If you are trying to sell a $300,000 home in Wake County, NC - you just lost 
the opportunity to sell to hundreds of buyers.
The FHA loan limit in Wake County changed January 1, 2009 from $295,000 to $271,050... then it changed BACK to the $295,000 level 2 months later!
FHA offers buyers one of the most flexible programs available, 3.5% downpayment, minimal "pmi," understanding credit history requirements and GIFT FUNDS are allowed!
(If you are a buyer, check out this website for more FHA info)
If you have questions about how this loan limit change affects you, please call us! Steve and Eleanor Thorne, 919-649-5058
My tweets for the last few weeks read:
"Still Working on 203K loan..."
Well, it's closed, and I want to share the story behind those brief, cryptic tweets:
Here's Fran's Story:
In October, I received a call from a woman working at a local diner. She moved to North Carolina in July - having worked for 14 years as a waitress in Northern Virginia. Fran makes a base pay of $6.55 an hour, and tips. She is in her mid 50's, and wanted to purchase her first home.
It was her D-R-E-A-M.
She suffered through a bad marriage, finally got out, raised her children as a single mom. Five years ago she finally went to court and received court ordered back child support. She saved money - almost $9,000. She paid taxes, and her tax returns for the past 2 years reflected an income of $20,000 (or a little less).
As is often the case here, her daughter (and family) moved to the Raleigh area a year earlier, and Fran missed her grandchildren! Her son graduated from High School, and, as she said"now was HER time!" In preparing to move to NC, she worked extra hours and saved every dime! She was able to pay her car off! She also paid off all of her charge cards, and had an envious credit score of almost 800!
She had been told she would not be able to purchase a home for 2 more years... because she just relocated to this area in July.
She read my posts, and thought I might be able to help her!
After meeting with her, I felt that 14 years experience as a waitress, could be considered in qualifying her here. We went forward.
She found a FREDDIE MAC foreclosed property here (less than 1100 square feet) that sold for $45,000. It needed help. Lots of help. The heating was ripped out, the roof needed help, windows, siding had rot, carpet - all told it needed $12,500 in help.
I helped Fran and her agent work through the FHA 203K process.
We found a carpet company (you have to get 2 letters of recommendation from customers for each company performing the work), the roofing company, the HVAC guys, and the handy man. We did the appraisal, and we were ready to submit all the paperwork (you also must get 3 other forms signed and completed by all parties involved in the repairs for a FHA 203K loan)... when Fran had a "down and out" builder come into the diner! She wanted to help him out! This delayed things 5 more days as we worked to obtain letters of recommendation, and get all the forms signed, and checked with the appraiser to insure it would not change his position.
Finally we submitted the loan. The underwriter WANTED to make the loan to Fran... but she couldn't count her tips. THREE re-submissions and 5 more letter of recommendation for FRAN later, we finally had an approval!
When we started this process, rates were substantially higher, because of NC rate spread laws, the bank was forced to renegotiate a lower rate for Fran prior to closing. This caused a delay, which meant Freddie tried to play hard ball, and charge the buyer an extra $200 bucks! (after multiple calls with the attorney - I was able to get this waived!)
In the past year, we've all cut margins, and made less to make a deal work. This was one of those deals for me. HOURS and HOURS of work, for less than $500. But that's okay! It felt so good to help Fran realize her dream! Do you think she'll refer me? Absoultely!
That's right. With rates where they are, she was able to purchase a home with a payment less than $500! And with the improvements to the property - it's like getting a NEW home! It cost her less than $3000 to purchase! As an added bonus... Fran also qualifies for a $7500 Tax Credit! Fran is THRILLED!
It was probably the hardest deal I closed in 2008... but this is the kind of buyer that makes me GLAD that I'm in this business and GLAD folks can FIND ME on the Internet! THANKS ACTIVE RAIN!
