Over-improving your Home: doing too much of a good thing

Homeowners doing major renovations this summer may not want to hear it, but there’s actually such a thing as doing too much. Spending too much. Adding too much.

Bankrate‘s Dana Dratch says over-improving means you may be bringing a curse upon yourself: sinking so much into upgrades, renovations or additions that you’ve burned nearly all the equity of your home. If you plan to stay in your house for the rest of your life, perhaps it can eventually pay off. While it may increase the value of your property if you, like many homeowners, need to sell in the next 5-10 years, it’s likely you may never get 100 cents on the dollar, no matter what the improvement.

No. It doesn’t mean to stop dead in your tracks for your next renovation project. But it does mean you need to be careful in planning it, costing it out, and making sure it isn’t an exception to the rule in your neighborhood. Of course, if the improvements are for your own convenience — like adding a first-floor bedroom because you can’t face the stairs any more — that’s fine. But if your sole purpose is to increase the price of your home when you go to sell it, don’t take bets on it.

Dratch recommends asking yourself a few questions before you dive in. As mentioned, go ahead and over-improve if you’re going to stay there for a long time. If not, and your plan is to move in the next three to five years, resist the urge and bide your time. Realtors agree, however: there’s one in every neighborhood. There is always one guy who convinced himself that if he adds enough granite, hardwood, and molding to his modest house, he can get a premium price when it sells. Dratch quotes a Realtor who says, “Just because a house has new countertops and a brand-new master bath doesn’t mean you’ve made more square footage in your house. Compared to houses down the street with the same amount of square footage, the prices will be basically the same,” she says.

Watch a lot of HGTV? Remember that the Fixer Upper couple as well as the Property Brothers look for the shabbiest, lowest-priced house in the BEST neighborhoods. Once they’ve done their magic, that house will simply match the value of the homes around it.

If you own a $400,000 house in a $400,000 neighborhood and do a slew of renovations and additions, don’t plan to turn around and list it for $700,000. Your Realtor can help you by checking values and running comparable properties in your area to see if your plans are in line with what appraisers can get their heads around or you are totally off-base. Why do you need to appease appraisers? Because the majority of homebuyers get a mortgage, and a bank won’t lend on a house unless the appraisal makes sense.

Seems unlikely, but even kitchens and bathrooms can be overdone. AND it can scare buyers. If your house is the most expensive in the neighborhood, potential buyers will be apprehensive about signing on the dotted line. Adding a room and increasing the square footage may mean the house should be worth more, but if that addition puts you at or over the highest prices in the neighborhood, it won’t be a cakewalk to sell. On top of that, you may have just taken up a chunk of yard space with it. The size of the yard matters to buyers, even in the most upgraded house.

Did you go crazy taking out closets to make playrooms, dens, and home offices or using a bedroom as a walk-in closet? You just lowered your bedroom and bath count and lowered the value of your home. Appraisers don’t consider a room a bedroom without a closet. Oh, and that gorgeous pool and spa you spent $50K putting in? To some buyers, it represents hours of good times and entertaining. To others, it represents bigger energy bills and maintenance. It also might take up too much of your yard, leaving little room for kids to play and dogs to romp.

If you are selling your home in the near future, keep your improvements neutral and check with your Realtor about whether the renovations you have planned offer a decent return on investment.

Source: Bankrate, TBWS

Bill Nickerson | NMLS #4194 | 978.273,3227

10 Things to do before listing your home

 To help make the selling process easier for you, it makes sense to have your home inspected before listing it.  It may sound like a hassle but it could save you a lot of money and stress early on.  The inspection will pinpoint red flags and areas that have potential problems.  It also gives you the opportunity to address those issues before listing your home.  Having your home already inspected ultimately also gives the prospective buyers the comfort and confidence that the seller actually cared about their home in the first place.  Be sure to share this information with prospective buyers by supplying a copy of the home inspection.  It is perfectly okay to choose not to have your home inspected before listing.  If you take this route, just be sure to do your own pre-listing home inspection to keep things significantly less nerve-racking and not terribly costly before the buyer’s home inspector comes through.

