MortgagesUndressed

Stop spending that money on dark chocolate - the stats keepers have your number

Chip here for the full story, Chocolate chip that is..

Have you ever consumed from a dark chocolate fountain. They are very popular here. It’s worth the wedding reception just to endulge. Larry Cragun

A mortgage Company I worked for many moons ago has shrunk in size from hundreds to 10’s of loan officers. What happened to the hundreds? Where did they go?

They are selling loans and cars, loans and boats, loans and time share, loans and something else.

They love the big occassional loan. They are part timers. The should not be allowed to practice. They usually hook up with a broker that gives them a good share of the commssion. When rates go down, back they come to the mortgage office. Until then they are part time. You would not likely know this, but you should.

These part timers are a risk. They aren’t able to stay current on loan programs, rules, pricing, the market. They tend to overcharge. What the heck, they have another job. They also tend to gamble with rate locks. They don’t have a vested interest in long term relationships. It is just a part time job, rather than a career.

Stay away from these pseudo loan officers. Call a real estate agent you know is busy, ask him or her for a referral. They know who is serious, capable, and dependable. That is the loan officer you want.

Now I don’t mean to be cruel to these people. They have to live. Go buy your Mercedes from them.

Larry Cragun

I refer to it because it touches on something I have not. Reading it will explain why underwriters ask you for documentation. It explains why some mortgage companies go broke, and why some lending institutions are forced to merge. Click here for this great article. Larry Cragun

Here is a sample:

Dear God: Please don’t make me buy back mortgage loans I sold to Wall Street

Mortgage Blog News - Nearly $2 Trillion dollars of mortgage loans were sold to Wall Street investors as “mortgage backed securities” last year.

Many mortgage companies, particularly “sub-prime” mortgage companies are on their knees praying that they won’t have to buy back a good portion of those loans. When these loans are sold, there are buy back provisions for early default and “underwriting errors”.

With the run up in short term interest rates (most sub-prime mortgage loans are two year adjustable rate loans), the housing boom experiencing a “slow down”, and “stated income” mortgage loans beginning to crack, one begins to wonder who is holding their finger in the dyke. The pressure has got to be enormous by now.

Now you will find that this is not in English. I think its Polish. By listening carefully I could tell they were only saying 6 words. Stop those rates from going up. In Poland rates have risen to 12 per cent. Lar Click Here and practice your polish.

A father and son story that you will need your kleenex for. Submitted by Debbie Leavitt, a faithful 25.
[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay For their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in Marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a Wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and Pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars–all in the same day.

Dick’s also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back Mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. On a bike. Makes Taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much–except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester , Mass. , 43 years ago, when Rick Was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him Brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

“He’ll be a vegetable the rest of his life;'’ Dick says doctors told him And his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. “Put him in an Institution.'’

But the Hoyts weren’t buying it. They noticed the way Rick’s eyes Followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the Engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was Anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,'’ Dick says he was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.'’

“Tell him a joke,'’ Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a Lot was going on in his brain. Rigged up with a computer that allowed Him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his Head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? “Go Bruins!'’ And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the School organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, “Dad, I want To do that.'’

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described “porker'’ who never ran More than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he Tried. “Then it was me who was handicapped,'’ Dick says. “I was sore For two weeks.'’

That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,'’ he typed, “when we were running, It felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore!'’

And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly Shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

“No way,'’ Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren’t quite a Single runner, and they weren’t quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few Years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then They found a way to get into the race Officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the Qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?'’

How’s a guy who never learned to swim and hadn’t ridden a bike since he Was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick Tried.

Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii . It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud Getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don’t you Think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you’d do on your own? “No way,'’ he says. Dick does it purely for “the awesome feeling'’ he gets seeing Rick with A cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best Time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992–only 35 minutes off the world Record, which, in case you don’t keep track of these things, happens to Be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the Time.

“No question about it,'’ Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.'’

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a Mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries Was 95% clogged. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,'’ One doctor told him, “you probably would’ve died 15 years ago.'’ So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass. , always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father’s Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

“The thing I’d most like,'’ Rick types, “is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.'’

And the video is below….

or if having problems with the video above you can click here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE

Question: I have $5,000 more than required to put down on my new purchase. Should I use it for a lower loan amount or a lower rate?

Answer: This is why you need an experienced loan officer. The answer has some questions needed from you.

1- If the extra $5,000 puts you in a new level of mortgage Insurance rates: put it to the down payment. To explain: there are brackets that have an impact on the percent you pay for mortgage insurance: 3% down, 5% down, 15% down, and 20% down. Moving to a higher bracket is significant.

2- Sometimes you should do neither and leave it in reserves. Both from an underwriting perspective and from a prudent perspective having money in reserve is a priority. If you have reserves, ok, use the money honey.

3- If you plan on selling or refinancing in 48 to 72 months: put it to the down payment. Why? Depending on the day, lender, rate, and program the break even point is usually within this time period. Always have your trusty loan officer show you the break even point.

4- If you expect to keep the loan longer than the break even point, put it to the rate. This surprises some people. Here are the numbers. $250,000 loan: 6.25% interest: 30 year mortgage: a $5,000 reduction of loan amount saves you a whopping $25.44 per month. That same $5,000 going to buy a lower rate (points) would save $60.35 per month. (Again this number will vary from day to day, lender to lender, etc. The concept is the point here, the exact numbers you should speak to your lender about.

Larry Cragun

This little Kitten is a simile to how I feel. But oh how good the week has been. Click here and stay awake for 27 seconds more.

I found this site by the author making a comment last week. It is truly great Origami. Not sure what it has to do with mortgages or real estate, but hey, it is Saturday. Click and enjoy.

Why there not here? Because people sometimes do things backwards. PS a hint that isn’t on the other site…..Get approved by the Real Estate agents loan officer. Lar

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