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GET OUT OF FLORIDA NOW!

Part of my job as a Mortgage Broker in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida (Northern Palm Beach County) is dealing with Wholesale Account Executives from Direct Lenders. When you having been in the Business as long as I have, you become friendly with many of these people. Once friendly with these Account Executives they try to look out and help their better Mortgage Professionals by giving them update to information from within their Banks/Investors.

This Account Executive works for a major Bank whose majority of the business comes from Conforming Loan Products (Fannie Mae).

The phone call went something like this:

AE: Hey Matt how are you?

ME: Can't complain and if I could who would listen?...ha ha

AE: Matt we know each other for a while and your files are always clean.

ME: Yes........

AE: Can I give you some friendly Advice?

ME: Sure.. You know I always respect your opinion

AE: GET OUT OF FLORIDA! If you want to make a living!. News from higher ups is they are really going over every loan in Florida and California with a fine tooth comb. These files better bet 100% perfect with absolutely NO risk to us. We where told that we are not canceling lending in Florida or California but we are not actively looking to lend in these area's either.

ME: I understand and thank you for letting me know. However, please keep in mind the bulk of my business comes from ALT-A, Sub-Prime, Hard Equity, Private Money and Commercial None of which are Fannie Mae Products.

AE: Oh well in that case you are a head of the game and you should be fine. People who are only doing these products really need to expand out into other areas.

Now what is really scary about this conversation is, this is not the only phone call I have received from Direct Lenders. Being in the industry as long as I have been I have made many contacts with different individuals that have moved their way up the corporate structure of the Lending Industry. I have now had this conversation with many of my contacts at Direct Lenders.

Please keep in mind that this is not just targeted at the Wholesale Side of the business.(Mortgage Brokers) This goes for every-side. If you plan on going in to your local Bank and applying for a Mortgage this will effect you directly as well. Fannie Mae guidelines remain the same know matter who does the loan.

My advice to my readers is this. When applying for a Mortgage make sure the person you are working with is a true professional and as always has the ability to broker your file if necessary. This will ensure you will have the best options and the ability to close your loan.

As Always:

For More Mortgage Advice: Mortgage Advice in South Florida

Posted by Matthew J Blum - MyFavoriteMortgage.net on 01/20/2008 11:38 AM

Comments (31)

fannie mae, mortgage advice in south florida

This post has been included in Florida Information Palm Beach County, FL Information Palm Beach Gardens, FL Information

31 Comments on GET OUT OF FLORIDA NOW!

JAN

2008

great message, this is why our little community here on AR is so important to business - we can find people like you providing the information and making a difference for all of us... thanks

Thesa, I agree the community here on AR is great for support and it keeps everyone informed. Thank you

Gotta love that friendly advice. LOL Good advice, Matthew.

Missy, Thank you... Don't you love those phone calls.

Hey Matt,

Sorry to say this, but even though Fannie Mae's guidelines may stay the same, they are changing their qualifying loan criteria all the time. Borrowers with 679 credit score that would have gotten a DU Approval 1 year ago are now getting Expanded approvals in some cases. They have and will continue to clamp down and change the criteria.

Matt,

Good info here,,,,I'm sure people will see it your way.

Thanks for the post today.

Patricia Aulson/Hampton NH Real Estate

Jim, I know you are right it amazing because really a 679 is not a bad score but now the client will have to pay a lot more in rate because of that. Thank you

Neal, It is just going to be tougher to go through Fannie in Florida right now

Patricia, My pleasure.

As you know,....my prioritites are local lenders and preference to refer are mortgage brokers. The majority of mine are VA and truth be told...a broker ....will still get the best deal for my client.

Matt, This has been going on for awhile. I've written a couple of posts about lenders not wanting to do loans in Poinciana. Every time I write about this I get folks telling me they can't do that, it's redlining and blah blah blah....Fact is they can and they do deny loans because of high default areas all the time. Folks that think they don't have their head in the sand. I'm sure Florida is on many lenders hit list.

Hi Matt...

Please forgive the intrusion on this post...

I am stalking Blog Boy :)

TLW...ROAR!

Matthew- Thanks for the info. It sounds strange because we are closing deals with FHA and conventional loans here. Not a good rap for Florida, but we will still make it through this too. Katerina

Matt-great post and very true...that is why its so important for realtors to get buyer's approved for a mortgage before toting them around in their cars. Can't say it inspires you much when you have these types of conversations with the lenders.

Sally, Great minds always think alike...:-)

Bryant, You are 100% right they are really looking at everything today when it comes to Florida.

TLW, No problem Please stalk away..:-)

Katerina, I am not saying nothing will close in Florida. I am just letting you know that the files really have to be clean and perfect. This is why I enjoy being a Broker because not everyone has a clean file or a perfect file.. This way I can offer my clients choices and Realtors back financing incase something falls through. This way we still close on time.

Midori, I would rather have these conversations ahead of time so I know what to expect.. I don't like bad surprises..:-)

JAN

2008

Matt, Thanks for sharing your conversation. It's a bit scary to think what this might mean to real estate in Florida. However, it's the consumer who really makes the decision. The money will follow.

Dan, Yes and no. I am not sure in this case the money will follow that quickly. I believe it is still going to get tighter in Florida for conventional financing.

I think by making it even harder for people here is not going to help the problems we still face in our market but I can't control your end of the products available.

Matt,

When you love what you do, you keep doing it. Stay put, and bloom where you're planted.

Mike in Tucson

Matt,

Thank-you for the post. Are you seeing alot of people leaving the mortgage business there? We are here in West Tennessee. I guess it is getting harder to do enough business with standards tightening.

Thanks for sharing this information. Just one more reason not to do particular loans for particular people in FL. (that was nice and cryptic ;-)

Neal, I agree with you by making it harder is not the answer. I think the use of common sense should be used more.

Mike Jones, Oh I am staying.. I know my pipeline still has loans in it.

Mike Frazier, I see more people leaving the business here as well. The problem is when people did not have a good foundation (book of business) and relied on leads they are the ones leaving the business.

Matthew, I just don't get it sometimes when they choose to make it harder for people especially when the end loan makes sense. I am doing a refinance now with the client in an option arm and getting ready to re-cast and moving the client into a 30 year fixed where the payment is locked and almost the same as the minimum payment was on the option arm. This is a no cash out refinance and they are making this client jump through hoops because of Fannie Mae.. I tell you what I don't like Fannie that much

Matt,

Are you seeing appraisals tighten up over the past 6 months? We see many folks moving to SC from FL because of the taxes, insurance and the cost of living in many areas down there.

John, The appraisers are really having a very tough time of it now. I know they are trying to work on property taxes here. But many people fail to relize we don't have a state income tax and therefore the money has to come from some place. I know in KY to register you car is very expensive but the taxes are lower so it still is a wash.

Matt - The way I look at it is as long as you guys have have beautiful beaches and warm weather there will always be people who will want to live in FL!

I hope 2008 will be a great year for you.

John

John, You are right we do have great weather and people have always wanted to live here. It will bounce back. Thank you

JAN

2008

that was interesting - loans should always be looked at with a fine tooth comb - at any time and in any state -

Bill & Barbara, This is true but right now Florida and California have such a bad reputation that they are really looking at these loans very closely.

JAN

2008

based on your business structure, that means you're staying, right?

you've got litttle league soon.

i'm in the cape coral area and we still have adequete sources, but i find myself keeping a closer watch on the lender/investors.

JAN

2008

Jay, First practice is today..:-) It is just a little scary if you need Fannie to close loans.

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