HABIT TWO: Be Courteous                          

Have you ever done business with someone that was rude?  Have you ever asked a sales associate at a store a question and you felt like you were bothering them? Do you have a co-worker that's rude to their fellow co-workers and clients?

People work with people they like.  The nicer you are to your borrowers the fewer phone calls you will get. They will feel confident that you have their best interest in mind.  

Live FHA Training available in various states.  We also offer instructor led on-line courses. If you are looking to learn technique and theory than contact Alpha Mortgage Training.  Our Courses were written by a team of mortgage underwriters with a combined 58 years of conventional and government experience. Our courses will not only help you produce more

7 Habits of a Productive Mortgage Professional

HABIT ONE: Knowledgeable                        

As a Mortgage Professional we must be knowledgeable about the mortgage process, answer the borrower's questions (honestly and without them asking: EXPLAIN THE NEXT STEPS.

I'm not just writing this because I sell mortgage courses!  I am a wholesale Mortgage Underwriter and I talk to brokers all the time who are probably great sales people, but they do not understand what they are doing.

Live FHA Training available in various states.  We also offer instructor led on-line courses. If you are looking to learn technique and theory than contact Alpha Mortgage Training.  Our Courses were written by a team of mortgage underwriters with a combined 58 years of conventional and government experience. Our courses will not only help you produce more effective loans, but they will also help you increase your closing ratio.

Continuing Education in Maine

The following courses have been approved for Continuing Education by the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection (Maine):

• FHA Jump Start     (7 hours)
• Sub-Prime Make Over(8 hours)
• Mortgage Fraud 101   (1 hour)

We will be posting 2009 First Quarter Schedule on the website (www.alphamortgagetraining.net) and on Activerain within the next month.

Several more state are pending, we will keep you guys up to date! We're looking forward to a great 2009!

Live FHA Training available in various states.  We also offer instructor led on-line courses. If you are looking to learn technique and theory than contact Alpha Mortgage Training.  Our Courses were written by a team of mortgage underwriters with a combined 58 years of conventional and government experience. Our courses will not only help you produce more effective loans, but they will also help you increase your closing ratio.

The Good Faith Estimate has taken a change (for the better!)  This new standardized Good Faith Estimate will be required starting January 2010.  You can read more at:

 http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr08-175.cfm

Live FHA Training available in various states.  We also offer instructor led on-line courses. If you are looking to learn technique and theory than contact Alpha Mortgage Training.  Our Courses were written by a team of mortgage underwriters with a combined 58 years of conventional and government experience. Our courses will not only help you produce more effective loans, but they will also help you increase your closing ratio.

Is this workshop for you?  Take this Quick Quiz and find out:

o   Has your file sat on the underwriters or set up person's desk for more than a week?

o   Is getting the correct FHA requirements frustrating you?

o   Do you dread the thought of submitting conditions (because you KNOW more will be added!)?

o   Do you play the "Should've, could've, would've" game after every file is submitted or closed?

o   Does the thought of getting one more condition put you over the edge?

o   Are you at the point where you're losing your clients and referral base?

o   Is your stress level at an all-time high?

If you answered "yes" to even one of these questions, this workshop is exactly what you need to bring your pipeline back to life, instill confidence in your referral base and bring control back into your life!

For More Information:  

  _http://www.alphamortgagetraining.net/courses.php?cat_id=6[1]_

Upcoming Changes to Freddie's Credit Requirements

These credit changes will be published in the November Guide Bulletin and will be will be effective for Freddie Mac settlements on and after February 2, 2009:

Revise requirements for minimum Indicator Scores by:

• Establishing minimum Indicator Score requirements for manually underwritten mortgages secured by 1-unit primary residences as follows (Home Possible® Mortgages excluded):
  • 620 for LTV/TLTV/HTLTV ratios less than or equal to 75 percent.
  • 660 for LTV/TLTV/HTLTV ratios greater than 75 percent.
• Establishing a minimum Indicator Score of 620 for all mortgages unless otherwise specified for a particular mortgage product in our Guide. Loan Prospector A-minus mortgages are also excluded from this requirement.
• Revising minimum Indicator Scores for Home Possible Mortgages and lender-branded affordable mortgages. Details for this change will be provided in the early November Guide Bulletin.

  If the borrower does not have a usable credit score, Sellers must underwrite the mortgage according to the requirements in Guide Chapter 37.

