4 Financial Benefits of Owning a Home

Owning a home provides many benefits, and here some some of the key financial advantages homeownership offers.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

Owning a home brings with it many benefits, but there are four specific financial advantages you should know about if you’re thinking of making the jump to homeownership: 

1. You will have a fixed mortgage cost instead of rental costs that could rise from month to month. This means you won’t have to worry about your landlord deciding to raise your rent and giving you a deadline to start paying it before they find a new renter. 
2. Owning a home builds equity, which means you can build money over time just by making your monthly mortgage payment and living in your house over the years. This is especially true in our Denver market, which is appreciating at an astronomical rate—some people have been able to gain as much as $80,000 in one year. 
3. You can build wealth without paying capital gains. 
4. A mortgage can act as a forced savings account. As you pay your monthly mortgage, some of that goes toward your interest and some of it goes toward paying down the balance. Over time, though, you’re paying off your house, and that acts as a savings account. 

Owning a home gives you more opportunities to make more money.

Overall, homeowners can put themselves into a better wealth category because you’re giving yourself more opportunity to make money. Studies have shown that people who own homes have 45x greater wealth than those who rent. This makes all the sense in the world to me because I equate renting with taking your money and flushing it down the toilet. 

Some people claim that renting eliminates certain other costs like paying taxes or making repairs to the property, but don’t be fooled into thinking that renting is cheaper. You can be sure that landlords add those kinds of costs into the overall rent. 

The bottom line is that owning a home has always been a better option than renting. If you have any questions about the benefits of homeownership or you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in our market, don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d love to help you out.

Separating Mortgage Fact From Fiction

Have you received a letter with an offer that seemed too good to be true? Today I wanted to clear the air to separate fact from fiction when it comes to these types of offers.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

I'm joined today by VP Regional Underwriting Manager, Scott Strong, to help me separate fact from fiction in the world of mortgages. 

Have you ever received a letter in the mail that says you're pre-approved, pre-selected, don't need an appraisal, and that you can get up to 95% cash out? These are the kinds of things we want to discuss to help keep you from wasting your time and having your credit pulled unnecessarily. 

We're currently not aware of any FHA or conventional loans that offer cash out up to 95% of appraised value. It's simply fake! Now, some programs will allow you to bypass an appraisal. FHA loans typically streamline, so you don't need an appraisal, but not all loans are like this. When you do a streamline, there are costs associated with it. 

There's no such thing as getting something for nothing.

When you see 'zero closing cost options available,' know that there are actually some. However, this typically happens on a case-by-case basis, so you need to meet with your Loan Officer. It doesn't really have anything to do with underwriting. The same typically goes when you see something like 'no application fees.'

I always tell my clients that there's no such thing as getting something for nothing. Somewhere along the line in a loan, you're going to pay for it. I don't want anything to be hidden from clients, so I want you to be very well informed. We don't want you to get suckered into a bad deal for lack of asking the right questions—talk to your loan professional to get the facts.

If you have any questions I can help you with, please don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help however I can. 

Why Work With Fairway Independent Mortgage?

Why work with my team at Fairway Independent Mortgage? I could give you thousands of reasons, but today I wanted to focus on some of the biggest benefits you'll see by working with us.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

Why use Fairway Independent Mortgage? There are thousands of reasons I could tell you, but today I wanted to focus on some of the most important ones.

1. Ease of transaction: Dealing with lenders and banks can be tough because of all the documentation you have to deal with and the fact that sometimes, there's just no communication. With our team, we care about you and we know what it feels like to be on the other side of it. 
2. In-house underwriting: Out of 502 branches of Fairway, our team has a designated regional underwriter in-house with a team of six people. If we have a question, we don't have to send it to Wisconsin or anything; we can just walk down the hall and speak to our underwriters. If you know anything about underwriting and getting loans approved, you know having them in-house is amazing.
3. We offer a 20-day close guarantee: If you get into a competitive situation and you're dealing with someone who is looking for a buyer who can close fast on the house, we guarantee a 20-day close. If we don't close in 20 days, we offer $100 dollars toward your closing costs for each day after.
If we don't close your loan in 20 days, we'll pay $100 per day extra toward your closing costs.
4. We have a team: It's not just me trying to do everything; we have a team of six people who will guide you on the path to homeownership. It's a journey that changes, which means you need guides.
5. Over-the-top service: We're not satisfied unless you're satisfied. If we have to work late or be here early to ensure your deal is done, we will. We won't sacrifice service on any loan. We want to be the team that you refer to family and friends.
6. I'm a military mortgage specialist: I'm very good at VA loans and I love helping our veterans out, and I've also become a reverse mortgage specialist. That means I can help seniors make better choices with their homes to give them a better life. We also support the American Warrior Initiative, and I personally support C-CORP, which helps people who need food in our community. A percentage of each loan I close goes to each of the charities I support because I believe in them wholeheartedly. 

