jumbo: California's Stunning Bridge (Loan)
- 04/22/17 06:18 PM
California's Stunning Bridge (Loan)
It is 2017's peak buying season in the San Francisco Bay Area and many buyers in this competitive, low-inventory market face a challenge greater than just the inability to find the right house. For them, there's actually a more pressing dilemma. Before they can even put in an offer on the home of their dreams, they've got a home of their own to sell first.
But it's not as if these buyers have a concern they won't sell their current house or even get top dollar for it. On the contrary, they're quite sure that once it's listed for … (2 comments)
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jumbo: Consolidation Refinances Reign Supreme
- 04/18/17 07:18 AM
Consolidation Refinances Reign Supreme
"Someday I'd really like to see these loans together."
No, that was never a hit song in the '60's but it is a situation that we encounter frequently in the world of loan origination. It's a scenario that occurs where a homeowner has both a first and second mortgage and would like to consolidate the two into a single, usually fixed rate, loan. We'll call this a consolidation refinance for now, and we'll distinguish it from a "debt consolidation" refinance for the purposes of this discussion because a debt consolidation refinance usually implies combining the existing mortgage balance with … (1 comments)
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jumbo: Your Mortgage on Steroids
- 04/03/17 07:35 AM
Your Mortgage on Steroids
If you are self-employed and attempt to get a mortgage, you know it's tough to get a fair shake. It seems like lenders never give the self employed the benefit of the doubt. But what if you could have just ONE great year, instead of two, and then qualify for the loan you need?
With baseball season upon us, I thought it would be fun to look back to the illustrious "steroid era" of the late 1990's and early 2000's to show us exactly how we can "juice" your application and take advantage of some of the totally legal programs … (0 comments)
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jumbo: Finding Harmony in Unison
- 03/15/17 09:42 PM
Finding Harmony in Unison
Ever since the woebegone days of Greenpoint Mortgage's 400+ page rate sheet (and those who remember are laughing right now...) we in the mortgage lending industry have become accustomed to recognizing that not every borrower and not every scenario will fit exactly in the credit box. That's just been a reality of the post-Dodd-Frank era. Lending solutions rarely "check all the boxes" and I hear myself reminding clients, not infrequently, to "not let the perfect be the enemy of the good."
So you can imagine that when we start talking about jumbo loans and lower down payments AND … (3 comments)
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jumbo: 5% Down Jumbo: Good Things Come to Those Who Hustle
- 03/03/17 05:14 AM
5% Down Jumbo: Good Things Come to Those Who Hustle
"Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle." ~Abraham Lincoln
Here in California, and especially the San Francisco Bay Area, we have proudly earned a strong reputation for being able to deliver jumbo mortgage options to those who are buying homes with less than a full 20% down payment. The comments and testimonials are out there on Yelp, on LinkedIn, on Zillow. Now I know there is still a camp out there that think this can't be done, so I just want to warn these folks … (1 comments)
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jumbo: How to Not Get Burned When Financing a Flip
- 02/20/17 10:03 AM
How to Not Get Burned When Financing a Flip
"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Well, when buying a home, sometimes the heat permeates not only the kitchen but the entire joint because the home is considered a "flip." You mean like the proverbial burger flip? No, I'm talking about a flipped property.
A flip is a home that was recently sold to the current owner and quickly put back on the market. Just how short a span of ownership can be a matter of debate but we're going to limit the scope of our discussion to a time period of less than six … (3 comments)
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jumbo: Not Your Grandfather's Stated Income Loan
- 02/14/17 06:18 AM
Not Your Grandfather's Stated Income Loan
Stated income. No other phrase in the realm of home lending evokes as many good and bad memories, does it? For some --- mostly loan originators who wore an ethical stripe of a different color --- the days of the liar loans are fondly remembered as "the boom years." So too by their customers, suspecting or otherwise. Though in that case the "boom" signaled the implosion of their financial houses, often along with the four walls they inhabited.
But we're not going down that memory lane again today and we're definitely not talking about some no doc … (20 comments)
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jumbo: Foreclosure to the Edge
- 01/21/17 08:44 AM
Foreclosure to the Edge
Years ago, I felt the call of the mountains and dabbled in high altitude mountaineering. Man, I just loved the adversity of it all and the higher the peak and taller the challenge, the more I seemed to feel a sense of freedom and accomplishment upon having the experience. Once down from a summit, I would soon contemplate my next big adventure and often found myself referring to the French alpine rating scale to see what might be within the realm of possibility. Of course, in the language of love, even the deadliest of ascents had a nice ring … (4 comments)
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jumbo: There's Never Just One Cockroach
- 01/17/17 07:28 AM
There's Never Just One Cockroach
I mean you have to admit that as far as sayings go, the one in the subject line is just about perfect; short, funny, edgy and all too close to home for any of us who have ever called home someplace a little less than luxe. So it must be true that as we begin 2017, for every call I field where a prospective home buyer will say, "Well, I had a short sale a few years ago..." there are probably a hidden, greater number of those who, for whatever reason, just don't call. And by all means, … (24 comments)
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jumbo: Sigmund Freud & Low Down Payment Jumbo Mortgages
- 01/07/17 08:42 PM
Sigmund Freud & Low Down Payment Jumbo Mortgages
In psychology, projection is a form of defense in which unwanted feelings are displaced onto another person, where they then appear as a threat from the external world. Now in a minute, I am going to ask you to relax and tell me a little bit about how you feel about down payments. Specifically those that equal less than 20% of a home's purchase price. We'll analyze if you're projecting your own beliefs, right or wrong, onto reality.
Just for a little background, in mortgage lending, we are not immune from projection. This happens all the … (4 comments)
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jumbo: If It Was Easy...
- 01/04/17 05:44 AM
If It Was Easy...
