Richard 's Blog

Ike has come and gone... Should I do the same now? If so where is the best place to live?

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:39:37 -0500

Well I am thrilled to say that Ike is gone and is no more. He hit Southwest La like a frieght train. My neighbors and I thought we would all end up with water in our homes. Thank the good Lord we didn't but 5 inchs more and I would have gotten water in our home. This is the 3rd storm I have "riden" out and am glad I have stayed. I am fortunate to have a friend that has a building (thanks to State Farm policy of building the same building everywhere they go) that will with stand a cat 3 direct hit. Knowing I have this as a backup gives me more of a sense of security than I should have. I do know this lots of folks are getting pretty tired of our weather problems. I never thought that I would even consider moving but must admit that I am at least talking about it now. Where does a wornout out wannabe entrapreneaur go to start over? What towns are the best? I have Grandsons so I have to be able to fly out and be back home pretty quickly, I am a salesman so I think I can go anywhere but there has got to be some places better than others. As you can see I need some advice...

Signed

waiting & curious

fsbo angle

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:09:00 -0500

ok I have come up with a website that has been a real hit so far. Not saying my Realtor friends are thrilled about it but its really a way for them to farm as well. Its a simple process. We call folks that have there house listed in the paper and offer to put in on our website at no cost. You can go and look at it when you have time. www.southwestlahomes.comis the site I created. When we call to make the appointment we get to go into the house to get pictures and spend soime quality time with the sellers. As you know most people that are selling will be buying pretty quickly.

We provide a for sale sign that has a 800 number on it. When the possible buyer calls it captures his phone number so we can follow them. It has been a home run to say the least. Seller love it because the system screeens callers that are looking for a price or owner financing. The system culls lots of callers that never bothers the sellers. We answer with a recording that tells the caller the price and description of the house. Then it give you caller the sellers direct phone number. As I said earlier our sellers love it. Not only have we gotten the folks that are selling but we have gotten a high percentage of the buyers that are looking. Its drives people to the web site and then to our mortgage companies web site. www.absolutelowestrate.com Please visit the sites and give me your input on them. If your a Realtor go there and get the phone numbers and then get the listing.

Fannie Mae in trouble? Govt take over? Tell me what you think

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:34:51 -0500

Fannie Mae admits it may need fresh capital

Ok you heard it (read it) here first.... The govt may have to take over fannie Mae? It is a little closer that you might think. These guys are out of capital and they are really concerned about 2009.

Yes I have heard the economy is doing better but according to some numbers the people giving houses back to there lender is still BIGTIME. Fannie lost a record $2.3 billion in the three months to the end of June, as more and more folks throw in the towel.

Fannie and Freddie Mac together own or guarantee about half of all outstanding US mortgages, worth a total of $5.2 trillion, but with the value of houses dropping daily its wiped billions from the value of the underlying collateral.

To no surprise to most of us Fannie said it would open offices in Florida and California, two of the worst affected areas, because it had taken over so many foreclosed homes in these areas.

The company said it saw no change in the problems in the housing markets where it has a big portfolio of investments that have also declined in value. In fact, things had got worse in July, and the company said it would slash its dividend by 85 per cent to preserve cash. This is the same company that paid the CEO a crazy bonus last yr? Why does he loan them the money. He has plenty according to the bonus he and fellow big shots received.

OK so now they have told everyone that they have already undertaken a series of initiatives, including raising more than $7bn in additional capital in the second quarter, to help them manage through the most difficult housing market in more than 70 years. Most alarming is the fact that they say it was not sure about the outlook for 2009.

If the trend continues Fannie will no longer have those big reserves that they have enjoyed in the past.That would mean they would have to go the street or congress to get additional monies just to get by. Thank goodness the Treasury has said it would do whatever it takes to ensure that Fannie and Freddie do not fail, including injecting taxpayers' money in return for new shares, which could give the federal government de facto control of the companies. Now that has got to thrill you. I have yet to see the govt run anything successfully

FHA Hope program

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:49:28 -0500

There is aleady a backlash over the Housing Bill

So the ink is not even close to being dry on the 2008 housing bill when the first critical backlashes began circulating in Washington.

Some doubts about whether HUD will be able to complete the operating rules and regulations for the centerpiece of the entire legislation -- Who would have thought this. More rules more beurocats more goverment the $300 billion foreclosure-relief program -- And it gets better. Congress wants it done by the October 1 date mandated by Congress.

