Why aren't there CARTORS® to help you buy a car when we've got REALTORS® to help us buy houses??? Buying a car is worse than having all of my finger nails and toe nails ripped off with pliers. As I sit in the finance office after 5 horrible hours with someone you wish would burst into flames I really would prefer that my fingers and toes were bleeding and throbbing rather than sitting there. You KNOW you've just gotten ripped off and you already HATE your salesman. You haven't even driven your new car off the lot yet.
Right up there with buying cars is reading book-length mortgage documents. My grandmother always told me to read EVERYTHING before you sign it. You would think that reading would give you comfort. It makes my buyers (and me!) feel as comfortable as the TV drug commercials that say the possible side effects are death, coma, cancer, your intestines and bowels falling out, blindness, loss of taste and hearing and on and on...
THANK GOODNESS HUD is forcing some changes to the good faith estimate (GFE) and fees. If it's hard for me when I get a another mortgage I cringe for my buyer as I remember how horrible the mortgage shopping experience was my first time.
What a blessing that mortgage broker pricing is going to be more transparent. It's only fair. What I get paid is right there on the HUD and on the Listing Agreement before we ever get a buyer. There's no trick math and I can't get a couple extra percent here and there no matter how hard I work.
The YSP or Yield Spread Premium is like a bad word in a church. Nobody is going to say it or talk about it even though our buyers are all asking us about it (even though they don't know the term "YSP.") Embedding the YSP in the interest rate is sneaky. When I got my first mortgage I didn't care if the broker got paid $3,000 or $6,000 but I HATED feeling like I was getting jerked around. It's the secretiveness that is upsetting. Everybody deserves to make a good living so they should get paid what they charge. Just tell me straight out how much it is.
The YSP can add up big. A $400,000 mortgage is pretty standard in the Keys for a starter home. When my buyer talks to brokers he gets all confused when one quotes him 6%, no points, the other quotes him 6.25% and 1.5 points and the last one quotes him 5.75% with 2 points. Buyers assume points are the commission so let's just make it uniform. Just say, "I get $6,000 to get you this money at this great rate." If it is a good deal people pay it without complaint.
Deceptions make our industry look bad which makes my job harder than it has to be. Let's all just do business above board and the right way. I don't want to be lumped in with car salesmen when I tell people I'm a REALTOR®
I'm happy the Federal Reserve Board will require that a broker and borrower agree in advance to compensation. This will be good for everyone in the business. HUD's new rules say that YSP must be a line item on the new GFE under the heading "Our Service Charge." Points are a separate line item. "Your Adjusted Origination Charge" is the "Our Service Charge" plus other charges and credits. It's pretty simple and I think buyers are going to like it. The good mortgage brokers who are upfront and ethical should have no issues with the new rules. Let's end mortgage broker deception for good!
You can find me in the Florida Keys and Key West at (305) 522-1398 or e-mail me at MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com.
Maya M. Thomas
REALTOR®
(305) 522-1398
MayaMarieThomas@Hotmail.com.com
www.ShowcasePortfolioProperties.com
www.myspace.com/topkeysrealtor
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