Here are 10 areas to look at/fix up before listing your home.

1.  Fix any deteriorated paint jobs.  Touch up any dings on the walls or woodwork, scrape and paint any flaking areas.

2.  For furnaces over 10 years old; pay to have it serviced and cleaned.  Then display the inspection papers (store them in a Ziploc bag) by taping to furnace.

3.  Make sure all toilets are flushed.  Nothing worse than having a seldom used toilet not functioning properly.

4.  Run water down sinks and bathtub drains.  All drains need to flow steadily.  No slow drains!

5.  Check for leaks under sinks and in vanities.  Tighten up joints if necessary.

6.  Check out the condition of the roof.  You want things to look normal: no missing shingles.

7.  Clean out the gutters.  They need to be free of debris for good drainage.

8.  Open and close all windows.  Check for springs working properly so windows don’t slam down. Make sure all the locks work and windows close tightly.

9.  Test any appliances like the dishwasher that you are leaving behind.  You want them working properly. Make sure all burners/oven are working on your stove.

10.  Test the auto reverse on the garage door.  Make sure the safety mechanism works.

For more information about Home Inspectors or how to prepare to list your home, call or email me anytime.  Bill’s Email  | Phone 978.273.3227

Before Putting Your Home on the Market

• Documents you will need
  • Deed
  • If you have right of ways, deed restrictions or easements get the documentation that clearly spells out the restrictions of the property.
  • Know if you are in a flood plain – FEMA’s website can be helpful.
  • Go to the Town Hall:
    • Field card at the assessor’s office
    • Get your most recent  paid tax bill
    • A plot plan
    • Title V report if it has been complete and the pumping schedule
    • Talk to the engineering department get a sense of any upcoming projects that may be done around the home.
    • Building department will have a list of all permits pulled and renovations done to the home including electrical, plumbing and addition upgrades
  • If you are in a condo
    • Condo financials to include the budget,  the last three months condo association meeting minutes and if they have it a list of current and future project that are going to be done to the properties
    • Condo Rules and Regulations
    • Master Deed and Master Insurance.
    • Verify there are no pending lawsuits with association
    • Know the owner occupancy rate of your complex
  • Home List
    • Create a list of renovations and updates that have been done to the property
    • Get utility bills for the last 12 months: Electric, oil, gas, propane, plowing, landscaping…
    • Write a letter to potential buyers of what you love about your home, neighborhood and town.

For more information about selling your home, feel free to contact me anytime.  I can be reached at 978-273-3227 or email be here: Bill’s Email

Bill Nickerson | NMLS #4194 | www.billnickerson.com | 978-273-3227 | bill@billnickerson.com

3% Down and No Mortgage Insurance on 2, 3 and 4 Family Homes

With the announcement from Fannie Mae of increased loan limits for 2019. Not only are the Fannie Mae loans benefiting, so are the MassHousing loans!  Did you know that Mass Housing (MHFA) loans are a safe and affordable alternative to FHA Mortgages.  Did you know the Mortgage Insurance for FHA never goes away!  Mass Housing still offers its mortgage program that features Low Down Payments, as little as 3% down with No Mortgage Insurance!  This product provides financing (purchase or refinance) up to 97% of the appraised value of the home without the hefty mortgage insurance payments that are typically associated with low down payment programs. MHFA follows Fannie Mae Guidelines, which means the traditional loan limit is $484,1350!

This special program is available for owner occupied; one to four family properties including condominiums on both purchase and refinance transactions. With a low fixed rate, the down payment can be a gift on single family homes.  The MassHousing Mortgage with No Mortgage Insurance is a great choice for low and moderate income home buyers.

