 reunion.

Monday, May 30^th, Stonebridge Memorial Day 1K, 5K & 10K - The certified 5K and 10K courses are both fun and challenging. There will be music, prizes and awards!

St. Philip's Night at the Ballpark! Join the St. Philip's Night at the Ballpark on June 10th @ 7 PM. We have reserved fantastic seats located in the section behind home plate contact Jim Stewart

Leadership Frisco Applications: You have until 5pm - June 17th 2011 to have your application turned in - don't miss out your opportunity to be a part of Class 15!

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

Are you going Home Path?

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:06:13 -0700

It was great to hear from so many of you in response to last week's down payment assistance article and very comforting to see that many of you share my beliefs.

Recently I received an e-mail from one of my lenders about a new program called Home Path. This program is produced and backed by the government (sort of) and says it can provide up to 97% financing for qualified borrowers wanting to purchase an eligible Fannie Mae owned property. Sounds like we are right back to our old tricks.

I understand that Fannie Mae needs to move some foreclosure homes off their books but what is there a problem with the 5%, 10% and 20% down loans? Home Path offers a 3% down loan but we already have a program like that called FHA. An FHA loan is a nice product for those with some credit bumps and bruises and a limited down payment amount but it's also expensive for me to process. Since it doesn't make financial sense for me, I choose not to use it.

What the new Home Path program is an FHA program for the conventional world. Let me read you some of the guide lines from this new program:

Eligible: Client puts down just 3%; a 660 credit score or above is required; the down payment can be funded by the borrowers own savings, a gift, a grant or a loan from a non-profit organization, state or local government or employer. This loan is available for purchase transaction only. Eligible properties include primary residence, second homes and investment properties.

There is no appraisal required nor is mortgage insurance required. Specific mortgage insurance adjusters may apply, however. That means that they are not going to charge monthly mortgage insurance, but they are going to move the interest rate up a little so that every month they're getting more in interest. It's available for fixed rates, ARMs, and interest only products. Again, I have a problem with only having to put 3% down on an ARM or interest only loan.

Want to talk about how quickly one could get upside down in such a mortgage? If the market takes another downturn as it did a couple of years ago, this loan would only lead to more foreclosures.

For the investment side, it says up to 90% for an investment property, thus a 10% down payment. We have changed the guidelines to require a 20% minimum down payment on investment loans but now we are being offered a semi government-backed loan product that will allow somebody to purchase investment property with only 10% down, and no appraisal.

I have a problem with this program because it seems to be doing some of the things that got us into trouble in the first place. Repeating past mistakes will only bring the same results. I hate to sound like the grumpy old lender who likes folks to have a down payment when they buy a home, but I guess I am.

Thanks for reading.

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

Below is a list of things that we are either involved with or want to attend:

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:19:24 -0700

Frisco Sunrise Rotary: We meet at 7:30am each Tuesday morning at Randy's Steakhouse. Our speaker will be Tanya Greene with the Boys and Girls Club. Nick McCoy is our Rotarian of the day!

WildRide! Against Cancer! Save the Date! Saturday, May 21, 2011

Mayors Golf Classic benefiting Frisco Family Services Center on May 23rd.

Manhattan High School Class of 1986 reunion.

Monday, May 30^th, Stonebridge Memorial Day 1K, 5K & 10K - The certified 5K and 10K courses are both fun and challenging. There will be music, prizes and awards!

Leadership Frisco Applications: You have until 5pm - June 17th 2011 to have your application turned in - don't miss out your opportunity to be a part of Class 15!

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

Let's talk about down payments on a home purchase.

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:17:02 -0700

I believe that, for their own protection, buyers should come up with a minimum of 5% - if not 10% - down when purchasing a property. There are many different opinions on this issue and this is not the opinion of a real estate/mortgage blog called Think Big Work Small that I watch every day. They are very much in favor of a government program called 'down payment assistance'. The city of Frisco has such a program which allows a person to receive money from the city for a down payment on a home.

I do not care for these programs because that money is coming from me and I don't want to pay anyone else's down payment. I believe that people should save their money for their own down payment and then buy the home that they are prepared to pay for. Financial guru Dave Ramsey also disagrees with these programs. His opinion is that everyone should be required to invest 20% as a down payment on their home purchase; he makes no exceptions to this requirement.