If you have any other questions about why you should work with us, I could talk to you for hours. Just give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to helping you!

How Our New Mobile App Makes Your Life Easier

We’ve launched a new mobile app that will benefit both our clients and our real estate partners. Here’s how you can benefit by downloading it.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

Have you heard the exciting news? We’ve just recently launched our new Fairway Now mobile app.

It’s our goal to give our clients the best experience possible and give our real estate partners the best tools to help their clients. With the release of this app, we’re doing both.

If you’re one of our real estate partners, you can enhance client relationships, stay ahead of the competition, and increase the speed of your transactions. This app reduces the time it takes to close a loan by 20% by being able to take pictures of your loan documents and allowing your clients to communicate with us anytime, anyplace. This app also offers a co-branding option which allows you to stay in front of your clients and gives them your information anytime they need it. 

Imagine what this app can do for you

In today’s environment, homebuyers demand a robust mobile experience. If you’re a homebuyer, here’s what you can expect to be able to do:

• Apply for a loan in less than 10 minutes without the use of a computer.
• Track your loan progress with real time push notifications.
• One-click call or text your loan officer or real estate agent.
• Scan documents securely by taking a picture with your smartphone.
• Calculate realistic monthly payments with calculators that I provide.

This game-changing app will take us to the next level. We already close loans in 20 days or less—imagine what this app can do for you. 

To download this app, simply click this link and follow the instructions. 

If you have any questions about this app or have an idea for our next video blog, feel free to call, email, or text me. I look forward to giving you the information you need. 

What to Expect From the 2017 Real Estate Market

What will happen in the 2017 real estate market? No one has a crystal ball, but I do have a few predictions to share with you today.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

What can you expect from the 2017 real estate market?

One thing that you can count on is that interest rates will go up this year. Since 2010, we have been in a marketplace where you can borrow discounted money, so plan on rates going up a bit. That said, back in 1982, interest rates were at 17%, so going from 3.8% to 4.1% is not a big deal. That is just a $60 increase in your monthly payment, so relax and focus on your home buying process.

The good news is that areas like Denver, Dallas, Florida, Washington, and Oregon will see great appreciation this year. When I say great appreciation, I mean anywhere from 8% to 10%. This is great news for those who already own homes and those who are entering the market.

Home prices still have room to grow. Due to some of the great changes in the mortgage industry, we are not in a housing bubble like we were back in 2007. These days, Fido the dog cannot get approved for a mortgage, so we won’t hit the major, crazy bubble that everyone is worried about.

We are not approaching another crazy real estate bubble.

Now, we saw some of this last year but in 2017, millennials will hit the real estate market in a major way. They have been saving money, studying the home buying process, and figuring out what they need to do in order to successfully purchase a home.

One great thing about working with millennials is that they are incredibly tech savvy. They are downloading apps, like mine, to search for homes. They can even download, sign, and submit documents directly to me so that I can send them a pre-approval right away. Many home buyers can learn a lot from millennials.

If you have any other questions about the 2017 real estate market or if you are interested in my app, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you!

5 Habits to Start Now if You Want to Buy a Home in 2017

If you want to buy a home in 2017, here are the five habits you need to develop right now.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

What are the five best habits you need to start now to buy a home in 2017?

1. Automate your savings. The best way to save money is to not see it. It’s just like having a 401(k) plan or insurance plan that withdraws from your check automatically—if you don’t see it, you won’t spend it. 

2. Pay attention to your credit—keep it clean or build it up. If you need to build it up, a loan officer should be able to tell you what to do, whether that involves keeping your balances low or making your payments on time. As stated above, a great way to make your payments on time is to automate them.

3. Live on a budget. This can be a tough one for some folks, but if you don’t know how to limit your finances, there’s no way you’re ever going to save for a house.

“

The best way to save money is to not see it.

”

4. Learn how to fix things around the house. If you don’t know how to be your own handyman, start studying. When you buy your home—even if it’s brand new—I guarantee that there will be a ton of things you’ll need to fix yourself. 

5. Be prepared to pounce. In other words, be ready to make an offer! The only way to do that is by having everything in order. Start working with your loan officer to determine what you’re qualified for. Know everything you need to make your offer the one that’s going to be taken. In our market, you’ll need to be prepared. 

