Ryan Kohl

Arizona Mortgages for Canadians is here. The experts have options!

I am very transparent about our lending opportunities here in the US and more specifically Arizona itself. At Express Capital Mortgage, we have aligned ourselves with as many lenders as possible that WILL and DO lend to Foreign Nationals. To note, it is my companies primary lending focus right now as we constantly shift regulatory and market changes. We love working with international investment companies.

It is no secret how conservative lending has been in the last few years to even US residents so it is important that I give you all the information cleanly so there is no misunderstandings. I have about 5 main private lenders that fund most of my projects. To get this number down to 5 has been quite a process but we are confident that we have the best Foreign National lending in the State. They are broken down by a number of different things.........loan size, area, condition of home, etc. The fact remains that they are typically basing the underwriting on them by evaluating the collateral itself. The lenders have their own formulas and ways of doing this.

Typically, you will find that the rate will vary typically between ______ and ______ based on terms from 6 months - 5 years right now (email me). The costs include some normal transactional fees and then a lenders fee usually between 2-4%. I am poised to offer better terms as our volume increases but for now this is what it is.

There has been growing concern about obtaining credit in the US. Building a credit profile here in the US is going to be increasingly important to get better terms down the line. While there is no way for borrowers to get a credit score in the US personally, having a long time history as an entity (usually an LLC) in making timely payments will become an important lending factor in the future. This is why taking finance here is also appealing. The prices and the ability to cashflow with the lending we have in place is the main part. Feeling comfortable with each one of our assembled team of professionals is the other piece of the puzzle.

The ability for Foreigners to leverage has been huge recently because earlier last year it was basically unheard of so I am confident that things are moving in a positive direction. I can speak to you in further detail about the lending programs. We important to be able to provide a complete education about the process here so let me know what resources you need for your buyers on the lending side. I would have no problem with you speaking to a lender directly (truth be told they want to know just as much about who they are lending to as you want to know about them).

Arizona Mortages for Canadians. You do have choices. Ask about our 2nd home programs too!

Express Capital Mortgage has seen Canadians scooping up real estate in Arizona. US investment homes are very appealing in price that most all have paid for these properties in cash. Many presume financing is dried up? "Not so" Says AzMortgageMan. With 2007 went Foreign National Financing....why?

1. Express Capital Mortgage on Risk

Like all loans everything is measured in risk. We don't have to break into charts and graphs and data to explain this risk. It's common sense really. Investment loans in themselves carry a higher risk. Higher risk means higher rate and more money done (major factors). If some dreaded event happened to the the borrower then the first thing to go is another home, not the one their living in. In another country you as a borrower are a even higher risk of flight because there is less personal recourse. The international buyer is not going to care about their US credit. They will have no relationship or attachment to the property because chances are they have only seen it a few times. It simply becomes an investment on paper.

2. Express Capital Mortgage on Values

I don't think there is much need to comment on this except the fact that the decline of values pretty much drove the risk so high that any lending for Foreign Nationals simple blends in to hard money. or asset based lending.

3. Express Capital Mortgage on Mayhem and Closed Lenders

Lending is back to the basics period! Anything and everything has been scaled back to conforming loans.

This leaves us to one good question.... Should their be more options for this type of ffinancing now that their is more stabilization to our housing crisis? Undoubtedly buying by Foreign investors should help our crisis right?

Express Capital Mortgage Inc.

Express Capital Mortgage has been working with many young borrowers lately that realize it's a good time to buy. The typical situation is that they have recently graduated college and have a career job but don't have any credit history yet. However, most do have history that isn't part of that credit report that can be used in purchasing a home.

• Borrower must provide a sufficient number of alternative credit ratings to complete the 3 tradeline requirements

• Alternative credit must be reported on a credit supplement separate from the credit used for DU purposes. Express Capital Mortgage handles this part in their processing but it should be known that we are in essense building a custom credit profile for you.

• At least one of the alternative credit ratings must be from Group I (below).

• Additional alternative credit sources may be from Group II (below).

• In the event the borrower cannot provide at least one piece of alternative credit from Group I, the occupying borrower must qualify with ratios not to exceed 31/43. If you are not sure what this means ask AzMortgageMan or an Express Capital Mortgage team member.

Group I

- Rental housing payments (subject to independent verification if the borrower is a renter), utility company reference (if not included in the rental housing payment), including gas, electricity,water, land-line home telephone service, cable TV. If the borrower is renting from a family member,request independent documents to prove regular payments, such as cancelled checks.

