Patrick Randles

Last week, we went on a little family vacation from Tucson to San Diego (Coronado actually). My wife really wanted to stay somewhere nice. Normally, I am a fan of Expedia, being price sensitive, but I thought I would give someone else a chance. I e-mailed a fellow Sertoman (similar to Rotary) to see what he could do. Scott Caddow (Legendary World Travel) came back with a similar offer (actually $50 more over the 3 days) but there were some perks. Below is the view from our room.

We got the breakfast buffet for free and a nice upgrade on the room. While it may not seem like much, it made all of the difference in the world.

Now to translate this to real estate. This is the difference between going with an online lender and using an experienced professional or using a service that puts you on MLS and puts a sign in front of your house. The intangibles make all of the difference in the world and while we don't know ahead of time what has a value to a client, by the time we are done, that client knows they got the best value for their money.

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Patrick Randles

Sunstreet Mortgage, LLC

Tucson, AZ 85718

(520)850-7485

I just came from the website for Stonewater Mortgage, the latest creation of the folks that brought us First Magnus and Charter Funding. In the same building they were headquartered out of as F.M. I don't know the former owners of Charter, but I have friends that do and speak very highly of them. I also work with several of their former loan officers. As far as co-workers go, they rank among the best. I also have read the papers and the blogs and heard first hand what led to the downfall of the largest privately owned mortgage company in the United States and the effect it had on their employees, customers and business partners. Many of the employees are still owed money.

Stonewater Mortgage will be based in Tucson just as Charter Funding and First Magnus were. They look to be a similar company to the one that failed. From perusing their website, it looks like they will be very responsive to the needs of their loan officers and brokers, as well as to the clients. It appears that they have a software package that allows quicker turn times than offered by the competition. Take a minute and take a look as it is a "polished" product.

The point of the blog wasn't really to give Stonewater free publicity. It was to ask real estate professionals their opinion. I am curious to see how many of their previous employees go back to work for these folks. As employers, they compensated their people very well and the perks on a one to ten scale were a clear 10. Locally, they were very high profile with billboards all over town. Loan officers had their own processors and nice offices. They sponsored local sporting events and charities as well.

Going past the employees, would you refer your clients to these folks? They left lots of people in a pinch when they abruptly stopped funding loans.

I am really curious to see how they do and who works for them and who does business with them. It is my understanding that the leadership has plenty of moxy and business sense. Will First Magnus rise from the ashes?

Below is the picture of the kitchen in the house my potential client wants (wanted) to buy. In order to buy the house, he would have gone with an FHA product known as the 203k. I have never done one of these loans and I only got part of my education before we pulled the plug. As you may have guessed, the product allows the buyer to allocate funds to repair a house. Can you say foreclosed property?It really is a shame that the previous owner was so frustrated that he or she went as far as to tear out the majority of the kitchen. What happened to the cabinets-did they go to the Swap Meet? For the money, the house is a deal. The buyer would even be able to pick out the counters, cabinets, refrigerator, range and so forth and get it put into the loan. After the deal is struck on the price, a general contractor would come in and create a cost estimate for the needed items. After escrow the house would be brought back to a livable (or better) state. The downside of the product is that very few lenders offer it and those that do, charge a substantial bump to the interest rate. It will also be a long escrow and the loan will take lots of additional work to close. From what I gather, most people will get an FHA streamline sixty days after close of escrow to get an acceptable interest rate. This product needs to be discussed as well since it is a very reasonably priced and convenient way to refinance a property. I would be very interested to hear from some mortgage folks who have lots of experience in these loans to tell us a little more about them. They are absolutely needed when the previous owner takes a hammer to the house before the bank takes it back.

Recently, I have noticed lots of political viewpoints posted on AR. I have definitely stirred a few things up by commenting. Having some strong opinions is not a problem and I am not excluded from that. The issue I have with some of the posts here is that they are rhetoric. They are not factual. I see posts saying "Obama wants socialized medicine." If you read what he wants, it isn't socialized medicine and it starts by ensuring that literally millions of children in the US that currently have no basic coverage will. But that is not the point of the post. The point of it is that people don't know what either side really intends to do. We listen to the speeches. We listen to them rip the other side up and down. We get excited about change and the possibilities, but do we sit down and understand what these candidates are really proposing? I wonder how many readers know Mccain's stance on drilling in the Arctic for oil. What about Sarah Palin's stance on the same issue? Is it the same as McCain's? In a TV ad, Obama says McCain doesn't support government help of U.S. automakers. Is this true? Was it ever true? We see the ad and because Obama says so, we believe it? My fear is that we vote based on these speeches which are more fluff than substance. My suggestion to you the reader is to research the issues, the speeches, verify the facts of what these good people are saying and intend to do if they are elected by the people..

www.Factcheck.org

Is an online service run by students out of the University of Pennsylvania. I strongly recommend that you spend a few minutes each week and read it. You will be amazed at the factuality of what is being said by both parties and you will quickly be more informed than 90% of America.

I got an e-mail from a referral today and he let me know that my rate was too high. When I found out that he was getting his rate from online, I sharpened my pencil. OK, I didn't lower the rate but I strongly urged him to reconsider. Since I don't work for an online lender, I don't know how they do business exactly. I can only speculate and repeat the horror stories I have heard and talk about my experience brokering loans to tough lenders. These days, I use the in-house underwriter for almost every loan I originate.

Aside from the great rate, here is my guess on what is coming down the pipe if you sign up online.

1. Your house will not appraise.

2. Your phone calls will not be returned promptly (if at all).

3. After underwriting, you will be hit with a boatload of tough conditions.

4. After you are cleared for docs, you will be hit again for another condition or two.

5. You will not close on time unless you have the foresight to get a 45-60 day escrow.

I don't know what else will happen, but I would be interested to hear from agents with first hand experience working with an online lender. (Maybe you can give me some ammunition so I can go back and close the deal). Thanks!