In Honor of Beverly Carter

In Honor of Beverly Carter

Beverly Carter has been weighing heavily on my mind. She was a mother and a wife and a Realtor®. What happened to her was one of the most tragic and devastating things that could happen. I have a feeling that we still don’t know the whole story. As the new outlets investigate it, we will find out. I am dreading it. My entire heart goes out to her family, friends and colleagues.

I know that in our real estate community this has sparked concern about how we meet our clients.

I am not a working agent. I do hold a license, in escrow, however I work as a lender, and have for many years. I am part of the real estate community. I am you. I have been known to make decisions to meet new clients in their homes, or after hours in the office. I can tell you right now, I will never compromise my own safety again.

In honor of Beverly Carter, I urge you all to examine your own practices of meeting clients. Make safe choices. You are valuable to your family and your colleagues and how you conduct your business is important. Never compromise your safety.

I have found some resources that hopefully are helpful to you.

NAR has designated September as Realtor® Safety Month. They have a presentation ready for your offices so you can conduct a meeting specific to this topic. Download it. Talk about it. http://www.realtor.org/topics/realtor-safety

Fairfax County, VA has a FREE Self Defense course that I urge you to attend. I will.  It is open to women ages 12 and over and is conducted by the Fairfax County Police Department and seems like a very comprehensive program covering awareness of your surroundings, risk assessment, and hands on training and techniques.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/services/women-self-defense.htm

Also, speaking from a lender’s standpoint, a serious buyer will give over tons of personal information to get qualified for a mortgage. In a way, this vetting your buyer.  Make sure your potential buyer has been vetted with a lender. They should have a letter in hand from a reputable lender proving they are a serious buyer. This still does not insure your safety, always take appropriate precautions.

I am volunteering myself to accompany any Realtor® who doesn’t feel comfortable going to a showing alone. Contact me, anytime. All of my information is part of this email. This is about looking out for one another. We are a community.

Sincerely,

Dawn

Set a Plate at the Table for ME!

PreQualification. How to do it and why you should.

If you are interested in buying a home, whether it is your first home or your 10th, it is important to know what your purchase power is. So if you are considering a buying a home the first stop on your journey is with your lender.

A PreQualification can be done in less than 30 minutes. It involves actually filling out an application and a credit review by your mortgage loan officer. You will be asked for your complete contact information, residential history, employment history, assets, liabilities, any real estate owned (reo),

whether or not you plan to live in the property, who will be on the title, and a few personal questions about your ethnicity and race. It can feel invasive and overwhelming. Make sure you are comfortable disclosing all of this information. Be aware that sometimes your answers can generate more questions. Everything you tell your loan officer will be third party verified.

I always tell my clients to set a plate at the table for me because we are about to be family.

The items that you discuss with your loan officer will give him/her a high level overview of your financial picture. A loan officer can look at the information that you have given and make a quick determination on whether or not you COULD BE APPROVED.

At this point, the loan officer will give you a PreQualification Letter so that your Realtor can submit it with a contract offer on a property. Realtors and sellers will often ask for this letter so that they can have some assurance that you have at least talked to a lender.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU ARE APPROVED FOR A LOAN!

It simply means that you could potentially be approved for the loan once all of your supporting documentation has been submitted and ultimately reviewed by an underwriter. A PreQualification letter can secure a rate for you up to 120 days while you are shopping for a home. However, you are still subject to an underwriting review.

Know your purchase power. Be transparent with your loan officer. Your loan officer is going to be involved in every aspect of your financial life throughout the process. Your loan officer is going to guide you through an often overwhelming, complicated, journey. Let them, lean on them.

Your loan officer is your family now. Set them a plate at the table.

Stop Daydreaming and DO IT!! Your Summer renovation…

Welcome to SUMMERRR!!!! It is the perfect time for fun in the sun, vacations with family and friends, and....RENOVATIONS!

When the weather is nice is a perfect time to start those home renovations that you talked about all winter. Need a new roof? Want a garage? Must have stainless and granite in the kitchen? Well, Let's talk about it.

Like anything else, these things start with a daydream…………..


