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George Souto

KidCity Children's Museum In Middletown, Connecticut

09-03-09
George Souto

If you are in the Middletown, Connecticut area, and are looking to take younger children to have a great time, then KidCity Children's Museum is the plase to take them. KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut is a place that younger children, and their parents can spend hours at and still not do everything that they have to offer.

At KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut you will find several rooms. There is a Musical Planet, Video Theater, Reading Room, Clubhouse Room, Cornfield Room, Clipper Ship & Fishery Room, Main Street Room, Farm Room, Spaceage Road Trip Room, and Toddler Sea Caves. Each and everyone of these rooms is a special adventure for you and your child. The scenery in each room as well as the things to do within each room is simple amazing. Once you take your child there, you and your child will want to come back over and over again.

KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut is best suited for children the ages of 1 to 8 although children older than that can still have a great time. KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut is one of those places that you and your child can play pretend together using your imaginations and have fun.

KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut is also the perfect place to have a party for your child. KidCity can accommodate up to 10 children and the adults with them. Each party lasts about 2 hours, and will include party desserts from a local bakery, or ice cream shop.

KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut has a great website to get much more information than I have written here, and to also get a good feeling for what you can expect when you get there. If you are in the Middletown area, make it a point to stop by KidCity, you will be glad that you did.

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nfo about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of The Loan Application #7

09-02-09
George Souto

Thursday I began this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan The Application" which is a follow up to a blog I did on Tuesday about the need for Buyers to be Pre-Approved for a loan "Mortgage/Loan Programs with Low or No Downpayment Still Available In Connecticut ..... Pre-Appoval Letter", and the process that should be followed. In Pre-Approving a Buyer it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that the Loan Officer not just look at Credit and Income, or even collect documentation to verify the information that they were given, they have to complete a full Loan Application (1003). Without completing a FULL APPLICATION, mistakes are very likely to happen, because each page of the 1003 has questions if not answered can create surprises and huge problems later on.

As I stated Thursday one of the pages of the Loan Application (1003) that unfortunately does not get the full attention that it deserves, and taken for granted by many Loan Officers, is the Declarations Section VII of Page #4. Each question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application only requires a YES or NO answer, and maybe that is why it does not seem to be given the same level of attention as other parts of the Loan Application.

Since Thursday I have covered the first 11 question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application, and today I will cover the next 2 questions, and continue to explain why these Questions Must Be Asked On The Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application and there importance. The twelfth question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application states:

l. Do you intend to occupy the property as your primary residence?

This question like many of the others before it seem to be simple and straight forward, and it is if answer truthfully. The problem here is that many Borrowers who do not intend to live in the property and use it as an investment property, will not answer this question truthfully. The main reason for them to not answer it truthfully is that downpayment/Loan To Value requirements, and points that are automatically assigned on investment property by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are much higher and stricter than they are on Owner Occupied Properties. For example if a Borrower puts less than 20% down on a Non Owner Occupied Property they will be assessed 3.750 points, if they put more that 20% but less than 25% down 3.000 points, and 25% or more down 1.750 points. Also if a Borrower is purchasing a Non Owner Occupied Property they will most likely need to put down a minimum of 20%, because PMI Companies will not issue PMI on the property.

Therefore a Borrower looking to purchase a Non Owner Occupied Property will in many cases try to avoid having to come up with this much money by saying that they are going to live in the property. Because this has become more and more of a problem, Lenders have establish some automatic red flags, below are a couple of examples of those red flags.

  • The Borrower has a single family house and states that he/she is going to rent out the single family and live in the multi-family house that they are purchasing. Not going to fly, they are not going to believe that someone would move out of a single family house, to share a house with renters, even if it is the truth.
  • Borrower presently lives and works in a different State, and states that they are going to commute back and forth each day. Here in Connecticut (it might differ in other states) if the commute is more than an hour between states, Underwriting will question it, and it will most likely not fly. Even if the Borrowers claims that they will live near where they work during the week, but commute to the property on weekends to be with the family. That will also most likely not fly.

I have run into this several times especially with Borrowers who presently work and live in New York. Housing in a couple of towns in the middle of Connecticut is much cheaper than it is near New York City, or in parts of Connecticut near New York. This is very attractive to New York Investors, and the above example seem to be a reoccurring theme.

The final question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application is:

  • m. have you had ownership interest in a property in the last three years?

This question show always be answered truthfully because if a Borrower has owned a house in the last three years it will show up on their Credit Report. Where it does get confusing is in the case of a foreclosure as I talked about in the third blog of this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application #3". I am not going to repeat what I wrote in post #3 here, so if you want to review those problems please just follow the link.

This question is also very important for Borrowers that are applying for First Time Homeowner Programs, which require that the Borrower has not had an ownership interest in a property for three years.

