Khash Saghafi Mortgage Loan Officer Cleveland Ohio Mortgages

I was talking to my mom today while she was leaving for work. She is 74 years old, just retired from working for the government after 20 years and she started her new job today (she's a nurse, by the way). She asked me how business was (as she always does) and I gave the normal canned response -- business is great, I'm busy and things are moving forward. I mean, what else are you supposed to tell your mom?

Every time she sees something on CNN about the housing crisis, she calls and asks if I need money and that she's bringing over groceries. I'm a first generation American and my parents came over to the United States in 1959. My dad still speaks broken English and still speaks as if Nixon, Carter and Reagan are still in office. My mom speaks very good English, but still has a very pronounced accent.

Today, my mom asked me if she is allowed to give me some business advice. How can I possibly say no? She's mom for godssakes! Truthfully, though, I'm sitting here thinking, what in the world can she possibly tell me about running a mortgage company?

She tells me that she has seen my television commercials and she knows that I have done my seminars all over the country. She goes on to say that I need to try to talk to fewer people more times. That statement scared the life out of me! For a few months now, I have been telling people that I used to believe that if I simply talked to more people, I would do more business. I have since changed my philosophy to speaking to fewer people more times.

It is that exact philosophy that I have been focusing in on -- speak to fewer people more times as opposed to more people fewer times. How in the world does my mom, who is a nurse, who I have never explained my business plan to or method of getting business know the exact thoughts that I have been thinking for the last 6 months?

It is moments like that which makes me want to put my head in a vice and seek professional help. It seems that I have spent more of my life trying to learn on my own and prove my parents wrong than simply accepting the fact that they know more than I do and I need to just shut my big mouth and listen to them (even if they do speak with accents). The greatest lessons I have learned in life have come from my parents first, my wrestling coaches, my school teachers and my friends (with my friends, it's kind of like the blind leading the blind though (lol)). The sickest thought of all is that none of them have ever charged me a nickel for their worldly advice.

Mom's words have, once again, only cemented my thoughts on business and sparked the fire inside of me to again keep traveling down the road I am traveling. Thanks again mom!!!!

Everyone today asks me if I am busy with refinances. The truth of the matter is pretty much, no (lol). The media is creating a frenzy much in the same way that they helped with the frenzy of homebuying 3-4-5 years ago.

If you are considering refinancing, there are 3 very important aspects to the process which must be taken into consideration:

1) Will the house appraise properly in order to make the transaction work?

Of course, this question can only be answered by paying an appraiser to come out and do an appraisal. Does the appraisal cost money and can you, in the end, pay for something that does not end up working out? Of course; however, relative to what you are looking to save, it is a very small cost to pay in order to get a solid answer.

2) How much money are you saving monthly?

Ask yourself this question -- does the amount of money that you are saving help your overall lifestyle and make sense for you to do? Every single dollar counts, but be sure to measure your savings vs. your fees. This will help you calculate your break even point. Don't forget that if you have had your mortgage for 3 years, you are going back another 3 years again. I had a customer recently tell me that the loan officer who she was speaking with told her that she was saving $18,000 over the next 30 years.

Ok, now $18,000 is a ton of a money, but let's do some quick math. $18,000 over 30 years? That is $600 per year, $50 per month. To save $50 per month while adding another 4 years to your mortgage (she had already paid on her home for 4 years) does not seem to add up. Also, how many people today keep their mortgages for 30 years? As you can briefly see, the numbers do not always add up when you start scratching below the surface.

3) How much longer are you planning on staying in your home?

Now I understand that no one can guarantee that they are even here tomorrow; however, you do want to ask yourself this question since it will, when coupled with your break even point, help you to determine if the refinance makes sense.

If you are looking at refinancing so that you can run around your neighborhood and brag about your 4% interest rate, you are refinancing for the wrong reason. If you are interested in thinking through a very important financial decision, taking your time and understanding what you are doing, then you should definitely consider refinancing.

I can be contacted anytime at 1-440-838-5291 to help answer those questions for you.

Every single person out there, no matter what they are buying, wants the lowest rate, the lowest fees and the lowest payment. When it comes to mortgages today, they would typically like a 30-year fixed interest rate. In order to properly compare different lenders, a customer needs to get their hands on a Good Faith Estimate.

We all know that there are mountains of papers to sign for a loan application, very few (if any) ever read every single page and the same number do not even know what they are signing.