In the "old days" (before the government had to get involved in lending), rates, and yield spread worked just like a ruler. A rate of 5%, might be "even" - meaning the broker charged a 1% origination fee (which they share with their company), and that was what they earned. A rate of 5.125% would pay them slightly more, a rate of 5.25% paid more (so you didn't charge an origination fee at this rate), 5.375 paid more, and at 5.5% you were earning enough, in most cases to pay part or all of the closing costs on the loan. It was symmetrical, the two numbers moved together in harmony, you could count on it... in hindsight, it was a simple, beautiful, system that we took for granted.
Now, there is no system. Today we have rates that look like this
5.000% pays 1% (meaning I can get someone a 5% rate, and not charge an origination fee)
5.125% pays .5% (??? Should pay more than 1 if we are following the old rules!)
5.25% pays .875% (still not as good as the 5% rate)
5.375% pays .875% (why would I quote a 5.375% rate today???)
5.5% pays 1.625% (still not enough to cover closing costs!!!)
EVERYTHING over 5.5% pays LESS than 1.625%
My point with all of this, is not how much your mortgage "guy" is making! My point is that there are folks out there STILL ADVERTISING a No Cost Refinance... HUGH?!?!?!
It's just not there. With my "yardstick" analogy - sure. You would take today's rates, drop your rate down to 5.5% and the broker would make 2.5% and use that to cover all the closing costs... it did not increase the balance of the loan, it was a beautiful thing. But something happened... actually TWO things happened...
First, the guys on Wall Street (and whatever Street your bank is on) think they might get stuck with more mortgages that don't perform. We might refinance someone today, and next month, they could lose their job. So they don't want everybody (and their brother) refinancing right now, and they don't want to make it "attractive" for folks to refinance. If you are a NEW BUYER (not an investor), they would LOVE for you to use this low money to buy... but for some reason, they don't want a refinance boom.
Secondly, in NC the State Legislature decided that "no cost" refinances were not good for the citizens, and they passed LAWS to restrict what we can do. Seriously? The LEGISLATURE knows more about what kind of mortgages are GOOD for folks? NO! They were trying to keep unscrupulous lenders from setting up shop here... but in making the laws, they inadvertantly cut the legs out on NO COST refinances!
So - how do you refinance in today's environment? First off, you need some equity in your property. At least 4%. For the first time in my mortgage career, I can tell you that in Wake County, you can get a pretty good gauge of what your house is worth based on your tax value. Look at the difference in your mortgage balances, and the tax value - and that needs to be at least 4%. (as long as you are under 275K value,if you're over that price range, call me it's more complicated than I can write here)
If your value is less than 275,000, and you live in Wake County, then you can look at FHA financing. If you only have the 4% equity - you will need to pay closing costs out of pocket. This means for most folks that instead of making a January and February payment, they are going to take that money and pay the closing costs. In the rate environment I stated above, we would give them a 5% rate, no origination fee, and they would pay the closing costs... IMHO - this is the best move today! If your current mortgage is at 6.75% and we drop it to 5% (on $271,500) you save $304 a month. Is it worth it?? Call me with questions!
Welcome to the VERY FIRST North Carolina Week in Review!
I'd been thinking about this for a while... and I wanted a way to give encouragement to folks who are just starting out in NC on Activerain, and show them some of the great things we're doing!
With the NC Week In Review I'm going to highlight the best posts I found written by folks in the state... I'm also going to highlight some posts that are good - but could be better. I'm not being critical, it's just that if you don't post to any GROUPs... it's unlikely your post will be seen! If you don't add any pictures, it's unlikely your post will be READ! And people... some of our posts here in NC have HALF AS MUCH SPACE alotted to all the "signature stuff" and "Subscibe to my OTHER Stuff" as the ACTUAL information in the post?!?!?! What's up with that? And... while I'm doing my 30 second rant (and after reading 32 pages of posts, I can feel qualified to provide some feedback) STOP COPYING STUFF and just pasting from your newspaper! Write why you think it's interesting, how it's going to impact your community... and maybe put two or three sentences from the article - then LINK HERE to read the whole thing! Okay- so onward and upward!
