I’M CALLING MY OWN SHOTS! Plus a Few Others that the AR Gods Missed this Week 102311

Well, this week there were so many really great posts here in the rain by some of my fave bloggers as well as some newbie bloggers that I’ve recently come across.  First and foremost, I just want to give a shout out to my fellow rainers for their gold star features that I was happy to "call the shot" on them. 

Why do Underwriters feel the need to play GOD? by Ellie McIntire

Pre-Approvals Are Not Contracts . . . Why Spill the Buyers' Beans?!? by Carla Muss-Jacobs

One Data Entry Error Can Skew Neighborhood Market Reports For Years To Come by Cindy Jones

I am a REALTOR® … So Please Don't Be Offended If I Act Like One! by newbie blogger, Lisa Dunham

Are BPO Agents Bitter? Lazy? Dumb? by Karen Fiddler

Buyer's agents going the way of travel agents...I don't think so! by Andi Grant

 

These were excellent posts that had some really great comments, which is one of the best things I love about great posts.  With some posts, the comments can actually be better than the post.  Check them out. 

Then there were some other equally great posts that I suggested but that the AR Gods must have missed this week when they were bestowing those little gold stars.

First there was Tips to Successfully Obtaining a Mortgage in Today's Lending Environment by fellow MLO, Rodney Mason.  I liked this post because Rodney continues to do what we all we MLOs are trying to do everyday - educate the public as well as all the Realtors/agents here about the loan and underwriting process.

So much of the aggravation and frustration that so many buyers and their Realtors/agents experience is simply a lack of knowledge and experience on the requirements and process of a loan transaction.  So many times, I come across posts of Realtors/agents venting about how ridiculous underwriting requests have become and so much of what they are complaining about are actually standard program guidelines or lender overlays.  Yes, there is the occasional ego-maniacle, rogue underwriter who is thinks they're God but they're more the exception than the rule.

Yes folks, borrowers today are paying for the sins of yesterday's borrowers but whining about it isn't going to make them go away any time soon.  Guidelines and overlays are as stringent as they have ever been before - and rightfully so!  When you start loaning out your own money then you can make up your own rules but as long as your buyers are borrowing from someone else or if they have borrowed from someone else in the past then they will have to abide by those rules. 

If you don't like it and all the new rules and regs, then don't work with financed buyers anymore and only work with cash buyers.  In the meantime, get as educated as you possibly can on the loan process and start educating and informing your buyers as much as possible too!

Then there Norm Werner with his post, Does every deal have to be a struggle?.  This goes with one I was just saying.  Norm was complaining about how every deal is a struggle and underwriters are unreasonable and turn times are too long, blah, blah, blah.....  Yeah well, that's because your buyers are borrowing a lot of money from someone else and those people want to make absolutely certain your buyer is ready, willing and able to pay them back. 

That means documenting and verifying everything and then triple checking everything all over again.  This takes time and a boatload of paperwork and everything has to be done in a particular way and timeline - there's a process for doing this and we (MLOs) must abide by this process.

Once again, it's a $%^ that today's buyers have to pay for the sins of previous borrowers but that's just the way it is right now and probably will be for a long time so get over it and deal with it folks.  One way to help your buyers in this process - quit demanding that buyers use some big, national, retail bank because they're the ones that are the biggest problem - they have the worst service and longest turn times. 

Many borrowers these days as well as many transactions have special needs and need special considerations and those needs and considerations are not best served by the big, national, retail banks - never will be.  By sending your buyers to unlicensed bank reps who have neither the incentive, the authority, experience nor training to complete a loan transaction, Realtors/agents and their buyers are just setting themselves up as well as everyone else in the transaction for insanity and foolishness resulting in nightmare transactions. 

Next was 5 Myths About Working With Real Estate Agents by Erica Ramus.  Loved this post because Erica takes on disputing and refuting a bunch of crap that the media likes to spew about Realtors/agents and the real estate industry in general.

It's disheartening that Realtors/agents have such a poor reputation with the general public.  While there are most certainly a lot of Realtors/agents that warrant this horrible reputation, there are thousands and thousands of others who absolutely do NOT deserve this reputation and all the disrespect and distrust that goes along with it.  Hopefully, the good ones can educate and inform the public on how to find and hire the good ones so that they can also recognize the bad ones.

Then there was Scott Godzyk with his post, Are there any good BPO agents? Based on are all BPO agents Bitter? Lazy? Dumb?.  This was a rebuttal post to Karen Fiddlers featured post.  As I was just saying, there are some really great Realtors/agents there are some really bad ones and the same rule applies to BPO agents.

While I am sure that many listing agents and buyers agents have some valid complaints about BPO values that the bank is claiming that they received, I personally wouldn't be so quick to blame the BPO agents for these values.  Knowing what I know about lenders manipulating property values, I have no illusions that they aren't extending this manipulation to BPO values as well.  JMHO

Lastly, there was Do Not Buy A House! By newbie blogger Cliff Keith.  While I can't know what it's like for others in their own market, I do know what it's like for my borrowers here in Los Angeles & Ventura counties and for many of my borrowers, spending six months trying to get into escrow is not uncommon.  Thank goodness most of them have Realtors/agents who know and understand this and are willing to continue to work with them as long as it takes.

As I was saying earlier, many buyers have special needs and considerations and these needs and considerations are going to be harder to meet in certain types of markets.  The market here in Los Angeles & Ventura counties is a tough market for certain types of buyers in the low-end (400k

For buyers on these properties, it's not uncommon to make several offers on numerous properties before finally getting one accepted.  Furthermore, staying in escrow is a whole other issue with many properties falling out because of condition.  All that being said, spending more than six months looking for a property is not all that unusual and it takes a patient and understanding Realtor/agent to stick with these types of buyers.  I'm glad that there are still Realtors/agents out there who don't give up on my borrowers.

 

As always, I love "calling the shots”.  I’m pretty picky and selective about whom I suggest.  I intentionally highlight my fave bloggers and then I look for new bloggers or bloggers that aren’t on the feature board every other day.  Anyone can suggest all the popular bloggers but finding the hidden treasures and gems is so much better.  I hope you check them out and enjoy them as much as I did.

 

 

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Donne Knudsen
Mortgage Loan Originator - C2 Financial Corp.
NMLS# 249822   /   DRE# 01364050
805.2069123

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Serving low-medium income individuals and families as well as first time buyers with their mortgage needs including down payment assistance

Los Angeles County  --  Ventura County

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