There are 4 basic questions every single homebuyer has on a loan:

1) What is the interest rate?

2) What are the fees?

3) What is the payment?

4) Is this fixed or adjustable?

Through all of the mountains of papers, there is 1 single sheet of paper which answers all four questions -- the Good Faith Estimate.

At the time of loan application, every single client should received a Good Faith Estimate. They should also ask the following question -- is every single fee that I can expect to pay estimated on this document?

As an example, are all title fees, state taxes, escrows & impounds, lender fees, surveys and any others listed? I cannot tell you how many Good Faith Estimates I look at in which the Loan Officer has left out the title fees and the escrows / impounds.

Now to be fair about it, at the time of loan application, there is no title / escrow company picked out; however, those fees can still be ESTIMATED. This, of course, is the reason that they call it a Good Faith Estimate.

If you are not receiving a Good Faith Estimate immediately, call someone else. If you are beginning a transaction and have questions which are not being answered, call me at 1-440-838-5291 and I will walk you through the only document that you have to pay attention to -- the Good Faith Estimate.

1 out of 752 applications when it was slated to help 400,000! Yes, the most sweeping housing rescue plan in world history signed into law by President Bush which was supposed to help 400,000 homeowners from being foreclosed on only helped 1 family (they should write a book - seriously (lol)). That is the latest statistic of how many this worthless program has helped. What a joke! So how great of a job did you do to help solve the housing crisis Mr. Frank? I would like to hear Barney stutter his way through the answer to that question. A spokesman for the FHA stated, "...the program isn't working terribly well." Call it like it is -- it failed miserably and those who took credit for that legislation should voluntary tender their resignations for being miserable failures at their jobs.

It was crafted by a bunch of people who were more interested in getting elected than getting the job done.

It was signed into law by someone who could not care less about what happens with housing in this country.

It became a theme for a political 'change' in America which has thus far done nothing to help housing.

It has helped mislead homeowners into believing that the Government is actually doing something to help.

The Congressional Budget Office now estimates that the program will help up to 25,000 homeowners over the next 10 years. Where in gods name do they come up with these statistics? Let's see --- 1 homeowner in 6 months is 2 per year. 2 x 10 years = 20 homeowners. Ok Harvard graduates and young einstein's, where did you get 25,000 from?

Senator Chris Dodd, one of the chief architects of this failed program, still wants to keep HOPE in any future bills since it could still 'possibly help someone'. If any of these politicians worked for a private company, they would be fired. Oh, wait a minute, I forgot -- they would receive million dollar bonuses for running the company straight into the dirt.

Well, just as the President and ALL of our beloved politicians go onto television and tell everyone that they are going to force banks to start lending and helping homeowners and our economy get back on track during this time of crisis, I guess someone forgot to mention all of this to the Secretary of HUD while coming up with this little present for homebuyers / homeowners:

This is a brief summary from Mortgagee Letter 2009-09 which takes effect April 1st, 2009 -- HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS EVERYONE!!!!:

Here are the 10 things your appraiser must do or provide for all FHA appraisals done after April 1st, 2009:

1. The Market Conditions Addendum (Fannie Form 1004MC/Freddie Form 71)

2. At least 2 comparable sales within 90 days of appraisal date

3. A minimum of 2 active listings or pending sales in addition to the 3 closed comparables

4. Bracketed listings using both dwelling size and sales price when possible

5. Adjust active listings to reflect the List To Sales Price Ratio

6. Adjust pending sales to reflect contract sales price when possible

7. Include original list price and any revised list prices

8. Reconciliation of adjusted values of active or pending sales with adjusted values of closed comparable sales

9. Absorption Rate Analysis

10. Known or reported sales concessions on active and pending sales This update includes an often stated warning that..."Direct Endorsement Lenders are reminded that if the appraiser they selected provides a poor or fraudulent appraisal that leads FHA to insure a mortgage at an inflated amount, the lender is held responsible equally with the appraiser for the integrity, accuracy and thoroughness of an appraisal submitted to FHA." If the above appraisal guidelines look foreign to you, that's okay, because this update is intended for Appraisers and Underwriters. I sent this to you so you can take the following actions below to make yourself an FHA resource in your market.

If you have any questions on this, please feel free to contact me at 1-440-838-5291 for additional reasons why this is really, really bad for everyone.