The 2019 Fannie Mae Loan Limits

• 1 Family Loan Amount of $484,350
• 2 Family Loan Amount of $620,200
• 3 Family Loan Amount of $749,650
• 4 Family Loan Amount of $931,600

Features of the Mass Housing Loans for 1 to 4 family homes

• As little as 3% down on single-family homes and condos
• As little as 5% down on 2, 3 and 4-family homes
  • 3 and 4 Family require 700 Credit Score
• No mortgage insurance required
• Income limits as high as $123,660 in many cities and towns
• Fannie Mae loan limits apply, borrower up to $484,350
• Approved community second mortgages allowed
• Credit scores as low as 660 (additional conditions may apply)

Advantages:

• Gift funds can be the source of the down payment on single family homes
• The interest rate will never increase
• Competitive fixed rates
• Safe, fixed-rate limited cash-out refinance option

Call me to learn why this innovative program is an attractive alternative to an FHA mortgage!  Remember, this program allows for the same low down payment options as FHA with no mortgage insurance. 

Bill Nickerson

Adjustable Rates 101

An Adjustable Rate Mortgage provides a specific fixed rate term before becoming an adjustable mortgage.  An example: A 10/1 ARM is fixed for the first 10 years and then becomes a 1 year adjustable rate for the remaining term of the mortgage, thus giving you 10 years  of security at a fixed rate.

Advantages: If you know that you are selling your home in a short period of time, 10-12 years or less, you can get a mortgage rate that is 3/4’s to 1 full percent below the traditional mortgage rates.  Today a 10 year ARM is 3.25% and you can borrower up to 2 Million Dollars.

How do they work?

Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM’s) come in many different varieties.  The most common ARM’s are the following:  Three Year, Five Year, Seven Year and a Ten Year.  You will also see them displayed in this format as well:  3/1, 5/1, 7/1 and 10/1.  The first number represents the amount of years the loan will be fixed for and will not change from its original start rate.  The higher the first number or term, the higher the interest rate will be.

The second number represents how often the ARM will adjust after the fixed rate term ends.  Using a 5/1 ARM as the example, when your fixed term is about to expire, the Lender will send you a notice via mail notifying you that your rate is about to adjust and what that adjustment will be.  This will occur 45 days prior to this expiration date, in this case that would be 60 months in to this loan (5 Years). The new rate will be set for one year, or the term that is stated in the second number, 5/1.

The adjustments are based on 2 variables, the index and the margin.  The margin is set on the day you get the mortgage and is usually in the range of 2.25 or 2.75 depending upon the type of ARM you go with.  This will never change and is set for the life of the loan.  We would then add the current Index to this margin and combined that would create your new rate.

The Index can come from many places but is selected when we lock in your loan.  Typically we use the One Year Treasury Bill or the One Year LIBOR.  Both indexes move fairly slowly.  These Indexes are always posted in the Wall Street Journal but is very easy just to Google these terms. This will show you the current rate as well as show the history of these rates. You can also click this site at the US Treasury

Today’s one year treasury is at 1.30, this is the index.  Add this to the margin of 2.50 and your new rate today would be 3.875%. This rate would be rounded up to the next highest 1/8^th and this would give us 3.875% for one year.  Remember, this is what the rate would adjust to after the fixed term has ended.

Caps: Your loan comes with caps of 5/2/5, each number represents how your loan will adjust.  With the first adjustment the loan can adjust 5% up or down from the original start rate. The second number “2” is what it can adjust each time for the remaining years of the loan.  So, the second adjustment and every one after that the rate can move up or down a maximum of 2%.  The last number is the Life Cap.  This rate will never go higher than 5% of the starting rate.  So if you lock in a rate of 3.25% today, your rate would never exceed 8.25%.  To give you an idea, since 1996, this rate has not exceeded 8.25% at its high point. In the last several years, this rate as adjusted downward and as low as 2.00% in many cases.

I hope this is helpful. Always feel free to ask questions about any of this information. Email me at Bill@billnickerson.com or call 978-273-3227.

