New England Goes Home With Us!

STATED INVESTMENT PROPERTY REFINANCE.........HELP!!!!

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:53:30 -0500

OKAY MY FELLOW ACTIVE RAINERS, PUT YOUR BRAINS TOGETHER FOR THIS ONE! I REALLY NEED TO GET YOUR HELP ON THIS ONE! I HAVE A GUY THAT IS A SELF EMPLOYED LANDLORD/PROPERTY "FLIPPER" WHO SHOWS AN AVERAGE $12,000 IN INCOME AND IS A 696 FICO. THE GUY ONLY OWES $20,000 ON THE PROPERTY AND HE HAS AN APPRAISAL FOR $125,000. WHAT AM I TO DO? THERE HAS GOT TO BE SOMEBODY THAT WILL STILL DO A BANK STATEMENT INVESTMENT PROPERTY LOAN RIGHT? WHO HAS DONE ONE OF THESE IN THE IMMEDIATE PAST THAT THEY COULD RECOMMEND ME TO? I KNOW THESE CAN'T BE EXTINCT! I HAVE ALREADY CALLED ACCREDITED AND WILMINGTON FINANCE. THEY HAD THE PROGRAM UP UNTIL A MONTH OR TWO AGO, WELL ACCREDITED DID. OF COURSE THEY JUST DUMPED IT SO I'M LEFT HOLDING THE BAG NOT KNOWING THEY DISCONTINUED IT, I TOLD THE BORROWER WE COULD DO IT!!

SOMEONE HELP ME OUT HERE? PLEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEE?????????????????

ARE "REHAB" LOANS EXTINCT?

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:21:08 -0500

Hi everybody out there! Yup, I'm looking for answers again! I need to pick your brains again! I know the best minds in the industry are all here on Active Rain, so it's the best place to post a blog in order to get the best answers! I have a woman who is interested in purchasing a home that needs some updating. She's being difficult and REALLY has her heart set on this one home. She has an 819 FICO!!! I've only seen one so high a few times in my career and I'd love to be able to work with her! Does anyone know who will still do a rehab loan? I need to sign up with them NOW so I can get her show on the road!! Oh, and I might add that the home is in livable condition, but just needs some updating. What can we do?????

Thanks guys & girls!

Need A HOME for this LOAN!!!

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:13:52 -0500

Hello again fellow ActiveRainers,

I am again wanting some advice and hoping you guys might be able to help me figure this one out! That's what I love most about this site!! Anyway, I have a lady who we have been trying to do a loan for now for almost a month. She has a 663 FICO, makes plenty of money and it's a simple owner occupied, primary residence refinance. WELL she thought her home was worth a certain amount and was sure enough that I just went off of the value she gave me to write the loan. We HAD a 79% LTV and everything looked beautiful! It seemed like it was set in stone! We were ready to close it last Friday and then all of a sudden, the appraisal comes in $27K BELOW what we needed to get her financed at 80% LTV. I now need to find a bank that will do 97% financing. Is there such a thing anymore? She has good credit! She's never been late on her mortgage, but is a victim of the sub-prime 3/27 ARM fiasco and is stuck in an adjustable rate mortgage that just keeps going up! She already lost the money for the appraisal and eventually she will loose the house. She can barely squeak by now with the payment she has and it will only GO UP!!! Where do I take this loan? There has GOT to be somebody that still goes above 95% or who might do an exception!!

Anyone know anybody?

Credit Myths Revealed!

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:48:11 -0500

I've been getting a lot of clients lately that have a lot of misconceptions about their credit scores and what they mean to them as well as how to make them go up or come down. I try my best to counsel these people and let them in on as many secrets as our conversations will allow me to, as I believe credit reports and FICO scores should be a class taught in High School! I want to just touch briefly on some of the key points that consumers should be weary of to keep their credit scores as high as they can be!

RULE # 1: DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, max out your credit cards! The average consumer I come into contact with believes they are given credit for one reason, to USE it. On the contrary they should narrow that conception to use SOME of it. As long as you keep your balance at or below 50% of your limit, your credit card use won't hurt you and in fact will help! The Fair Isaac Corporation, or FICO uses a formula to determine your credit scores, A.K.A FICO scores. No one knows EXACTLY what the formula is and it changes constantly, but we DO know that keeping your balances BELOW 50% on your credit cards gives you "positive points" while going above your limit, deducts points from your score.

