Wednesday, August 26, 2009
HVCC (The Home Valuation Code of Conduct)
I have been trying to hold my tongue until this new way of doing business with conventional loan appraisers was in place for a bit. I had hoped that somehow the powers that be would work out the kinks. I don't think it is going to happen. All Freddie Mac and Fannie Mac loans are affected which is basically most all of the conventional loan market. This affect's MIG, all banks, brokers and mortgage bankers. So you can't avoid it if you do a conventional loan.In case you don't know about HVCC you are probably fortunate, since it hasn't bit you yet. Here are the details. Neither the loan officer (that is me), my processor, anyone in my office the Realtor or the builder is allowed to know who will do the appraisal, where they work, nor can we ask for any particular value. Supposedly the appraiser is to work only in areas he knows, but from what I have seen that is questionable. We can have no contact whatsoever. The Realtor and home owner can speak to the appraiser, but that is about it. In many cases an appraisal management company will perform this ordering and monitoring service. Guess what that did to the price of the appraisal? And it also guaranteed a longer turn around time. Fortunately MIG didn't go the route of the appraisal management company. I believe that most of the horror stories originate with them. Once the appraisal has been received by the lender it is sent to the borrower. The loan then cannot close for three business days. I can see no benefit in that. Fortunately we just were given authority to waive this in some cases. To avoid the appraisal management company, our home office has set up a blind draw of appraisers who have done business with MIG over the years.It is just like being in middle school. Someone in class misbehaves and the whole class is punished. So the honest real estate practioners are being punished for the sins of those who violated ethical laws. With all this said , this is all the more reason to direct your transaction to someone who knows the ropes (That is George's Team) so that when and if problems arise, we can do our best to make things work out.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Top 2 Bottom Home Inspections owners Larry and Nancy Rollins take up the cause to help recover their grandson from Autism Spectrum Disorder
"We need your Help!"
At age two "Gunnar Cole" was diagnosed with autism. Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social skills, communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviors. While children with autism are remarkably intelligent and capable, they do not learn in the same way that the rest of us do. Traditional childhood training and schooling simply does not work with autistic children. What does work is Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy (ABA Therapy). ABA Therapy can teach autistic children the skills they need for all aspects of life. Studies show that ABA Therapy works to recover 65% of cases where the child is started by age three and continues at a rate of 30 to 40 hours per week until age five or six. Little Gunnar Cole has been working 30 to 35 hours a week with ABA Therapy since he was two years old. A combination of special ABA therapies at "The Brown Center for Autism" here in Nashville, and private therapists at home have transformed Gunnar from a minimally responsive, non eye contact, two year old who would barely acknowledge anyone's presence to a bright and shiny three year old who loves to play with other children and adults alike. Our family, as well as, "friends of Gunnar", known within the family as "Gunnars Angels" are extremely excited by his progress. He is even starting to talk and is obviously exciting himself by all that language is bringing into his life. His teachers and therapists are telling us that Gunnar is a prime candidate for the 65% group that can be recovered.We can not stop now. To recover little Gunnar we must be prepared to keep this regiment up for three more years. Our problem is that Gunnar Coles schooling, therapies, and medical expenses run $80,000 to $100,000 per year. As a family, we have made it through the first year and are committed to completing this task for Gunnar. We are aware however that we will be coming up short this next school year by about $20,000, even after taking all the normal "in family" financial steps to raise money.Therefore, Nancy and I have decided to expand Top 2 Bottom Home Inspections and we are asking your help in doing so. We are going to raise that $20,000 for Gunnar Cole. Commencing immediately, the proceeds from all our home inspections beyond two per week will go directly towards Gunnars schooling, therapies, and medical expenses. We are asking for your help! Not for a donation of money, but for an opportunity to show you that we can provide a quality home inspection and personal service unmatched anywhere in Tennessee. After all, Gunnar is working almost a 40 hour week at age three, we should be able to do more. The old adage, "It takes an entire village to raise a child", has new meaning for us, and we hope for you as well.We thank all of you who are, will become, or who have been, supporting Gunnar Cole in his fight to beat Autism Spectrum Disorder! Larry and Nancy Rollins, Top 2 Bottom Home Inspections 498-4930. Larry is a good friend and if any of you can help while receiving a great inspection, it would be great.
