Michael and Karen George

At Arizona Wholesale Mortgage, we work with first time homebuyers on a large percentage of our closings. We take great pride in helping first time homebuyers purchase the home of their dreams, the home that they deserve.

We offer downpayment assistance directly from the State of Arizona- up to 22% towards the downpayment of your home. The only condition is that you purchase a foreclosure, and in Arizona right now, foreclosures are the best deal anyway.

Recently, we helped one first time homebuyer purchase a foreclosed home for $83,000. The home was actually worth about $200,000 under normal conditions. The state granted her $12,000 for a down payment and her total price for the $200,000 home was $71,000. And it was a beautiful home.

If you want to learn about az state grants or arizona first time homebuyers programs, please call:

877-551-8188, as soon as the system picks up, dial #2 for Julie, our first time home buyers expert.

There are some amazing new programs available in Arizona, for those looking to buy a foreclosed home. There are thousands of Arizona homes in foreclosure right now, and the Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH) is doing what they can to help with the crisis.

The ADOH has introduced a program entitled "Your Way Home" and it has the intention of helping people purchase Arizona foreclosures with zero down. The State of Arizona is contributing $20,000,000 towards the project.

The Your Way Home program will provide qualified borrowers with up to 22% as a down payment, in the form of a "soft second." A soft second mortgage is defined as A second mortgage with payments that are forgiven, deferred, or subsidized in some fashion, generally until resale of the mortgaged property.

In other words, you don't have to pay off the second mortgage as long as you follow the guidelines. It's free money for those that want to purchase a foreclosed home and make it their primary residence.

There are income limits, price limits, and location restrictions. Do you qualify?

Here is what you need to qualify for a zero-down Arizona foreclosure loan:

1. The house must be a foreclosure or abandoned home.

2. You must work with a lender that has been approved for the program. Arizona Wholesale Mortgage is an approved lender. (Feel free to call us at 480-551-8188, ext. 82)

3. This program is intented to help people who might otherwise be unable to buy a home due to down payment issues. So, we're very sorry, but millionaires and landlords need not apply.

4. Borrowers must have household incomes not greater than 120% of the median household income for the county in which the property is being purchased.

In Maricopa County for example, the median income for a two-person household is $63,250. So if you live in a two person household and you earn more than 125% of $63,250-- which is $75,900-- you would not qualify for this program.

However, before you disqualify yourself, please contact us so that we can be sure to calculate your income correctly. (877-551-8188 ext 82)

5. Borrowers must attend a Homebuyers Counseling session.

6. Borrowers need to have at least two months of reserves after closing. This means that you need the total amount of two mortgage payments, including principal, interest, taxes and insurance. (PITI)

7. Those that wish to buy an Arizona foreclosure need to qualify for a mortgage loan. This isn't a "bad credit" program. It's geared towards people who would otherwise qualify for a mortgage, but simply do not have a down payment.

There are a few more requirements, but the above seven rules are the most important. We, as your mortgage lender, will deal with the other State of Arizona requirements.

Borrowers can use any Realtor they choose and any title company is fine. If you need a recommendation for a Realtor, please call us at 877-551-8188 or email julie@azwm.com

Apply today to buy an Arizona Foreclosure!

Okay, so I finally did it. I signed up for Twitter. Now I will-- just like Paris Hilton and Fifty Cent-- broadcast important information to my fellow American citizens.

In all seriousness though, I think this is going to be pretty neat and very useful for Realtors I work with, as well as current and future mortgage clients.

I call this service "Arizona Mortgage Rates" because that's where most of my clients come from. However, in truth, these rates should likely be applied to your state as well. There are only a couple of real exceptions. (Alaska and Hawaii, we're talking to you!)

So if you want to follow current mortgage rates, please see my Twitter page at: http://twitter.com/az_mortgage

Or check out the widget that appears to the right. Just click the "follow" button to get daily rate information.

I'll also post breaking mortgage news when it happens. Mid-day rate changes, rate lock recommendations, you name it. I am going to be as ambitious as I possibly can.

Please consider signing up! And thank you...

~Michael

A few months ago, I received a mass email from a group of friends inviting volunteers to head south of the border to build a home for a destitute Mexican family.

I was told by others, who had already done this, that I would most certainly have a great time. Building a house is pretty cool, especially when you've never done it before.

Now, please don't think I am typing this to boast about my volunteer efforts. The truth is that it was a four day camping vacation for me. I was just thrilled to be camping in the salty Mexican air, campfires, Corona beer, and all that good stuff. So this was fun for me and a 6-person family was provided a sturdy new home. Everybody wins. It was really awesome.

On the picture displayed to the left, I am about three days without a shower. (There is really no place to bathe.)

But I wanted to share something with ActiveRain: As a mortgage broker, I felt extra "connected" to this project and I think you might too.