I am sorry that I don't want to be the one offsetting your down payment. I want you to. I did. I believe you need your own skin in the game. Save your own money, buy the house you can afford when you're prepared to do so and let government focus on what they need to do to enable our cities and our country to continue to grow and prosper.

Nervous about the response this article will receive but felt it needed to be said...

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

The election is over!

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:15:27 -0700

The election is over! (And the signs come down) I was very happy to see both Tim Nelson and Scott Johnson win the seats they ran for in the Frisco City Council race! Both are awesome guys and thanks to those of you who used my encouragement in that direction! I stayed out of the other 2 ballot items, Mayor and Prop 1. After a few days into the campaign both sides of each race went a bit too strong for me. (But they did help the local economy with all the mailers they sent out, could that be why Frisco just got the new 75033 Zip code?)

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

Check out this t-shirt

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:08:46 -0700

Check out this t-shirt a client made for me! Folks ask me all the time, "How do you get your clients?" "Where do you buy your leads?" Happily I get to respond that I only have my logo on Frisco On-Line and most of my business is refereed to me - and let me proudly say, I have the BEST clients!!!

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

Leadership Frisco

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:02:37 -0700

As a Board member for the Frisco Chamber of Commerce program, Leadership Frisco, some days are less work and more play. Marla Roe, Executive Director of the Frisco Convention and Visitors Bureau and I prepare the pay, Leisure and Culture for the class and as you look at the photo below, you not only see Class 14, but a few local big shots: Randy Locey - Dallas Stars, Doug Quinn - FC Dallas, Nancy Lieberman - Texas Legends, Scott Sonju - Frisco RoughRiders and Ben Weber - Texas Tornado.

You have until 5pm - June 17th 2011 to have your application turned in - don't miss out your opportunity to be a part of Class 15!

Geoffrey Davis

214-529-9622

Find out why I am called The Frisco Mortgage Guy!

Lender Paid

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:01:46 -0700

One of the reasons I enjoyed attending Frisco Chamber of Commerce meetings was the opportunity to network with other mortgage professionals in and around the Frisco area. It is difficult for me to get to those anymore as they are at 7:45 on Thursday mornings and morning meetings have become more difficult since the arrival of the twins. I do still manage to attend my morning Rotary meeting which is more about service than networking.

Although I am acquainted with several company owners, branch managers and rockstar lenders who have been in the business forever, I have not had the opportunity to meet several of the newer mortgage folks in the area.

I got to thinking that I'd like to chat with these guys more, so I instituted a lunch. I sent an e-mail out to 10 of my friends in and around the industry and we set a date. Eight of us had a great meeting and everybody agreed that we should do it again. So a few months later we met again; this time there were 12 at the table, all veterans in the industry. When we discussed consumer versus lender paid, I found that almost every single one of these professionals are doing a lender paid model in order to make the same amount of money that they made before the financial reform came about. I was the only one at the table who was doing consumer paid and the only one to charge a flat $1875 per file, regardless of loan size. The others at the table represent great companies like W.R. Starkey, Viewpoint Bank, Town Square Mortgage and First United Bank....all great guys and great companies...and all charging around 1% on loan amounts of $400,000 to $700,000.

Although sometimes I get tired of all the things I have to go through as an owner, I am still grateful that, because I own my own company, I am able to offer lower rates and lower fees than most of the mortgage professionals in the area and most internet lenders. I also work the whole state of Texas, so if you have friends or family who need a good, honest, competitive mortgage broker, have them give me a call.

Below is a list of things that we are either involved with or want to attend:

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 09 May 2011 22:00:50 -0700

Frisco Sunrise Rotary: We meet at 7:30am each Tuesday morning at Randy's Steakhouse. Our speaker will be our RYLA kids. We also feature what is called Rotarian for the Day, and give that member time to tell us more about themselves; Mike Gfeller is the next Rotarian of the day!

Richardson Rotary Club 2nd Annual Clay Break Classic!

Save the Date: "Head for the Cure 5K - North Texas" May 14, 2011 - Downtown Frisco Square

WildRide! Against Cancer! Save the Date! Saturday, May 21, 2011

community leader

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:38:57 -0700

My good friend and community leader, Chris Jamison was inducted into Frisco Sunrise Rotary (center). Chris is a commercial lender but gives much of himself to Frisco; he is the Chairman of the Mayors Golf Classic benefiting Frisco Family Services Center on May 23rd.

