Common Questions Asked By First Time Home Buyers

Wow!  What a ride!  I cannot thank you enough for your support. My book launched on Friday and became the #1 New Release in Mortgage Books on Amazon. Amazon likes it so much they just reduced the paperback price to $8.99!  Grab your copy here: www.elysiastobbehomeloans.com
I consider it a privilege to share this information with you.

I wanted to share with you some of the questions I got yesterday at the FL Times Union Home Buyers Expo. Over 1500 people attended, it was a huge success!  I was honored to be asked to speak to their audience.

I did two presentations.  Each presentation gave a quick overview of two topics.  The first presentation was 3 Monumental Money Mistakes To Avoid & Why Shopping for the Best Interest Rate can Cost you Money. Common questions pertained to the differences in FHA and Conventional Loans and the different mortgage insurance rates for each as well as the funding fees for government loans.

The second presentation covered 7 Massive Mortgage Mistakes to Avoid & VA, FHA & Conventional Financing Highlights. A common question was, "What if I have a 640 credit score and I am a first time home buyer, can I put down only 3%?"  Yes, if you are a first time home buyer and qualify for conventional loan financing, you can put down as little as 3% with a 640 credit score. However, the monthly mortgage insurance will be more expensive due to the 640 credit score. Here are some highlights from the 2nd half of this presentation.  I hope you find this information useful.

Here are some VA Loan Highlights:

•Minimum Down Payment 3.0% for first time home buyers, otherwise 5%

•No Funding Fee

•Monthly MI varies based on down payment, credit score, type of residence, varies from 0.22%-0.74%

•MI is automatically removed at 22% equity

•Minimum Credit Score 620 with 20% down payment or 640 with 5% down payment

***Veterans, THANK YOU for your Service!!

Here are some FHA Loan Highlights:

•Minimum Down Payment 3.5%

•FHA Funding Fee of 1.75%

•Monthly MI of 0.85% with 3.5% down or .80% with 5% down payment

•MI is for the life of the loan

•Minimum Credit Score 580

Here are some Conventional Loan Highlights:

•Minimum Down Payment 3.0% for first time home buyers, otherwise 5%

•No Funding Fee

•Monthly MI varies based on down payment, credit score, type of residence, varies from 0.22%-0.74%

•MI is automatically removed at 22% equity

•Minimum Credit Score 620 with 20% down payment or 640 with 5% down payment

***Please keep in mind this is only an example for illustration purposes.  These interest rates may not be available and/or you may not qualify for this loan type.

All of this information can be found in much more detail in my #1 Best Selling Book on Amazon

To grab my new book, How To Get Approved for the Best Mortgage Without Sticking a Fork in Your Eye™, click here: elysiastobbehomeloans.com

For more mortgage tips check out our website www.bestmortgagebook.info

For video mortgage tips and tools subscribe to our YouTube

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsL6BuJ8b-M

For sponsorship opportunities go to:  sponsorbestmortgagebook.info

©

Top 3 Reasons Why Mortgages are Sexier Than Caitlyn Bruce Jenner

1. If you qualify for a mortgage you don't have to use your hard earned cash to buy your new home. Now that's sexy!

Why use your cold hard earned cash to buy your next home when you can use the bank's money?  First Time Home Buyer's can put down as little as 3% for a down payment now.  For example, if you are buying a $300,000 home, 3% is $9,000. Spending $9,000 sounds a whole lot better than spending $300,000, right?

2. Mortgage Interest Can Be Tax Deductible. Now that's really sexy! 

What better benefit to being a home owner and using someone else's (the bank's) money than to get to write off the interest expense? This just keeps getting better and better! When you get a loan, your repayment schedule usually consists of principal & interest.  That interest you pay every month can be tax deductible. Consult your CPA for details.

3. There's more than enough paperwork in the mortgage process to cover up every inch of Caitlyn you didn't really want to see in Vanity Fair.

I'm very excited for our Olympic Hero and her quest for happiness. The Vanity Fair spread is eye catching to say the least. In addition to covering up parts of Caitlyn you didn't want to see mortgage paperwork can be recycled for later use as a toga, paper skirt or those weird flip flops they give you when you get a pedicure. Just be sure to shred the documents that have all your pertinent info such as your name, social security #, address, bank account #'s, etc.

For more info about and pictures of Caitlyn Jenner and what his/her ex Kim Kardashian has to say, click here:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3107508/Kim-Kardashian-defends-Caitlyn-Jenner-s-choice-dress-sexy-clothes-reveal-cover-Vanity-Fair.html

***Please keep in mind this is only an example for illustration purposes.  These interest rates may not be available and/or you may not qualify for this loan type.

To get on our waiting list for my new book, How To Get Approved for the Best Mortgage Without Sticking a Fork in Your Eye™, go to our website www.bestmortgagebook.info

For video mortgage tips and tools subscribe to our YouTube

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsL6BuJ8b-M

For sponsorship opportunities go to:  sponsorbestmortgagebook.info

©

Why our World Would End if Mortgages Disappeared

Who better than Gary Keller, founder of Keller Williams and Jay Papasan, VP of KW Publishing  to share their opinions about mortgages…this is an excerpt from my new book, How To Get Approved for the Best Mortgage Without Sticking a Fork in Your Eye™

But before we get to that, here are my top 3 reasons to utilize a mortgage to your advantage when buying a home.