Group II

- Insurance coverage [i.e. medical, auto, life or renter's insurance (not payroll deducted)], payment to child care providers (made to a business providing such services), department stores,furniture/appliance stores, specialty stores, rent-to-own furniture or appliances, payment of medicalbills not covered by insurance, internet/cell phone services, a documented history of saving by regular deposits (at least quarterly, non-payroll deducted, no NSF checks reflected) resulting in an increasing balance to the account, automobile leases or a personal loan from an individual with repayment terms in writing and supported by cancelled checks to document payment.

Express Capital Mortgage is dedicated to helping future buyers taking steps towards homeownership. If we can't help you buy right away for credit reasons we can help you create a customized path.

Express Capital Mortgage on gathering up those mortgage documents. We don't like the ever increasing amount of documents that we collect. Worse, we don't like asking for them even more.

The borrower is an integral part of making our process "Express" and AzMortgageman likes to educate in advance what the expectations are with retrieving documents. For Example, "you will have to produce much more than in the past". Having to arrange more documentation is a common complaint even with our upfront caviat, so we do everything we can to get our borrowers checklists and reminders.

Documentation Logic

AzMortgageMan swears his job is making sense out of nonsense anyway when in comes to cooresponding with lenders. Arguing or protesting documentation reqests is a waste of time our opinion. We don't mind going into detail about why they are asking but the more time you spend questioning is valueble time away from processing your loan. You have the right to ask but rest assured that it is not going to change the fact that it is needed. Remember we are working with Lenders/banks here.

We do argue on bases of common sense when it gets down to it with the lender. We like to save you time as well so we will cut corners and save you if we can. If we ask you chances are that we are unable to get by without.

Soup Nazi Factor

Many are familiar with the Seinfeld Soup Nazi. If you are not see this...Soup Nazi on YouTube. The soup Nazi is indeed an exaggerated example of some banks and their documentation procedure.

Follow these tips on helping make your loan process smoother at Express Capital Mortgage.

• Provide ALL pages of documents (if document says 1 of x, make sure you have all x pages)
• Ensure that pages are visible and not cutoff if faxing or copying
• When in doubt give more than necessary. We sort through and will decide if pertinant (it's our job).
• If you think something needs explaining please do tell. We are not mind readers so if there are documents that are uncharacteristic please bring to the attention of Express Capital Mortgage.

Here is a list of some of the craziest requests that we can remember. To lenders defense, they all have their reasons.

• Appraiser to verify property is in a resort area. This is a second home
• VOD is not acceptable since information is typed in. Must be hand written.
• Doctors note from mothers doctor.
• Sign under your signature.

Express Capital Mortgage wants you to gather up those documents with ease!

Express Capital Mortgage has a Mortgage TEAM? We constantly see "teams" in Real Estate but commonly not within lending. Why? AzMortgageMan has been deep in thought over this. Why?

Before moving to that answer here are the reasons we formed a team at Express Capital Mortgage.

1. Service- We value our relationships as we are a referral driven company plain and simple. We need our team members to be involved in all areas of origination AND processing. So many times mortgage transactions breakdown in communication within the stages of a transaction. This is because processors are processing, and originators are originating. OK, so who is making sure everyone is updated with status? Realtors and our borrowers can know they can reach any team member and they KNOW about their transaction. This is why Express Capital Mortgage has a team.
2. Speed- "Your file is in the stack" or "it's in line for review". How many have heard this in a transaction? Express Capital Mortgage team members use each other to gather items simultaneously. That's right, we realize that while most originators have one processor they use they can only tackle one task at a time.
3. Consistency- People make mistakes. Of course, YOUR mortgage company has never made a mistake right? Doubt it. As a lender or mortgage broker it is easy to blame the appraiser, underwriter, title company, and the list goes on. Well, at Express Capital Mortgage our team members' check and recheck each other for consistency. If there is only one processor who, besides their Loan Originator is checking progress, figures, orders, documentation, etc, etc. Many originators simply don't follow their processors this closely. They also don't deliver status unless the borrower or Realtor calls them.
4. Strengths and Accountability- OK, AzMortgageMan would admit that these steps are somewhat"internal". Individual team members have different strengths. AzMortgageMan also believes that this is what Agent teams most represent, or what they immediately identify themselves with. If there are three team members working for a commission, what do you think happens when one member slows down the process? The motivation for others to fulfill their duties increases. Express Capital Mortgage focuses on maintaining a solid cohesive team.

Now we return to this question of Why? Why don't Mortgage companies like Express Capital Mortgage create teams? Commissions are much smaller than real estate commissions. Since this is true then how do we still manage to split these commissions and charge less than our competitors. We don't spend any marketing dollars and we use more of our volume to gather more referral partners. It's quite simple really.

AzMortgageMan is not only a loan superhero, he also has is degree in Business Management. Go figure:-)