Bay Area Mortgage Pros

We Just Got The Citimortgage Jumbo Mortgage Loan Program

2009-07-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Remember the scene in Animal House when the girl fell out of the sky onto the young boy's bed while he's reading Playboy and he says "Thank you God"?

I feel this way right now! We just got approved to market the Citimortgage jumbo mortgage loan program. We have had to survive without many jumbo programs for at least a year. Starting tomorrow, we are allowed to send them new loan applications.

I wanted to let you know about the guidelines and programs. The maximum loan amount is $1,500,000. They will allow an 80% LTV and a 90% CLTV. The minimum FICO score is 720.

They are offering a 30 year fixed, a 10/1 LIBOR, and a 5/1 LIBOR.

Cash-out is not allowed. Second homes, investment properties, and 4 unit properties are ineligible.

I will report back tomorrow on the pricing.

Finally, we have a jumbo mortgage loan we can sell here in California!

Why Floating Your Mortgage Rate Is Like Peeing At The Golf Course

2009-07-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

As a mortgage originator, I have always equated floating the mortgage rate like peeing at the golf course - you just hope you don't get caught with your pants down!

When you are floating your client's mortgage rate, you figuratively have your pants down. You are exposed to the whims of the mortgage backed securities market. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I don't know about you, but I lose this proposition more than I win. When you float the rate, urine for trouble! (Hee Hee).

So as a mortgage pro, what is the best strategy to get the rate your client wants?Personally, I try to use lenders that have a good rate re-negotiation policy. Wells Fargo has a good policy. You can float down to a lower rate by adding .375% to the fee. Citimortgage also renegotiates (I'm not sure exactly what their policy is, but I have re-negotiated with them). Met Life and Suntrust, I have found, are pretty stingy.

Are there any other lenders out there that will let you leak (another bad joke) down to a lower rate or fee?

US Bank Raises Its Jumbo Loan Limit

2009-07-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Good News in the jumbo loan market! US Bank has raised its maximum loan amount from $900,000 to $1,500,000.

Here in the Bay Area, this change will really help mortgage brokers. We only have a handful of lenders that are funding jumbo loans. Many of these lenders either do not offer jumbo loans through their wholesale channel, or they make it very difficult to get approval to send them loan files.

There is an add-on to the rate of .2% for loan amounts above $900,000. However, the rates still are very attractive.

If you are not approved to send loans to US Bank, now may be a good time to get approved.

Learn How This Originator Tripled Her Business

2009-07-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

Mortgage Coach is offering a free webinar this Thursday on how Tracy Cavanaugh tripled her business. I listened to a preview of this today and am looking forward to it. Sign up for it here. Let me know what you think after the webinar.

Nestworth: Reverse Mortgage Lenders Won't Like This

2009-07-06T10:46:00.001-07:00

Have you heard about the Nestworth agreement? It is a no-cost, debt-free alternative to a reverse mortgage. I am going to present this to tax preparers, estate planning attorneys, and home health care providers.

Mortgage Coach - Great Software And More

2009-07-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

I have been a subscriber to Mortgage Coach for at least three years. This software and company has really helped me with my business.

Gone are the days of tearing off a sheet from a yellow pad with a rate, payment, and closing costs scribbled on it with my poor handwriting. Now I use the Total Cost Analysis every time I present loan options to my clients.

The Total Cost Analysis has really come in handy this year. As you know the lenders have priced lower rates more advantageously than rates with rebates. The Total Cost Analysis gives the clients a clear visual as to why paying some points is usually more advantageous these days.

Besides the software, they have a chat room, user forums, and what I like best, weekly coaching calls at 9 on Tuesday. I usually pick up an idea or two from these conference calls.

I give Mortgage Coach my two thumbs up. For those of you who are subscribers also, what do you think?

Walking A Fine Line With Facebook

2009-07-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

Let's face it - we all need to get better at social media marketing. The old methods of sending out rate sheets, putting an ad in the paper, or getting a ghost-written newsletter sent out to your clients just doesn't work as well as it used to.

Social media marketing is intimidating for us geezers of the business. How do we start? Where do we start? What do I say?

Let's start with Facebook. If you are unfamiliar with Facebook, it is a place for friends to get together to share. They can share thoughts, pictures, video, websites of interest, etc. It is a great way to re-connect with old friends (it is really easy to find high school and college classmates).

If we are going to use Facebook to generate business, how do we accomplish this?

On a Facebook page, the first thing you will notice is the box that says "what's on your mind? Here is where we have to walk a fine line. As a mortgage originator you want to announce to the world "Rates are at all time lows, call me right away". Don't make this mistake!

Think of Facebook as a social capital piggy bank. Every time you contribute something, you are either making a social capital deposit or a social capital withdrawal. Obviously, you want to maximize your deposits and minimize your withdrawals. The larger your social capital deposit balance becomes, the more business you will get because people do business with people they know, like, and trust.

The people you interact with on Facebook obviously know you. How do you get them to like you, and trust you more? By adding value. Tell them about a neat website. Share a video with them. Tell them about important events on the calendar in the financial market.

I recently made a prediction on Facebook that mortgage rates would go down after the Fed announced their policy decision. I then followed up with what actually happened. I did this as a subtle way of letting my friends know that I am involved in the mortgage business. Being subtle is key.

Yesterday I listened to a webinar about incorporating Facebook into my business. Reggie and Nicole Nicolay of Cyberhomes presented this webinar. If you would like to learn more about Facebook click here to go to their website to watch the video of the webinar and other information they have presented. Here is my Facebook page if you are interested>. If we aren't Facebook friends yet, let's become friends so we can see how we are using this tool to generate business!

HVCC And The Lender Decision

2009-06-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

A client of mine told me today he would like to get started on a refinance. He asked me who the lender is going to be. I told him the four main lenders I am using right now are Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citimortgage, and Suntrust Bank. He was OK with those lenders. He wants to float his rate. He sent me his documents and gave me his credit card number to order the appraisal.

Like our old buddy George up above, I'm feeling a bit confused - which lender do I order the appraisal from? Ordering an appraisal used to be easy, pre-HVCC. Now I have to think about these issues:

- Citimortgage has the best rate for this client today
- Wells Fargo does not have the best rate, nor the best turn times, but they have the best float-down policy
- Bank of America and Suntrust have the fastest turn-times, but their renegotiation policies are not as competitive

My gut tells me to go to Citimortgage, so that is my plan of action. If one of the other lenders comes out with aggressive pricing for this client, I will have to get the appraisal from Citimortgage. I have not had the wonderful opportunity of asking a lender to release an appraisal to another lender - I am sure some of you have.

Do you have any stories to share about this process? I am sure we would all love to know the most efficient way to make it happen quickly.

My Goal With This Blog For Mortgage Pros

2009-06-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

My goal with starting this blog is simple: to make more money! I believe by sharing what I know about what I face as a Bay Area Mortgage Pro, other mortgage pros like yourself will share their best ideas and practices also.

We mortgage pros in the Bay Area face many of the same problems (lack of jumbo programs, for example), so that is why I have decided to focus on this segment of the origination market.

I intend to focus on everything that concerns me as an originator - hopefully you will have the same concerns. Through our dialogue, my hope is we all learn something, which will make us better Mortgage Pros, which will help us all make more money!