Hemet Home Loan Guy, Joey Aszterbaum

A day is coming when God himself will wipe our tears away.

We will turn the rifles into spades and the tanks into tractors.

Lions and lambs will play together in the fields.

And there will be no more cancer.

Thank you for doing my dad's home loan on his Arizona condo.

Say hello to Jesus for me.

I have to admit: for most of my life I have thought of Memorial Day as a day off of work (or school).

Recent events have showed me the horrible cost of living in a dangerous world.

This Memorial Day I will remember that there are people who have willingly paid that cost for the rest of us.

Please welcome my wife, Jolynne. She is my first guest blogger, and today she is paying tribute to Glen Martinez.

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Glen Martinez is a Hero

A Hero to his family

A Hero to his wife

A Hero to his town

A Hero to his country

I had the privilege of being the second photographer with Jared Wilson for Glen and Melissa Martinez' wedding in December. Both Marines. Both beautiful people.

I got a call from Jared telling of Glen's death in Iraq on May 2. Melissa had called Jared to photograph the funeral. She wanted to document and remember every honor that was due to Glen. Jared then asked me to join him in photographing, since we were both there for them on their wedding day. I was honored to do so. I flew to Colorado the next week for the funeral in Glen's hometown, Monte Vista.

It was the most amazing and beautiful thing to see a whole town come to honor their Hero. Glen was an incredible athlete, son, friend, husband, and Marine. Someone shared about him in everyone of those areas. And when we drove to the Memorial Center, the rest of the town lined the streets with flags, and signs thanking Glen. It must have been every policeman, every fire fighter all there to honor him, with firetrucks on either side of the road, ladders touching over the road with a flag hanging. It was by far the most touching thing I have ever witnessed.

Writing this blog is difficult for me. But it is something I want to share because Glen and Melissa are extraordinary. And everyone should hear.

Before Glen and Melissa left for Fallujah, they wrote,

"...As you all know, Glen and I are leaving this week for Iraq! We are excited to go and do our part once again to help out those less fortunate than ourselves! Our last deployment to Fallujah was a fantastic experience. We really felt very appreciated and that we were making a difference out there. Despite what the news shows, most Iraqis are happy that we are there helping them. We are building schools, a new government and ensuring the safety of their families for hopefully many years to come. It is an indescribable feeling to have Iraqi women hand you their babies because they want you to take your picture with them; or to give you candy and other gifts as they come through your checkpoint..."

Sometimes... to hear an individual story brings to light a situation you may think you have opinions about...from afar. I know that stepping into Glen and Melissa's world has opened my eyes to the beauty of what it means to truly serve people. I am touched by them. I am so grateful for Glen and Melissa's servant hearts.

Today, do more than enjoy your day off.

Call

Write

Hug

Thank

Remember

Pray

Glen and Melissa, thank you for your service and thank you for being a shining example of what it means to be a Hero.

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Thank you, Melissa Martinez, for allowing us to be a part of your life, for sharing your joy and grief with us and for your willingness to serve as a United States Marine. - Joey Aszterbaum

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Jared Wilson's tribute to Glen.

The local paper's tribute to Glen.

A slide show of Glen and Melissa's
wedding photos is on Jolynne's website.

Mr. Tietz rocks like no other teacher. Diamond Bar High School has a hero teaching there and I want everyone to know it.

Tony Tietz aka Tony Deerfield was (is?) the bass player in the band skypark. When his record label was bought by Warner Bros. in 2000, everyone in the band started looking for other work. Tyrone Wells started his career as a solo musician, Keith Gove became a chaplain in the U.S. Army, I began my transformation into the Hemet Home Loan Guy...and Tony began teaching. Eventually he joined the foreign language department at Diamond Bar High School teaching French language and history.

• Tony has a powerful way of breaking through the usual teacher-student relationship. He inspires his students with all sorts of creative projects.
• His students make films. They're always posting video projects on youtube, such as their Los Angeles interpretations of Paris, Je T'aime.
• When other language teachers were complaining about how students understanding of English was being demolished by text messaging, he got the idea to teach them Text French and get them to start texting him and others with French slang. The students ate it up.
• He sponsors a breakdancing crew in his class, the Freestylers. The students love him so much, they post his 'battles' with their peers online. Here he is in one of those battles.
• He arranges an annual trip to France for his students. Can you imagine the logistics involved in that kind of project?

I got to participate in Mr. Tietz' most recent creative venture. He called me up and shared with me how one of his students, Garrett Snook, was a talented songwriter. He wanted to give Garrett encouragement and support in his gifts. The plan:

• Book Garrett to play the Diamond Bar High School prom at the House of Blues in Anaheim.
• Get Keith and I to back him up with rehearsals, arranging and the show.
• Keep the performance at prom a secret from Garrett's peers - even his own date!
• Use the money from the gig to pay for studio time, duplication of demo recordings and promotional materials.
• Have my wife, photographer Jolynne Aszterbaum, to take pictures of the show for Garrett.