Thank you very much,

Bill Nickerson NMLS# 4194 | Flagstar Bank| 1500 District Avenue, Burlington MA

The Perfect Loan File

This article came from Mark Greene contributor to Forbes Magazine.  It is very helpful to all of us so that we can truly understand what is going on in this industry and so that we can educate our buyers and sellers.

The media has it all wrong – securing mortgage approval and satisfying credit underwriting guidelines are not the difficulties plaguing mortgage consumers. It’s in meeting the rigorous documentation requirements that most people fall flat. The good news is, the fix is simple. Just scan, photocopy, fax, and deliver every aspect of your financial life. Then, shortly before closing, check everything again.

Mortgage consumers who enter the mortgage approval process ready to battle their chosen mortgage lender will come out with a nightmare story to tell. As the process, requirements, and guidelines are the same for everybody, your mindset is the game-changer. Accepting the redundant documentation necessary for lender approval will make everyone’s life easier.

When I was a kid, my father occasionally issued directives that I naturally thought were superfluous, and when asked why I needed to do whatever it was he wanted me to do, his answer was often: “Because I said so.” This never seemed to address my query but always left me without a retort, and I would usually comply. This is exactly what consumers should do during the mortgage approval process. When your lender requests what seems to be over-documentation and you wonder why you need it, accept the simple edict – “because I said so.” You will find the mortgage approval process much less frustrating.

So, what’s the perfect loan? Well, it’s one that (a) pays back the lender and (b) pays back the lender on time. Underwriting the perfect loan is not the goal that mortgage lenders aspire to today.

The real goal is the perfect loan file.

Mortgage lenders have suffered staggering losses and gone out of business because of the dreaded loan repurchase. As mortgage delinquencies increased, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began to audit mortgage loans they had purchased and discovered substandard and fraudulent underwriting practices that violated representations and warranties made, stating these were high quality loans. Fannie and Freddie began forcing the originating lenders of these “bad” loans to buy them back. So a small correspondent mortgage lender is forced to buy back a single mortgage loan in the amount of $250,000. This becomes a $250,000 loss to a small mortgage business for a single loan, because it will never be repaid.

It doesn’t take many of these bad loan buybacks to close the doors on many small mortgage operations. The lending houses suffered billions of dollars of losses repurchasing loans from Fannie and Freddie, and began to do the same thing for loans they had purchased from smaller originators.

The small and medium sized mortgage originators that survived created underwriting guidelines and procedures to eliminate the threat of future loan repurchase losses. The answer? The perfect loan file.

It’s no longer necessary to have excellent credit, a big down payment and stable employment with income sufficient to support your debt service to guarantee your loan approval. However, you must have a borrower profile that meets the credit underwriting guidelines for the loan you are requesting. And, more importantly, you have to be able to hard-copy-guideline-document your profile.

Every nook and cranny of your financial life has to be corroborated, double- and triple-checked, and reviewed again before closing. This way, if the originating lender has created a loan file that is exactly consistent with published underwriting guidelines and has documented while adhering to those guidelines, the chances are that your loan will not be subject to repurchase.

Borrowers also need to prepare for processing and underwriting. Processors and underwriters are the people trained and charged with gathering (processors), all of your required-for-approval financial documents, and then approving (underwriters), your loan. You can assume these people are well trained and very experienced, as they are tasked with assembling and approving a high-quality-these-people-will-pay-us-back loan file. But just how do they go about that?

The process begins with the filter – the loan originator (a.k.a loan officer, mortgage consultant, mortgage adviser, etc.) – tasked to match the qualifications of a particular mortgage deal to the appropriate underwriting guidelines. It is the filter’s job to determine if a loan scenario is approvable and to gather the documentation to support that determination. It is here, at the beginning of the approval process, where the deal is made or broken. The rest of the approval process is just papering the file.