So I thought I would write a little bit about it and maybe interest some others as well. For over ten years now, I've worked as an Arizona-based mortgage broker. I don't know if this is actually accurate, but let's say 50% of my clients need to buy a home (the rest are refinances). Sometimes it's challenging. Sometimes I have to tell people-- that I personally believe deserve a loan-- that there is just no way they are going to qualify. I hate that. It's not about the commission, I just really feel bad for some of my clients.

So I think more so with me, specifically due to my type of work, providing a brand new two-bedroom, at no cost to the family, was especially satisfying to my soul.

There are two organizations that I know of that build homes for the poor. There may be many more. There is Habitat for Humanity, which is a big-time deal and the original. (I have a friend flying to India right now with Habitat.) There is also Amor Ministries. They work through your church. All you have to do is organize a group of about 20 or 25 people from your church, contact Amor Ministries, and they'll send you on your mission-- usually in Mexico from what I understand. Churches of every domination were at the campsite...and people from all over the country. The guys next to us were from Seattle. We only drove 3.5 hours from Phoenix.

Take a good look at the "homes" behind my head and shoulders. You can see that they are simply plywood shacks, that cannot be secure and safe. Of course, there are no streetlights or electricity in this so-called neighborhood at all. There is no running water; not even a well. People essentially cook for their families on hotplates powered by propane, or a campfire in the "yard." The site is a former landfill, and surrounded by trash. Children play in the sand and I wonder what diseases are waiting for them there. It can't be good. We know there is abestos and lead paint everywhere.

If you can handle your own body odor, please consider joining on for one or ten of these projects. I promise you'll have a wonderful time and you'll go back home with a full heart. Oh one more thing, our group was made up of all ages and both sexes. You don't need to be super-strong to do this. There is a lot of light duty work.

The group goes down in February and again in November. Imagine if you organized your office, and sent down a group of Realtors. (Only one person has to be a member of a church.) Pictures of the brokers and agents all proudly standing in front of a bunch of different houses (over time)...well, I think that would be about the best decoration you could possibly have in your office. Let 'em know you have a heart. Your clients will be proud to use you. Also, what a great way to strengthen your team skills!

Thanks for reading.

~Michael George

Every year-- maybe twice a year-- we have a gun show at the State Fairgrounds in Phoenix. Once in a while, I'll go and check it out. I love to be surrounded by lunatics and the gun show is very good for that. People watching just doesn't get any better.

For those of you that have never had the opportunity to visit a gun show, you will be pleased to know that white supremacy is still alive and well. There are always at least two or three booths that sell Nazi memorabilia. Skinheads will greet you with a smile as you peruse authentic Nazi weapons and accessories. (As long as you're white.) It's a real homey, family-type environment. It's never too young to teach the kids to hate!

Excellent.

You can also buy a gun, even if you're not supposed to-- especially if you're not supposed to. Many booths stress "private sales" (person-to-person), so that a background check can be circumvented. This way, felons and convicted spouse abusers can buy and sell firearms all weekend long at the State Fair.

Gee whiz. What happened to 4-H and petting zoos?

Contary to popular belief, not all speech is free in the United States. For example, you cannot threaten the President. (Actually, you cannot threaten anybody.) You cannot incite a riot. The law is pretty much common sense, but common sense was sucked out of that gun show like it was a vacuum. I actually did not see a single cop, because if I did, I would have turned over about five potential terrorists.

The fiasco began when I walked up to a booth / table that was selling assault rifles. The fine patriot selling these guns was bragging that one gun in particular could "take a mans head off from 2500 meters." Pretty impressive. That's about a mile and a half. The bullets were enormous; I can't remember the exact caliber though. I had no idea that a civilian could even purchase something like this. Totally in awe of what I was seeing and hearing, I sort of shoved my way closer to the gun and checked out the price tag hanging from it's massive scope.

To tell you the truth I don't even remember the price. I just remember the tag. On one side was the price and on the other side, there was a picture of our President with a target superimposed over his face. I swear this is true. It's crazy, but it's true.

The man next to me saw me holding the pricetag and staring in amazement. He mistook my shock for something else, because he says-- and not very quietly mind you-- "Yeah, somebody needs to plug that n***ger."

Then, the salesman speaks before I get a chance to. I figure he is going to be the voice of reason and tell the guy to get the hell out of there. Instead, he actually says, "Oh somebody will. Yeah- somebody will get him."

A few more guys join in with similar sentiments. Honestly, I was shocked silent. As far as I was concerned, I was surrounded by potential assasins. Like, I actually couldn't speak because I was so floored. Why do these guys get away with this? Because it would be very easy to stop them from displaying the offensive price tag... Apparently, people just don't care.

I got the impression that the show attendees were / are afraid that Obama is going to take their guns away. (Some wore t-shirts to that effect.) Sometimes the idiocy of the public is so remarkable...you just gotta blog about it.

~Michael George

Oh, and before I get any hate mail: Not all gun show attendees are lunatics. After all, I was there.