Geoffrey Davis - the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

TopTenDallas.com is the #1 website for all things Top 10 in Dallas - and I am ranked as a Top 10 Mortgage Broker!

Below is a list of things that we are either involved with or want to attend:

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:47:36 -0700

Frisco Early Voting starts today!

Frisco Sunrise Rotary: We meet at 7:30am each Tuesday morning at Randy's Steakhouse. Our speaker will be Dennis Luellen from South Sky Dist Boy Scouts of America. We also feature what is called Rotarian for the Day, and give that member time to tell us more about themselves; Louis Garcia is the next Rotarian of the day!

In 1952 President Truman established one day a year as a "National Day of Prayer." Then in 1988 President Reagan designated the First Thursday in May of each year as the National Day of Prayer. Looking forward to May 5th!

Richardson Rotary Club 2nd Annual Clay Break Classic!

Save the Date: "Head for the Cure 5K - North Texas" May 14, 2011 - Downtown Frisco Square

WildRide! Against Cancer! Save the Date! Saturday, May 21, 2011

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

Flood insurance

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:37:40 -0700

Flood insurance - not just because of all the rain here in North Texas, but have you thought about adding a flood policy to your home insurance? With all the levees breaking and unpredictable floods, many experts are encouraging this action, as flood insurance is very inexpensive to add and might save you thousands down the road. Here are a few great folks to ask that question to:

Charlie Money with Stonebriar Insurance Group

Chad Moore with Moore Insurance Group

Bob King III with Farmers Insurance

Danny Wilson with Allstate Insurance

Brandy Miles with Kuhlman Insurance

Bob Clark with Clark Insurance

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!

Financial reform

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:34:45 -0700

The recent financial reforms have changed the way mortgage rates are presented to customers. There are now two options; one is called 'consumer paid' and one is called 'lender paid'.

Those terms talk about fees. We've spoken a lot about traditional origination fees of 1% and my flat fee of $1875. Well, the government believes that financial reform would change the way it's presented as well as the fees. The government is looking towards getting the mortgage companies away from percentage based lending.

That means that either the consumer pays me the origination or the lender pays me the origination.

Let me explain it this way: when the consumer pays the originator, it brings the interest rate to the lowest rate available. When the lender pays the originator, the lender must find money for that cost, thus the interest rate moves up (basically getting to money to pay the origination from the client).

I looked the other day at a rate sheet for the lowest PAR interest rate - on that day it was 4.75% on a 30-year fixed rate loan. As I looked at a lender paid rate sheet, the rate would be 5.25%. The interest rate went up almost 0.5% to have some of the closing costs paid by the lender. Now this is going to be interesting because, again, I like the lowest rate possible and I hate paying fees unless they're justified. From listening to the majority of the lenders on the market, most of them are going to be pricing their loans as a lender paid in order to generate the income per file that is necessary for them to keep their doors open. They have to bring in $3,000, $4,000 or $5,000 on a transaction; they have no idea how I am able to operate at $1875......but I do....and it works!

So if I'm at 4.75 and charge $1875 and the other guy's at 5.25% and has say $1,875 less in fees, over the life of the loan - any loan amount, - we're talking about big money. To me it's a no-brainer.

We've spoken before about the possibility that I am the only crazy person who charges as little as I do to organize a mortgage loan. That was proven to me the other day. (I'll go into that in a future article.) I charge $1875 as a flat fee and my average loan size is around $285,000 which is well below the 1% that's typical of our industry. As my loan amounts climb to $400,000, $500,000, $700,000 and I still maintain my $1875 fee...well, that's just unheard of in the industry. Everyone charges more for a more expensive loan. I'm a good commodity when you're buying a $400,000, $500,000, $600,000 or $ 700,000 home.

Thanks for reading-

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

Below is a list of things that we are either involved with or want to attend:

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:57:49 -0700

Richardson Rotary Club 2nd Annual Clay Break Classic!

Save the Date: "Head for the Cure 5K - North Texas" May 14, 2011 - Downtown Frisco Square

WildRide! Against Cancer! Save the Date! Saturday, May 21, 2011

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

Recently I attended a candidate forum

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:55:19 -0700

Recently I attended a candidate forum promoted by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce. It was held in Frisco Square at the new Cinemark Movie Theater. If you would like to see this forum, here is the link to it.

