Georgia Mortgage FHA

And we wonder how we lender’s underwriters get such a bad name…

Dear LICENSED REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS,

I love you.

Signed,
Ken

Dear UNLICENSED BIRD DOGS,

You want respect? Earn it. Get a license and show me some E&O insurance.

If we would all just take one minute and think about the extreme risk we take as lenders and even the risk brokers take submitting loans to us underwriting and stips would make a lot more sense. With all the secret activity that happens in an attempt to deceive us you would think that someone would say, “Hey, we’re putting more risk on the lender than they are actually aware of, no wonder underwriting is getting so difficult!”

Cash back at closing – that kills us. Do you know what percentage of files which get cash back at closing lead to payment default? NEITHER DO I because we get lied to about the cash back!

BIRDDOG. Bird dog is a phrase that makes most licensed agents steam and boil. Be not dismayed. Bird dogging is not a billable expense even though some brokers and mini-lenders (brokers with a different title) would have you believe it is. The ultimate investor, however, does not like payouts to unlicensed individuals whether they are a contractor or a bird dog. WE ARE NOT STUPID!

We know what people do and try to do. We know what bird dogs and investors call “gray areas”. We know why most contracts that are re-assigned are re-assigned. We know what it means when the seller recently received the property on a Quit Claim means. When we see an unrecorded lien or a “consulting fee” we pull the file. Period. You know why? WE ARE NOT STUPID!

What Prompted This Posting

I’m not sure how my corporate email address got on this guy’s email list but he is obviously a bird dog and I get a LOT of leads from him. I don’t do anything with the leads, I just see them and delete them. For some reason I haven’t added his address to the spam filter but I never read his emails either. Until this morning.

I opened this little charmer:

I have a seller that is trying to sell their house and hard being difficult to work with but this is still a great deal. The house is on Gulf Blvd. ?in Bellair yatch club, this house is right cross the street from the beach. There are houses that have sold on this street for over 4 million. This house appraised last year for 1.9 million. The seller wants 1,050,000. The seller refuses to pay commission. So please add 3% to purchase price to cover finders fees for he parties involved with this transaction.

“The seller refuses to pay commission.” You’ve just got to love that statement. Maybe if you had a LICENSE you’d be DESERVING of commission because that would mean you’ve proven yourself at least a little bit to want to FOLLOW THE RULES!?!? JUST ADD 3% TO THE SALES PRICE!??!?!?!

Calming Down Now

So if you are not a licensed and insured real estate professional you’re thinking, “sounds like a good deal to me, I’d take it.” You just became part of the problem. More and more we are wanting all purchase transactions to be handled by a licensed and insured professional. We cannot force that transaction but we can prefer it. Why? Read it again, licensed and INSURED professional.

And the other red flag “appraised last year for 1.9 million” follow by “seller wants 1.05 million.” Trust me on this one; if we get a sales transaction for $1.05 million and the appraisal is for $1.9 million we are going to take our time and look at the entire history of that property and everyone involved in the transaction from the seller to the appraiser to the title companies to the buyer. That’s called Fraud Detection and Prevention and because of so many soured deals we are having to spend more and more time and more and more money on fraud prevention.

And people want NO CLOSING COSTS! Ha! (You know what the truth about no closing costs is, don’t you? It’s a lie. There are closing costs and you are paying for them. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.)

Hello? (A) Who did the first appraisal? (B) Why would the seller only want 1.05?

Now, before you start extolling the virtues of real estate investing and finding a good deal be aware of the fact that I have been a real estate investor for many years, have written articles, been interviewed on radio, conducted hundreds of seminars and financed thousands of deals – and have hundreds of successful, happy clients.

And underwriters are criticized for protecting the lender’s assets.

Merry Christmas. I hope you wished for a clue.

— admin