GREAT NEWS!!! We have expanded our operations into Arizona!

My wife and I were born here in the Great Pacific Northwest and in our opinion one of the most dynamic places to live play and work in the world. My wife and I like road trips and a few years back we did our thing in Arizona and what we took from that is we want to go back!

I have been originating home loans for 22 years. I now can provide loans to my clients and to my friends that wish to "snow-bird" or live in the great State of Arizona. In addition, it has been my goal to conduct my business in the same fashion. Work in the winter in AZ and work in the Summer in WA.

Thanks to technology, I am a phone, website, fax or email away regardless of my location. I have staff to support me in both places so I am able to provide top notch service my clients have come to expect.

For those in Arizona, I want to introduce myself. Please call or email me and introduce yourself. Real estate is local and it has been a challenging market but it will not be like this forever and more importantly RATES will not be this low forever and in fact 20 years ago they were over 10% so some things could be worse!

If you live in Arizona and plan to RELOCATE to the State of Washington, CALL ME and I will roll out the RED CARPET. I will provide to you an experienced Real Estate Professional to familiarize you with our area and I will of course provide your options financially. This is offered to you no matter where you plan to live.

For my clients in Washington, I will continue to work hard for you.  I'm only a "click" away to answer or refer to you like minded professionals you may need such as Realtors, CPA's or any other service you may have a need for.

If you live in Washington and plan to RELOCATE to the State of Arizona, I will roll out my RED CARPET and introduce to you an experienced Real Estate Professional to familiarize you with the wonderful communities no matter where you wish to live.

Despite the doom and gloom, if you work with a long time seasoned professional like myself in lending and work with a seasoned Real Estate Professional, you cannot go wrong. If you need a home, this is the time to buy. Real Estate is local and the future is bright for both Arizona and the State of Washington. You can't see that today but the smart set sees it and are out there finding value and purchasing it as we speak.

For those sifting through looking for some investment properties remember to be wise toward your investment and make sure you can afford to hold on to your investment. If you are seeking instant gratification on your investment real estate is not for you!

Even though it may not "feel" like these are the good ol' days I encourage you to look around. Home prices are lower and rates couldn't be better. When the market turns around rates will be higher and how much home will you be able to buy then?  Something to think about.

I look forward to working with all my clients in Washington and Arizona and look forward to meeting my new friends/clients in Arizona! 

Rock n Roll.
(it's Friday...I couldn't resist)

Mortgage Fraud featuring Stated Income and other areas of mis-representation

Mortgage Fraud has been around in various forms for years and although it seems fashionable to point fingers at the point of origination and the lender it is important to note the buyer signed on the dotted line and it is the borrower who makes the representation. BUYERS BEWARE!

My first exposure as an originator to "stated income" prompted me to call the underwriter and ask how we do this,  what documentation is required and most important who is responsible for this information? The initial response was silence or an interpretation based upon another interpretation interpreted!

After years of getting the crap beat out of me by some of the worst underwriters in the world this seemed too good to be true. Hind site tells us that under certain credit grades it was too good to be true and a disaster.

Stated income loans are available today and it is important to note that the person who states what they earn is the borrower. Not the lender. Borrowers and Realtors must understand the originator cannot establish the income on the borrowers behalf because if the FBI knocks on the borrowers door the first one to get the blame is .....yes you guessed it the originator. That's pretty much going on today.

As you look at the information please note the percentage under the category of "predatory lending" and although this is FNMA data the result represents reality and is opposite as reported or portrayed in the media, or by the idiots in "DC". This is not to say bad behavior in the lending industry (at point of origination) didn't occur but at the same time it is not as much as many would like to believe.

I am providing a great link for you all to look at. It provides interesting information about FRAUD.

King, Pierce & Snohomish Counties FHA and Conventional Loan limits INCREASE

It is official. DC finally picked "the number" that will "save the world" here in the pacific northwest however when you thought it would give the lower tiered jumbo loans a pricing break because of it well think again!

In the past anything over the conforming $417,000 limit kicked in the higher jumbo pricing matrix so the lifting of the limit may just be another superficial little exercise for the politicians on both sides of the isle allowing them cover to proclaim...."look what we did!". We will see. The new SFR loan limit will be $567,500.

In addition to the pricing disappointment of course the secondary market as I understand it may tighten some underwriting standards however time will tell and frankly at least here in the northwest it probably will not be that bad.

FHA is the bright spot. The pricing and underwriting will be less affected so perhaps what was the lower tiered Jumbo market now will be financing FHA....Go figure. The single family loan limit for FHA is now $567,500.