Folks at HUD have been quoted earlier in the week saying that it would be almost impossible for the agency to have the complicated and extensive underwriting criteria required to run the program in final form that quickly.

This, in turn, would delay Congress's efforts to reach out and save over 300,000 deeply distressed home owners by refinancing them into affordable, fixed-rate FHA loans.

The Democratic chairmen of the Senate and House committees that authored the "HOPE" refinancing program were incensed that HUD couldn't produce the operating rules in a more timely manner.

"The notion that this takes a normal bureaucratic response when you have this social and economic crisis is unacceptable," Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee told the American Banker, a trade publication. "I cannot believe that this would wait."

Then HUD Secretary Steve Preston told both Frank and Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, that his guys would pull out all stops to have the FHA rules ready by October 1 to say the least that would be super fast by usual federal rule-making standards. Dodd later met with Preston and said that HUD staffers feel they can do it. What would you expect him to tell his bosses? I mean lets face it these guys sign his check. So lets face it, what comes out will be wrong and have to be redone again. Further adding to the clost of software updates

Meanwhile, the big boys are complaining that the final housing legislation is forcing them to do new software updates to their computer system for the second time within a short time, which can't be cheap in order to participate with FHA refinancing or new home purchase programs.

That's because Congress clamped a one year moratorium on the use of "risk based pricing" underwriting for all FHA loans, barely weeks after FHA itself required lenders to switch their systems to a risk-based program using credit scores and varying downpayment amounts.

Tell me how you feel about the Gov't mortgage bailout

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:41:36 -0500

Below are parts of the bill that congress is considering as we speak. If your like me have got to be wondering when if ever will the govt STOP getting into every part of our lives. When you read the details you may think that our govt is going into the venture capital business. They will actually get part of homeowners profits when they sell the house in question. So here we go again with another bailout... Who really pays for the bailout... Its you and I. Read some of the information below.

The Emergency Mortgage Loan Modification Act of 2008, HR 5579, would:

1. Establish a standard for loan modifications or workout plans for pools of certain residential mortgage loans;
2. Create a duty for the service's of such pooled loans to maximize recovery of proceeds for the benefit of all investors and holders of beneficial interests in the pooled loans, and not to any individual party or group of parties;
3. Deem the loan servicer to be acting on behalf of the securitization vehicle in the best interest of all such investors and holders if the servicer makes certain loss mitigation efforts for a loan in or facing payment default in the reasonable belief that such efforts will maximize the net present value to be realized over that which would be realized through foreclosure; and
4. Declare that, absent specific contractual provisions to the contrary, a servicer acting in a manner consistent with such duty shall not be liable to specified persons for entering into a qualified loan modification or workout plan for loss mitigation purposes.

The good new is that congress has initiated bipartisan foreclosure legislation..!!! What does that mean? It sounds like if they had not enacted this legislation If were democrat I get foreclosed on one way, repubs get it another way & heaven knows what happens to independents. (couldn't be good huh) Anyway it looks like there will be another group of bureaucrats looking to get paid and our overhead just went up again. Does it ever end?

gas prices?

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:47:52 -0500

Well could it be? Are price really going to drop to $3.00 a gallon? Most importantly are we going to get excited about it? This time last year if someone had told you gas would be $3.00 per gallon you would have bet the farm they would be wrong. Now look at us.... Actually ecited that gas may drop to that number!

So my question to you Realtors out there is a simple one? Have you curtailed your driving at all with gas prices soaring past $4.00? A Realtor friend of mine says he will not stop or ever slow down a little bit when it comes to showing houses. Back in the old days potential buyer would meet at the Realtors office then all get in his or her car/SUV and look at all the potential house available to this client. Of course now we are a generation of NOW and we stop everything to "service" this caller. Knowing nothing about them, no time to get to know them. We jump in our SUV so quick that when we get there we realize that these clients are years from buying a home. Lets use this gas problem as a time to get back to the old days of them riding with you or you riding with them. Lets use the time to qualify them. My favorite is lets go by the mortgage company together. Meet there lender or introduce to one of yours... Its just an idea. One worth some consideration. Think about it.... 2 or 3 hours to get to know them? Wow it could work. Lets hear some comments from you Realtors out there.