It was a breakfast forum, beginning at 7:30 AM, targeting business leaders who may not have time in the evenings for a candidate forum. It was very well attended; all the candidates were present and were very respectful of one another.

They all mentioned the endorsements that they have received from various groups. If you're part of, say, the Police Association, Firefighters Association, Colin County Association of Realtors, etc., do you vote for the candidate that your association endorses?

I ask this because one of my friends, Scott Johnson, is endorsed by the police, the fire, and the Colin County Association of Realtors. But, as I watched folks leaving the forum, a couple of realtors were leaving with his opponent's signs. Clearly not all members of the Association of Realtors will be voting for their association's endorsed candidate. It begs the question, should associations endorse candidates?

My real question is, if we looked back at past election results, do those candidates who are endorsed by the police and/or fire associations & Association of Realtors come through as winners in their races?

This was also my first time to listen to the school board candidates. I had not yet been privileged to hear the three women candidates speak and was impressed with their grasp of the issues and their dedication to our city. It is time to do my homework and find out more about each of them.

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

One mile circle

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:39:20 -0700

A study was done recently about encouraging folks to exercise more. Here's one of the suggestions that came from that study: using a street map of your home and/or work, put a pin in one or both of those locations. Then draw a one-mile circle and a 3 mile circle around that pin. Take note of the places within those circles that are on your 'errand' list and think about walking or biking to do those errands instead of driving your car.

When we moved to Frisco, we joined approximately 30,000 other people living here. Frisco now has about 120,000 plus people. All the experts believe that we'll build out between 280,000 and 290,000 folks here in Frisco. What I'm looking at is the roadways. Unless we begin to plan in a more aggressive way for shared use roadways, we are going to be looking like a lot of other cities that are only car-friendly. The Dallas Morning News reported recently that the city of Dallas has updated their bike plan and are going to spend millions of dollars retro-fitting roads to make them more bike-friendly, providing both on and off street biking options.

Bikes are not the enemy. Some people look at bicycles on the roadways and view them as the enemy.

Granted, there are bikers who do not use good common sense sometimes. Julie saw a person riding northbound on the toll way access road at 5:00pm. Well, that's just not smart. He's riding on one of the major thoroughfares in five o'clock traffic in the direction of the commute. There are so many other roads that run parallel to that road that are less trafficked. We don't know his story. We don't know what he was trying to do or where he was trying to go, but he was certainly not using much common sense.

The other day I saw a person that I don't think would be signing up for my regular Saturday morning bike rides. Although he did look like he was enjoying himself, he was riding on a main street against traffic at 8:00am. We need to do a better job of reminding people that a bicycle is a form of transportation and therefore shares the same responsibility as other forms..... go the same direction!

One of the major complaints about cyclists is that they are sometimes seen running red lights or not stopping at stop signs. It is one of my complaints, also. I'm the guy who will pull up to that person and remind them that what they have done is illegal and that they are making it difficult for other cyclists. Another common complaint is about the cyclist who does not wait his turn at a light, but works his way to the front of the line on the shoulder of the road. Here's the deal, buddy: If you want the same rights and treatment on the road as a vehicle, then you need to start acting like it and wait your turn. If you don't make the light that cycle, well, that's part of the deal.

Now is the time for Frisco. We have a pretty nice hike and bike comprehensive plan. I think it's time to get a little bit more aggressive. I'm interested in hiring an engineering firm out of Austin which has years of experience producing plans and economic studies for what a city could look like with a better multi use plan. If you're also interested in something like that, let me know. We might not be able to change the world. But what if we could change the Frisco roads? Or maybe add a kids program called 'Safe Routes to Schools'. There are a lot of things that we could do. Let's change Frisco.

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

Legacy ER

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:14:48 -0700

If you remember, my last column told you about my incident with the post hole pounder and my drive over to Centennial Medical to get some 10 staples. I probably should have waited and called an ambulance, but I made it!

In hindsight, I should have gone to Legacy ER. It was a toss-up direction wise, and I chose Centennial purely because it was closer to the girl's daycare. But when my good friend, Jay Woody, the owner of Legacy, removed the 10 staples that were in my head and reviewed all the paperwork from
Centennial, we found that the ER doctor at Centennial was actually a student of his. Not only did I pay more at Centennial ER, I got a less trained doc.