I am disappointed but on the other hand the market place is trudging forward and purchases continue to land on my desk. Even though I am being a bit of a "sour puss" there will be some silver lining to this and with the way information is presented by the media I thought I would provide some factual data before you hear their spin of it.

Cuomo starts presidential compaign setting sights toward 2012 or 2016

As Obama and Clinton duke it out for the nomination Andrew Cuomo the ultimate self-promoter is working toward his turn in 2012 or 2016. Jumping on the political opportunity bandwagon he is searching out to find someone to blame over the "credit crisis" as it is called.

First the public lynchers were heading for the originators now it seems the NY Attorney General is focusing on the appraisal industry while legally chewing on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the same time.

Mr. Cuomo it seems built what he deems a strong case that appraisers were just going out there picking values out of the air and the lender underwriters were just blindly rubber stamping them and therefore this is why people are not making their house payment and the reason for real estate values going upside down on the home owner.

Wow, that is an amazing feat done by the appraisers. I did not know they had that much control on the real estate market!! How did they do it? Did they have a nationwide conference call or attend the "value-puffing" convention? How did they plan this very sophisticated and most heinous act?

The truth is they didn't. The truth is most appraisers did their jobs appropriately. The truth is the buyer agreed to purchase the home at that price. The truth is the appraiser was not there counseling the buyers to sign the dotted line. The truth is the appraiser was not there when the buyer picked the loan program.

Look at the document and the agreement (and money extorted) Fannie and Freddie signed to get Cuomo out of their hair in exchange he promised to leave them alone. Get real. Adding yet another layer of subjectivity to an area that is subjective in nature and this new "safeguard" by design will probably cause more problems, more cost to the consumer, slow down the process creating more inadvertent costs so in the end will cause more angst for the consumer. I give it a year at best to stay in place. By the way it is called the "HOME VALUE PROTECTION PROGRAM". Sounds like a government program doesn't it? Will this prevent bad judgment or bad behavior? I think not.

The need to find victims and to pin blame is food for the political season and you see Barney Frank MA (D) and friends squawk about this and that and they are going to do this or that or they are going to regulate this or that when in the end it was the person buying the home to begin with. So if it is blame you want please look to the folks that purchased or refinanced with a loan they instinctively knew was risky. A loan a fifth grader would know to be risky.

So in the next round of the blame game are the political opportunists going after the Realtor?

If all of the political smart set had been doing their job (oversight) this could have been prevented. They didn't because they didn't understand what was going on and believe me you do not want them trying to add new regulations now!  See this exchange on video at a hearing with Fed Chair Bernanke referenced in an article by Matthew Graham.  Video After watching that exchange do you really want this guy and others like him voting on reform?

There are some areas that need correcting. Wall Street needs to be put into the spot light. After all the guy with a 560 credit score became a triple A rated sophisticated investment vehicle  (SIV) and was bought and sold on Wall Street.

I am tired of stupid falling out of Cuomo, Frank and the others on both sides of the isle. Until they understand the landscape you will see non-sense like this that will continue to push the consumer interest aside while they (the politician) scramble to the spot light building their political resumes and to prove to their base (the lemmings that can't think for themselves) they are their champions!

The consumer looses again.

SOAP BOX TIME!

Music was fun to listen to before it became BIG business. I use to vote for politicians that represented me because they were civic minded and things needed fixing (D) or (R) but they turned their civic duty into a career with full "bennies".

The record labels got what they asked for and that was just the money. They pimped pop artist after pop artist, boy bands, girl bands (make it stop!). Thank God for technology and the Internet because now the power is moving back toward the musicians and the real music is once again starting to emerge.

Then there is the politician. Bob Dole a person I respect once spoke of his upbringing in very poor conditions on his parents' farm in Kansas. He talked about his humble beginnings and talked about his service for our country. A great story great sacrifice but then he became a politician. The rest is history. We all know about his political career and he retired honorably and retired a multi-millionaire (not a bad thing really). Nice retirement package too and I know this because I chipped in (we all did).

My point and hope is that people will get out of the recliner and vote. Yes, this is an electoral system but the popular vote does matter because it expresses to "DC" our disposition plus there are local issues affecting our daily lives and you should have a say about it.

Do your country and me a favor. Do not vote because of the letter (D or R) after the name. If that is the best you can do then you are an idiot. Vote for the person that can demonstrate the ability to articulate their position. Demonstrate their thought process behind their answer vs. the tripe that is usually thrown out there. Demonstrate they have a belief system not a polling system.

Please don't be the one-issue idiot. I don't agree with my wife 100% of the time so I am not going to agree with my representative 100% of the time either.