Richard Baggett

ok I want to buy some rentals

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:09:10 -0500

Who can give me some pointers? I own 12 rentals now but have squired them through foreclosures. I have never bought a house that I intended to use as a rental. Most of the ones I am looking at now require some TLC (as the listing agents always points out) How do you go about hiring someone to do the TLC? I am not very handy, I don't even own tools needed, couldn't use them if I did. So where is a guy like me to go for these handy men? I am in Louisiana, Calcasieu parish, Lake Charles, La. If you know of anyone that can help me please send me his or her information. I am into residential and commercial property so I could use someone on a pretty regular basis. My experience has been that its impossible to afford a general contractor so that's out. I guess I could paint but its hard for me to get excited about that even... Can you tell I need help! Don't be bashful call or write to me with suggestions.

Richard Baggett

Fannie Mae in trouble????? Not hardly

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:19:10 -0500

After reading some comments made by folks on the Mortgage Bankers Association website I couldn't help but comment. Some folks believe that the taxpayers are bailing out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. This is just not the case. In fact, the Treasury plan is simply a backstop to help restore confidence in the organizations. These backstop measures would support the capital the companies that are required to hold as protection in dire circumstances (keeping in mind that their regulator has already said they are currently well capitalized). Treasury's plan is comprised of two parts - a temporary increase in the existing line of credit the GSEs currently have with Treasury in the form of a temporary authorization for Treasury to buy stock and other obligations in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and additional oversight authority over the two companies by the congress and senate. Nothing to do with a bailout or a taxpayer-funded bailout. The companies already have a line of credit with Treasury (which they have not used), Treasury simply wants to make sure it is sufficient to serve as a backstop if needed. This is more like the small business that borrows more money during different seasons. Christmas, back to school, Easter etc. As to the stock purchase, if Treasury were to buy stock in the either or both companies, it would most likely negatively impact existing shareholders (and thus not be bailing anyone out). Keep goverment out of this and we will be much better off.

Great news on the home front

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:53:09 -0500

We got some great news this morning.....

U.S. Economy: Goods Orders Gain, Home Sales Exceed Forecasts

If you read Bloomburg we got you will see that orders for U.S. durable goods unexpectedly rose in June, and sales of new homes were higher than forecast, easing concern that the economic slowdown will worsen.

One of the factors helping is that bookings for goods made to last several years gained 0.8 percent and posted the first consecutive monthly rise since July 2007, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Great new for me as a mortgage lender is that new homes sold at an annualized pace of 530,000, exceeding the median forecast of 503,000 in a Bloomberg News survey. A private report showed consumer sentiment rose from a 28-year low, this is hugh!!!!

As you have all noticed from your 401K & other investments stocks rose and treasuries fell after the reports indicated the economy accelerated in the second quarter from the weakest pace of growth in five years. Economists had forecast that the slowdown would worsen by year-end as the impact of tax rebates fades and as job losses and rising consumer prices force households to cut spending.

``At the end of the day, we are going to avoid a severe recession,'' said a noted economist with at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut.

Friends tell me that gas prices are killing blue collar america & that we have to do something. So the new above is GREAT.

Richard

Real estate investments??? Is now the time?

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:49:41 -0500

Just as a "perfect storm" of various economic factors - the subprime mortgage crisis, weakening dollar, and rising inflation at a time when housing prices plummeted from their peak - contributed to the current housing outlook, another set of dynamics is now creating an upside for buyers. While most of the real estate news is focused upon the ominous clouds, another "perfect storm" of positive factors is conspiring to create a silver lining in the sector of the real estate market dedicated to income-producing properties.

Homeowners have begun to get realistic about pricing their listed homes. Whereas many were holding out for higher amounts at the beginning of the year, real estate agents report that sellers are now bringing their asking prices more in line with current appraisal values. Rather than trying to sell and make enough extra money to pay off extraneous debts like credit card balances, for example, homeowners are pricing property based on its own intrinsic value. A recent storm in our area had everyone thinkning there homes were worth unrealistic amounts however they are getting back in line now.

One of the most important sellers of single family homes this year happens to be lenders, because they have amassed a great deal of property due to an avalanche of foreclosure repossessions. Banks lose money when they hold on to such properties, and they are reportedly slashing prices aggressively. The homes that don't sell at foreclosure auctions are retained as so-called "real estate owned" or REO properties, and lenders have cut their asking prices for REO homes dramatically within the last several weeks.

But while the housing crisis is causing unprecedented numbers of homeowners to lose their homes - forcing many back into the rental market in search of housing - those who own income-producing rental property are experiencing a rare bull market.

As many as 40 percent of the foreclosures in some cities in the USA involve debtors who bought tenant-occupied rental houses, and savvy investors are now buying up those properties just as monthly rental prices surge.