The filter determines whether the information provided by the borrower can be validated and documented. This is simple, since most mortgages are approved by automated underwriting engines such as Desktop Underwriter, and the automated approval generates a list of the documents needed to paper the loan file. An underwriter can, at this stage, request additional supporting documentation evidence at their discretion, as not all circumstances neatly fit into the prescribed underwriting box. If the filter creates a loan file with accurate information, then secures the documentation resulting from the automated underwriting findings, the loan will close uneventfully.

So, let’s begin with the pre-approval call. Mortgage pre-approval is typically accomplished with a telephone interview. A prospective borrower calls a mortgage rep (filter), and the questions begin. There will be lots of questions as this critical phase of the process is akin to the discovery period in a trial – you’ll need to disclose everything. Expect to answer queries on what you do for a living, how long you’ve been employed in your current field, and what your salary is. If there is a co-borrower, they will have to answer the same questions.

Every dollar in checking, savings, investments and retirement accounts, also known as assets to close, as well as gifts from relatives and non-profit grants, has to be accounted for. Essentially everything appearing on a borrower’s asset-radar-screen has to be documented and explained.

If you were previously a homeowner and sold your home in a short sale, or if you own a home now and plan to keep it as an investment or rental property, there are new and specific underwriting guidelines created just for you. In these cases, full disclosure of your credit and homeownership past can potentially eliminate unforeseen mortgage approval woes. For instance, Fannie Mae has a new underwriting guideline called “Buy-and-Bail,” for current homeowners’ planning on keeping their existing home as an investment/rental property. Properties not meeting the 30% equity test for “Buy-and-Bail” result in additional asset requirements to purchase a new home. Buyers with a short sale history may have to wait two to three years before they are eligible for mortgage financing again. Full vetting of your previous mortgage life will save you the dreaded we-have-a-problem call from your mortgage lender.

It all comes down to your proof. If the lender asks for a specific document, give them exactly what they are asking for, not what “should be OK,” – because it won’t be.  This is where the approval process tends to go off the rails, when the lender asks for specific documentation and the borrower supplies something else. Here, too, is where both sides get frustrated. So if the lender asks for a bank statement and there are 5 pages for that bank statement, send them all 5 pages, and not just the summary. If you send them the summary page and they ask again, don’t complain that the lender keeps asking for the same thing when you never sent it in the first place. This may sound elementary, but the vast majority of mortgage approval process woes stem from scenarios just like this.

The reason the mortgage approval process is now so rigorous is simple. Avoiding defaults and loan buybacks has become the primary goal of mortgage lenders.   Higher standards are reducing loan defaults, which should mean fewer foreclosures in the future. Government data shows that less than 2% of loans originated in 2009, that were resold to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae went into default after 18 months, down from more than 22% default rates for 2007 loans.

So when your lender requests specific documents from you, give it to them just “because they said so.”

For more information about lending and financing, please contact Bill at 978-273-3227  or by email  Bill’s Email

Mortgage Document Checklist

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Home Buying Closing Costs: What to Expect

Your mortgage lender, real estate agent, real estate attorney, or settlement agent should be in touch with you a few days before your closing settlement with the final amount of money you’ll need to close on a purchase of a home. However, in some cases, the call may come too close for comfort and may be as late as the night before your closing, so you should be prepared well in advance of the type of fees associated with purchasing a home.  We refer to these fees as closing costs.

The home buying closing costs you might expect to see include:

Attorney fee: In some states, the lender will require you to close with a real estate attorney. These fees are typically fixed and start around $650 and can go as high as $1,000, but in other parts of the country you may have to pay an hourly rate.  You can also hire an attorney for personal representation, prepare the purchase and sales and review all documents in the transaction.  This is additional and can range from $250 to $1500 depending upon the services provided.

Flood certification fee: You’ll pay this fee to have your lender determine if your home is in a federally designated flood zone. If it is, your lender may require you to purchase flood insurance before agreeing to lend you money. This will cost on the range of $25 to $50

Lender’s appraisal fee: The lender wants to make sure your property is worth at least as much as what it is lending you. The appraisal fee will vary, depending on the value of the property. In higher-value homes, you may find a lender requiring two appraisals, and you may be required to pay for both of them. Depending on the state in which you are located, the appraisal fee could be as low as $450 for a single family home and as high as $700 multifamily homes.