Rule # 2: LATE PAYMENTS aren't LATE until 30 days after their DUE DATE! A large and growing number of consumers tend to believe that if they are even one day late on their payments, they will be marked late on their credit reports. I don't know how many people will answer, "I've been a couple of days late on my payments, so I have no idea what my credit score is" to the question, "What do you think your credit is like?" I don't think consumers realize that the only time you are marked late on your credit report is when you are 30 days or more down on a payment. This of course doesn't mean you should be more relaxed on paying your bills, but don't sweat it if you are a few days late! Another point I should bring up is that most banks will see a consumer being late 2 months in a row as a "rolling late," meaning you were late with the first payment, and then by the time you made the first payment, the second one was already due. So really you were only one payment behind....so you were really only late once, as long as you continue making your payments afterwards.

Rule # 3: CREDIT PULLS HURT YOUR CREDIT- EVERY TIME- IT IS PULLED. 99% of my clients believe that every time their credit is pulled, their score drops. This is the single BEST kept secret held by FICO! This is the proverbial mind blower! Almost everybody I talk to believes their score drops with EVERY PULL, when in actuality, the FICO people know that a consumer is going to want to shop for their credit and in fact it is advisable for every consumer to do so. HOWEVER, according to the Fair Isaac Corporation, you shouldn't HAVE TOO MUCH credit, because of course, they know your spending can get out of control. So they devised a simple loophole to make it fair to the consumer while keeping the balance of their super sensitive formula intact. AFTER AN INITIAL CREDIT INQUIRY FOR A SPECIFIC TYPE OF CREDIT, YOUR SCORE WILL NOT DROP MORE THAN THE ONE TIME INITIATED BY THE FIRST PULL FOR 14 DAYS, AS LONG AS YOUR CREDIT IS BEING PULLED FOR THE SAME TYPE OF CREDIT! This means that if, for instance, you are shopping for a mortgage, you can have your credit pulled an infinite number of times ONLY by other mortgage companies and brokers, without your score dropping any more than the few points deducted with the initial pull! BEWARE, however, of companies that lend more than one TYPE of credit. These companies, such as Beneficial for instance, can lend you a mortgage, a personal loan and a line of credit. This means that when THEY pull your credit, the FICO corporation can not discern between the TYPE of credit you are applying for and the type of credit they lend. This could count as a negative pull and in turn effect your score!

These are only 3 of the rules of the FICO formula. Of course there are dozens more where those came from, but I find that these 3 have a lot of myths and misconceptions associated with them. If you have any questions, or if anybody else has any other facts they believe should be shared, then please do so by all means! I find it troubling that consumers are scored by a formula they know little or nothing about and yet it weighs so heavily! Now a days you can't even get a job at some places without having good credit! So let's crack the codes and tell the secrets so all of us can have better credit. Just paying your bills doesn't always guarantee good credit! Just look at the credit card rule! Even if you pay that credit card bill and every other bill reporting on your credit, if you max out your cards every month, or have maxed them out and only make the minimum payment every month, your credit score may not be considered "lend-able." Who knew? Well perhaps, now you are one of them!

"NICHE" LENDERS!! WHO ELSE IS THERE?

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:05:11 -0500

I've been trying to gain new relationships with some "Niche" banks and would like some advice as to where else I should go to gain some new relationships!! I've signed up with Accredited, Wilmington Finance, and am thinking about signing up with Taylor, Bean and Whittaker as well, all though as I wrote in my last blog, I'm not so sure I want to do that!! So now I'm looking into getting some new relationships with some more "Niche" banks!! Now I know there are hardly any leftv out there that will entertain any loan under a 620 FICO. Some will dip down into the lower 600's and even fewer will dip into the upper 500's for the right LTV, but the only ones I have gained relationships with thus far have been the above mentioned lenders. Do any of you know of any others that are worth a try? I want to form relationships with those banks that will still do investor loans, or second homes or how about more banks that will do stated deals!! I know they have to exist, but because so many have "imploded" I'm not sure who's in business now and who's not!! I left the mortgage industry to have a baby and now have been back in it for a couple of months. When I left to have the baby, I still did a few loans on a referral basis, but was out for just long enough to have lost track of all of the "aggressive" lenders. Everyone in my office currently does mostly "A Paper" borrowers, which is great, but we'd be able to do a lot more business if we could gain a larger array of "non-prime" and even "alt-A" lenders! I'd love to have all of your opinions on who is the "best" lender for those types of loans and also wouold like some more opinions on who is the best lender for manufactured home loans!!

Keep it coming!!!

Do Any of You Do Business With Taylor, Bean & Whittaker?