That means that they can buy the properties at deep discounts but charge higher than normal rental fees.

As a result, they are able to realize positive cash flow. In essence they are buying homes and then letting their eager tenants pay the mortgage, which is a classic formula for investment success and high returns.

Prices have fallen in unlikely high-end markets such as NYC, for instance, and one of the most depressed markets within the luxury home market - Palm Beach, FL - is a prime example. Although the low end of that upscale market is in the millions, the discounts relative to normal pricing are extraordinary.

To maximize success when buying a rental property, experts offer these tips:

*It cost a little more but try to buy in neighborhoods primarily populated by owner-occupied homes, where few rentals are available. The added demand will help ensure a wider pool of tenants willing to pay higher rents.

*Its a good idea to aet aside an interest-bearing escrow account and put security deposits there for safekeeping to avoid the temptation of spending them.

*Those looking for retirement or vacation property can buy it as a rental and gradually convert it to a personal second home as retirement nears. Generally you have the mortgage paid down substantially.

*Hiring a professional management company to manage rental properties can save money in the long run BIGTIME. Its what they do, they do it better than you. Let them do it

*Property owners can tax-deduct management costs while avoiding the time-consuming and stressful business of hands-on management such as late-night emergency repair calls, monthly rent collection, and background checks for potential tenants.

*Ok never use home equity loans to buy a rental property, because it can lead to owing more on your home than it is worth.

7) Consider setting up a simple corporation to hold investment properties. That can help to shield an individual from legal liability, and can make it easier to qualify for tax deductions available to those who own income-producing properties.

8) Be sure to maintain adequate homeowner's insurance coverage, and encourage tenants to take advantage of an affordable renter's insurance policy.

In recent weeks the new listings for homes on the market have slowed to a crawl, which may indicate that the inventories will diminish as demand at current prices grows. The Fed has always insinuated that it may begin a long series of interest rate hikes to fight inflation, and that would inspire those buyers who have been sitting on the fence to go ahead and purchase. If those signs appear it may point to a market bottom and renewed traction for real estate.

Credit mistakes

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:50:09 -0500

Ok buying a home is getting harder since the credit crunch. So here are some tips on taking care of your credit and or improving it. This article is by Edward Jamison.

It's surprising how many consumers make the same credit scoring mistakes over and over again. In an effort to educate consumers on credit and credit scoring, we've compiled 5 common credit scoring mistakes into a list that defines each mistake and explains why they are bad and how to avoid them:

Credit Mistake #1: Closing Credit Cards Accounts

This is probably THE biggest credit mistake that consumers make. What you may find surprising is that closing credit card accounts can hurt your credit score almost as badly as missing a payment.

Not only is this the number one on the top five credit scoring mistakes, it's also number one on the list of credit myths.

Ironically, most consumers make this mistake based on poor advice from a mortgage lender as a strategy for improving their credit scores. A word of advice people, when you're dealing with something as sensitive as your credit and credit scores, make sure you do your homework before trusting some of these so called 'industry experts' before following through with their advice.

There are two important reasons why you should not close credit card accounts:

1. Eventually, the accounts will fall off of your credit reports - The information in your credit reports are subject to certain rules in regards to how long it can remain in the report. In most cases, credit information will remain in your credit reports for seven years from the account's DLA or date of last activity.

When an account is open, the DLA will continue to update each month and the open account will never reach that seven-year mark.

If you close the account, the DLA will stop updating and the clock will start ticking. Eventually the account will be completely removed from your credit reports.

Why would this be a bad thing?

It's simple - you never want to get rid of old, positive information in your credit reports. This information actually helps your credit scores.

Credit scores want to see this positive account information. They want to see your long, perfect history of making your payments on time because this information significantly helps your credit scores.

This information significantly helps your credit scores so why would you ever want that history to disappear? You wouldn't! Here's an analogy for you: let's say you made straight A's in high school. What if the record of that perfect scholastic accomplishment were permanently deleted seven years after you graduated? Would you ever want that history deleted? Of course you wouldn't. The same is true for the credit reporting environment.

So, what should you do with old credit cards that you don't use any longer?

What you don't want to do is to let the account become inactive. When this happens, the credit card companies aren't generating any revenue for your account.

Eventually they'll close the unused account because you're more of a liability than an asset. You can prevent this from happening by using the card every few months for low dollar purchases like dinner or a tank of gas.