Live FHA Training available in various states.  We also offer instructor led on-line courses. If you are looking to learn technique and theory than contact Alpha Mortgage Training.  Our Courses were written by a team of mortgage underwriters with a combined 58 years of conventional and government experience. Our courses will not only help you produce more effective loans, but they will also help you increase your closing ratio.

Upcoming Changes to Freddie's Credit Requirements

These credit changes will be published in the November Guide Bulletin and will be will be effective for Freddie Mac settlements on and after February 2, 2009:

• Eliminate purchases of all mortgages originated with stated income and/or stated assets, including borrower selected programs, lender-branded and marketed programs, and system-selected programs such as Loan Prospector® Accept Plus.
  

• Establish a maximum debt-to-income ratio of 45 percent for all mortgages they purchase, except for Streamlined Refinance Mortgages.
  

They made a few other changes I will talk about later this week, but we expected the DTI to go back down didn't we?

Live FHA Training available in various states.  We also offer instructor led on-line courses. If you are looking to learn technique and theory than contact Alpha Mortgage Training.  Our Courses were written by a team of mortgage underwriters with a combined 58 years of conventional and government experience. Our courses will not only help you produce more effective loans, but they will also help you increase your closing ratio.

LoanAce is free mortgage loan origination software that can automate your loan origination process and encompass all your LOS needs in one mortgage loan system.  LoanAce® debuted on August 1, 2006 as the Mortgage Industry's first Loan Origination Software available at no charge, and has quickly catapulted to the third largest LOS within the first year.  LoanAce®, went beyond providing a fully functioning LOS and introduced industry-leading features such as EZorder^TM, TEAM and a user-friendly format.  Everyone asks how can a professional LOS be available for FREE?  LoanAce generates revenue through EZorder^TM by connecting users with the third-party services they already use to originate loans, grow their businesses, and serve customers.

TeraVendo developed LoanAce TEAM to allow employee activity management.  TEAM allows brokers to see a real-time summary and detail view of all loans, across all branches, loan officers, processors and loan stages via a web based interface.  It also offers two vital compliance functions that are currently unavailable in competing LOS products.  TEAM records every version of a file that saved in LoanAce providing a complete audit trail that is accessible for pre and post funding audits.  TEAM also tracks and date/time stamps the version of a file when it is printed allowing you to track disclosures, watch for fraud, and co-brokering.  LoanAce allows users to attach and store all documents associated with a file within the program.  In TEAM, these attachments are viewable online at anytime and TEAM automatically attaches a copy of the credit report.  TEAM also allows the brokerage to have instant access to a web based electronic version of closed files and scanned images of all related documents for reports or audits.  TEAM is offered free to any company that has 5+ loan officers/processors using LoanAce.

For more information on LoanAce please visit www.loanace.com and download the software for FREE.

I'm not going to say who the lenders are, but I've received several emails from brokers asking about FHA Alternative credit.  FHA does accept Alternative Credit.....what I'm hearing is that the LENDERS ARE NOT ACCEPTING ALTERNATIVE CREDIT!!

Okay, now........That's not cool!  FHA goal is "a home for everyone" (okay maybe not for everyone! but you know what I mean l.o.l.)  I understand the lenders are a little paranoid, but come on! 

I am including the link to Mortgagee Letter 2008-11:  Nontraditional Credit Verification and Evaluation 

http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/08-11ml.doc

I've sent out a few emails to a couple of lenders I know, I'll follow up with any information I receive. 

Are you guys having this problem?

D.Bass                                                                                                                                             

Mortgage Underwriter & Trainer

Check out our FHA Jump Start 3 Hour Workshop

www.alphamortgagetraining.net

Question from Borrower:

..........we will be living in our house No. 2. The house is close to university and accessible to public transportation. It has 4BR. We will have the 2Br to ourselves and the other 2 rooms to be rented out to students.

The loan consultant called me yesterday that the house would be treated as an investment property by the UW because I should not state that the purpose of our home loan is have 2 rooms to be rented out even though we will be occupying the property and that I would be committing fraud if I don't tell the truth.

Answer from Ask The Underwriter:

There is nothing wrong with you letting you rooms out to boarders (aka renting the rooms out).  You cannot use this as projected income, because this is a Single Family Residence and not a multi-family. 
 
I'm not sure why he/she thinks you are committing fraud.  It's not unusaul for people with larger homes rent to boarders

Do you have questions regarding the underwriting process?  Email me, I'll respond within 24 hours.

D. Bass

Mortgage Underwriter & Trainer

www.alphamortgagetraining.net