Lender’s credit report: Your lender will pull your credit report a few times during the loan application process to make sure your financial situation hasn’t changed. Expect to pay $35 to $100 per credit report for each person that has applied for the loan.

Lender’s document preparation fees: The document preparation fee is a charge the lender bills you to assemble and create the documents for your closing. Ever since settlement agents and lenders unbundled their fees, lenders have labeled their services and collected a fee for each. Expect to pay between $695 and $995.

Lender’s Title insurance: The lender wants to protect its investment, so it wants to make sure the property you are buying is insured and remains insured as long as the home has a loan on the property. The lender’s coverage will cost $2.50 per thousand borrowed.  When it’s time to refinance, this cost is discounted in many cases to as little as $1.50 per thousand.

Real Estate Tax escrow: In some states, the amount the lender requires of a buyer may be substantial.  Taxes are billed quarterly and semi-annual and the lender will want to hold 3 to 5 months in escrow.   You may receive money from the seller for bills that come due after the closing if they cover the time the seller owned the property. Like with homeowner’s insurance, the lender will probably require a lump sum deposit from you to the escrow account at closing settlement.

Mortgage point and loan origination fee: The origination fees are tied to the total cost of your loan and can run up to about 3 percent of your loan. If you pay a point, you should be getting a reduction of your mortgage interest rate. Whether you pay points or origination fees may be up to you. If you decide to obtain a loan with a lower-than-market interest rate, you may agree to pay points to lower your interest rate or buy down the rate.

Notary and other fees: Depending on your state, your mortgage paperwork may have to be reviewed and signed by a notary public. The notary public may charge a fee to witness your signature and verify it on the closing documents.

Prepaid interest on the loan: Usually a lender will bill you in advance for the interest on your loan from the day your loan closes to the end of the month. If you close early in the month, the amount will be larger; if you close near the end of the month, the amount will be smaller. This amount will be tied to the interest rate on your loan.

Recording fees for deed or mortgage: You’ll receive title to your home in the form of a legal document, and this document will need to be recorded with your county recorder of deeds. The mortgage will need to be recorded as well. The recording fee will vary from state to state, but you should expect to pay at least $360 in Massachusetts. Additionally, in some states, there is a mortgage tax that is based on the amount of the mortgage. For example, if the mortgage tax is 1 percent and your mortgage loan is for $250,000, the tax will be $250 to record the document.

Owners Title insurance: If you choose to purchase a buyer’s policy, and I absolutely think you should, the cost is $4.00 per thousand based on the purchase price of the home. If you only buy a lender’s title policy and then someone makes a title claim to the property and you lose the house, only the lender will get a check. Plus, if you have equity in the home, that equity will not be protected now or in the future. You need to buy a separate owner’s policy so that you will be fully compensated in this sort of situation.

Additional Items:

Purchase and Sales Review:  Most purchase and sales are provided by the real estate agents through the Greater Board of Realtors.  It is good to have these reviewed by a real estate attorney and can cost $250 to $500 for this.

Home inspection: While you should have had your own inspector go through the home you are buying early in the home-buying process, this fee will be required by your lender to make sure a newly built home has been completed. Your lender won’t want to fund your purchase unless it has sent someone out to actually see the home and make sure it’s ready for closing. This fee might runs between $250 and $500, depending on the type of new home you’re buying.