HEY! Sorry to interrupt your dream but how are you going to pay for it???

So, let me tell you what prompted me to write this. I was watching one of my favorite shows on HGTV, Property Brothers. Who else watches this show?? Hold for my short review….

This show is pure real estate brilliance. There is no prize, no gimmicks, just pure real estate. It is 2 brothers, (who are both VERY handsome). One is a real estate agent and the other is a builder. The premise of the show is these two brothers take the buyer's wish list and show them a finished home that they fall in love with. INEVITABLY, it is always outside of the buyers budget.
THEN they show them three other homes that need some TLC. Through the magic of architectural software they show the buyers how their wish list can be customized to each home and let the buyer choose.
Property Brothers depicts Drew Scott as a super skilled agent, handling every concern of the buyers with finesse and Jonathan is a project manager extraordinaire, considering how stressful it is to deal with the buyers. As always, there is a happy ending when the show winds up with blissful homeowners and the Scott brothers are satisfied with a job well done. I love this show.

1. Drew Scott is the epitome of a skilled agent.
2. Jonathan Scott is the epitome of a skilled carpenter and project manager.
3. I love that they convince the buyers to rehab unloved properties. They are helping neighborhoods and communites. I am a believer.
4. They are uber handsome.
5. And I love the modern designs they come up with. Not sure who is the driving force on that but the homes always turn out beautiful.

Ok. So I was gobbling up this show not too long ago, and it occurred to me; How and Who is paying for these beautiful renovations?? My mortgage brain is going 90mph just thinking of the ways is could be done. So, I asked.

The question:

@PropertyBrother how are those renovations financed? Reno mortgage? HELOC post closing? cash on hand? #curious

The response: from @MrDrewScott

@lenderdawn every @PropertyBrother episode is different. Depends on the homeowners situation. Some use savings, others finance, some borrow

Fantastic! All options were on the table and those options are available to you as well. So let's chat.

There are renovation mortgages are available for refinancing and purchasing. If you already own the property, you can add your renovations into the refinance as long as it is a permanent fixture and adds value to the property. So if you want that new kitchen, do it!

Also, with a purchase, you find a property that has great bones but needs updating, buy it! If you have vision and can see a pool in the back yard, or a finished basement man-cave, do it!

If you would like to access the existing equity in your property with a Home Equity Line of Credit, (HELOC), you can use those funds like a credit card. Use what you need and only pay on what you owe. This loan is pretty easy to originate, however, you won't get the tax breaks.

And, of course, if you have savings on hand and want to pour it back into your property, do it. There is no better investment than real estate.

There are lots of options. Your lender, (me), will be able to school you on all of it.

As always, if you have a question about real estate, just ask.
@lenderdawn
realtalkaboutrealestate@gmail.com

Demystifying VA Loans

Happy July!

In this month of celebrating our freedom and those who make sure it stays intact, this is the least I can do to honor those in service to our great country. In whatever way you can honor those members, do it. They deserve it more than anyone I know. They have the most hazardous, rigorous, stressful jobs on the planet. Give back to them. In the smallest of ways, I can give this back.

 So I am gonna break it down for you.

What is it?

A mortgage loan for the purpose of purchase or refinance of a primary property. The funds from a VA loan do not really come from the VA, (Veterans Administration). Lenders, (like myself :)), extend a loan to the borrower according to the all of the requirements set forth by the VA. As long as the borrower and property meet the requirements, the VA, basically, insures the loan for the actual lender of the money. Make sense?

Who is eligible?

• Active Duty Military
• Veterans
• Reservists and National Guard members
• Spouses of military

Do you meet this requirement? Check that box!

How do you get a VA Loan? 

•  Apply with your favorite neighborhood lender. Be prepared with your Certificate of Eligibilty, (COE), and your Discharge papers, (DD214). These are accessible through the VA website or I can certainly help you get it. 
• Or you can help yourself here: I NEED MY COE!

What are the benefits of a VA loan? Does it matter? 

• Yes, it matters. This loan allows you to purchase a home with NO DOWN PAYMENT! Yep. I said it. 100% financing.