I decided to NOT include Members Only posts, because the goal is to get exposure for folks... but let me tell you, there are some GREAT MO posts this week! Loved the Hot Tub ideas, the Pictures of Liam and the Surfer, the 100Th Blog Post (congrats!) and the Christmas Present! Oh My there are some cool things going on in NC!
I went searching for any and all posts from all categories that were written from the heart and through each writers inspiring moments... I also included some posts about local events in NC, a market report... well, look below and you'll see what I put together!
You Don't Want to Find Your Boyfirend In Your Stockings On Christmas! Susie Blackmon-Maggie Valley is a HUGE fan of Twitter - and is busy writing about it... but LOVE LOVE LOVE her headlines! Oh MY!
Another great post on Networking is by Debe Maxwell in Charlotte! SNAGIT Rocks! She also did a WONDERFUL Post on Facebook and Twitter!
We had some WINNERS in NC this week! The U-EWEwas given out this week in NC (I'd never heard of this one!) and I LIKE IT! Tony Orefice in Concord did this one!
Amy Hannin Pine Knoll Shores was at the Chrystal Coast Realtor of the Year Event! Congrats looks like everyone had a great time!! (Pictures, etc. here)
Dave Park, the Mavrick Builder, wrote about 1800 - TEASEME, and the power of looking for First Time Home buyers in the Market! Debe Maxwell also wrote about connecting with Gen Y-ers,these are the guys that qualify for new homes, and they can get a $7500 tax credit, so sounds good to me!
The Green Queen, Ms. janeAnne of Asheville, wrote a report on 1031 Like Kind Exchanges that I thought was well written, and great information for consumers. (click here for details) If you are an Eco Broker, you should be subscribing to her blog!
Tracy Santrock wrote about Luxury homes in my hometown (Cary) and I really like that she had video in the post... plus the data is easy to follow! Tracy is an avid Tennis player, and I think she would like this information on the Lake Norman Tennis Ladder, by Sandy Aichner.
Sam Thompson wrote about Wheel Chair Accessibility homes... it reminded me of Penny Hull - who hasn't written in a while? What's up with that??
Carol Smith wrote about being a compassionate landlord, and I hope she find someone else to rent her
home in Ohio!
AND THEN WE DID CHRISTMAS POSTS! The ones I like best are ones that have pictures, directions to the event - well, you can judge which ones are winners!
Elizabeth Nieves wrote about Christmas at local churches in our area! Loved these! Cynthia Tilhman wrote about Trees for Troops, and the Nutcracker - love these pictures! Hickory had it's lights on last week for a shopping spree, and Mike Kelly invited everyone out to see it! There's a Santa's Raleigh Trolly Tour of Christmas in Downtown Raleigh, for information on that, click here! (Thanks goes to Pamela St. Peter!)
This is a great way to put all these articles in one place so we have the opportunity to read others writings that we may not have crossed yet. Who knows....you may end up subscribing to your new"favorite" blog writer! (I did!)
If you didn't see your favorite NC posts or bloggers here - let me know and I'll look at them next week! If I haven't added you as an Associate - and you are actively blogging in NC, please let me know!
Please subscibe to the NC Week in Review Here!
There's an article regarding the USDA program in today's Wall Street Journal. It's a POSITIVE program, with low default rates, no money down, and no mortgage insurance! Rates (as I write this) are below 5.5%...
and the USDA Mortgage Program is so popular, it's about to run out of money...
I've contacted my Senator to ask him to read the article, which highlights our customer Erick Moore (who has a beautiful wife and one of the smartest 3 year olds on the planet!)! Erick learned about the program from a post I wrote on AR.
I urge you to read the WSJ post (click here) and contact your Senators and Representatives to help get more funding for a very very important program! If you have questions about the program, and how it might help you purchase a home, please call us!
ps. Wondering how the WSJ reporter found Eric? The reporter saw a post that Penny Hull did on Homes that Qualify for a USDA Home. Penny told him to call me for more details on the program, and I put him in contact with Eric. Pretty cool, hugh?!
