Spookier ‘Cause It’s True!

I Know You Lion!

There’s a new trend in Chinese lending – lie detecting software.  Who needs underwriters when you’ve got a lie detector?  Ping An, a Chinese financial services conglomerate, has developed technology that tracks 54 involuntary micro-expressions to detect truthfulness. 

Don’t expect the software to be coming to the West any time soon. Imagine the lawsuits!–  To read article, CLICK HERE.

Booby-Trapped House

The bomb specialists with the FBI suspected that the Oregon house was booby-trapped.  It was confirmed when the first agent entered the front door, tripped a wire, and a shot rang out, hitting the agent in the leg.  The shot came from a concealed gun in a wheel chair. 

Agents proceeded to disarm two other booby-traps, when they discovered a hot tub, laying on it’s side, rigged to come crashing down, Indiana Jones style, on anyone that tried to open the front gate of the home. Imagine the AVID when the house is sold! To read article, CLICK HERE.

Arachnophobia to Pyromania  

A man in Fresno this month was house sitting for his parents in their suburban home.  Firefighters were called in the evening to extinguish the blazing attic. Apparently, the man, IQ unknown, was trying to kill black widow spiders in the home with a BLOWTORCH!    CLICK HERE to real article. Fortunately, no HUMANS were injured, but that didn’t stop PETA from weighing in…

Apparently, the folks at PETA were not pleased with the blowtorch method for pest eradication.  They point out that spiders are smart animals…and that “their designs are often copied by human engineers”.  Sorry, we can’t make this up. They are sending the young man a humane bug catcher.  For article, CLICK HERE.

5 Rules to the Game of Mortgage

Knowing lending guidelines is like knowing rules to a game. We often call mortgage lending “playing the game”.  When you play a game, there are rules.  You may not like them, understand their logic, or even know them. The person that knows the rules the best, however, usually wins.  We want your buyers to win all the time.

Getting a mortgage is not usually about what you should do, but rather what to avoid.  If your buyers are thinking of buying in the next 6 months, here are 5 rules of the game to help them qualify.

1.     Don’t switch from an employee to self-employed.  Salaried and hourly employees income is very straightforward.  Changing jobs is not an automatic loan decline. Changing jobs to a self-employed or 1099 borrower has a whole ‘nother set of rules. Self-employed buyers are not documented with paycheck stubs, but by verified tax returns of the past 2 years in most cases.  Without the 2 year history of self-employment, it could derail a borrower’s chances of allowing their income to qualify.  Have them call the Easterbrook Team if your borrowers are considering a job change.

2.     Balance your checkbook. Having the attitude of “my checkbook always balances – I have overdraft”, won’t cut it for some loan types.  Underwriters are required to check for irresponsible financial behavior for some loan types.  Another reason to get the Easterbrook Team involved before you “play the game”.  We can often counsel borrowers about what underwriters are looking for to give them time to clean up their checkbook.

3.     Don’t apply for new credit and/or open accounts during the loan process. Yes, your credit is monitored throughout the loan process. Don’t transfer a $5,000 credit card balance to lower your payments.  Hold off on any large purchases until close of escrow.  It could cost you your largest purchase – your house!

4.     DO sweat the small stuff.  Ignoring even a small bill of $10 can tank your credit score if it is a recent late worse – a collection.  Pay all your bills promptly – it will help you win at the loan game.  On the Easterbrook Team, we have a credit simulator that allows us to navigate past lates and collections.

5.     File your tax returns.  We know – what a hassle, right?  A little known “rule” is that lenders have buyers fill out a form called a 4506T.  This allows us to access tax transcripts for loan approval.  No transcripts?  No loan.  File those returns. 

Yes, there are lots more rules to the mortgage game.  Patty and John get out the playbook and map out a plan to win with every buyer they meet.

GSD is Our Mantra

What is GSD? Our friends at Success Magazine do a good job of defining it with help from Tina Fey, Henry Ford, Benjamin Franklin, and others – CLICK HERE.

How We Achieve Higher Customer Service

What's the number one complain borrowers have about the mortgage loan process?  Poor communication. Starting on the right foot with communication means providing your borrowers with a clear and complete list of items they will need to provide, otherwise known as an initial checklist. According to data from STRATMOR Group's MortgageSAT Borrower Satisfaction Program, giving the borrower a checklist of the information they will need to provide results in a very high Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 90. Borrowers who do not receive an upfront checklist quickly get confused and frustrated, and NPS plummets to -26.  This is a practice that we have also developed on the Easterbrook Team.  Your buyer’s satisfaction is our #1 priority.

The Upper Crust is Rising

High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) grew last year, globally, by 13%.  Their wealth grew 16% to $31.5 Trillion. In a recently released white paper report by Luxury Portfolio International, 38% surveyed HNWI plan to purchase in the next three years. Only 23%, however, plan on selling.  Some highlights of the white paper are:

·         Purchasing a home ranks as the most obvious indicator of success worldwide.

·         Real estate is seen as a smart financial investment and driver of personal wealth.

·         HNWI’s are more likely to say the “physical space” is the most important factor in the buying decision.

If you’d like to get a copy of the white paper from LPI, CLICK HERE.

Houston, We Have a Problem

Improvenet did a survey of 2,500 people in major cities throughout the US.  The survey asked about how people felt about their neighbors.  They found 36 common annoyances and loud music topped the list.  Loud adult voices were a close second.  The top 5 cities were all in southern hot climates (sorry Houston and LA).  For the breakdown of the most annoying cities, CLICK HERE.

How would you even disclose a neighbor that was a major pain?  “Seller reports calling the cops on Mr. Neighbor for his loud parties on 4 different occasions”.  Or how would you let prospective buyers know about #8 on the list – General Grumpiness?

The good news is that Sacramento, El Dorado, and Placer Counties didn’t even make the list.  We may not be LA or New York, but we do have a pretty chill place to live. 

Teach Me How to Duffy…

Teach Me How to Dougie Duffy…

Would you spend more than $50K to make a rap video to promote your listing?  Tim Smith of Coldwell Banker did.  The property hit the market Monday, featuring 14,000 square feet in Newport on the waterfront.  The price?  $45 million.  To see the video creating all this buzz, CLICK HERE.

Freshly Squeezed Tenants!

Tenants Pressured to Buy – Rent Increases

Prop 10 notwithstanding, tenants have two clear options when faced with increasing rents – move to a lower cost area or buy.  Rents in all areas including Sacramento have hit an all-time high.  The median rent in Sacramento is $1,940 – 6.5% higher than a year ago. 

Although lower than the median rent in San Francisco ($3,460), a payment of around $2,000 can buy quite a nice home in the Sacramento area.  The deterrent for most buyers is saving up for the down payment.  But many already have the resources to buy and just don’t know it yet.

There are 1^st time homebuyer options that will allow buyer to purchase with close to $0 down.  There are also attractive conventional loans with down payments of only 3% plus closing costs. 

Another huge benefit to first timers is MCC. This program allows a 20% tax credit (not a deduction) of the interest that is paid on the loan to boost their return at the end of the year.  They will love you every January when they apply for a refund.

There’s nothing wrong with renting and not everyone should be a homeowner.  One compelling fact, however, is that, according to the Federal Reserve, the typical home owner will have five times the wealth in their lifetime than the typical renter. 

On the Easterbrook Team, we confidently believe that with our Realtor partners, we are performing a valuable community service by helping people achieve home ownership.