• It is the only loan that allows you to purchase or refi up 100% of the value of the home… WITHOUT MORTGAGE INSURANCE! That is a BIG DEAL. I will do a whole separate posting about mortgage insurance, however, just know that in this case, it saves you MONEY $$$!!!

• The VA, kind of in lieu of mortgage insurance, charges a Funding Fee. It is a one time fee that can either be financed into the loan or paid as part of the closing costs. 

• No Pre-Payment penalty

• It is assumable. This means that you can procedurally and legally transfer this mortgage to another qualified buyer. 

• Rates are generally lower than the conventional mortgage rates. 

• This loan is available in 30 yr, 20yr, 15yr, 3ARM, 5ARM, and 7ARM.

• You can PAY OFF DEBT at closing to qualify for this loan! How crazy is that?

As with any loan program you still have to qualify as a borrower. Most of the qualifying parameters are similar to other loans. there is some forgiveness in terms of debt to income ratio and credit score. 

Some of the things you should know. 

The property has to evaluated by a VA certified appraiser. For the borrower this is great news. If this is a purchase then you have a contractual option to get out of the loan if the property does not appraise for the contract value, (or pay the difference). 

There are loan limits per county, as well as some concentrated areas. These limits are based on the housing market in your area. Your lender will know.

So, I really urge you to talk to a lender if you think you are eligible. This is the best mortgage loan out there. Some things the government gets right and this is one of them. Making housing accessible to service members and their families is a huge deal. Take advantage of it.

EQUITY!!!

Guess what? We are in a rising equity market around here and I was just wondering how many homeowners are making that equity make money for you.

So, first, let’s define equity. It is the difference between the amount you owe on a mortgage for real property and the amount that property is worth. 

Example:

123 ABC Street                    Value: $450,000

Mortgage                            -Owes : $300,000

Equity                                             $150,000!!

How many of you have 150K sitting in the bank right now?

That is YOUR money, and it’s just sitting there in your house. It’s not making money for you. Pull out your equity and get yourself some financial security, create your empire!

If you cash out some or all of your equity make sure you put it in a place that can work for you. DO NOT take that money and purchase a boat, car, or vacation. These actions DO NOT make money for you! 

However, if you have NEVER been to the beach and you take some cash and end up in Antigua, I am not gonna hate on that. 

But really, the best thing to do with your equity is to place it somewhere it can make money!!

So, let’s talk about some of the smart things you can do with that money.

• The interest paid is tax deductible! Yes, interest payments made on a primary mortgage are tax deductible. This means if you use this cash to do some home improvements, you are not only increasing the value of your home, but you are also getting a tax deduction! 

• FYI: It is important to tell you that if you are considering a HELOC, (Home Equity Line of Credit), for the purpose of pulling equity out of your house, you will not reap the tax benefits. The IRS will not allow you to deduct the interest paid on a HELOC. You will get a better rate and all of the tax benefits from a primary mortgage.

•  Put that money in an interest drawing savings account, or a money market account, or invest it with a financial investor. You still get a tax deduction on the interest you will pay! If you leave this equity in your property it is doing NOTHING for you!

• Have you thought about buying an investment property? Typically some of those loans require a 20%-25% down payment. Use your equity and create another opportunity for cash flow, another equity builder, and a tax deduction! 

• Are you in debt? Pay off some of your revolving and installment debt! A lot of times, the interest you PAY on those types of consumer loans will be more than what your mortgage interest is AND you DO NOT get any kind of tax benefits for making payments on a car! Not to mention the positive impact that it will have on your credit score. 

• Do you have VA eligibility?? You can cash out 100% OF YOUR EQUITY!! IT'S ALL YOURS!

I am sure there are lots of other benefits that will be unique to you but believe me, it is still better than just letting your equity sit…and sit. Use it. Make your money make money!

As always, I am here to share information about the ins and outs of real estate in the DC Metro market. If you want to comment or chat with me about mortgage and real estate questions you can reach me at 304-582-0434 or realtalkaboutrealestate@gmail.com.

You can find me here!

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