Do your own homework. It is not that tough. Instead of regurgitating Al Franken or his buddies at Air America, or regurgitating Rush Limbaugh and his buddies, think for yourself. Understand Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, Bill O'Reilly, Stephen Colbert and yes-even Chris Matthews are ALL entertainment shows NOT news. If you can get over that hump there is hope for us all! (Install information filter here)

And by the way, I'm not angry. Thanks for listening.

Money Stolen from the Crime Victims Fund- ONLY IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON

Yes, that's right someone stole money from the Crime Victims Fund....How rich is that?

On behalf of the citizens of Washington I wish to congratulate our Governor for a job well done. As I sit in traffic wondering why they can't add a lane or two, a bus or two a train or two it is good to know they can't even keep track of their gas cards (they lost them too).

And evidently YOU CAN TAKE IT WITH YOU. The State of Washington sent about a quarter of a million dollars to DEAD people. I wonder where my dad is spending it? My birthday is coming!

But on a positive note I want everyone to know that our Christmas trees are inspected by the State of Washington and yes there is a tax for that too. So don't worry the tree in your living-room is not an illegal alien however your neighbor might be.

These tasty little sniglets of stuff can be found in a report provided by the Washington Policy Center. It has data and information for your review about what this pesky little state is doing with all our money.

I can at least speak for Snohomish County-we aren't getting any of it....OH except we are getting new little yellow turtles glued on our little two lane highway we call SR 9!

Visit the Washington Policy Center Site and after reading through the information, pick up the phone or send a little note to your elected official and tell them to STOP IT!

Beautiful, scenic and on the River, new construction in Gold Bar Washington NO CASH to get in! Yes, the shameless plug!

If you want some peace and quiet this is the place. If you want a short walk to the river bank, this is the place.  

Click to VIEW this property. Call 425.418.9542 for details about this property and HURRY. Activity has picked up and they will be gone soon.

Rates won't be this low forever and all costs are paid OR you can buy down your rate. YOU CHOOSE! To obtain the zero cost loan call me at 425.212.2561.

Credit surfing and balance transfers.....it can hurt you.

With all the temptations of lower credit card offers many people surf around and pay off and close their account for the better short-term rate. They closed an account with a longtime credit history in good standing and what happens..... The credit score goes down!  DON'T DO THAT.

You eliminated a perfectly good credit history only to open a brand new one with no history. You have moved all your balances to the new credit card nearly "maxing it out".  The FICO scoring system penalizes you if you carry a balance on your credit card that exceeds 30% of your approved limit. If you exceed that limit for the next couple months your credit scores drop again..... DON'T DO THAT.

In case you missed it....Private Mortgage Insurance is tax deductable.

As of January 2007 private mortgage insurance or PMI became tax deductable. Recent legislation has now extended this out to 2014. In the past we would restructure your loan with the first mortgage at 80% of the sale price then adding a second covering all or most of your down payment.

Much has changed. The "purchase money" second pricing is not as attractive as it use to be. You may opt for the first and second loan or (combo loan) for other reasons such as the expectation of a bonus or inheritance to payoff the second mortgage sooner than later thereby reducing your house payment for the long term. (I would invest it but that is another story another day).

If the bonus is not coming PMI may be the way to go. In addtion to the tax deductibility, you do not incur redundant costs such as a second escrow fee and other costs associated with the second mortgage. You don't have to pay thousands to payoff the second mortgage to reduce your payment.

In most instances you are "stuck" with PMI for a minimum of two years no matter what equity position you are in. The servicer of your loan (where you make payments) will inform you of the options available upon your inquiry or click cancel my PMI.

When planning your future it is important to explore all options.

Stimulate OR Simulate Package....and Oscar is around the corner!

"Welcome my friends to the show that never ends, your welcome to attend, come inside come inside"

Emerson Lake & Palmer

Yes the political season is in full swing and the Oscars are just around the corner and here are a couple nominees:

FOR BEST ACTOR:

Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee

For his role pretending he understands the issues surrounding the "credit crisis".

FOR BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

President Bush, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, all the house & Senate last but not least all the presidential candidates

Pretending the simulate package I mean stimulate (Stimulus) package is a serious attempt (applying solid economic principles I'm sure)  toward resolving our economic slow down.

I like to call it the "simulus" package.

Simulate:

1 : to give or assume the appearance or effect of often with the intent  

to deceive : imitate

I can't be the only one a little ticked when more of our money is thrown out of a helicopter. I am nearing tax season. I am feeling a little "sensitive" right now!