1.   Who wants to part with their cash?

No one.  Why would you?  If you can keep your cash in the bank and use the bank’s money to buy a home, why would you part with your cold hard cash? Or what if you don’t have the cash to buy a home? Who has $300,000 laying around?

2.   Interest Rates are at Record Lows

Interest rates are still hovering in the 4.0% range.  Why wouldn’t you grab this money that’s practically free while you can get it? If you’re going to borrower money, the cheaper you can get it, the better.

3.   Mortgage Interest is Still tax deductable

Check with your licensed CPA to make sure you can take advantage of this tax deduction.  Your tax specialist should be able to let you know how much you can save by becoming a home owner with a mortgage.

  

But seriously, why our World Would End if Mortgages Disappeared?  Well, for each real estate transaction with a mortgage, it takes about 25 people to get the job done.  From your licensed loan originator to the appraiser to your real estate agent and closing title company there are many people in the middle.  Also, if people could not use the bank’s money and had to spend their cash to buy a house, the housing industry would slow to a crawl. Which means retail would also be affected.  Such as the big box stores for home improvement and electronics.  Our economy would be seriously crippled if mortgages disappeared.  So, the next time you buy a house with a mortgage, feel great about helping the economy!

And without further ado, here’s the excerpt interview with Gary Keller & Jay Papasan.

Interviews with Gary Keller and Jay Papasan of Keller Williams Realty

As chairman of the board for Keller Williams Realty, Gary Keller helps provide strategic direction for the company at large. In addition to his leadership role with the company, Gary and his writing team have penned several national bestsellers: The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times and The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.

Jay Papasan, who after a successful publishing career in New York, co-authored the Millionaire Real Estate series with Gary Keller, collaborated on the best seller FLIP, and serves as Keller Williams VP of Publishing.

Elysia: Please share two pieces of advice you have about mortgages.

Jay Papasan: A mortgage is a serious responsibility and warrants very careful attention to what you can truly afford and what kind of mortgage can best help you reach your financial goals. However, a mortgage is a tremendous privilege. Imagine: if you couldn’t borrow the money to buy your home, you’d have to pay cash. If you thought coming up with a down payment was challenging, imagine what it would be like to save the whole purchase price!

In general, you’ll probably discover that mortgage loans are less confusing than you might imagine. Actually, what appears as a vast array of loan choices in the mortgage market today are all just simple variations on a few major types.

Elysia: Gary, what are your top three guiding principles for client service?

Gary Keller: Win, win or no deal. Integrity: do the right thing. Customers always come first. When we talk about client service, the definition of a professional is someone who knows what they know and knows what they don’t know. When you are faced with a situation with a client and you’re not sure of the answer, it’s not about looking like a professional, it’s about being a professional. Just be honest, and say, “That’s a great question. I want to give you the best answer. Would it offend you if I got back to you later today/tomorrow with an answer? I work with an amazing team and I’d love to run my thoughts by them and make sure you’re getting the best possible information.” Understand your strengths and leveraging the team around you and in your brokerage to give your clients the best service.

Elysia: Thank you Jay & Gary, I understand why you have raving fans and a successful growing international real estate company!

***Please keep in mind this is only an example for illustration purposes.  These interest rates may not be available and/or you may not qualify for this loan type.

To get on our waiting list for my new book, How To Get Approved for the Best Mortgage Without Sticking a Fork in Your Eye™, go to our website www.bestmortgagebook.info

For video mortgage tips and tools subscribe to our YouTube

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsL6BuJ8b-M

For sponsorship opportunities go to:  sponsorbestmortgagebook.info

©

Happy Memorial Day - Thank You Veterans! Special Interview with Michael J. Frueh, Director of Loan Guaranty Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Did you serve in the Military?  Did your spouse serve in the Military? Thank you to our armed services who protect our country! I am grateful to each and every one of you who have served. In honor of Memorial Day, here is a special excerpt from the VA Loan chapter in my book, How To Get Approved for the Best Mortgage without sticking a Fork In Your Eye™. This is a piece of a 30 minute interview with Michael J. Frueh & Mark Connors. 

Interview  With Veterans Benefits administration

Michael J. Frueh is the Director of Loan Guaranty Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Mark Connors is Lender Liaison for loan policy and valuation loan guaranty services at the Loan Guaranty Service of the Veterans Benefits Administration at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Elysia: Hi, I’m Elysia Stobbe and I’m here at the Department of Veterans Affairs today interviewing two of their top brass with some great questions for VA homebuyers. If you could introduce yourselves please.

Michael J. Frueh: Hi, I’m Mike Frueh. I’m the Director of the VA Loan Program here in D.C.

