Michael Carrier

With the current stagnant market, now is the time to partner with a loan officer that can provide some solutions to help generate some buyer activity. If you're lending partner is offering nothing more than a phone call looking for loan activity, you may want to reevaluate this relationship. This is the type of market that separates the "Loan Officers" from the order takers.

For example, a seller can contribute up to 6% as a seller concession with a loan to value of 80% or greater up to 95%. With a loan to value of 75% or less, the seller concession can equal 9%. Instead of continuing to cut sales prices, consider taking this seller concession and buying down the buyer's interest rate. Buyers are sitting on the fence and one of the reasons is their fear of adjustable mortgages. Offer the buyer a 30 year fixed.

My team, at Academy Mortgage, was able to save a sale for a realtor in this area by offering the client a 4.25% interest rate fixed for 30 years. The payment was the buyers "hot button" and we addressed it. This is just an example of the many creative ways the finance package can generate activity.

If you would like more information or you have a particular scenario you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact my team.

Have you heard these advertisements... mortgage broker's claiming "we make enough money on interest during the life of the loan" and "why should we stick it to borrowers and make them pay closing costs".

What's really going on here? Do you really think the state isn't going to look for their taxes (stamps on the note and mortgage)? How can some lenders operate in a high fee state like Florida and effect a no closing cost loan? The answer is...THEY CAN'T!

Closing costs on refinances average about 2% of the loan amount. This is primarily your state taxes and your new title policy and title closing fees. In addition the lender will usually charge a minimum fee for processing and underwriting.

There is no magic here. These brokers are merely paying the closing costs for the borrower out of the proceeds of the mortgage in the form of a yield spread. Simply put, the higher the rate they charge the borrower, the more the lender will pay the mortgage broker. For example, If a broker prices a 30 year fixed mortgage to pay back 4%, he or she can pay the closing costs and still make 2% on the loan.

It's not necessarily a bad deal for the borrower provided the lender is lowering the interest rate. Most of the time, however, the borrower would be better off with that 2% being rolled into the loan in the form of additional principal and enjoy a lower interest rate and payment.

If you are a builder or realtor who does any business at all in the rural housing markets, it's imperative to know about the USDA Rural Housing Program Loan.

For Real Estate Professionals and Builders that like to "make deals", this is the loan for you. With it's unlimited seller concessions, it allows for very creative structured contracts.

My last USDA loan allowed me to help my realtor construct a deal in which the borrower had no closing costs, no money down, and we bought the rate down to 4.5% fixed for 30 years. This was also a condo and all of the borrowers HOA fees were paid through the year by the seller.

This is the strongest loan program I have ever seen. If you're not using this program, you're losing business as the financial benefit to the borrower is immesurable.

Apollo Beach, Pasco County, Polk County, and some areas in Hillsborough qualify as with many other areas in the state. Call us to see if your property is eligible.

Here are some of the highlights to the program:

• Loan up to 102% of appraised value
• No limit on seller contribution towards closing costs
• NO MI
• No maximum loan amount
• No cash contribution required from the borrower
• Unrestricted gifts, no need to document source
• Non-traditional credit may be substitute for lack of traditional credit history
• No credit explanations when credit score is 620 or above
• No minimum credit score
• No reserves required
• Not limited to first-time home buyers
• High earnings potential
• 30-year fix rate loan

Lets face it, regardless of our historical client profile, most realtors and loan officers have had to change their approach to this most difficult market. Those of us who have made it through, what we all hope to be the deepest part of the housing market decline, have had to modify our business and marketing models.

We, at Academy mortgage, realized long ago that the majority of business that we'll see in the upcoming months, possibly years, revolves around the government loan. With our throwback approach to the mortgage business, having local underwriting and processing in our office, we are closing FHA and VA loans in 3 weeks or less.

As the big banks continue to navigate through the storm, which includes recapitalization and an almost non-existent ability to loan, we have focused on supporting the realtors and their customers that are out today...the FHA and VA borrower.

Notwithstanding the challenges in the local market, like the inability to get mortgage insurance in Florida, let Academy help you with the valuable business you currently have. We take a "try to" approach to underwriting and if we can't get a deal done, we'll let you know immediately.

My team has over 35+ years of mortgage experience. Give us a try!