I hope that this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan The Application" has made all those who have taken the time to read it, more aware of issues that can come up during that loan process is the Borrower does not provide truthful and accurate information throughout the Loan Application Process.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of The Loan Application #6

09-01-09
George Souto

Thursday I began this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application" which is a follow up to a blog I did on Tuesday about the need for Buyers to be Pre-Approved for a loan "Mortgage/Loan Programs with Low or No Downpayment Still Available In Connecticut ..... Pre-Appoval Letter", and the process that should be followed. In Pre-Approving a Buyer it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that the Loan Officer not just look at Credit and Income, or even collect documentation to verify the information that they were given, they have to complete a full Loan Application (1003). Without completing a FULL APPLICATION, mistakes are very likely to happen, because each page of the 1003 has questions if not answered can create surprises and huge problems later on.

As I stated Thursday one of the pages of the Loan Application (1003) that unfortunately does not get the full attention that it deserves, and taken for granted by many Loan Officers, is the Declarations Section VII of Page #4. Each question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application only requires a YES or NO answer, and maybe that is why it does not seem to be given the same level of attention as other parts of the Loan Application. Since

Thursday I have covered the first 9 question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application, and today I will cover the next 2 questions, and continue to explain why these Questions Must Be Asked On The Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application and there importance. The tenth question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application states:

  • j. Are you a U.S. Citizen?

This is a very simple question, either you are or you are not a U.S. Citizen, but even here I have had Borrowers not answer this question truthfully. This information is not as easy to verify as the previous questions, but if an Underwriter suspects that the Borrower is not telling the truth, they will investigate. The last time that one of my Borrowers answered this question incorrectly, it created a huge problem for everyone. It turned out that the Borrower did not answer this question truthfully because he did not have a valid Green Card, and thought that he could get around that issue by stating that he was a Citizen. The loan ended up being denied, the Borrower was out the money he had paid for a Home Inspection, Appraisal, Loan Application Fee, and deposit on the Sakes Contract. The Seller waisted almost five weeks that his house was off the market, therefore, missing out on other possible Buyers. And the Realtor, who was on both the Selling and Buying side spent a lot of time for no compensation. Charges could have been brought against this Borrower, because he signed at the bottom of Page #4 attesting that all of the information that they have provided is the truth to the best of their knowledge, but we did not press charges.

  • k. Are you a permanent resident alien?

This question goes hand in hand with the previous question. If the Borrower is not a U.S. Citizen, then hopefully he/she is a permanent resident alien. But as you can see in my previous example, that is not a given. If a Borrower is a permanent resident alien, he/she will need to provide a valid permanent resident alien card (Green Card. I don't know why they still call it a Green Card, because it is no longer green) with a valid date for at least 12 more months and their status (card) needs to have been renewed at least once. The Non U.S. Citizen will also have to provide a Passport and Social Security Card.

I will end this series with the next blog on the final two question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application. Hopefully this series is providing some insight into areas of the Loan Process that are not as well know outside of the Lending side of the process of purchasing a house, and making everyone more aware of why these Questions Must Be Asked On The Declarations Section VII Of The Loan Application.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application #5

08-31-09
George Souto

Thursday I began this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application" which is a follow up to a blog I did on Tuesday about the need for Buyers to be Pre-Approved for a loan "Mortgage/Loan Programs with Low or No Downpayment Still Available In Connecticut ..... Pre-Appoval Letter", and the process that should be followed. In Pre-Approving a Buyer it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that the Loan Officer not just look at Credit and Income, or even collect documentation to verify the information that they were given, they have to complete a full Loan Application (1003). Without completing a FULL APPLICATION, mistakes are very likely to happen, because each page of the 1003 has questions if not answered can create surprises and huge problems later on.

As I stated Thursday one of the pages of the Loan Application (1003) that unfortunately does not get the full attention that it deserves, and taken for granted by many Loan Officers, is the Declarations Section VII of Page #4. Each question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application only requires a YES or NO answer, and maybe that is why it does not seem to be given the same level of attention as other parts of the Loan Application.

Since Thursday I have covered the first 6 question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application, and today I will cover the next 3 questions, and continue to explain why these Questions Must Be Asked On The Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application and there importance. The seventh question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application states:

  • g. Are you obligated to pay alimony, child support, or separate maintenance?

This question is very clear and self explanatory, but unless asked Borrowers do not volunteer this information. Some even try to hide it which is very foolish, because alimony, child support, and separate maintenance payment can significantly raise the Borrowers Debt-To-Income Ratios. It is also relatively easy to find out if a Borrower is paying paying alimony, child support, or separate maintenance.

First of all it is in many cases deducted right out of the Borrowers paycheck, so once they provide a copy of their paycheck, which is required with every loan these days, there it is. Bank Statements are also required and it can pop up there, as well as on Tax Returns if they claim it as a deduction. But there are also red flags that are raise during the course of taking a Loan Application. One of the questions on page #1 is do you have any dependent children. If dependent children are listed there, and the Borrower claims to be unmarried, or separated the Underwriter is going to ask for an explanation. Another red flag is the Credit Report. If the Borrower has a previous mortgage, even if it is paid, and it shows up on the Credit Report as a Joint Mortgage, an explanation will be asked. If the explanation is that they were previously married, then the Underwriter is going to want to see a copy of the divorce decree, and the alimony, child support, or separate maintenance will show up there.

