|
| |
home loans: Do Spokane Borrowers Need A Return Of George Bailey’s Building And Loan? - 12/21/10 07:40 PM
Besides being a great family movie for the holidays, “It’s a Wonderful Life” appeals to me in a loan geek sort of way. Central to the story is the near failure of George Bailey’s building and loan business. I began my lending career in 1989 at Sacramento Savings Bank, and while the business of lending money had changed dramatically since the 1940’s one key characteristic still remained at that time – Savings and Loans and other small community banks still lent money directly from their vaults (customer’s savings accounts) to local residents they knew. The key words were “local” and “knew.” … (1 comments)
|
home loans: Recent Regulatory Changes Have Added Time And Cost To Your Home Loan Application - 10/28/09 11:26 AM
The lending industry has suffered dozens of small and large regulatory changes over the last twelve months. The new rules were intended to save consumers money by creating a more transparent process or by closely mandating the way lenders handle certain parts of the process.
Of course these changes were mandated by our friends in WA D.C., none of whom (as far as I can tell) have any actual knowledge of how the lending industry works. Although two of them, Senators Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad know enough to get sweetheart loans via Countrywide’s now infamous “V.I.P” program. The program waived … (3 comments)
|
home loans: Yes, You Can Purchase A Home With Less Than 20% Down - 04/30/09 12:28 PM
I'm getting more and more calls from clients and friends who think that the new lending guidelines require at least a 20% down payment.
While having that much cash to put down would certainly lower your payment, there are plenty of low down payment options available right now.
One very little known program is the Gauranteed Rural Housing Loan Program administered by the USDA – yep, the same people that certify your beef!
Following are some general highlights:
No down paymen, 100% financing No monthly mortgage insurance Do NOT need to be a first time home buyer Seller can pay all … (2 comments)
|
home loans: Have You Thrown In The Towel? - 01/29/09 09:50 AM
Have you given up? Thrown in the towel?
Well Newsweek magazine says you have in their article "The Quitter Economy." I know catchy headlines sell magazines, but this got me riled up this morning - you CAN'T QUIT!! There are families to feed and lives to live.
Of course we're not giving up. And it doesn't take much on your part to do the complete opposite:
Yesterday I had a lunch with a top producing real estate agent in my area. Janet, I met him via some of that "junk" advertising that Realtors don't respond to. This morning I have a … (10 comments)
|
home loans: 2009 FHA and Conforming Loan Limits - 11/10/08 03:15 PM
2009 Conforming And FHA Loan Limits
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that the conforming loan limit will remain $417,000 in 2009 for most areas. They have designated some areas as "high-cost" where the limits are equal to 115 percent of local median house prices and cannot exceed 150 percent of the standard limit, which is $625,500 for one-unit homes in the continental U.S.
The only counties in WA that have higher limits than $417,000 are San Juan County at $483,000 and King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties at $506,000.
In Idaho, only Blaine County and Teton County loans can … (3 comments)
|
home loans: Tracing WaMu's Collapse - Part 2 (The no income verification loan) - 10/08/08 03:38 PM
This is a continuation of my thoughts around the article Tracing The Collapse of WaMu published in the Spokesman-Review.
In the mid 1990’s American Savings Bank and Great Western were niche lenders known for two products – the negative amortization loan (Option Arm is the “common” name for this product) AND the no income verification loan. I worked at a competing S&L in California at that time and am very familiar with those products. My bank did not offer the products but my loan clients would frequently ask me about these competing products.
Until the mid-1990’s both loan programs were utilized … (0 comments)
|
home loans: Tracing the collapse of WaMu - 10/05/08 04:07 PM
A couple of items in today’s Spokesman-Review article on WaMu’s collapse offers clues not only to WaMu’s demise but to the current lending mess in general.
The first item is WaMu’s purchase of American Savings Bank and Great Western in the late 1990’s. I worked for a competing bank during those years and I had frequent conversations with borrowers who wanted to refinance their home loan for NO other reason than to get away from WaMu’s loan servicing department. It was common knowledge in the industry that WaMu was totally choking on the integration of the other banks’ loan portfolios with … (2 comments)
|
home loans: First time home buyers - it's getting tougher by the moment! - 07/22/08 05:33 PM
Following is an announcement I jsut received from the Nehemiah Corp regards the imminent ceasation of their extremely successful down payment assistance program. If you have a loan that is dependent upon this program I'd be very concerned. Other news articles I've read today state the program may cease as soon as this week. ~
There are alternatives still - FHA only requires a 3% down payment. With a seller contribution to cover the closing costs the buyers only need $5k or so.
If you have any questions about the Nehemiah program or other first time home buyer programs don't … (5 comments)
|
home loans: Senators Deny Knowing of Home Loan Favoritism - the WRONG story as usual - 06/18/08 10:53 PM
Following is my comment tonight to the Washington Post in response to their article - Senators Deny Knowing Of Home Loan Favoritism ~
I've been waiting for this story to break and as usual the media misses the important part!Let's see the reporters ask the real questions - did any of these individuals take a reduced doc loan, and if so, did their loan application reflect their true income?Were any of these loans (or any others made to the committee members for that matter) reduced document loans like Countrywide's Fast N Easy program. In the industry we referred to these as the "Fast … (2 comments)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Michael Mullin MLO 11911 ~ Banker/Broker FHA, VA, USDA, Conventional Loans
Spokane,
WA
More about me…
First Priority Financial, helping home owners in WA and CA
Address: 5978 Hwy 291, Suite 3, Nine Mile Falls, WA, 99026
Office Phone: (509) 252-9151
Email Me
 Listings
Links
Archives
|
|
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
© 2012 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
;)
;)
;)