Home Finance
Advice and up-to-the-minute information on new laws and opportunities in financing your new home.
Recommended Lenders
Will Nesbitt -- principal broker of Condo Alexandria / Nesbitt Realty
I’m often asked for recommendations for financing. First-time home buyers often don’t know where to begin, but even veteran purchasers like to know who I suggest. This is also important for relocation buyers. Condo Alexandria\ Nesbitt Realty never makes any money off of loans and our only goal is to see that your transaction happens smoothly and at the lowest cost. My recommendations are based on direct experience, so this list only includes folks I know personally.
One distinction for first-time buyers: a mortgage broker is a company that arranges for loans with lenders. Mortgage brokers don’t technically make the loans, rather they get a cut from the bank for finding borrowers. Mortgage bankers actually loan the money. Mortgage bankers usually have good prices. Mortgage brokers with low overhead can sometimes beat the banker’s price. On the other hand, mortgage brokers without a conscience can hammer the consumer. In other words, mortgage brokers often have more discretion on their price.
Condominium Mortgage
Condominium Mortgage is a mortgage broker in Alexandria VA. Although we used to send the bulk of our loans to Condominium Mortgage and American Affordable Mortgage, many of the lenders that provided loans to to these Condominium Mortgage have gone out of business. This company now focuses on buyers with top-flight credit and bankable incomes, providing discount loans for high-end buyers.
Alexandria Financial
Dillon Lee runs a nearly one man brokerage in Alexandria VA. Dillon has years of experience and can help all types of buyers. He specializes in keeping his overhead low to pass savings on to consumers. You won’t always get Dillon the first ring, but once he answers he is a great loan officer. Call him at 703 360 8868.
Don Bucci
Don Bucci is a friend of mine dating back more than 25 years ago to my time in the Army. Don works for a mortgage banker with an office in Richmond VA where he resides. Don can sometimes beat Northern VA prices because of lower overhead working in Richmond. On the other hand, Don can’t meet with you personally if you’re buying a home in Northern VA. His number is 804 400 0864.
Kelly Garant
Kelly works for Wells Fargo. I think the “big boy” banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America often have great prices, but it’s tough to get an experienced and accountable loan officer for these big banks. (Tip: NEVER call the 800 number for a mortgage.) You can get Kelly at 703 442 5338. She works for the big bank but you’ll get the service you expect from a small lender.
James Thompson
James is fairly new to my acquaintance but he’s impressed me with his attention to detail, pricing and work ethic. James works for AmericaHomeKey, Inc. You can call him at 240 499 1140.
A few suggestions from Patsy Woods
Patsy has had dealings with the lenders above, but has also had good experience with these lenders.
your realtor
- Lila Manley — Senior Mortgage Banker Pinnacle Mortgage Group 877-716-9006 Ext 872
- Gregory Williams — Home Mortgage Consultant, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage 7620 Little River Turnpike, Suite 300, Annandale, VA 22003, (703) 333-5560
- Kenneth A. Cyr, CMPS Mortgage Banker, Mortgage Planning Specialist, Asst. Manager Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 101, Springfield VA 22151. Call him at 703.426.6968
A few more tips …
Credit Unions promise great rates but there is often a funding fee or other fee that basically makes the price the same as a mortgage broker or mortgage banker. The trouble is the service at credit unions is often poor.
Above all, we’re I’ve seen the biggest problems is with out-of-the-area fly-by-night Internet lenders who hang customers out to dry after promising a great rate.
Recently, I’ve also seen a pattern of delayed closings with Bank of America. Bank of America has had an influx of business since the onset of the financial crisis and they don’t appear equipped to handle the volume of loans they are trying to do.
Will Nesbitt is the principal broker of Condo Alexandria / Nesbitt Realty.
Applications for Loans Fall
Applications to purchase homes declined 3.3 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey.
On an unadjusted basis, the purchase index increased 18.9 percent compared to the previous week, which included Labor Day, but was 38 percent lower than the same week a year ago.
Mortgage rates declined slightly compared to the previous week:
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.44 percent from 4.47 percent;
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.88 percent from 3.96 percent;
- 1-year ARMs increased to 6.96 percent from 6.89 percent.
