Brian Smith

I have really never felt compelled to write about the service I have received from someone else in another service industry. I am very picky (let's just say anal) when it comes to the quality of work for repairs to my home, and have probably rubbed a few folks I've hired the wrong way, just because I ask them to fix whatever they've "fixed" until it's done to my satisfaction.

I am very highly recommending a young man named Ryan Kerstetter (615 474 8952) who owns his own company called Quality Services in Nashville. A simple name for a company, you might even say over-used term. Yet in this case the word "quality" actually means something. I was referred to Ryan from my barber, and had called him for a microwave and oven repair. I had been told by another company that it would cost over $400 to repair these appliances, or I could spend well over $1000 to replace them. I had been using this other company for my last 3 appliance repairs, but I always felt like I was spending a little too much.

Ryan came by our house and carefully took the pieces off the appliances to diagnose the problems. He even got on my laptop and showed me where I could order the parts wholesale. He told me that sometimes certain parts are no longer made for certain appliances, and you're out of luck. He told me he used to work for a national appliance company, and decided to go out on his own because he felt guilty for practically ripping people off on repairs he could easily perform for much less. Fortunately for me, he found the necessary parts, had me order them online wholesale, and in a few days I had him come back by to do the repairs.

He was so painstakingly careful with these flimsy plastic parts, and he took the time to show me why the big boys end up ordering unnecessary parts just so they didn't have to be too careful when disassembling things. I really appreciated this type of info.

I honestly have not run into a more humble, honest, and considerate service professional in my whole life. And he comes with a very important bonus- he is EXTREMELY reasonable. I got the repairs done for about less than half (saved over $200) of what I was quoted by the reputable company I had been using for years. He is trying to build his business up and has absolutely no idea I'm writing a blog about him. I have referred him to several people who said they really liked him too. He's just one of those people you really want to see succeed because he does business the RIGHT way. I ran into him the other day and it just reminded me that I wanted to do this.

If you have a listing which needs some appliance repair in the Nashville area, DO NOT HESITATE to call Ryan. He actually does interior and exterior maintenance and heating and A/C as well, but I have only used him for the appliances. I suspect if he does those things like he does appliance repair, you couldn't go wrong. He doesn't charge anything to come over an diagnose your problem and give you a quote, which is unusual in his line of work. I know who I'm calling next time I need something fixed. Ryan's number is 615 474 8952.

Stongly encourage homebuyers who are closing in the next 30 days to lock in NOW! Mortgage rates are as good as they've been this whole year, and the driving force behind them, mortgage-backed security (MBS) prices, have been on a very nice roll since the beginning of November. As you may know, the higher the prices these securities get bid up by the institutions buying them, the lower mortgage rates go. Right now, those MBS prices are hitting a very heavy "ceiling" of resistance (stock terminology-sorry), which means the probability of the prices going higher is very slim. I.e., the likelihood of mortgage rates improving from here is much lower than the likelihood of rates getting worse. The last time that MBS prices hit these levels (Jan 2009), the MBS prices quickly fell, and interest rates rose .25% within a matter of a few days.

This, combined with the fact that the Fed is almost at the end of its $1.25 TRILLION MBS purchase program, which was designed to keep a "lid" on rates all year long, you have a recipe for rising rates from here. Sure there will be the normal up and down of rates on a daily or intra-day basis, but think of it like this: you are interest rates, and you are jumping up and down in an elevator that is on Floor One right now, and though you're not going to shoot up to Floor Ten any time really soon, you will steadily going up, up, up.

One more thing: a common misconception is that people believe since the Fed has said it will keep "short-term interest rates" unchanged for a while, that mortgage rates won't be going up any time soon. This couldn't be farther from reality. Short term rates (Fed Funds rate/Prime rate) directly affect home equity line rates, some credit cards, car loans, and commercial loans, but not conventional and government mortgage rates. Mortgage rates follow the MBS price action, which follows the longer-term US Treasury market fairly closely.

With the loss of the seller-funded dpa programs, it is crucial to "dust off" some really neat little ways FHA allows to help our clients and borrowers come up with the required 3% contribution or down payment (3.5% after Jan 1 2009) Here's one idea that might appeal to some of your buyers:

We all know that if our buyers (especially first time homebuyers) don't have the 3% d/p out of their own bank accounts, that the next best thing is to see if they can get a gift from a family member. But what if their willing parents don't have the money to give- then what?

The parents can actually borrow the gift money from an "acceptable source" (credit card cash advances are included). The key is that they need to have a paper trail of the money flow, and then they can gift the money to the child before or at closing. A paper trail might include getting the parent's credit card statement showing the cash advance transaction, a copy of the cash advance check itself if available, the gifting parent's bank statement showing the cash advance deposit, buyer's bank statement showing the gift deposit, etc.

The more documentation that they can give us, the better. Remember, FHA is less concerned with how the donor obtains the gift funds as much as they are making sure that money didn't come to the donor from an "interested party" like the seller, realtors, or loan officer. As you already know, underwriters are asking for everything it seems right now. Documentation is KING!

Bottom line: With this scenario and the fact that the sellers can still concede up to 6% of the sales price towards closing costs and prepaid items, our buyers can still get into a home with little to nothing down.

But what about your buyers who don't want their parents to be left with debt associated with a gift? I will be discussing a way to solve this dilemma very soon.

FYI: Unlike the donor/gifter, the buyer cannot borrow money from their own credit cards or other unsecured forms of loans for the down payment. This may be widely known, but it is still worth mentioning.