What kind of teacher would dedicate their weekends, their influence and their full creative powers to make a difference in a student's life like this? What an opportunity for a young musician like Garrett to take the stage at the House of Blues, to put on a quality rock show, and to show his peers the results of his hard work. That 20 minutes had an excitement and dignity that lifted the entire event.

My favorite part? Garrett told his date he needed to use the restroom, came backstage, changed out of his tux, and rocked the house. Then he returned in his tux...like some kind of superhero going back to his secret identity!

Mr. Tietz is always looking for opportunities to give above and beyond. He's all about lifting up his students, helping them break through the barriers of tradition and limiting beliefs, and bringing joy into the education process.

Snook performed three songs. The first two are originals written by Garret. Check out these videos of Snook's performance:

Congratulations, Garrett. You're a fantastic musician. You bring courage, skill, dedication, talent and a great sense of humor to Diamond Bar High School's graduating class. You have what it takes to succeed at whatever you aim for.

And thank YOU, Tony Tietz. You are an inspiration to me and everyone you touch. I haven't enjoyed playing live for ages, but your scheme was so selfless and well-executed...it was a total joy. What would happen if we all brought your level of commitment, selflessness, creativity and fearlessness to our jobs? In the class or onstage, YOU ROCK.

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Joey Aszterbaum is the Hemet Home Loan Guy and a member of the Active Rain social network of real estate professionals. To buy or refinance your home in Hemet, Riverside County, or California visit www.HemetHomeLoans.com or call 951.571.5751

One of my favorite real estate bloggers had a post featured today on the Active Rain Social Network. This real estate professional is smarter, more experienced and more widely-read than most of us on the network. The post was well-written, incisive and thought-provoking.

So I think it's only natural that I disagree.

Lenn Harley calls the "Declining Market" policies so much blather.

I'm having a hard time understanding some of the logic in the post and in the "Amen" chorus of comments. After leaving three long-ish comments, I decided to avoid hijacking her post and to post one myself. That will give Lenn and other smart people the opportunity to publicly humiliate me...or at least just educate me. So, let me try my hand at what Lenn calls Hard Core Real Estate Talk.

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First, let's go the post that started it...

The always excellent Janet Guilbalt posted about a deal that went sideways because the investor changed the guidelines to require another 10% down from the buyer of a $1,300,000 home. Then Janet says this:

"Fewer people who can get loans = fewer buyers = more unsold houses = declining values. And there you have it...what is really causing our industry to remain at a standstill."

Huh? Our industry isn't "at a standstill". Prices are dropping, foreclosures are increasing...that's not standing still.

That's a contraction.

Nobody was complaining when record numbers of buyers were qualified to buy. Nobody was complaining when houses would have multiple offers within one hour. Nobody was complaining when home prices were skyrocketing.

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Wait a second! Lenn might have offered something in the way of complaint as recently as last June:

"We need for prices to go DOWN. We need the housing prices to depreciate, deflate, lessen, lower, recede, slash, truncate, GO DOWN."

That's what's happening. The real estate market is like everything in life...it has seasons. There are times where the flowers bloom and there are times when the leaves fall. This isn't armageddon...this is just the other side of the hill.

Lenn reminisces in her post of the late 90's, when a Realtor could rely on any buyer that had good FICO scores. She then builds an arguments that people with great credit histories shouldn't be affected by the 'declining market' policies and lower loan-to-value ratios.

She's right...kind of. The FICO system has been a great predictor of a borrower's ability to pay since it was created...

BUT NOT ANYMORE.

There's evidence that LTV is the new FICO. Check out these quotes from Calculated Risk's recent interview of Wachovia bigwigs:

• "...when equity in the home approaches zero, behavior changes..."
• "their propensity to just default and stop paying their mortgage rises dramatically and I mean really accelerates up and it's almost regardless of how they scored, say, on FICO or other kinds of character, credit characteristics." (emphasis mine)

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I'm experiencing it first hand as the Hemet Home Loan Guy. I've seen ordinarily good people, even law enforcement officers, use their excellent credit as a free pass. Great credit is being used like medieval indulgences, and it goes like this:

• Make an offer to buy the home across the street that is WAY less expensive than the model match you bought three years ago.
• Get a friend or relative to sign a lease agreement saying that they'll be renting out the home you live in now.
• Move.
• Stop paying on your old house.

Turns out a high FICO pales in comparison to a good, old-fashioned downpayment in predicting a person's future behavior. Let's not be too wistful about a FICO score being the major criteria in getting a loan. That credit score system hasn't been tested by the sort of real estate downturn we're facing now.