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (09/22/2010)
Housing Affordability: A Possible Good Omen
Four-leaf clover
Amid all the media reports on how housing is still “in the tank,” one piece of news seemed to have escaped many of the pundits. Housing affordability could possibly reach an all-time high of near 200 in the second half of this year. That is, a household making the median income would have twice the income necessary to buy a median-priced home in America. To date, NAR’s housing affordability index reached an all-time high of 184 back in early 2009. It was only slightly above 100 during the housing bubble years, meaning that qualifying income barely met the requirements to buy a home even with a 20 percent down payment (if not using teaser-rate, funny/toxic mortgages). Historically over the past 40 years, the average affordability index was 118.
The principal reason for the expected record high housing affordability index reading is the rock bottom mortgage rates of 4.4 percent on a 30-year fixed rate. Add to that modest gains in the average wage rate, which rose 3 percent in 2009 and is up 1.2 percent this year-to-date in spite of the high unemployment rate. Consider now versus then when home prices were at their “bubble” peak in 2006.
shiny penny
Of course, like all things “real estate,” affordability is local as well. There will be considerable local market variations in affordability conditions. Remember that one of the main components of NAR’s affordability index is home prices. Some markets encountered only minimal price declines while others
such as Las Vegas experienced a 60 percent nose dive. Still, on a nationwide basis, the affordability conditions have risen to compelling levels.
However, if a sizable number of people view – rightly or wrongly – that home prices will fall further and raise the affordability levels to even higher levels, then homebuying will continue to remain soft. That will lead to a further build up of inventory and thus hold back a true price recovery. The price decline potential was evident in July’s housing data. Existing-home sales plunged 27 percent to 3.83 million seasonally adjusted annualized units – their lowest level since 1995. Even though there was little change in inventory (with 4 million homes available for sale), the actual months’ supply of inventory rose sharply to 12.5. The sales decline reflected the aftermath of taking the stimulus medicine away. For nearly all of June, homebuyers knew they had to close the deal by the end of June to qualify for the tax credit. Therefore – and naturally – people rushed in to close in June and not wait till July. Qualitative REALTOR® member survey data about recent homebuyers suggest that investors, all-cash buyers, and buyers of expensive homes stayed in the market in July, but first-time buyers did not.
rainbow
Going forward, home prices may fall, although I doubt in any meaningful way. Even if they do decline, there is no guarantee that affordability conditions will improve. Again, the principal reason for our current exceptionally high affordability conditions is lower mortgage rates. If prices were to fall 10 percent but mortgage rates creep up to 5.4 percent, then the affordability conditions could actually worsen.
As for home sales, there are far fewer people in the pipeline to buy a home in the immediate months after the tax credit expiration.
Consequently, expect continuing low sales at least through autumn. But sales should slowly come back because of the high expected affordability conditions. Winter months are generally slow ones for home sales. If sales this coming winter matches up with past “normal” winters, then it would be a good sign that the housing market is getting back on track to normal sales levels. If sales this winter remain 20 to 30 percent lower than normal, then we are looking at trouble with high inventory stuck at a double-digit months’ supply. Remember that the months-supply figure is also impacted by the raw count of homes listed for sale. Since inventory generally declines from summer to winter, the months’ supply will steadily fall, hopefully to 8 or 9 months, and close to the level consistent with continuing price stabilization. For example, inventory fell by 600,000 to 800,000 from July to December in each of the past 3 years. If a similar decline occurs this year and home sales slowly bounce back to 4.5 million (annualized sales) then we can have continuing price stabilization.
A compelling argument can be made about the best affordability conditions, but it will be for naught if consumers lack confidence. Confidence in turn will be directly impacted by the general direction of the economy. Unfortunately, the economic recovery is coming to a virtual halt. GDP growth rates in the past three successive quarters were: 5.0%, 3.7%, and 1.6%. The upcoming GDP growth rates could be even lower figures. (If it turns negative for two straight quarters, then another fresh recession is at hand). At such tepid growth rate the unemployment rate could well reach 10 percent. GDP growth in a post-recessionary environment should be 5 percent or better, not only to start growing but to compensate for the recessionary downfall.
Entrance to the Jamieson Condominium
The weak economic expansion means that the job market will continue to look bleak and the unemployment rate could top 10 percent. This does not mean the country is necessary losing jobs on net right now. There have in fact been 763,000 private sector job creations from the beginning of the year to August. The soft economic expansion just means that the job creation pace is too slow to accommodate the rise in the labor force, particularly the recent high school and college graduates looking for work, aside from the need to fully re-hire the near 8 million job losses that occurred in the 2008 and 2009 recession. In a normal good year, there would be 2.5 to 3 million annual private sector job gains.