So to answer this question NO when it it really YES is foolish, because there is a very good chance that it will be picked up, and once they catch you not telling the truth, they are going to start questioning everything. And if it is some how missed during the Underwriting Process, but discovered later after the loan closes, the loan could be Called. Also they could face criminal charges for lying on the Loan Application. This is because at the bottom of Page #4 Borrowers have to sign attesting to the fact that all of the information that they have provided is the truth to the best of their knowledge.

  • h. Is any part of the downpayment borrowed?

This is important because it will not show up initially on the Credit Report, but is a future additional debt that will impact the Borrowers Debt-To-Income Ratios. It is especially important for the Borrower to answer this question correctly if they plan on doing a Bridge Loan for the Downpayment while they are trying to sell an existing house. In this case it will definitely be found out, because the Bank doing the Bridge Loan will contact the Bank doing the First Mortgage. It is best to see what that additional payment will do early on to the Debt-To-Income Ratios. By taking this additional payment into consideration early, we can avoid the loan being denied late in the process, because the Debt-To-Income Ratios are now to high, or the Borrower does not qualify for a Bridge Loan, and now does not have enough money to Close.

  • i. Are you a co-maker or endorser on a note?

This questions just like the previous question can create Debt-To-Income Issues as well, and cause problems late in the Loan Process if it some how does not show up on the Credit Report, but surfaces before or after the Loan Closes. Not answering either of these two questions correctly because you think that it will not be discovered is a BAD idea, could raise other issues, and end up being a big waist of every ones time, as well as prove to be a very costly experience for the Borrower.

This now brings us to the last four questions on Page #4 of the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application, and to some seemly very Innocent question. We will begin to see tomorrow that they are not so Innocent.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application #4

08-30-09
George Souto

Thursday I began this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application" which is a follow up to a blog I did on Tuesday about the need for Buyers to be Pre-Approved for a loan "Mortgage/Loan Programs with Low or No Downpayment Still Available In Connecticut ..... Pre-Appoval Letter", and the process that should be followed. In Pre-Approving a Buyer it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that the Loan Officer not just look at Credit and Income, or even collect documentation to verify the information that they were given, they have to complete a full Loan Application (1003). Without completing a FULL APPLICATION, mistakes are very likely to happen, because each page of the 1003 has questions if not answered can create surprises and huge problems later on.

As I stated Thursday one of the pages of the Loan Application (1003) that unfortunately does not get the full attention that it deserves, and taken for granted by many Loan Officers, is the Declarations Section VII of Page #4. Each question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application only requires a YES or NO answer, and maybe that is why it does not seem to be given the same level of attention as other parts of the Loan Application.

Since Thursday I have covered the first 4 question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application, and today I will cover the next 2 questions, and continue to explain why these Questions Must Be Asked On The Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application and there importance. The fifth question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application states:

  • e. Have you directly or indirectly been obligated on any loan which resulted in foreclosure transfer of title in lieu of foreclosure or judgment?

This is another one of those questions that is not as easy to answer as it first might seem. That is because if a Bank files for foreclosure, even if a Homeowner transfers title in lieu of foreclosure, or avoids foreclosure by selling the house before the Bank forecloses on them, in all likely hood that Bank is still going to report it as a foreclosure on the Homeowners Credit Report. I have seen this several times lately, where the Homeowner sold the house before they were foreclosed on, even if it wasn't a Short Sale, and the Bank got paid in full, they still report a foreclosure on the Homeowners Credit Report. This might seem very unfair, but that is what is happening, and as far as Automated Underwriting is concerned, if it is reported as a foreclosure, its a foreclosure.

The only hope that a Borrower has in a case like this is if they get the Bank to agree to stop reporting the NON FORECLOSURE as a foreclosure, or that their Credit Scores and Debt-To-Income Ratios are within the qualifying guidelines for a Manual Underwrite, where an Underwriter will actually look at what really happened. If they can't meet the Manual Underwriting Guidelines, then they have to wait the same time period to purchase another house as if they really did have a foreclosure.

The sixth question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application states:

  • f. Are you presently delinquent or in default on any Federal debt, or any other loan, mortgage, financialobligation bond or loan guarantee? If "Yes" give details as described in the preceding question.

It is not good to be late on ANYTHING, but if you are going to be late on a financial obligation make sure that it is not a mortgage or Federal Debt. The Automated Underwriting in many case will forgive recent lates on credit cards, car payments, and other similar debts, but it is not forgiving of mortgage late in the last 12 months. Even if Automated Underwriting over looked a mortgage late in the last 12 months, the Underwriter will not, because it is unlikely that an Investor will purchase a loan that the Borrower had a mortgage late in the last 12 months.

A 30 day late payment or longer on a Federal Debt in the last 12 months is pretty much an automatic denial on FHA Mortgages. So young Borrowers with student loans need to make sure that those student loans are paid on time. Claiming that you did not know that the loans had gone into repayment, or that you were young and foolish is not a good excuse.

If you are planning to purchase a house in the near future, make sure that all your financial obligations are paid on time, but especially your mortgage and Federal Debts, or you could find yourself waiting several months before you can purchase that new house that you fell in love with.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com