“It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
Except in mortgages. Understanding the entire mortgage process will help you understand how all mortgage fraud is eventually uncovered. General perception is that the mortgage process is over once the borrower has left the attorney’s office. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Mortgage brokers, loan originators, loan officers, and attorneys all have a fiduciary responsibility to protect the future assets of the holders and servicers of mortgage loan note. I say future because, chances are, the loan note will be sold at least once during the life of the loan if not several times. This responsibility is also enforced, when needed, by civil and legal penalties. This is why you hear about brokers, attorneys, appraisers, and even borrowers being charged with mortgage fraud. What you may not realize is those charges may come months or even years after the loan has closed. Read the rest of this entry »
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Oh, you get them. “What type of insulation is in the attic?”, “Are those 50 year shingles?”, “Who installed the siding?” So what do you do? I’ve heard people nervously answer questions similar to these in training sessions and get them wrong. We’ve all see “TV agents”, you know what show I’m talking about, answer them like they knew the exact answer … but did they? Probably not.It’s
It’s not a bad thing to not know the answer. It is, however, a very bad thing to guess and be wrong. There are agents around who could venture a guess about insulation based on the building codes during the construction period of the property. Of course new home sellers should have ready access to answers.Perhaps
Perhaps the most commonly asked questions for which there may not be a ready answer, at least in the Atlanta area, are:
Is there any black mold?
Is this concrete siding the kind that was recalled?
Does this home have polybutyleneutylene plumbing?
Those are important questions and there’s your first clue. Here’s the answer I train agents to give when they don’t positively 100% know for sure:
Great question! You know I’m really not sure of the answer but if it’s an important issue I will do what I can to get that answered for you. Can we go ahead and make an offer today?
I believe, from the comments, that some readers may not be properly reading this post.? The example questions presented above are questions my agents would always answer with the example answer. The comments are correct in saying to answer “no” to any of the above type questions (or “yes” for that matter) would be a bad move and possibly damaging.
Ken Cook – Nationwide Specialist – Information/Marketing – FHA Home Loans
678-439-8683
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Sounds like the beginning to the Twilight Zone, yes? What home buyers and even home sellers do which is always a mistake only of shortsightedness or failure to have highly adaptable contingency plans is to think that everything is going to go smoothly – no glitches. Wouldn’t that be just dandy! So what to do?
Educate, train, prepare. Even practice. Practice? Yes! Practice! Think you can’t practice with a seller or a buyer? Think you can’t dry run it? Oh you think that takes too much time to do with every deal? Okay then, hush your whining 
Read the rest of this entry »
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It’s all over the internet: Get a brand new credit record! Improve your scores overnight! Guaranteed 720 middle score regardless of your credit history!
Some of the above advertise absolute lies and scams. Some actually “can” work. What you need to know is how will any of the above affect your personal liberties (I call that my jail avoidance program) and your ability to actually secure a mortgage loan. Obviously the people charging for the service are going to give you the good salesmanship and tell you it will only improve your ability to borrow. Read the rest of this entry »
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Okay, you’ve been in the industry long enough to have seen that new “green” agent conducting their own “Homebuyers 101 Seminar” and you thought to yourself: Wait, you’ve never even SHOWN a home much less SOLD a home! Me too. But gosh, it seems like such a great idea!
Well, it is. And the truth is even a green agent with no sales experience who invites the right partners to assist in the seminar can give some extremely valuable information. I’ve facilitated over 2000 deals since 2001 but in 2001 I had only done my own deals and had been to the closing with a few family members and friends. We all have to start somewhere. Now I see literally thousands of people every year either in my office at our regularly scheduled seminars or at large events where we may be in front of hundreds or even thousands of people at one time like at the Learning Center’s Wealth Building Expo with Donald Trump, Robert Kyosoki and Suze Orman. Read the rest of this entry »
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I use this chart in every seminar to explain why you just can’t expect to borrow 100% for an investment price for the same amount you can borrow 80% of the value of your own home. Funny thing is, some people still don’t get it!
It’s a simple illustration of Risk, Rate and LTV and how they are related. Mr. or Ms. Perfect Credit are there in the center. These are the people who *may* qualify for those seemingly ridiculously low interest rates you see advertised. Anything outside of that such as a greater LTV, a different type of property, less ability to document income, or other changes, will affect the interest rate. Read the rest of this entry »
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I have had literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of people through my seminars this year. I maintain contact with most of them through email, telephone or by them immediately becoming investment clients. After having witnessed the same cycles for several years now I’m ready to offer some seasoned commentary on what happens when you compare an emotional buyer to a prepared buyer.
The “prepared” investor has a tendency to make us, real estate service professionals, a little nuts at first but generally turn out to be the best long-term clients. They are often the ones who try to beat us to death on pricing and pick out brains in a method somewhat akin to a giant leach sucking on our brains! It’s worth the donation of time in most cases, however, so if you’re a professional hang in there. Be honest with them if they are eating up too much of your time in a random method and take control of when you’re available for them. Often they will want several minutes or hours of your time a few or several days each week. Read the rest of this entry »
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So many gurus, so little time. And, when the gurus are finished with you … so little money!
Much of my time as a lender/broker is spent correcting incorrect “education” and downsizing myths about the real estate investing world. There are, indeed, many extremely knowledgeable investor “gurus” sharing the news but there are also a great many who really don’t need to be giving advice. Just yesterday, in fact, I listened to a blog of so called professionals who not only gave a little incorrect information but everything they said about a 1031 Exchange was incorrect. Not just a little bit … totally.
So, what are we to do? I have a simple formula. Read the rest of this entry »
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Why?
Simple – they are potentially illegal at worst and a rip-off at best. Here is one I recently uncovered from craigslist.com
“Get A Clean Credit Report Instantly”
Having problems getting a mortgage? Need a better rate? We can build a brand new credit for you and it’s completely legal! We’ll get you a 700 plus FICO score in just 48 hours. You’ll have 5 seasoned trade lines showing all payments made on time for the past 2 or more years. You won’t have any judgments or charge-offs and no negative information on your credit report. Use your new, clean credit report to get the best loan you can get.
Wahoooo!!!
So the best part is where the ad says “and it’s completely legal”. Read the rest of this entry »
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Talk about your proverbial “Two Edged Sword” this is IT! Motivated sellers are a prize and a curse all in one little, tidy package. On the one hand it can be a really fast sale for a representative and a really great buy for an investor or owner. On the other hand it can be filled with panic attacks and angry neighbors. So what do we do with these prized gems of the investor game?
Any professional or aspiring champion agent should know you’ve got to find the pain behind the method. If you have a seller who, for example, is facing impending economic travesty in their life such as the end of an employment contract you probably want to get a move on, get some offers and get the property sold. Keeping them in the home too long could prove disastrous. In another scenario where the seller may have inherited the property and the liability thereof it may behoove you, as a seller’s rep, to consider rehabbing, staging and going for the big bucks. Read the rest of this entry »
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