If you have any questions about this topic or are interested in buying or selling, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help. 

4 Steps to Powering Up Your Professional Network

Powering up your professional network involves following four steps: making your profile a priority, growing your connections, extending endorsements, and sharing content.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

How can you power up your professional network?

The first step is to make your profile a priority. Make it the most up to date it can be. Don’t leave anything blank. People want to know about you. The more they know about you, the more they trust you. If they trust you, you’re the one they’ll go to with their questions because they’ll consider you the foremost expert in your industry 

Secondly, grow your connections. LinkedIn is an important platform through which you can achieve this. Every time you meet with somebody you think you need to know, ask for their email address so that you can join their LinkedIn network. If this person has a secure LinkedIn account and profile, you won’t be able to join it without entering their email address, and you’re not getting anyone’s email if you step away from a meeting or a conversation.

“

The more people know about you, the more they will trust you.

”

The third thing you need to do is extend endorsements. People love it when you endorse them for what they do. If you give endorsements, you’ll get endorsements in return. 

Finally, share content. If you share content with people, it shows them that you’re paying attention to their pages and really reading the content they’re distributing. If you yourself get good advice, what’s the point of keeping it all to yourself? Just like with extending endorsements, the effect of sharing content is symbiotic. If you share content, others will share their content with you, too. 

If you have any questions about how to power up your professional network, feel free to email me or give me a call. I’d be happy to help!

The Importance of Title Insurance

There are two kinds of title insurance policies you need to be aware of: the Owner’s Title Insurance Policy and the Lender’s Title Insurance Policy. Not knowing how each works can leave you vulnerable.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

Today I’m joined by Rob Lindley of Canyon Title to discuss what you need to know about title insurance.

There are two different types of title insurance policies that most people buying a home need to be aware of. The first is the owner’s title insurance policy, which insures your ownership of your asset. The second is the lender’s title insurance policy, which ensures that the lender that’s loaning you the money for the home is in the appropriate lien position against the title of the property.

Why would you need a policy when the lender has their own? The lender’s title insurance policy is only ensuring that the lender doesn’t incur any financial loss if some kind of problem arises. If you don’t have an owner’s title insurance policy and you were to lose money as a result of some sort of defect on the title, the insurance company wouldn’t pay you—they would only pay the lender.

“

Not having title insurance can leave you financially vulnerable.

”

Not having title insurance can end up costing you in unforeseen ways. For example, say the home you purchased had a kitchen fire three months before you purchased it and the owner hired someone to repair the kitchen for $100,000. After they sold that property to you, if they didn’t pay that $100,000 for the kitchen, you could be financially responsible for the repair costs.

If you need more information from Rob, you can reach him by phone at (303) 831-7575 or visit canyontitle.com.

If you have any more questions, feel free to email me or give me a call. I look forward to helping you in any way I can!

10 Buyer Tips for Finding the Perfect Home

Buying a home can be a complicated, overwhelming process. Today, I have 10 tips to help you find the perfect home.

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

Today I’m here with 10 tips for buyers to help you find the perfect home.

1. Go for the long haul. Think of somewhere you want to live for at least five to seven years. You will have to do some investigation about what’s going on in the community, and trust me, you will be glad you did.

2. Leave room for growth. You never know if you will have a child or if a family member may need to move in with you for a while. Even if you get a pet, having extra space is a good idea.

3. Be flexible. Look at homes that have rooms that can be converted for other purposes as you live there. That way, you won’t have to move as often.

4. Go for what fits you. You may need a condo, house, or duplex. Go for what fits you. This decision isn’t always based on the price or your budget, so get your Realtor involved in order to pick the right home for you.

5. Check your surroundings. The best thing you can do is go to the local grocery store to get an idea of what the community is like.

“

Go for what fits you.

”

6. Buy what you can afford. Don’t buy a home thinking that you may be able to afford it in the future. Doing so will only put you in a tough situation down the road. A good loan officer can help you with this step.

7. Think about your home first. Imagine what your life will be like in this house rather than focusing solely on the property’s resale value. You may be living there a long time.

8. Look at old and new homes. Both old and new homes have different pros and cons and different costs associated with each.

9. Location, location, location. As you think through some of these tips, you should always keep location in mind.

10. Think about what will happen when it is time to sell. It doesn’t always make sense to buy the white elephant because when it comes time to resell the home, you will be limiting the pool of potential buyers. Although you should think of the house as your home first, you shouldn’t completely forget about resale value.