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I see myself differently than most loan officers in the Cary/Raleigh market. As a rare Cary native, I see myself as an expert on the area, on mortgage industry changes and factors that affect rates!
Who We Are
I am privileged to work with my husband, Steve, in an area we both love. When my family moved to Cary in1968 the population was around 7600. Today, we are the seventh largest metropolitan area in the state with a population of over 125,000! Steve and I met at Cary High School, and we remember when Kildaire Farm Road had a couple of FARMS on it and the Cary Parkway was just a good idea.
I'm second generation "mortgage." As I grew up in a home where everyone spoke about the economy and the mortgage and real estate business... I'm an Economic News Junkie and often write about events moving mortgage interest rates. It's important to me that folks understand that I'm not writing about the "gloom" and "ruin" of the mortgage industry - I'm simply looking for lower mortgage interest rates. Typically, bad news in the economy spells good news for mortgage interest rates.
Steve and I were named one of the top Origination Teams in the State (by the NC Association of Mortgage Professionals) and Mortgage Originators Magazine. As entrepreneurs, one of our companies received the coveted Triangle Fast 50 Awards by our Business Journal three years in a row.
Our Commitment
We've been involved in Mortgage Lending since the early 1980's. There is a vision that drives us to do what we do. Simply put, we want to help you create the financial strategy that allows you to live life to the fullest. That requires that together we establish goals, define priorities and determine what's most important to you.
On any given hour of a day, mortgage lending experiences subtle shifts that can create huge forces of change for our customers. We are dedicated to a life of continually educating ourselves in the broad areas of economics, politics and financial planning... and of course we stay on top of the Mortgage Industry News too!
Our Family, Our Community
As active members of the Cary Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA and our church, we have become friends and mentors to local businesses and charities. We've worked hard to raise money and awareness for the "We Build People Campaign" at the YMCA and the American Cancer Society "Relay for Life."
Our unique family dynamic includes a middle school daughter, a son who is at Western Carolina University, a small Japanese Chin (named Lucky) .
I'VE BEEN HACKED!
hi. my name is Savannah Leigh Thorne. i am Steve and Eleanor's daughter, and i feel very strongly that my mom hasn't truly explained our family. so here it is. we are a simi-normal family getting by comfortably in soccer mom territory, also known as the suburbs(not my first choice. but its ok, i still have plenty of fun). we love to do allot of things as a family. my dad and I like to go to the YMCA (conveniently located up the street from us) and play plenty of sports like tennis and swimming and on the occasion even jogging(once again, not my first choice). My older brother is one of my heros, we are 12 years apart and have way too much fun together. my mother often looks at us with a very confused face and asks us why are acting like brothers and sisters.. of course we all start laughing and say "i guess someone didn't get the memo!". speaking of my mom. something you might not know about her is that she is possibly the most creative person i have ever met. she is constantly finding new ways to make something in (or on) our house look amazing. i like to think that's where i get my creativeness from. So anyway. the last thing you should know about our happy little family is that we are very musically inclined. My dad and i will stay up all night playing guitar and piano and singing, of course my mom and brother will join in on the singing too, but its what we do. we may be embarrassing, and we do have our "un-happy" moments. but for the most part were just like ever other typically untypical family. :)
LOVE,
SAVANNAH LEIGH THORNE
Our Company
First Financial Services is a NC owned mortgage banker / broker. We are authorized to handle FHA, NC Housing, VA, USDA... and represent an array of conforming, conventional lenders. We have offices in NC, SC, Virginia and DC. Our team is built upon the same foundation we built our business relationships on. We constantly strive to build a team that embraces and adheres to the values we consider most important... as one of our clients you can be assured that everyone on our team to look out for your best interests!
In most cases we are able to allow our clients to lock into an interest rate and float down if the market improves. We educate our customers on market conditions, and the events that might change those conditions, as we help find the BEST solutions for your situtaton!
We are fortunate to have expertise in helping folks make minor changes to their credit files - as those minor changes to improve a score can make thousands of dollars worth of difference over the life of the loan.
