Leslie Heimer

An often challenging part of the financing process occurs when we hit "speed bumps" or sometimes road blocks due to common borrower activities. Here are among the most common that you can avoid a dpeed bump in your own loan's process.
Do not quit your job, for obvious reasons :-) SO if the boss has been particularly demanding that day...bite your tounge.
Do not move money around in checking, saving, 401k or other assett accounts. If a bank verification shows a recent increase in your accounts an explanation of the increase will be required.
Avoid making any large purchases that could change the debt to income ration, from which your financing was approved. If all of the sudden a new tradeline appears on your credit report and reflects a new car payment for example, it could jeopardize your loan approval.
Try to avoid cash advances or other large purchases or debits on your credit card.
Try to maintain your current liquid cash deposits and accounts.
To the same tune, do not make a large depsoit into your account, other than typical income from employment, social security, etc. A large despoit will have to be verified and explained, so be sure to have a paper trail. Example, if a parent gives you a gift for your purchase or downpayment, be sure that they keep the deposit slip and we can verify that it came from their account and deposited into yours. *Note, gifts for downpayment are only allowed on FHA loans from a relative.
Don't allow any additional inquiries (credit checks) on your credit, this could drop your score.
Do not open or close any accounts.
Continue to make ALL of your payments as agreed, especially your mortgage even when you are refinancing your loan. This is a common question. If your payment is made and you close the next week, then your payoff will reflect such, therefor reducing your mortgage payoff (on a refinance) and you will simply get more cash at closing. Either way, that payment is going to be made. When borrowers have opted not to do so in the past, there is a suprise when the settlement statement is calcualted as now their could be additional late fees from the current mortgage company.
Quickly return all documents from the lender or settlement company.
Inform your Mortgage Broker of EVERYTHING. We eventually find out, but telling us up front allows us to correctly handle the issue and avoid a potentially bigger and more costly problem. Your Mortgage Professional is your friend :-)

On Wednesday, I had a chance to meet with Polk Property Appraiser, Marsha Faux regarding the property tax issues and challenges of 2008. Of course Amendment one passed in last year's election adding an additional $25,000 homestead to the list of possible exemptions. In 2008, 79,652 properties recieved an aditional exemption, lowering property taxes for homeowners at a times they really needed it.

Additional key point of interest is the assessment limitation, Amendment 10, is commonly referred to as the "Save Our Homes" cap. The law limits value increases to 3% or an amount equal to the Consumer PRice Index - whichever is less. Due to the recent decline in home values this cap seems useless as most homes have not appreciated causing their to be a cap on increased taxes. Congress is in special session this week to discuss potentially reducing that cap to 5%. This is especially significant on commercial property owners, as those properties have experienced a more "normal" valuation changes in the past two years. Most studies confirm that the commericial property owners are those who spend more locally. Whether it be on retail goods and service, entertainment, etc. protecting their bottom line and disposable income, trickles down to a better economy for all residents. This was an interesting insight to how an outdated Amendment's current affect. Amendment 10 was passed in 1992 when increasing appreciation was thought to be a given.