Mark Connors: Hi, I’m Mark Connors. I’m the Lender Liaison in D.C.

Elysia: Great! So, we put together a few questions we thought would be helpful for either first time users of their VA Home Loan benefits or anybody who’s actually used it before and maybe had questions and had any kind of challenges. The idea is to make it smoother for the veteran as they purchase a home. So, the first question I have is for Mark. What is something that lenders forget to tell people that are looking for VA loans or interested in using their VA loan benefits?

Mark Connors: Well, actually I don’t know that I would say what they forget to tell the veteran, but rather what they forget to ask the veteran and just a simple, have you served? Or are you a veteran? Or do you know if you qualify for the VA home loan program? That is something that we would encourage everybody in the industry to ask the veterans, have you served? Do you know if you may be eligible for the home loan benefit? Because it doesn’t do the veteran any good to find out after they have purchased a home that they qualified for the home loan benefit.

Elysia: So, you think there’s probably a portion out there that just by the loan origination process, and, when they’re doing the application, that the lenders aren’t asking those questions?

Mark Connors: Absolutely, yes, and again we encourage lenders or Realtors® that that’s the question that we would like to get across more than anything.

Michael J. Frueh: I agree and there’re even veterans out there that have used the benefit in the past that have bought a home before that don’t know that they can use it again. So it’s not just a single-use program. There’re probably a lot of real estate agents out there, and lenders, that don’t know it’s available multiple times throughout a veteran’s life. That’s something that we’ve been trying to overcome with education. Letting people know that this is a comprehensive benefit that can help veterans at any stage in their life. It’s not a first time home buying program; it’s an anytime you want to buy a home buying program.

Elysia: Do either of you have any inspirational stories about the VA and what it’s done to help Veterans?

Michael J. Frueh: I have one that I always think about. The home loan benefit is actually three benefits. One, it helps veterans purchase a home: purchase a home that’s geared for their success, so that they’re not stretching too much to buy a home they can’t afford, they’re not putting too much money down in down payment so they have money in reserves. Two, we have a group of people that help veterans keep their homes if they have problems. Three, we help severely wounded veterans adapt their homes, so they can actually live independently in the home where they want to live, so they’re not forced to live in home hospital care or nursing care.

The second benefit, retaining a home-- we have 150 people around the country that are there to help veterans when things happen. One veteran in particular in Arizona got cancer and he couldn’t go to work, so he couldn’t make his mortgage payment. He had a family. He talked to us, we said we know what’s going on, we’ll talk to your mortgage bank, don’t worry about your home, worry about getting well. So, we talked to his bank, the bank said, don’t worry while he’s going through treatment, we’ll defer his payments and we’ll work with him later to try to get caught up. He wrote a letter that I still have today, that said of all the stuff he was worried about, his cancer was the least of his worries. His biggest worry was that his wife and his children wouldn’t have a home to live in because he was going through this treatment. He said the amount of worry we took out of his life probably helped him overcome the cancer. He was a success story, got better, went back to work, reinstated his loan, and lived in his home. He said that the big worry we took out of his life totally transformed his attitude at the time.

Elysia: That’s a great story.

Michael J. Frueh: It made me feel good.

Mark Connors: Mr. Frueh talked about three parts and the way he likes to say it is easy to remember, so our mission is to help veterans obtain, retain & adapt. Perhaps another inspirational story is the 20th million loan.

Michael J. Frueh: We just hit our 21st million loan yesterday. Two years ago this October we hit our 20th million loan. Our 20th million loan didn’t go to a veteran or a service member; it went to a surviving spouse. The surviving spouse is a woman named Beth Carpenter who lives in Springfield, Virginia with her little boy. Her husband passed away while he was in service. So, she’s going through all the grief that people go through for losing a spouse and her son had just lost his father. Someone had told her here’s a benefit you have as a surviving spouse. You can still use your husband’s VA home loan benefit to buy a home without a down payment.

By telling her that, it was her Realtor® I think that let her know, she actually looked for a home and found a home that she couldn’t have bought otherwise that she was able to buy without a down payment. Our Under Secretary, myself, and several other people went out to her house to celebrate when she had moved in to say we’re very happy we’re able to help her and her family get a house. But she was the 20th million, so there were 20 million others before her, including surviving spouses; and, again she wouldn’t have known about it if someone didn’t bring it up, and say “Oh your husband served, maybe you qualify for this benefit.” It’s even more reason to get the word out to ask that question.

Elysia: It’s just like you were saying earlier, so not only “have you served” but, “have you or your spouse served?”

For more VA Loan Guarantee information see the following websites:

http://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/

http://www.ebenefits.va.gov 

https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/about

***Please keep in mind this is only an example for illustration purposes.  These interest rates may not be available and/or you may not qualify for this loan type.

To get on our waiting list for my new book, How To Get Approved for the Best Mortgage Without Sticking a Fork in Your Eye™, go to our website www.bestmortgagebook.info

For video mortgage tips and tools subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsL6BuJ8b-M

For sponsorship opportunities go to:  sponsorbestmortgagebook.info

©