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:07:54 -0500

I just received the broker package for Taylor, Bean & Whittaker and I guess my question to you is, "Is it worth it?" I filled out as much as I can, but a lot of the questions on this particular broker package, I've never encountered before! I've done a few broker packages in my day and I have NEVER come across this many proofs and questions to become a broker........which would lead me to believe that they must be GREAT! Right? I mean, they want to know ALL loan officer's LIFE STORY!!!!................LITERALLY! They want us ALL to submit to them our resume' including our HOME ADDRESS & PHONE NUMBER, social security numbers, dates of birth and complete employment history! Holy COW! Are they for real? They want my RESUME'? This seems sort of backwards! They work for ME! They WANT my business! I have account executives calling me ALL day long begging for business and these guys want me to jump through a proverbial hoop just to be able to have their account execs calling me all day?

Is it just me or is this kind of crazy? If any of you have some positive feedback to give me it would be greatly appreciated! I have NO Idea how I'm going to convince my bosses, particularly the owner of our brokerage to give me his life story and resume', especially not his social security number! SO, perhaps with some testimonials, I could better convince them?

If anyone has anything bad to say about them, it's welcome as well. I don't want to go through the trouble of having to ask my boss to give me his social security number and etc. if these guys stink! I really only want to have a relationship with them so I can do manufactured home loans.

Somebody, anybody?

THANK YOU ACTIVE RAIN!

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:12:02 -0500

Last week I had posted a blog asking everybody who I might use to do a manufactured home loan. So many of you answered back, it was awesome! Thanks to all of you A/R friends, I now have a lender I'm going to use for all of my modular and manufactured home leads! This is something EVERY broker should think about doing! There is SUCH an UNTAPPED market on those "puppies!" It is SOOOOOO hard for a person to get a mortgage on a manufactured home that if you could.....as a broker.......gain a relationship with a lender, it could mean hundreds, perhaps even thousands in your pocket! Yeah, the values are less so your commissions won't be quite as good, but in this market, sometimes any lead is a good lead. RIGHT!!??

THANKS A/R COMMUNITY! If anyone has any other lenders that they could give me, or even better an Account Executive's name for any other lenders besides Taylor, Bean and Whittaker, I'd still love to take in more names! If I could shop around for my clients with manufactured homes, that would be even better:)

Thanks!!!

WHO STILL DOES MOBILE HOME LOANS!!!!????????????

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:58:10 -0500

WHO STILL DOES MOBILE HOMES???? I know of a few that USED to do them, but I believe they don't anymore and I know that FHA can do them, but I can't wait for our paper work to come in for that!! Does anybody know of any other lender that will do them? I'm sick of turning these borrowers away! There has got to be someone else out there! They still sell them for goodness sakes and the people that are buying them from the manufacturers have GOT to be buying them with a loan and not cash!! I am losing ALL kinds of business not having a relationship with a lender that does these types of loans! I know a lot of other brokers that would love to know, as well as the Active Rain community members who are in the dark on it as well!!

C'Mon people, think, think, think!!!!! What a market us brokers that don't have a relationship with these lenders could have!!!

Thanks everybody for all of your responses on my loan scenario, by the way!! Accredited WILL do that stated-self-employed borrower and we're becoming approved brokers as we speak!!

THANK YOU ACTIVE RAIN FRIENDS!!

Are there any other free networking sites?

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:02:19 -0500

Does anybody know of any more networking or advertising sites that are free or low cost.......that work? I am trying to grow my connections and get acquainted with more professionals that could potentially help me grow my business! Of course I am, I know, everybody else here is as well! I am on "Linked In," which, for those of you that aren't members yet, you might want to think about joining! I also have a Facebook account, as some of you already know, as well as a MySpace account. I'm sure there has to be others out there, but are maybe less well known? I didn't know about "Linked In" until someone referred me word-of-mouth as well. Speaking of which, anybody who is also a member of "Linked In" and needs referrals, I'll be more than willing to give them.....I know the importance and significance of the referral system on "Linked In."

Let me know! Everybody brainstorm!!!

Find me on facebook and myspace

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:59:25 -0500

I created profiles for myself on facebook and myspace. These are great resources for networking and meeting new people!

My screen name on myspace is: www.myspace.com/abbielettre

and on facebook: my screen name is Abbie Lettre. I'm the only one, so I'm easy to find!

I can help you set up your MySpace account ie. personalizing, adding pictures and etc. I added a lot of personal information on these sites so potential clients can get to know me on a more personal level. Perhaps knowing I'm human as well will help my business!!??

What do I do with this Self-Employed Client?