When the bill comes in, just pay it in full. If you do this, it will ensure that the account will never be closed and you'll always get credit for your good payment history.

2. You could cause a spike in your revolving utilization and tank your scores - The percentage of your available credit in comparison to the debt you owe is a very important factor in calculating your credit scores.

This is often called "revolving utilization," or your debt-to-limit ratio.

For example, if you have an open credit card with a $1,000 credit limit and a $500 balance then you are using 50% of your available credit. This means that you are 50% utilized on this particular credit card.

Now lets add a second credit card to the mix.

Let's say you have another open, but unused credit card account with a $1,000 limit and a $0 balance. This would put your total revolving utilization at 25% because you have $2,000 in available credit limits and $500 in total balances.

If you divide your total balances by your total credit limits, you'll get your total aggregate revolving utilization: $500 divided by $2000 equals .25 or 25%.

So how will closing unused credit cards hurt your credit score? When you close an account, the amount of available credit decreases, which could result in a higher revolving utilization and lower your score.

Let's use the example from above and close the second unused credit card account. When you close the account, you remove it from any utilization calculation and now you're stuck with one open credit card account with a $1,000 limit and a $500 balance.

This caused your utilization to go from 25% to 50%.

Remember, you divide the total balance by the total available limit so $500 divided by $1,000 is .50 or 50%. As this percentage increases, your credit score decreases.

When you're talking about several unused credit cards with high limits, you can just imagine what closing credit card accounts could do. I've seen consumers go from a 10% utilization to almost 100% utilization because they closed all of their credit card accounts except the one they were currently using.

Big mistake.

Credit Mistake #2: Missing Payments

It doesn't take a credit scoring expert to tell you that missing payments is a bad thing. The only reason I made missing payments second to Closing Credit Card Accounts is because this one is a no brainer.

It shouldn't take a credit expert to tell you that missing payments is bad. Common sense should tell you that missing payments is bad. Credit scores are designed to predict how likely you are to miss payments in the future.

This means that they look at your credit history to view how you've managed all of your credit obligations.

Missed payments is the most powerful predictor of future late payments. The FICO score evaluates previous late payments in three different layers:

How Severe - How severe is the late payment? It doesn't take a statistician to tell you that a 30-day late isn't as bad as a 90-day late. The more severe the late payment, the more damaging it is going to be to your credit scores.

Consumers who have missed payments by a few weeks and then bring their accounts current score much better than consumers that have gone 90+ days past due. In fact, a 90-day past due is the threshold that will wreak havoc on your scores.

If you are unable to avoid a late payment, the next best option is to get those accounts current as quickly as you can.

How Recent - How long ago did the late payment occur?

If you've read some of my previous articles on credit scoring, you'll know that the last 24 months of your credit history are critical because the FICO score places more emphasis on your recent credit patterns.

This means that a late payment 6 months ago is going to carry much more weight than a late payment from 4 years ago. To recover from late payments it's important that you get current and stay current.

How Frequent - How often have the late payments occurred? Consumers that miss payments frequently are penalized much more severely than those that have missed a payment here or there in their past.

If you have a tendency to make late payments your credit scores will reflect your bad habits. Make your payments on time and you'll never have to worry about losing points in this category.

Credit Mistake #3: Settling Accounts

One of the most common mistakes consumers make is assuming that 'settling' with a lender is a great way to save a little cash.

Unfortunately, they don't realize what that a 'settled' indicator in their credit reports is actually derogatory.

"Settling" is a term used in the consumer credit industry that means accepting less than the amount you owe on an account. For example, if you owe a credit card company $5,000 but you can't pay them the full amount then they will likely make you a deal for less than that full amount. They have "settled" for less than the full amount, which is likely much less than you contractually owe them.

This may seem like a good idea because you save quite a bit of money but as far as the credit scoring models are concerned, this is just as negative as other severe late payments.

The only way to avoid the damage to your credit scores is to arrange a deal with the lender to report the account as 'paid in full' as opposed to 'settled'. If they don't agree then it's in your best interest to figure out how to pay them in full or else be prepared to suffer the damage to your credit for the next 7 years.

It's also important to understand that if the account has already made it to the collection phase, the damage is already severe and settling won't really make a difference. Settling is only an option if the account has already made it to a severe delinquency state.Â

Credit Mistake #4: High Revolving Utilization on Your Credit Cards

Most consumers believe that making your payments on time is all it takes to have good credit and earn great credit scores.