For a more information about Cary check this out or CLICK HERE!
We are helping host RE BARCAMP for the Raleigh Area on November 6 from 10 until 4. This is an interactive meeting aimed at Raising The Bar on Social Media Marketing in the Real Estate World! Follow us #REBCRDU
If you are an agent, or a lender looking for an interesting way to get more people interacting with you, click here.
In addition to the information we post on Activerain, you might find what you are looking for at another of our websites! For instance, we have hundreds of properties (each with their own websites) at STEVE THORNE ONLINE. We also post maps, and qualifying information about ALL Government Loans at NC FHA EXPERT. We've met dozens of people this year who are struggling with ways to improve their credit - and maximize their FICO so that they can get the best rates. Because of this, we created a site dedicated to the question, 'HOW TO IMPROVE MY SCORE." We also have local housing trend information, quirky insights, and networking information about this area at this site. Triangle Area Recognition: Recent "Best Of" Awards
Men's Health
Magazine ranked Raleigh the most politically engaged city in America.
The rankings were based on percentages of active registered voters, ballots counted, percentage of income donated in the current presidential election, campaign spending, votes cast in the 2008 primary and votes cast in recent elections for governor and senate - Men's Health magazine, September 2008
Milken Institute: A Best Performing City
The Raleigh-Cary metropolitan area is ranked number two in the nation's "Top 100Best Performing Cities" in an annual economic performance index released by Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate partners. The annual study ranks
metropolitan areas by how well they are creating and sustaining jobs and Economic growth. The Raleigh-Cary area rose from number 10 in 2007 - September 2008
MSNBC: America's Best City
MSNBC.com ranks Raleigh America's best city! "Raleigh, N.C., it seems, is the best place to be in the U.S. right now. It ranks No. 1 in Forbes' 2008 list and was also top in 2007 - consistent placement among these lists is truly rare. It ranks No. 2 in Kiplinger's list this year. The city is also Fortune Small Business magazine's No. 20 place to live and launch." -- June 2008
Kiplinger's: A Top Urban Area
Kiplinger's Personal Finance names the Triangle the second best urban area in the U.S. It highlighted undeniable date: population growth since 2000 of 19.9 percent; percentage of the work force in the creative class, 36.1 percent; cost of living index, 99 with 100 being the national average; median household income of $56,150; and income growth of 10.3 percent since 200. This ranking dubbed Houston the best in America and Omaha, Neb., the third best. -- July 2008
Forbes: Recession-Proof Local Economy
Forbes magazine ranks the Triangle's economy as fifth on a list of 10 recession-proof local economies. -- May 2008
Best Place For Young Adults
A study conducted by American City Business Journals ranked the Raleigh-Durham
market as the best in the nation for young adults, defined as ages 20 to 34. The
study examined 10 factors, including growth rates of employment and per capita
income, unemployment, percentage of people holding bachelor's degrees and
median rent in the nation's 67 largest metropolitan areas. Austin was ranked
second, Washington, D.C., third. Charlotte placed seventh. -- May 2008
Fortune: A Best Place To Live And Launch
Raleigh's growing tech industry, support of entrepreneurs and the $2.5 billion
renaissance downtown place the Capital City at No. 20 in Fortune's "Best Places to
Live and Launch." -- May 2008
Rachel Ray: Best CityFor Singles
Raleigh is named The Best American City for Singles" in Every Day with Rachel Ray
magazine. - - January 2008
"If we study the lives of great men and women carefully and unemotionally we find that, invariably, greatness was developed, tested and revealed through the darker periods of their lives. One of the largest tributaries of the river of greatness is always the stream of adversity."
Cavett Robert
"This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Any mans life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day." Booker T. Washington
"It is impossible to get the measure of what an individual can accomplish, unless the responsibility is placed on him."
Alfred Sloan
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"Of course there is no formula for success except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life and what it brings."
Arthur Rubinstein
"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But, I can't accept not trying."
Michael Jordan
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