The homebuyer tax credit appears to have done its job in preventing home price over-correction. NAR prices show stabilizing pattern for the past 12 months while Case-Shiller price data show stabilizing patter for the past 18 months. We’ll still need to wait several more months to get a definitive gauge on price stabilization. At this point, we’ll see how the housing market behaves in the absence of the stimulus medicine. As with any sectors in the economy, it is very unhealthy to be dependent on government help for a long period. Compelling affordability conditions and some job creations are a move in the right direction and we have to just allow some time for these factors to work their way into the system. But an important question that will linger is of when consumer confidence will genuinely return to close on the deal.
by Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist
BofA: Mortgage Business Is on the Mend
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told investors on Tuesday that its mortgage business is improving as more customers go back to borrowing, but it is still feeling the pain of bad loans.
“We now have to get through a million and a half customers we have [who are] seriously delinquent over the next three years,” he said.
The effort is taking 20,000 workers and hired contractors, he said, which is driving up the cost of business.
Moynihan said the key to higher bank profits is to get customers to use more bank services. The bank’s research showed that the bank earned seven times more money when it got banking customers to cross over from banking to investment services to borrowing.
Source: The Associated Press (09/14/2010)
Home Purchase Applications Decline
The number of applications for mortgages to purchase homes declined 0.4 percent last week compared to the previous week on an adjusted basis, probably because the Labor Day holiday took people’s minds off home shopping.
On an unadjusted basis, the purchase index declined 21.9 percent compared to the previous week and was down 39.7 percent compared to the same week a year ago.
Overall, mortgage applications, including applications to refinance, decreased 8.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the previous week and were down 27.4 percent on an unadjusted basis.
Mortgage rates remained low:
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.47 percent from 4.50 percent.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.96 percent from 4 percent.
- 1-year ARMs decreased to 6.89 percent from 7 percent.
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association (09/15/2010)
Loan Documentation Fraud
Loan Documentation Fraud includes providing inaccurate information when applying for a loan to purchase property. Common information that is altered is income, assets, employment status, etc. This allows the buyer to get a lower rate and better loan terms. Other types of this fraud include forging someone else’s information, or pretending to be a financial institution so a down payment can be collected. As soon as this happens they disappear. Never falsify information when applying for a loan, even if you are encouraged to do so by another party.
Short Sale Schemes
This real estate scheme usually happens when the borrower owes more on the property than the current value. The borrower then pretends they have a financial hardship and can not make any more payments. Someone, an accomplice, who is working with the borrower submits a low offer to buy the property. The lender agrees with the short sale not knowing that it was all a set-up. The property is usually resold immediately for the actual value for a profit. If you suspect real estate fraud you can make a report with stopfraud.gov.
photo credit: TheTruthAbout…
Illegal House Flipping
“Flipping” a home is when you purchase property as an asset then quickly re-sell it for a profit. There are different types of flipping. Generally, flipping is legal. However, there has been an increase in illegal flipping. This is when a recently purchased property is re-sold for an inflated value. Usually only small cosmetic improvements have been made before re-selling it. This scheme involves the appraiser, a mortgage originator and the closing agent. The real estate appraiser is the key player, because for this scheme to work the property has to be appraised for more than it is worth.
The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice governs real estate appraisers. If you suspect a flipping scheme you can contact them before making any real estate decisions.
Owner Financing Can Expedite Sales
Owner financing can help sell a property even in this challenging market.
Banks generally are willing to accept rent credits for an option to buy as an acceptable down payment, but both buyers and sellers must follow these guidelines for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to sanction the transaction.
The rental amount must be determined by a property appraisal with the credit for the down payment clearly calculated as the difference between market rent and actual rent paid for 12 months. For instance, if market rent is $1,000 and rent paid is $1,200, $200 could be credited monthly toward the down payment.
The rent/purchase agreement must be for a minimum of 12 months. The contract must clearly specify a rental amount as well as the portion to be credited toward the purchase.
The buyer will need copies of canceled checks or money order receipts for 12 months, proving rental payments to persuade the bank to credit the funds toward the down payment.
Source: Creative Investor, Rodney Williams (08/23 2010)