For more information regarding closing costs or mortgages, please email me at bill@billnickerson.com

Bill Nickerson, NMLS# 4194

My First Selfie…

 William J. Nickerson | NMLS #4194 | bill@billnickerson.com | 978-273-3227

How to Shop for a Mortgage

After hitting record lows of 3.250% last year, mortgage rates have inched up a little and in the grand scheme of things…it is only a little!  The trend of course is upwards and like the stock market, it is not a straight line up, we have good days and bad days in the markets and Mortgage Rates can sometimes and do change a few times inside a trading day. These rate changes are influenced by the global economy and while rates are still extremely low, refinancers and homebuyers are always looking for the lowest. Rates trade in real-time and react to each little development. But these lows come and go in minutes during specific trading intervals each trading day. And this kind of volatility drastically changes the way consumers should shop for a mortgage.  Because markets move up and down so fast right now, the rates you see in mainstream media* headlines are long gone by the time you can do anything about it.

SO HERE’S HOW TO SHOP FOR A MORTGAGE IN THIS NEW WORLD.

Shop For Loan Agents, Not Rates

Every consumer shops for mortgages and they should. But this is the critical distinction: you should be shopping for the best mortgage advisor. If you have that, you’ll get the best rate.

Here’s what happens when shoppers focused only on rate get quoted by a good loan agent: Loan agent quotes a rate only after they’ve analyzed the client’s entire financial profile and analyzed their home’s value and condition—also known as pre-approving them. The client will either tire of the pre-approval analytics or be unhappy with the rate and go somewhere else. Then 80% of those cases come back to that loan agent because the competing rate quote was revealed to be incorrect when the other lender actually completed the client’s profile, or the home’s value/condition made the loan ineligible.

Mortgages are extremely competitive so rates and fees are generally the same with most (established, credible) lending firms.  What’s not the same lender to lender is the loan agent’s ability to: (1) advise properly, (2) analyze borrower and property profiles, and (3) close with no surprises. So shop to find the lender and loan agent you feel most confident can perform on these three things. Then work with that loan agent to pick a rate target you can’t or won’t go above, and give them a standing order to lock when they see it.

These guidelines are for refinancers. For homebuyers, you can’t lock a rate until you’re in contract to buy a home, but once you’re in contract, the same approach applies.

Rate Targeting

Their are two reasons for the pre-approval and rate targeting tactics discussed above:

(1) A rate quote that flies through the air means nothing. If a loan agent doesn’t issue you written terms after obtaining a full profile on you and your home, then you haven’t received a quote you can count on.

(2) Rate lows are here and gone in minutes each trading day as mortgage bonds rise and fall on economic and technical trading signals. So if you don’t first get pre-approved then set a rate target with a standing lock order, it’s nearly impossible to hit the lows AND close with no surprises.  Your loan agent also must be able to brief you daily or weekly on the market outlook, so if you’re not sensing market competence from your agent, then keep shopping. A loan agent must have a strong read on what’s impacting the rate market ups and downs to deliver you the best terms.

*Mainstream media is almost always off the mark on rate data and commentary. Conversely, Mortgage News Daily strives to provide accurate and realistic rate data and commentary daily. Still, the premise of this piece is to explain what a mortgage consumer must do to manage extreme rate volatility.

Do you have any questions?  Feel free to call or email anytime!!

Bill Nickerson can be reached at 978-273-3227 and email at bill@billnickerson.com

 

The CFPB is looking for your advice?? Can you help?

With all the regulations that have been implemented in the mortgage industry recently, we are now seeing more and more mistakes that are caused at the last minute.  The repulling of a credit report just days before a closing, a discrepancy on an appraisal and so on.  Is it me, or does it seem like every closing is rushed and held up for something that no one has ever experienced before?  I am sure you have been to a few of these closing over the last few years!

Good News!!  The CFPB, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is looking for input on the closing process, specifically in response to the questions below. This is an incredible opportunity as the CFPB is asking us how to make things better in the Mortgage World specifically at the closing table.  Now is your chance to speak up and tell us what you think!  Can you answer some of these questions?

In case you were wondering, the CFPB is the product of Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts.  It is a committee to help the consumers obtain financial products with clarity.

Do us all a favor and answer as many of these questions as you can.