At age two "Gunnar Cole" was diagnosed with autism. Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social skills, communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviors. While children with autism are remarkably intelligent and capable, they do not learn in the same way that the rest of us do. Traditional childhood training and schooling simply does not work with autistic children. What does work is Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy (ABA Therapy). ABA Therapy can teach autistic children the skills they need for all aspects of life. Studies show that ABA Therapy works to recover 65% of cases where the child is started by age three and continues at a rate of 30 to 40 hours per week until age five or six. Little Gunnar Cole has been working 30 to 35 hours a week with ABA Therapy since he was two years old. A combination of special ABA therapies at "The Brown Center for Autism" here in Nashville, and private therapists at home have transformed Gunnar from a minimally responsive, non eye contact, two year old who would barely acknowledge anyone's presence to a bright and shiny three year old who loves to play with other children and adults alike. Our family, as well as, "friends of Gunnar", known within the family as "Gunnars Angels" are extremely excited by his progress. He is even starting to talk and is obviously exciting himself by all that language is bringing into his life. His teachers and therapists are telling us that Gunnar is a prime candidate for the 65% group that can be recovered.We can not stop now. To recover little Gunnar we must be prepared to keep this regiment up for three more years. Our problem is that Gunnar Coles schooling, therapies, and medical expenses run $80,000 to $100,000 per year. As a family, we have made it through the first year and are committed to completing this task for Gunnar. We are aware however that we will be coming up short this next school year by about $20,000, even after taking all the normal "in family" financial steps to raise money.Therefore, Nancy and I have decided to expand Top 2 Bottom Home Inspections and we are asking your help in doing so. We are going to raise that $20,000 for Gunnar Cole. Commencing immediately, the proceeds from all our home inspections beyond two per week will go directly towards Gunnars schooling, therapies, and medical expenses. We are asking for your help! Not for a donation of money, but for an opportunity to show you that we can provide a quality home inspection and personal service unmatched anywhere in Tennessee. After all, Gunnar is working almost a 40 hour week at age three, we should be able to do more. The old adage, "It takes an entire village to raise a child", has new meaning for us, and we hope for you as well.We thank all of you who are, will become, or who have been, supporting Gunnar Cole in his fight to beat Autism Spectrum Disorder! Larry and Nancy Rollins, Top 2 Bottom Home Inspections 498-4930. Larry is a good friend and if any of you can help while receiving a great inspection, it would be great.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The First Time Homebuyer Phenomenon
Overall real estate is still down some from last year. But the segment of first time buyers is booming. The tax credit of $8,000 combined with the incentives of THDA (Tennessee Housing Development Agency) which could be as much as another $9,000 in grants. You combine this with interest rates in the 5's and home prices that sound like 2005 prices and it is almost too good to pass up. Now I am hearing Realtors saying they are starting to see the inventory of homes in these price ranges start to be a little wanting. So I recommend that if you know someone that would be interested in this, they need to get with it.
My number is 777-Home (4663) and my e-mail address is george.margrave@migonline.com And the sellers of these homes have to go somewhere. So that should feed through the whole market. So for the ones of us who have jobs, things do look better.
My number is 777-Home (4663) and my e-mail address is george.margrave@migonline.com And the sellers of these homes have to go somewhere. So that should feed through the whole market. So for the ones of us who have jobs, things do look better.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
You Need Higher Credit Scores than Ever
Three years ago, a credit score of 580 was good enough for you to earn approval for a wide range of attractive mortgages and other loans. Today, borrowers need scores well into the 700s (out of 850) to obtain similar terms. (George says that 620 will often work for a government loan. With Conventional loans the higher scores are more important).
Achieving these top-tier credit scores is tough enough when the system is fair. Often it isn't. Harmful practices by retailers and credit-reporting agencies can keep you from earning your rightful credit score. How to protect your score.
Decline all offers from stores that say, "No payments until."
Reason: Retailers typically team up with third-party finance companies to make these offers. They are the same finance companies that make high-interest-rate loans to high-risk borrowers. If one of these lenders is listed on your credit report, the scoring models that calculate your credit score might lower your score -- even if all you did was accept an offer to delay payments on a flat-screen television or a coffee table.
Do not apply for more than two or three credit cards, including store cards, within any 12-month span.
Reason: Each credit card you apply for, including store cards, posts a credit "inquiry" on your credit report. Make more than a few inquiries within a few months -- which often happens around the holidays when consumers take advantage of special card offers -- and your credit score might fall. These inquiries will continue to affect your credit score for 12 months.
Before you agree to become a customer, ask small lenders, cellular service providers and utilities whether they report on-time payment of bills to credit bureaus. If you have a choice of which company or lender to use, lean toward those that do report, so your responsible use of this credit counts in your favor.
Reason: With many credit card issuers, even when you act responsibly, you are not rewarded -- yet when you make even a small mistake, you are punished. Because many utility companies, cell phone service providers and small lenders, such as credit unions, don't bother to report on-time payments to any of the credit bureaus, they deprive their customers of an opportunity to improve their credit scores. But, if these customers default or their bills are turned over to a collection agency, that is reported, generally through the collection agency assigned to recover the debt.