As 2016 drew to a close, two seemingly unrelated events came together for me in the form of an unexpected realization. First, I did a careful review of my past year's production in order to measure progress, spot trends and recognize where improvement needs to be made. Second, I caught the broadcast of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship on TV.
So let's start with a little background on the more interesting of the two. Sometime back in the late '80's, I must have been watching TV with my dad on a lazy weekend afternoon … (19 comments)
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jumbo: 'Tis the Season for Gifts (and Gift Funds)
- 12/04/16 07:43 AM
'Tis the Season for Gifts (and Gift Funds)
As we come to the end of the year, we, here in Marin County, CA, tend to notice that purchase and sale activity can slip into "holiday mode" even if the weather outside is not particularly frightening. There's
not much inventory available for buyers to pick over --- and here in 2016 that implies an already slim market --- and sellers are reluctant to list a home for fear it will sit through Thanksgiving and Christmas and then appear "stale" come the New Year. In short, despite mistletoe, spiked egg nog and holiday cheer it … (5 comments)
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jumbo: One (Unit) is the Loneliest Number
- 09/18/16 07:41 AM
One (Unit) is the Loneliest Number
Have you noticed the convenient trend of pegging the millennial generation as either permanent couch surfers or hoodie-wearing, 20-something millionaires? Well, which is it? Are they going to be forever confined in impecunity to their parents’ basements or are they going to snap up that funky, San Francisco Victorian for $3+ mill with their stock payout, wall it off and inspire the envy of "The Social Network" himself?
The answer is, “I have no idea.” But a pattern I do see emerging is one where the economically viable
younger set, especially here in the San Francisco Bay … (2 comments)
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jumbo: Work Visa. Go Buy a Home With It.
- 08/14/16 09:19 AM
Work Visa. Go Buy a Home With It.
One of the many benefits of living and working in California’s San Francisco Bay Area (which includes the nine counties of San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano) is that we have a very vibrant employment environment. Indeed, the cutting edge high-tech, biotech, finance and other industries here attract the world’s best and brightest. But what happens when these same employees, who may not yet be US citizens or even permanent resident aliens (“green card”
holders), seek to purchase a home? Can a non-permanent resident alien --- someone … (5 comments)
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jumbo: Rent Back to Where You Once Belonged!
- 01/08/16 11:57 PM
Rent Back to Where You Once Belonged!
The last several years have witnessed “sellers’ markets” in many areas. For the uninitiated, this means that as a home buyer, it has been of utmost importance to present a strong offer to any seller in the hopes that it may be accepted over others that perhaps have fewer complicating factors. It would seem then that all sellers would benefit from this climate, however, circumstances change when some of those same sellers must immediately turn around and then become buyers themselves. One aspect of a home purchase that can bedevil the “move up” buyer has … (25 comments)
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jumbo: Jumbo Mortgages with 10% Down (80-10-10)
- 12/10/15 10:49 PM
Jumbo Mortgages with 10% Down (80-10-10)
In just a few days and post the mad scramble of the holidays, it will be a New Year. Yet here in the San Francisco Bay Area, even in late 2015, I encounter real estate professionals who, calling to vet a pre-approval letter I've written for a buyer, will say something to the affect of, "Uhhh, your buyer is only putting 10% down. Can they even do that?"
Of course the answer is "Yes!" But since some doubt still swirls around the topic, why don't we use the conclusion of this year to talk about a type … (2 comments)
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jumbo: Yesterday's News
- 08/28/15 12:48 AM
Yesterday's News
Does your own profession require that you stay on top of current trends? Is your skill set highly dependent on ever-changing data and fast-paced, underlying market dynamics? Do you get the sense that the general public has only the faintest idea of the vastness and complexity of what you do? Ever catch portrayals of your business in the news and guffaw at their inaccuracy or incompleteness?
If you answereed "yes" to any of the above, then you will likely relate to a phenomenon we frequently experience here in the mortgage industry.
Specifically, consumers are inundated with news flashes about interest rates, the Federal … (8 comments)
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jumbo: Happy Paper Trails to You
- 06/26/15 07:18 AM
Happy Paper Trails to You
If you want to realize, first hand, just how far the mortgage lending industry has gotten away from the days of the "Wild West," there is no single better way to do it than to hath the fury of an underwriter's scorn of your assets --- you know, the very bank statements, down payment funds, deposits and gift money that are integral to your home loan application. There's a new sheriff in town, pardner, and if you don't want to get hung at high noon when you go to get a conventional, jumbo or FHA loan, here's what you ought to … (25 comments)
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jumbo: Need a Jumbo Loan? Better Call in the Reserves
- 02/27/15 08:30 PM
Need a Jumbo Loan? Better Call in the Reserves
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Marin County, where I'm located, we tend to see a lot of loan amounts that exceed the conforming and high balance conforming loan limits (respectively, $417,000 and $625,500, in most local metropolitan statistical areas). And I'll be honest with you --- this has less to do with stereotypes (hoodie-wearing 25-year olds snapping up funky, $2MM+ Victorians with their handsome stock payouts), and more to do with median home prices that tend to hover around the million dollar mark for the Average Joe. Whatever the combination … (3 comments)
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jumbo: How Much Down Payment Do I Need to Buy a Home?
- 11/21/14 10:43 PM
How Much Down Payment Do I Need to Buy a Home?
As kids, there are just some things we all learn while we’re growing up:
Never drink soda after you eat Pop Rocks. Cracking your knuckles will give you arthritis. You’ll catch a cold if you go outside without a jacket. It takes a 20% down payment in order to buy your first home.
After having both a good laugh and some time to gain a little experience, we come to find out that things are not always as we believed when we were much younger. However, in … (5 comments)
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California's Stunning Bridge (Loan)
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