That's why I am shocked when Lenn and her readers start turning on "The Institutions" for causing this mess. Like I said in my comments there, we're Americans...we like to let our institutions do our sinning for us. That doesn't mean we're not complicit.

Most of these same people would have cried bloody murder while the bubble was inflating if our institutions intervened, and if the government took action to stave off the rapid appreciation. (Most real estate professionals made enough money during the build-up to last an eight year recession...if they didn't blow it.)

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"I believe that the 'Declining Market Syndrome' is an obfuscation invented to give cover to lenders who suffered massive losses through loose lending standards."

If Lenn really believed that then she would lend out her own money to high FICO, high LTV buyers. Yes lenders suffered massive losses through loose lending standards. Cutting back is what ALL of us would do if careless spending got us in a heap of trouble. Anybody have a better idea?

To twist one of Lenn's passages:

THE INSTITUTIONS HAVEN'T FAILED ME.

• Congress didn't fail me.
• Fannie Mae didn't fail me.
• Freddie Mac didn't fail me.
• The mortgage companies didn't fail me.
• Wall Street didn't fail me.

Nobody has a responsibility to throw good money at risky investments. Janet's example is sad, but an exception. Most of the declining market value guidelines have been publicized well in advance and most people aren't buying $1,300,000 homes. And if they are, I can't feel all that bad that they have to have another $130,000 in their savings account to afford it...otherwise, why are they buying a $1.3 million dollar home?

In most California cities, the declining policies are very simple and make sense:

• 5% reduction in total Loan-to-Value. If it was 100%, now it's 95%.
• The appraisal must include 2 recent comparable sales in the last 90 days.
• The appraisal must include 2 active pending sales.

Do those changes seem like Draconian laws bent on destroying our economy, or does that sound like 'makes-sense' investing aimed at protecting consumers?

To top it all off, FHA doesn't even have a declining market policy...and has even increased their loan limits!

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The slowdown is not just a season, it's a healthy and good season.

Here are the benefits of the current real estate market contraction:

• Houses are affordable again for first-time buyers
• Investors can rent a home at a profit
• The fly-by-night real estate 'professionals' are quitting in droves
• The real pros, who care for their clients for the long haul, are gaining market share

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not saying there aren't some awful stories out there of fraud, mortgage deception, and people losing their homes.

Heck, I'm upside down on my house, too!

But I'm NOT complaining. Real estate has been good to me. And to the smart money investors that held off for the last several years. And to the simple folk that just couldn't afford until now. They are out there and they need my help.

It's a great time for real estate.

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Related Articles:

• What's the Interest Rate Today? It's on your Cell Phone.
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• 7 Steps to Fix Your Credit

Looking to buy a home?

Joey Aszterbaum is the Hemet Home Loan Guy and a member of the Active Rain social network of real estate professionals. To buy or refinance your home in Hemet, Riverside County, or California visit www.HemetHomeLoans.com or call 951.571.5751

There was a time when, to buy a home, you had to have 20% down. Then came along mortgage insurance.

Mortgage insurance allows mortgage lenders to recover their losses if there is a foreclosure. So it allows them to give you a home loan with less than 20% down.

.......................UNTIL NOW...................

Everyone knows that the rules have been changing fast. Since the 'subprime mortgage crises' those changes have been when the largest mortgage investors, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, tighten up their guidelines.

On April 14th, that changed. That's when the major mortgage insurance carriers tightened up how they work. And they've decided two major things:

1. They will not insure mortgages for non-owner occupied homes. This means that if you want to buy a second home, a vacation home, a rental or an investment property, you have to put 20% down before you can get financing.
2. They will not insure cash-out refinances. That means that if you refinance your first trust deed (your home loan), you can only borrow 80% of the appraised value of your home.

FHA loans, which are government-insured by HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) will still cover refinances with cash out up to 95%, but I expect they'll change the rules eventually based on the number of foreclosures.

Now is a great time to buy. The bad news is that most people will have to have down payment. The good news is that home prices have become much more affordable in Hemet, Riverside County, and any area hit hard by foreclosures. 20% of $150,000 is a lot less than 20% of $350,000...so start using that savings account!

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Related Articles:

• What's the Interest Rate Today? It's on your Cell Phone.
• California and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Real Estate Market
• Investing in Hemet Real Estate...Good News and Bad News
• 7 Steps to Fix Your Credit

Looking to buy a home?

Joey Aszterbaum is the Hemet Home Loan Guy and a member of the Active Rain social network of real estate professionals. To buy or refinance your home in Hemet, Riverside County, or California visit www.HemetHomeLoans.com or call 951.571.5751