If you have any questions about the home buying process or about real estate in general, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

How to Make the Home Buying Process Less Stressful

The home buying process can get quite stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve got some great tips to share with you that will help you manage your stress during this time. Most of these are simple tasks, but many people fail to do them. Here are 8 stress-relieving tips:

1. Take time out. Take some time to meditate, relax, or do yoga. If you hire a great agent, they can relieve a lot of stress for you right off the bat.

2. Eat well-balanced meals. This is usually a 30-day process. It’s a great way to get your body and mind right.

3. Limit alcohol and caffeine. Many people gravitate towards these things during the home buying process, but you shouldn’t. You’ll feel better in the end.

4. Get enough sleep. Eight hours is ideal, although not everyone can get that. Get as close to eight hours as you can.

“

These simple tasks can make the whole process less stressful.

”

5. Exercise. Moving around and exercising are great ways to relieve stress. Even getting out to do some power-walking can help.

6. Sit back and count backwards from 20. This will relax your mind and help you focus on your end goal instead of your current struggles. Try it and see how it works.

7. Stop aiming for perfection. Things are never perfect, and you shouldn’t look at homes under a microscope. Rely on your agent and loan officer to work together to find a great home that you’ll be happy in. A few minor flaws are no big deal.

8. No one person can control everything in a real estate transaction. Once you accept that there are a lot of different moving parts that need to be aligned, you can trust the people you’ve hired to do their best.

If you have any other questions for me about relieving stress or buying a home, I would love to hear from you. Give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

What You Need to Know About Down Payment Assistance Grants

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

Recently, I’ve received a lot of emails and phone calls regarding down payment assistance grants. With the way prices are moving in our economy, I feel it’s a good time to talk about this topic.

You might be asking, what is a down payment assistance grant? A down payment assistance grant is just that - you apply for a grant, you get the grant, and you never have to pay it back. That’s where these grants have changed over the past few years.

The qualifications for these grants are pretty simple: you can’t earn over a certain amount of money, and you have to have a certain credit score. Because you’re a loyal client, friend, and customer, I’ll let you in on a little secret: the minimum earning qualification is $91,000. In other words, if you make $91,000 or less. I’ll let you in on another secret: the minimum credit score is 640.

“

If you make $91,000 or less and your minimum credit score is 640, you qualify.

”

How do you get started? Very simple - just click on the link at the beginning in the video above and apply now. Only certified lenders can approve these grants, so send me an email or give me a call so I can help you.

Additionally, send an email or call if you have any questions on this or any other topic, I’d love to engage with you and answer them.

How to Get an Offer Accepted in Today's Competitive Market

Buying a home?  Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan?  Start a mortgage application

Getting your offer accepted in today's crazy market can be challenging. I've got five strategies I wanted to share with you to get your offer accepted.

1. Submit your offer at a realistic price. I believe this to be the most important step.
2. Have a full loan application already submitted with credit, and fully approved.
3. Have proof of funds. The seller really wants to know that they have a real borrower that can close on their home. Remember there's another side to this transaction
4. Have a full complete package ready to submit to the listing agent. There's nothing worse that looking like an amateur at this stage.
5. Record a video or write a letter. Write or record a story for the seller about how much you and your family really want the house. My bonus tip for this item is to have the loan officer call and support what you just sent. Listing agents love this because they also want to know that the deal will close.

“

Have proof of funds.

”

Thanks for watching today. If you have any questions, feel free to call me or email me.

How to Choose the Right Lender for You

Buying a home? Get a free home scouting report

Looking for a home loan? Start a mortgage application

The first thing you want to look for when you're choosing a lender for a mortgage is how responsive they are. When you call, do you get a call back in one hour, or in 24 hours? That will be crucial in the lending process. Secondly, is the lender looking out for your long-term goal or just your short-term one? It's important to be in the right position, because most people change their loan every three years or so.

Next, pay attention to product selection. Are you just being put into something, or are you actually discussing what's best for you? One of the most important things to do is to research the lender. You're trusting this person with everything you have financially. Make sure that when you decide to use this lender, you go on Zillow and see if they have reviews. Look for responsiveness. Ask your agent about them. Sometimes, it's not about the loan - it's about the lender you choose to do the loan.

“

Are you just being put into something, or are you actually discussing what's best for you?

”

Finally, the last thing is good old-fashioned likability. Are they easy to talk to? Can you tell that they're really looking out for your best interests? That's one of the best ways to determine if you're working with the right person.

I hope you find these tips helpful as you search for a lender, or plan to do so in the future. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call!