Consumers and Closing

1. What are common problems or issues consumers face at closing?
2. What parts of the closing process do consumers find confusing or overwhelming?
3. Are there specific parts of the closing process that borrowers find particularly helpful?
4. How empowered do consumers seem to feel at closing? Did they come to closing with questions?
5. What, if anything, have you found helps consumers understand the terms of the loan?

Changes and/or Errors at Closing

1. What are some common errors you have seen at closing?  Tell us about errors that were detected after closing.
2. What changes, diverging from what was originally presented at closing, often surprise consumers at closing? How do consumers react to changes at closing?

Other Parties at Closing

1. How, if at all, do consumers typically seek advice during closing? In person? By phone? Online?
2. Where and to whom do consumers turn for advice during closing? Whom do they typically trust?

Closing Documents

1. What documents do consumers find particularly confusing?
2. What resources do borrowers use to define unfamiliar terms of the loan?

Improving Closing

1. What, if anything, would you change about the closing process to make it a better experience for consumers?
2. What questions should consumers ask at closing? What are the most important pieces of information/documents for them to review?
3. What is the single most important question a consumer should ask at closing?
4. What is the single most important thing a consumer should do before coming to the closing table?

Do you have something to share or tell us in regards to what you have experienced at the closing table with your clients. Please tell us as we will be compiling all the comments and suggestions for the CFPB.

This is a major breakthrough, this is a Government Agency that is not only working with the consumer, but is working for you and I to make the process far better! To learn more about the CFPB, click here: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, if you are in the mortgage/real estate business, this is important.

Send your comments and suggestions to wnickerson@merrimackmortgage.com and together we can make history!

Thank you very much,

Bill

10 Tips for First Time Homebuyers

1.  Be picky, but don’t be unrealistic.  Your first home may need a little work, some paint, carpet and perhaps some other updates.  Remember, this is your first home and the first step in investing in your future. Don’t avoid a home because it has bright pink walls or ugly floors.  Do avoid a home that may have structural damage such as rotted sills.

2.  Do your homework before you start looking.  Look online, work with a Real Estate Agent and begin the process of what style homes you like, neighborhoods and most important, the price range.

3.  Get your finances in order. Organize your bank accounts by having all of your funds in one or two different accounts.  Review your credit to make sure any and all accounts are up to date.

4.  Don’t wait to get a loan; Get pre-approved.  Call me today, 978-273-3227, get approved ahead of time to make sure you are properly prepared and you are realistically looking in the right price range. This is a free service!

5.  Don’t ask too many people for opinions.  Just because your best friend bought and sold 3 houses, does not make them an expert.  Ask the professionals that do this everyday.

6.  Decide when you could move. Set realistic time frames of how quickly you could move into your new home.  In the case of home purchases, some transactions can happen in as little as 30 days and some can take up to 6 months, you need to be prepared.

7.  Think long-term. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Are you buying to be in a good school system? Closer to work? Close to the City?  Figure out what is important to you today, will these wants/needs still be important in 10 years?  It’s ok to buy a starter home and then re-evaluate in 5 or so years.  This is an investment and it’s your future.

8.  Don’t let yourself be “House Poor”.  Don’t over buy, your first home does not have to be 5000 square feet. You want to make sure you can still live your life and afford to go out to dinner.

9.  Don’t be naive. If you have never swung a hammer, don’t by a fixer upper. Do your homework on what updates to a home cost before purchasing a home that may need TLC.

10.  Get help from a real estate agent. This is your best resource for your home purchase. To be properly “matched” up, call me as I work with real estate agents all over and can refer you to one that best suits your needs.

Bottom Line:  Being a first time home buyer can be a scary uncertain time in your life, seek help from trained professionals to get the best most up-to-date information.

At Merrimack Mortgage, our mortgage programs are designed to assist the many different needs of each unique individual’s needs.

Call or email me today to find out how I can assist you in financing a new home or refinancing your current one. 

Bill Nickerson NMLS#4194   179 Great Road, Acton MA 01720

Phone: 978-273-3227     Bill’s Email       Bill’s Website