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:08:18 -0500

Okay everybody, listen to this one and tell me what I can do! I'd love some ideas as to where I should go to get this loan done! I am so sick and tired of banks having a program one day and the next day they decided not to do it anymore!! Here's what's going on;

I had a client come in last Thursday that wants to purchase a home for $295,000. She and her fiance' have already dropped $5,000 on the table earnest money and are going to put down another $54,000 as down payment at closing! This is CASH in their bank account sourced and seasoned for YEARS!! The husband is SELF EMPLOYED and can prove his income with bank statements! His average balance is $28,000 a MONTH!! This guy's tax returns show that he makes $28,000 a year, and that won't be sufficient to keep his DTI below 50%. So what the heck am I going to do? Did I mention this guy has a 679 FICO? Yeah, sounds cherry right? Who wouldn't want these guys, they l;ook absolutely sexy on paper, accept NONE of my banks will do a stated income purchase!

Does ANYBODY have ANY banks that they currently work with that I could get help from? I can get a broker package all put together NOW and still get this loan if anybody knows a lender that would bite on this. There has GOT to be a lender that would want this loan! I had a lender all lined up, Equifirst Mortgage, but they dropped the self-employed bank statement program THIS MORNING! What are the odds!

HELLLPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!

Make it on MySpace!

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:18:40 -0500

I'm sure most of you younger users probably have a MySpace profile already for yourself personally, but maybe all of you should consider making yourself a MySpace profile! I'm just now recreating one for myself. I had one before at my last job with HomeLoan USA and of course now I need to update that one. I decided it was just easier to make a new one and add all new contacts etc.

I got HUGE results using MySpace before and I think it is a wonderful way to reach out to our potential market! Virtually untapped I might add! Not many professionals such as ourselves have thought to advertise on MySpace, but LOTS of area businesses do all ready! It's COMPLETELY free and of course you can upload photos, completely personalize and convey any message you need to! There a millions of users on MySpace now and all of them potential clients!

Facebook is another great resource for advertising your business! Most of the millions that are on MySpace are also on Facebook and many more are only on Facebook! Again, free advertising and SOOOOOO much exposure!!! I'm going to work on my Facebook this weekend as well as my MySpace.

I probably haven't thought this through very well, because of course now I'll have competition, but it's alright! If anyone needs help setting up their MySpace or Facebook, I'm willing to share my expertise!!!

I Need A Palm Pilot or Blackberry!!!

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:33:21 -0500

I have GOT to get myself a palm pilot or blackberry of some kind. Do any of you fellow AR users out there have one for cheap or one you don't use anymore that you'd be willing to give away? My cell phone is on the fritz and I NEED to get a new one!! I can't imagine life without one really, but I have a limited amount of money to use towards one. I have 4 small children, all under the age of 9, so pretty much, my funds are tied!! Does anyone have any suggestions? I can pay some money, but not as much as a brand new phone will cost!! I know this is kind of an odd blog to post and might not even be appropriate, but I'm kind of on the fence here. I've tried eBay.

A ny OTHER ideas????

What is the scoop on H&R Block Imploding?

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:09:36 -0500

I have been reading and commenting on some blogs that were talking about H&R Block imploding!? What has everyone else heard about this? I just joined the company because the company I was working for Imploded, well, at least the east coast division. What is the CURRENT scoop? I know there are 3 of us writing mortgages and ALL of us are averaging 2 or 3 closings a week. I don't feel like this is a forecast for implosion, but then again this is just our branch. Where does everybody get their info? What sites besides mortgageimplode.com?

I'm getting the hang of AR!

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:48:47 -0500

I think I have the hang of Active Rain and wish I had heard about it before! How do I add associates? Do I have to wait for them to approve me? Or do I even NEED to add them? Can someone let me in on this?

Addition to previous blog question:

Okay, So I've added a bunch of people that I think look interesting and now my question to add to this one is;

what is associations? I have one person listed under this category, but I'm not sure how they got there!!

Separation Anxiety!

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:25:15 -0500

I'm going to start the blogging with a little story. My 7 month old and I have been together non-stop since conception! I hadn't left home to go back to work, nor had I EVER left him with anyone else besides myself! Occasionally my husband would take care of him while I prepared dinner etc. but I was always at home. Recently I went back to work in the mortgage industry and now of course he screams when I leave him, (even though he is watched over by his father, my husband), and won't let me put him down when I'm at home with him!!

Does anyone else have this problem? I have 3 other kids ages 3,7 and 8 and none of them seem to care or even notice when I'm gone!! Can anyone relate?

New To Active Rain

Abbie Lettre (H&R Block) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:05:16 -0500

I'm new to Active Rain and am trying to establish connections with other mortgage professionals to bounce ideas off of etc. I know this could cause some competition if we were in the same state, so maybe someone from out of state would point me in the right direction to establish those connections???!!! Thanks!!!!