Is There Such a Thing as a Perfect FICO Score?

There are those who strive to get their credit scores as high as possible. Even way beyond the minimum FICO credit score for many home loan programs. Some programs that ask for a minimum FICO score of say 720 or 740 are above the minimum scores for other programs such as 680 or even 620. […]

What Is a Flood Certificate and Do You Need One?

If you’re going to buy a home and get a mortgage, you’ll need a flood certificate, often referred to in the mortgage biz as a flood cert. You won’t be able to get financing without one. A flood cert isn’t very expensive at all, probably the least expensive items borrowers are expected to pay. Even […]

Down Payment Secrets for Homeownership

The down payment to buy a home is typically the biggest obstacle, especially for first time home buyers, when thinking about buying a home. We can talk over the phone about how much you might qualify for and I can quote monthly payments based upon a particular loan amount, but the down payment is the […]

How to Explain an Income Gap

Most mortgage program guidelines follow the “rule of twos.” So what do you do when you have income gaps? Loan approvals require a lender to verify at least two years of employment. For self-employed borrowers, two years of self-employment is required and verified with at least the last two year of federal income tax returns. […]

What Are Loan Conditions and Will it Affect My Rate?

Loan applications go through several stages before loan documents are actually printed. There’s the initial submission and documentation stage. It’s here where the loan officer reviews the application before submitting the loan through the automated underwriting system, or AUS. The AUS digitizes the application and runs it through an online app where a list of […]

How to Finance a Mixed-Use Property- It’s Easier Than You Think

In real estate, a mixed-use property is one that contains both residential as well as commercial space within its interior walls. A commercial property is an income producing property and can be as varied as a gift shop to a doctor’s office. To finance a commercial property, a commercial loan is needed. These loans are […]

Applying for a Private Loan: How to Qualify

Qualifying for a private loan, sometimes referred to as a “hard money loan” might be easier than you think. Private loans are a critical part of the real estate industry. Without private lenders, many profitable opportunities would fall by the wayside as conventional lenders determine a particular project falls out of their lending guidelines. Private lenders […]

Are There Benefits to an Impound Account?

Impound accounts, also called escrow accounts in some parts of the country, are set-aside accounts used to pay property tax bills and insurance premiums when due. Each month when someone makes a mortgage payment and there is an impound account set up, 1/12th of the annual tax bill and 1/12th of the insurance premium are […]

What is a Guaranteed Loan: USDA, VA and FHA

Have you heard the term “guaranteed loan?” It’s possible, but it’s mortgage industry parlance that describes a specific feature of a mortgage program. There are three such programs and they’re all guaranteed loans to some degree by the government. It’s a government-guaranteed loan and there are three of them. The three are the VA, FHA […]

How to Know When to Buy and Stop Renting

Let’s face it, there are some very real advantages of renting instead of owning.  Most of those advantages are related to a change of scenery. When paying rent, you have a choice of where you want to live, how much you want to pay each month for rent and how long you want your lease […]