Memorial Day has passed but not the memories or the appreciation of the freedom we enjoy daily.
My father was a soldier in the Korean War. My dad’s brothers, my uncles, served during World War II, one receiving a Purple Heart, and my great-uncle Izzy Goodman served as a doctor in World War II (Jews did not have an easy time getting into medical school during that time).
Why do I bring this up? The very simple answer is to make everyone mindful of what really goes into the foundation of homeownership—freedom!
The mortgage industry came a long way since the one to three products they offered way back when.
You needed to put down 30 percent and pay super-high rates, and of course houses were significantly cheaper (all things are relative—understood!), but that was then and this is now. When you’re shopping for rates there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in order to actually provide the financing and the mortgage rate you close with. There is a sophisticated hierarchy of secondary market buyers—Fannie, Freddie, investment banks and savings banks, and along with those buyers’ rating institutions. Loan officers, underwriters, appraisers, closers, title companies, real estate brokers and attorneys all working toward the same goal—your closing. Real estate transactions have to be timely because sellers need their money to do what they need to do, and you need to move on your time frame, and both of you need to protect the rate lock so a possible expiration is avoided, along with a higher rate should rates move upward.
There are a myriad of low down-payment programs, like 1 percent, 3 percent and 5 percent, that go in excess of $1,000,000 and who woulda thought. We have a credit system based on credit scoring allowing for positive or negative risk adjustments in pricing, and of course this system, in many cases, eliminated common sense underwriting, but also allowed for a free-flowing rating system for mortgage securitization and a greater availability of funds to help borrowers buy, invest and live in one- to four-family homes across the United States.
Part of getting a mortgage done is a diligent follow-up process on accumulating all the financial documentation needed for review to make sure that in fact you can qualify to buy the property you want to. Sometimes it takes a little pushing and some creativity to make a deal work. I always tell my associates and employees that we have to model our “marines” in following up with our borrowers and pushing our lenders to make sure the deal closes, and sometimes that’s what it takes.
We owe a lot to our soldiers who protect our country, and to our soldiers who died for our country, so that we can enjoy the benefit of one of our country’s greatest benefits—homeownership. Yes, there is a lot that goes into a rate quote with freedom as the driving force. As I finish this article, I stand and salute our fighting forces in the United States, our protectors, our heroes, and pray that God Above protects them so they can protect us in our neighborhoods and communities. A great big thank you to our military.
Carl Guzman, NMLS# 65291, CPA, is the founder and president of Greenback Capital Mortgage Corp., a Zillow five-star lender http://www.zillow.com/profile/Greenback-Capital/Reviews/?my=y. He is a residential and reverse mortgage financing expert and a dealmaker with over 26 years’ industry experience. Carl and his team will help you get the best mortgage financing for your situation and his advice will save you thousands! www.greenbackcapital.com [email protected].
By Carl Guzman