Check your credit report for mistakes six months before applying for an important loan.
Reason: If you find an error on your credit report that is lowering your score, you can contact the credit bureau and correct the problem in time. If you don't check, when you apply for the loan, you may discover that your credit score is unfairly low.
No matter the mistake, it takes up to 30 days for credit bureaus to update credit reports. Best: Check your credit report with all three credit-reporting bureaus -- free -- once every 12 months at www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also purchase your credit score for $7.95 when you get your free report.
When a customer service rep agrees that a late or missed payment notice was in error, ask to be sent confirmation to this effect on company letterhead. This statement should note your name, account number and the date of the bill in question. If the erroneous late or missed payment later appears on your credit report, you can send copies of this statement directly to the credit bureaus.
Reason: Even when a lender agrees that it was wrong to accuse you of a late or missed payment, the lender may still report the problem to a credit-reporting agency. The customer service reps who correct the billing mistakes might lack access to the automated system that reports late and missed payments to credit bureaus.
DON'T FORGET THESE BASIC WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR SCORE
Use only a small amount of your available credit. Your credit score will suffer if you use more than 10% of your available credit on a particular account or among all your accounts.
Vary your credit. It's important to your score that you have many different types of credit, including several of the following: Credit card, retail store card, gas card, auto loan, home loan, student loan and personal loan.
Do not close old accounts. The older your credit card accounts, the better for your credit score.
John Ulzheimer / Credit.com
Achieving these top-tier credit scores is tough enough when the system is fair. Often it isn't. Harmful practices by retailers and credit-reporting agencies can keep you from earning your rightful credit score. How to protect your score.
Decline all offers from stores that say, "No payments until."
Reason: Retailers typically team up with third-party finance companies to make these offers. They are the same finance companies that make high-interest-rate loans to high-risk borrowers. If one of these lenders is listed on your credit report, the scoring models that calculate your credit score might lower your score -- even if all you did was accept an offer to delay payments on a flat-screen television or a coffee table.
Do not apply for more than two or three credit cards, including store cards, within any 12-month span.
Reason: Each credit card you apply for, including store cards, posts a credit "inquiry" on your credit report. Make more than a few inquiries within a few months -- which often happens around the holidays when consumers take advantage of special card offers -- and your credit score might fall. These inquiries will continue to affect your credit score for 12 months.
Before you agree to become a customer, ask small lenders, cellular service providers and utilities whether they report on-time payment of bills to credit bureaus. If you have a choice of which company or lender to use, lean toward those that do report, so your responsible use of this credit counts in your favor.
Reason: With many credit card issuers, even when you act responsibly, you are not rewarded -- yet when you make even a small mistake, you are punished. Because many utility companies, cell phone service providers and small lenders, such as credit unions, don't bother to report on-time payments to any of the credit bureaus, they deprive their customers of an opportunity to improve their credit scores. But, if these customers default or their bills are turned over to a collection agency, that is reported, generally through the collection agency assigned to recover the debt.
Check your credit report for mistakes six months before applying for an important loan.
Reason: If you find an error on your credit report that is lowering your score, you can contact the credit bureau and correct the problem in time. If you don't check, when you apply for the loan, you may discover that your credit score is unfairly low.
No matter the mistake, it takes up to 30 days for credit bureaus to update credit reports. Best: Check your credit report with all three credit-reporting bureaus -- free -- once every 12 months at www.annualcreditreport.com. You can also purchase your credit score for $7.95 when you get your free report.
When a customer service rep agrees that a late or missed payment notice was in error, ask to be sent confirmation to this effect on company letterhead. This statement should note your name, account number and the date of the bill in question. If the erroneous late or missed payment later appears on your credit report, you can send copies of this statement directly to the credit bureaus.
Reason: Even when a lender agrees that it was wrong to accuse you of a late or missed payment, the lender may still report the problem to a credit-reporting agency. The customer service reps who correct the billing mistakes might lack access to the automated system that reports late and missed payments to credit bureaus.
DON'T FORGET THESE BASIC WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR SCORE
Use only a small amount of your available credit. Your credit score will suffer if you use more than 10% of your available credit on a particular account or among all your accounts.
Vary your credit. It's important to your score that you have many different types of credit, including several of the following: Credit card, retail store card, gas card, auto loan, home loan, student loan and personal loan.
Do not close old accounts. The older your credit card accounts, the better for your credit score.
John Ulzheimer / Credit.com
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