sunstreet mortgage: After the storm, the rainbow comes - 10/08/09 08:53 AM
One of the best things I like about living in Tucson is the dramatic storms we get. From my patio I can watch the storm clouds building and moving up through the valley. Many times there is a lot of lightening dancing through the sky and ferocious winds. Usually, there will be torrential rain for a while and you may not be able to see more than a few feet in front of you - but then, after the storm, the rainbow comes.
The last two years in our business has been quite like a desert storm. All the guideline changes came with … (10 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: Once upon a time, in the land that banks forgot. . . . . . - 09/26/09 04:27 PM
Once upon a time, in the land that banks forgot. . . . . .getting approved for a mortgage loan was quite a different and more human process.
Your loan application was completed by hand and every box was filled out Your employment was documented with a written Verification of Employment - no pay stubs and W-2's. . . uh! uh! Your bank accounts were documented with a written Verification of Deposit. . . no bank statements. . .uh! uh! Your credit report took 3 weeks and then you had to write a letter of explanation for every little ding no … (87 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: Is IT Point Worthy? - 09/19/09 05:05 PM
Is IT Point Worthy? I've been thinking about that little phrase quite a bit and it dawned on me how many parts of my day revolve around points of one type or another.
In my business, I very often get a phone call that starts out with
Loan Client - "Hi! I need a mortgage. My credit score is excellent. I have 20% for a down payment and I make a great salary. I want the lowest interest rate available."
Me - "Okay. I can get you a rate of 4.25%!"
Loan Client - "Wow! I LIKE that rate."
Me - "It … (49 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: The Coolest House I Ever Lived In . . . . Memories of a Coast Guard brat - 09/17/09 07:10 PM
I grew up as a "Coast Guard brat". My dad served for 20 years and we moved around a lot (to say the least). I went to 15 different schools before I graduated from high school. We lived all the way from Maine to Hawaii and lots of places in between.
But the coolest house I ever lived in was Grand Traverse Lighthouse in Michigan. Yep! I actually lived in a lighthouse.
Grand Traverse Lighthouse is located in the northern most tip of the Leelanau Peninsula about 8 miles from Northport, Michigan. It was built through an order signed by President Millard Fillmore … (15 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: I woke up in love this morning! - 09/13/09 11:10 AM
I woke up in love this morning! IN LOVE with the beautiful desert! We are finally well into our rainy "monsoon" season in Tucson. During a good year we get 11 inches of rain - all year! Most of that rain will come during the summer "monsoons". For some reason this year, we have not seen hardly any rain at my house. We can see the storms building up around the mountains and coming up thru the valley but they never quite seem to make it to our house. BUT this last week we got several days with a couple of … (15 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: Short Sales - they can't cut your commissions IF. . . . . - 09/11/09 02:47 PM
Short sales - they can't cut your commission IF. . . . .the loan is owned by Fannie Mae! Fannie Mae issued a memo last FEBRUARY that said the servicing lender cannot require the realtors to cut their commission below what was negotiated between the seller and the listing agent unless it was over 6%.
Click on this link to read the notice from Fannie Mae. The part about commissions is near the middle.
https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2009/0903.pdf
To find out if the property you are working with has a loan owned by Fannie Mae go to
www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup
Working with short sales is frustrating enough and … (6 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: Castaway Kids needs help from Hurricane Jimena - 09/09/09 07:03 PM
Castaway Kids needs help from Hurricane Jimena. Castaway Kids is a non-profit organization made up of people from the United States, Mexico and Canada. These are people who have winter homes in San Carlos, Mexico. What I love about this organization is 100% of all donations goes directly to the children in and around Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. No funds are used for administration. EVERYONE who works with this group is an unpaid volunteer.
Hurricane Jimena created a lot of devastion a few days ago in the area of Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. People were taken by a little bit of surprise because the weather … (3 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: What will you be doing on 09/09/09 at 09:09? - 09/09/09 12:38 AM
As a loan originator with a strong underwriting backround, I am pretty much a numbers kind of person. I like numbers and I like making them work. And many times, they are just plain fun. So here's some fun for Wednesday. What will you be doing on 09/09/09 at 09:09?
At 09:09 a.m. I will most likely be working on some numbers for a loan that needs to get done.
At 09:09 p.m. I will most likely be in my jammies watching a little bit of television getting ready to call it a day. And I might just stop to think … (19 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: Monitor your credit three times per year - identity theft - 09/03/09 12:12 PM
You need to monitor your credit three times per year to check for the possibility of identity theft. I'm sure you know that, by law ,you are entitled to a free credit report once each year.
But, did you realize that means you can actually monitor your credit three times per year - once, thru each of the three national credit repositories - Equifax, Experian and Trans Union?
Here's a great website you can use - www.annualcreditreport.com. A good way to make this work is to check one repository every four months. So, in January, check your credit thru … (6 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: Not a very good trend - 08/31/09 01:45 PM
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association -
At the end of 2007 - 6% of mortgages had a least 1 payment past due and another 2% of mortgages were in the foreclosure process.
At the end of 2008 - 8% of mortgages had at least 1 payment past due and another 3% of mortgages were in the foreclosure process.
At the end of June 2009 - 9% of morrtages had at least 1 payment past due and another 4% of mortgages were in the foreclosure process.
We probably won't start to level out until January 2010 at the earliest.
… (3 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: Over cooked, under cooked and DOG biscuits! - 08/21/09 04:51 PM
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I invited some friends and their two young sons over for a late afternoon swim and dinner. It was a typical Tucson summer day - temperature over 100 and lots of sunshine. There's nothing better than a little pool party and barbecue with friends who make you laugh, relax and enjoy the day.
I made a huge tray of shish kabobs - beef and chicken - with lots of fresh vegetables. Ummm! Yummy! Also made some really good cracker spread with cream cheese, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes for snacks and some triple chocolate … (17 comments)
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sunstreet mortgage: Does this market make you want to cry? - 08/18/09 05:05 PM
So. . .what do we have to cry about? I received this picture in my inbox a little over a year ago from one of the investors we deal with. At that time, it was really crazy with loan program and underwriting guideline changes. I really thought - okay! A couple of more months of this and everything will start to level out. Well, that didn't happen!
Loan programs and guidelines are still changing. Some changes are good and some, quite honestly, just don't make any sense to me at all.
I cut my teeth in the mortgage industry in the early … (8 comments)
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