Thanks to my friend Brian White for staying all night (with Julie out of town on a work trip) in case the kids needed something during the night and then helped out with the morning routine. Having him there meant that I could blank out with pain meds. A good friend!

But the staples are out now and I am pain free, for the most part, a small allergic reaction but we have narrowed the source and should not be affecting me any longer! I have a picture of the staples; maybe I could raffle them and raise money for a charity?

What's funny about that accident is talking to candidates here in Frisco and learning about their past injuries. One told me that 3 years ago when he was first running for Frisco City Council he had a similar incident. Fortunately for him there was no blood, but he actually knocked himself out! He told another candidate the story of what happened and advised him to be careful, but sure enough... three or four days later that candidate whacked himself in the head, too.

All I can say is that Julie is not allowing me to use post hole pounders when I'm by myself, and to be honest, I don't think she wants me to use them anymore at all. I might just be sticking to residential signs! If you do want a sign for one of my two council candidates - Tim Nelson and Scott Johnson - let me know and I'll deliver it to you.

Thanks for the calls and concerns about my head wound. I do appreciate the support I received from so many friends - Love my Frisco Family!

p.s. With so much talk of my accident, I am going to make a reenactment video and get out on the net soon and will share that link with you.

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

A post pounder weighs 25lbs

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:52:58 -0700

A post pounder weighs 25lbs and when one hits you on the head, you get 10 staples!

The above photo is what I was using to pound in a few 6ft stakes, as I was placing Frisco City Council election signs for my good friend Tim Nelson. Well, the ground was hard and I decided to hit the post harder, unfortunately for me, I caught the top of the post and the pounder pounded me instead of the post (I would show you the photo from the emergency room but my brother cautioned me that is was gross and not to share it, sound advice!). Healing well and am off the prescription pain meds but Doc Checo says to take it as easy as possible. The hope is to be cleared soon, starting to get a bit of cabin fever.

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

25% is the new 20%

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:36:13 -0700

Most of you know that purchasing a home requires a down payment. In the old days, a down payment could be zero. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) still has a program that allows a down payment of as little as 3%...and you can even borrow that from friends or family... basically making it a true zero down for you! There has been talk that the government is going to wake up at some point and say, 'Wow. This program has a few more defaults than we thought it would. Maybe we should ask for a few more percentages in the down payment." The rumor is that the FHA will change to a 5% down in the near future. Although I do not do FHA loans, I do try and stay current with their latest thinking.

The majority of my clients recognize that the best way to bring their interest rate down is to increase the size of their down payment, say to 20%. If that is not possible, there is a combo loan which enables you to pick up a 5%, 10% or even a 15% second loan. Doing it that way avoids paying the lender the fee for mortgage insurance. Mortgage insurance has nothing to do with the loan. It allows the lender to build a reserve fund to protect them should the home go to foreclosure. That reserve of cash would allow the lender to sell the home at a reduced price without losing too much money.

When you do an 80-15 or an 80-10 you show the lender that you have 20% down, even though you are getting the small second. You are still committing to a minimum of 5% down. My advice is always that you should bring at least 10% down. Typically, you are going to pay a realtor 6% to sell your house, and you want to add in 1% or even 2% for state fees, title fees, insurance, etc. If you had to sell your house in a soft market and you only put 5% or 3% into it, you now are going to have to come out of pocket to sell your home. If you bring 10% down and
the market softens or stays the same you might be able to walk away with a small profit.

Let's get back to 20% down. In the old days (six months ago!) 20% was the best way to secure the very best interest rate providing you have good credit, a job with income, etc. Well that has changed, 25% is the new 20%. It didn't change by much, but when we talk about what is called yield spread, you are being penalized .25% in yield if you do not bring a full 25% down on your purchase or refinance.

So, why did it change? Why are the lenders now charging you with an interest rate bump if you don't bring 25% down?

My guess is because they can. There is a great deal of legislation currently in the works. One went into effect last Friday, the financial reform. It changes many things including how mortgage brokers and bankers are paid, how loans are priced, how the SRP or the YSP (an amount of money the lenders pay to the loan officers on the back) is handled. Instead of loan officers charging 1%, they want them to charge a flat fee for loans. This is no big deal for me because I've been a flat fee broker for the last two years and I give back the yield spread that the lenders offer me back to the client. The new financial reform had no impact for me. Friday was just another day.