What they don't realize is that almost a third of your score is determined by how much you owe on your credit card accounts. If you have high balances on your credit card accounts, you're credit scores could be severely impacted by your revolving utilization.

In order to score the most possible points in this category, I advise keeping your revolving utilization at 10% or less.

Don't be fooled when you hear some of these celebrity experts telling you that 50%, 30% or even 25% is best.

While 30% is considerably better than 50%, 10% or less is ideal. The lower the utilization percentage, the better your score will be. (*To read more about revolving utilization and how it's calculated, please read the revolving utilization bullet in Mistake #1.)

Credit Mistake #5: Excessively Applying for Credit

Whenever you apply for credit your application gives the lender permission to access your credit reports. When they pull your credit reports, it automatically posts an inquiry in your credit record. This inquiry is a record of who pulled your credit report and the date it occurred.Â

Credit scoring models use inquires to determine if and when you shop for credit. Statistics show that consumers who have more inquiries are higher credit risks than those with fewer inquiries.

It is for this reason that the more inquiries you have, the more points you lose in the credit score calculation.

The exact point value of inquiries is a much argued topic and is impossible to give an exact point value because it really depends on all of the other information included in your individual credit file.

The best strategy would be to only apply for credit when you absolutely need to.

This means that you should avoid those in store offers of "10% off" in exchange for applying for a store credit card. This may sound like a great idea but the reality is that while you may save a few bucks on your purchase, those inquiries could end up costing you a lower credit score which could result in higher interest rates on auto or mortgage loans in the future.

There you have it. Now that you know the top 5 credit mistakes, you can avoid making the same mistakes that so many other consumers make.

FHA make some BIG changes

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:09:01 -0500

For the first time in its history, the FHA changed its funding fees and mortgage insurance structure this week. FHA-insured home loans are now subject to a risk-based pricing adjustment, as shown by the table above.

Because of risk-based pricing, FHA home loans are now more expensive for borrowers with less-than-ideal credit profiles, and less expensive borrowers with perfect ones.

Prior to the changes, most FHA borrowers paid an up-front fee of 1.500 percent, plus on-going annual mortgage insurance payments equal to one-half-percent on the amount borrowed.

FHA-insured mortgages have grown in popularity this year because, while the guidelines of other mortgage products have tightened, FHA program guidelines have remained loose. FHA allows 3 percent downpayments on purchases, for example, and allows "cash out" refinances to 95 percent.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do not.

For more information you can send us your questions to richardbaggett@absolutelowestrate.com or call us 337-494-5626

Lake Charles best places to live

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:20:57 -0500

Ok its offical. You can go to the CNN website and see it for yourself. Lake Charles was voted as one of the best places to work, raise a family & get a great job.

definition of a Rainmaker

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:31:07 -0500

rain·mak·er (rnmkr) n. 1. One who is believed to be capable of producing rain, as through magical or ritual actions. 2. One who is known for achieving excellent results in a profession or field, such as business, sales or politics.

I live in Lake Charles,La and today we are in no need of rain. Being in the mortgage, finance & real estate development business I can always use someone who fits the description of #2.

We have a small group of guys (we call our group Rainmakers) that meet each Tuesday bright and early (7:00AM) @ my office (which means I never get to skip or sleep in) Each week it never fail that there is something we can discuss. The group has one rule. Anything we talk about stays there. We go over financials company policies, handbooks, car allowances, travel reimbursements, banking arrangements, health insurance, dental, disability.... and the list goes on and on. Some of the group have actually gone into some partnerships together once they realized how closely there goals & visions were. Its amassing how close you get to people when you see them every week and take a stake in the future. Please do not confuse this with attending a chamber mixer (which I also attend) They have nothing in common, this small group of 8 sharing things that you would never share with a large group. If you have any interest in starting one feel free to call me (337) 540-1736 or e-mail. You will form a bond with these folks that is stronger than any networking will ever produce.

mortgage business is changing.....

Richard Baggett (AFI Mortgage) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:00:26 -0500

Well they said it would happen and I guess they were right. 6 months ago anyone with a pulse could buy a house. Now you actually have to qualify to buy the home of your dreams. Now you actually need a downpayment to buy a house. Now you actually need good credit to buy a house.

AFI is still the best place to begin. With 13 years in the same spot doing one thing (lending on homes) we have figured out how to get your loan placed. Don't leave something so importgant to chance. Call the pros who know

AFI Mortgage 337-494-5626