North Country Mortgages

Or is it just me? Is anyone else aware of the fact that mortgage interest rates increased today with just about every lender out there by about .375% - .5% or is it just me?...

I had a gentleman call in today to inquire about financing a portion of a Co-Op that he is purchasing in New York, NY. He's looking at a 30 year term and is looking for a 5.375% (on a Co-Op... Ha!). I told him no, I cannot get that rate today. He told me that the interest rate is the most important thing and that if I can get him a 5.375% rate today that he will go with me.

 I sent him an email with 3 options attached, a 30 year (not even close to what he wants), a 20 year (Closer), and a 15 year (closest). He emailed me back saying that my rates are not even close to being the lowest... He also asked me to negotiate to get him a lower rate because he thinks that he should be entitled to what someone quoted him 2 weeks ago...

 Sorry, but I am not going to quote rates that don't exist and then deal with the headaches that are sure to follow when the truth comes out.

I don't know what the deal is with Coldwell Banker. One of my colleagues here in my office recently handled the financing for her friend on the purchase of a new home. The agent on the other end of the transaction was a Coldwell Banker Realtor®. That Realtor® actually recommended to my colleagues client that she go to Wells Fargo for financing.

Of course the person making the purchase is friends with my colleague and did not budge... From what I hear the agent was putting quite a lot of pressure on my colleagues client to go to Wells Fargo to get approved. She kept insisting that Wells can do it faster and at a lower interest rate.

I thought that maybe it was an isolated case. Now I have a client in a totally different part of the state of NY. I have been talking with this person for more than 6 months now and she finally has found a place that she thinks she'd like to put an offer on. I was dealing with this person well before she had a Realtor®. I originally recommended John Murphy because she was originally going to be shopping in the Malone NY area.

 She decided to find something closer to her current home so that she could remain close to family. She just wants to lower her expenses so she is downgrading in preparation for retirement. The agent close to her home area who she decided to go through happens to be a Coldwell Banker.

 My client called me up and told me that her real estate agent says that she "has to go through Wells Fargo" and that the agent does not deal with any bank or lending institution except Wells Fargo.

 Whoa! I deal with a whole lotta real estate professional from many different firms across the state of NY. I have never heard anything like this before and I can't believe it! I thought that Realtors® had to follow a code of ethics which includes refraining from "steering".

 Now I am wondering what the deal is between Wells Fargo and Coldwell Banker. Is there some kind of affiliation there? Or is this just a coincidence?

We all already know that she has many faces depending on what the polls are saying.

 But she doesn't have all of the answers!

Have I got your attention?! Ok, good now listen up.

 Hilary's plan to "freeze interest rates" to avert a national catastrophe is a joke. We've all talked about how awful it is when the FED lowers the FED Funds rate and we get bombarded with people calling in telling us what they qualify for. They tell us that the rate just got cut and they should qualify for a better interest rate than I am telling them and they all seem to have some kind of idea about what they "know" that they can get.

 Of course it is a bunch of Hogwash ... the fact of the matter is that the FED Funds rate does not directly impact the interest rate on a 30 year (most common) fixed mortgage or any fixed mortgage for that matter. It does however have an impact on the interest rate on adjustable rate mortgages.

Hilary's Big plan!

To stop interest rates in their tracks thereby saving millions of Americans homes from foreclosure just doesn't make any sense for those of us who pay attention to the industry!

Sure she's using it to woo potential voters but the fact is that the FED Funds rate which directly corresponds with Adjustable Rate Mortgages has just been slashed to shreds over the past couple of months. The whole "interest rate freeze" is only going to be made available per her plan to those who are actually making their payments who have a certain credit rating that will justify the freeze. It will not apply to those who have obviously never made a payment on anything in their lives.

That means that the people who she plans to "Help" will already be benefiting from the FED's recent moves to slash the FED Funds rate thereby lowering the interest rate on their adjustable rate mortgages. The people who need the help are people who cannot afford to make their current payments which are now lower because of the FED's recent rate cuts and don't qualify for the freeze anyway.

Hilary obviously does not know what she is talking about... As for her Great Plan... It's nothing more than Grandstanding.

This business is not for the faint of heart. If you have trouble handling stress then get the heck out of this industry! I feel that applies to real estate professionals, mortgage professionals, title professionals and anyone else involved in the transfer of real estate.

It's not getting any easier!

But it is getting a lot harder every day. Underwriting departments across the board are tightening their standards and guidelines. Some lenders are looking for excuses not to fund loans and programs are being cut left and right.

I have a file in process that has been in process since last summer including the time that it took the couple to find a home to their liking. The actual file has been in process since mid last month; I got everything on my end done in 5 days then I just had to wait on everyone else to get their end done to schedule a closing.

We all knew about the new PMI restrictions that we queued to to go into effect on the 31st of last month. This file in particular is 100% financing which does not exist as of the 31st of March 2008. Because we knew that these changes would be going into effect on the 31st we (Lake City Mortgage Staff) called all of our lenders that we have files in process with and told them to order MI on any loan that is above 97% well before the 31st.

 Tuesday I received the last condition that I was waiting on from a third party involved; 24 hour turn time on condition review and yesterday I was given the authorization to close. After receiving the clear to close I got an email from the UWA (underwriter assistant) telling me that she is trying to get the MI certificate but is not having any luck with 100% and that I may need to re-work the deal!

I couldn't believe it; my heart sank! This is after having trouble with UW on my files all week, this felt like the final blow. I just wanted to lay back in my big leather chair and give up on it all. I felt like such an ass for relaying to the borrowers and attorneys that we were cleared then to find something like this out.

I sat and spent a few minutes gathering my thoughts and planning my next course of action. I picked up the phone and called the UWA; left a message. Next I whipped up an email demanding answers for why this loan did not already have an MI cert when we're cleared by the 2nd and had been in process and almost finished well before the 31st.

I got an email back from the UWA shortly after sending mine to her. All the email said was "call me". I called her to find out what it is that she wanted or to find out what kind of a solution she had for me. When she answered she apologized and she said that she did not realize but that someone else had ordered the MI in time and that it is in the file, she just had not signed off on it yet.

Now tentatively I will be closing this loan on the 11th of this month; the attorney's want to close the 11th and I am waiting to hear back from the buyers as to whether or not that is a good day for them. Rate lock does not expire till the end of the month so on my end this file is done and awaiting a final closing date.

No one but the bank and I know how close this file came to getting killed and now you all know. Loan origination is risky business now-a-days. If you do not handle stress very well; run, don't walk, RUN!