The problem is that it's going to make consumers pay a little more down the line. And I believe that is why the lenders changed with 25% down for their comfort level. Everyone's trying to have you invest a little bit more into the loan so that they can feel more comfortable in case of a walk away.

Thanks for reading.

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

Below is a list of things that we are either involved with or want to attend:

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:57:54 -0700

Frisco Sunrise Rotary: We meet at 7:30am each Tuesday morning at Randy's Steakhouse. Our speaker is Jill Cumnock. Jill is the Executive Director of the Ronald McDonald House in Dallas. Come and find out the wonderful things that her organization does for families of children whose world is in a state of turmoil.

Save the Date: "Head for the Cure 5K - North Texas" May 14, 2011 - Downtown Frisco Square

WildRide! Against Cancer! Save the Date! Saturday, May 21, 2011

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

I have done my best

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:53:41 -0700

I have done my best with articles explaining how the financial crisis happened but below is a version I thought very information and too good not to share with you, enjoy:

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later.

Heidi keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers' loans). Word gets around about Heidi's "drink now, pay later" marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit.

By providing her customers freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Heidi's gross sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit. He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral! At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert traders figure a way to make huge commissions, and transform these customer loans into DRINK BONDS.

These "securities" then are bundled and traded on international securities markets. Naive investors don't really understand that the securities being sold to them as "AAA Secured Bonds" really are debts of unemployed alcoholics. Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb!!!, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation's leading brokerage houses.

One day, even though the bond prices still are climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar. He so informs Heidi. Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and Heidi's 11 employees lose their jobs.

Overnight, DRINK BOND prices drop by 90%.

The collapsed bond asset value destroys the bank's liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community. The suppliers of Heidi's bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms' pension funds in the BOND securities. They find they are now faced with having to write off her bad debt and with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds.

Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers..

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multibillion dollar no-strings attached cash infusion from the government. The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, nondrinkers who have never been in Heidi's bar.

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

Below is a list of things that we are either involved with or want to attend:

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:09:04 -0700

Frisco Sunrise Rotary: We meet at 7:30am each Tuesday morning at Randy's Steakhouse. Our speaker is Dr.Toni Jenkins the Director of Collin College

March 21^st, 5:00-6:30pm Meet candidate for Frisco City Council, Tim Nelson at Mattito's in Frisco Square.

March 21^st, 7-9pm Join Mayor Maso and the Frisco City Council at the Frisco Town Hall meeting.

Save the Date: "Head for the Cure 5K - North Texas" May 14, 2011 - Downtown Frisco Square

WildRide! Against Cancer! Save the Date! Saturday, May 21, 2011

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!

Tax Time!

Geoffrey Davis (BANK of the OZARKS) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:00:30 -0700

In response to a new government regulation the mortgage industry has adopted a new Good Faith Estimate and updated the HUD-1 settlement statement you receive at closing, whether it's a real estate purchase, a refinance or cash out. The problem: no one communicated between the government and the IRS.

When you prepare your taxes there is a line item that asks if you did a refinance or purchase transaction and whether or not you paid you paid points, origination or other fees that are a potential write-off. Well, the form has changed to combine many fees (lender fees, origination, processing, etc.) and call them 'origination'. The intent of the government was to make the process more transparent and enable the home buyer to compare fees from one lender to another. In my opinion it does not accomplish what it set out to and has only made it more difficult for the home buyer.

But long and short, when you do your taxes this year you will be asked that question and you will have to look at line 803 of your HUD-1 which will probably be in the range of $2,500 to $4,400. Most of the time origination is a lot lower, especially if you're using me, the Frisco Mortgage Guy, at $1,875.

I've discussed this with several CPAs and there is no consensus on how they are going to handle the issue on this year's taxes. If the IRS template is used and you write the whole number on line 803, my question is: what happens if they later change that and come back and adjust it? Are you going to have to amend your returns? Or, if you send in your return using the lower number (just the true origination), are you really just cheating yourself? Perhaps the definition is the whole number. No one really knows. If you know, please share it with me.

Thanks for reading.

Geoffrey Davis

FriscoMortgageGuy.com

214-975-1266- fax

214-529-9622- cell

Geoffrey is the "Frisco Mortgage Guy"!

P.S. I use DropBox as a more secure way to move papers back and forth - FREE! If you sign up from this link - we BOTH get an extra amount of storage space, still FREE!!!