DEAR VAL: Mortgage Loan Officer Concentrating on Shelby County & Birmingham, AL

My week was great, I closed three mortgages and then today...somebody dropped the ball.  There are many people in a transaction and each person has a specific role to play.  From the time the first ink is on the paper until funding, the chain cannot break. Whether chosen by the realtor or myself,...

WISTERIA, SHELBY COUNTY'S BEST KEPT SECRET  Valerie Springer, Benchmark Mortgage Preferred Lender for Wisteria The homes of Wisteria are built exclusively by Wisteria Development Company, LLC and A.J. & Sons Construction, LLC - companies committed to designing communities and neighborhoods that s...

I was talking with a realtor in my area earlier.  She had spoken with a few other prominent realtors and builders and they had all encountered people that thought there was no money to lend.  One of the realtors children even thought they could not be approved for a loan and had mentioned renting...

First time homebuyers still have the $7500 tax credit available in 2009, when they file their income taxes if they close before December 31.  This credit is interest free and paid back over 15 years.  If your client usually gets back $500 they would get back $8000. There are other specifics that ...

Friday evening about midnight, I was watching the news as all of the World Leaders were arriving at the White House to meet and discuss what global changes could help our sinking economy.  I was thinking of the conversations I had during the week. Many believe for the next 18 months we will have ...

Today has been simply lovely!  We started the morning off with church, went to lunch with the family and some friends and then decided to go see the movie Fireproof.  I have been married 27 years to a wonderful man that has never failed to let anyone know that I was the love of his life and it st...

Today was a sad day for a purchaser, realtor and myself.  I had to decline a great loan because of the adjusted gross income.  A few months ago investors would have been happy to loan money with these credit scores and years of self-employment.  Today, that just doesn't happen.  Here are the deta...

There are five reports coming out this week that could move mortgage rates.  Three will have a moderate  and two will have a high impact on rates. The first two due out on November 13 will have be the ones to have a moderate impact on rates.  They are Balance of Trade and Jobless Claims (Initial)...

Forrest Gump was not an Einstein...What would he do if he were a realtor or loan officer in today's market?  Sometimes I think we are all to eager to show our knowledge and impress people with our certifications, titles  and accomplishments.  Of course we need to do our part to be educated and kn...

With the news of the lost jobs, the FED would normally cut interest rates to help boost our economy, but with a FED funds rate at 1%, where is the room to cut again and what impact will this have on interest rates? We were expecting a loss of jobs to be around 200k but the numbers were far worse ...