Know Your Lender

With all of the "shake up" in the mortgage market right now it is critical that you deal with a lender you can trust! Since the mortgage market crash, 109 wholesale lenders are no longer in business and several more are teetering on the verge of not having enough liquidity to fund any future loans. Programs are changing daily as I witnessed just last week. A lender introduced a new 1-Year ARM loan and the very next day closed the program. If the loan was not locked , they would not honor any approvals. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are also adjusting their approval engines to more strict guidelines. They are wanting to see an established pay history over time and are wanting more in reserves. Stated income and stated asset programs to 100% loan-to-value (ltv) are all but gone. In fact, Argent formerly one of the largest sub-prime lenders is only offering 95% and under financing. Countrywide Sub-Prime Wholesale is no longer entertaining 100% ltv financing for borrowers.

The Sub-Prime market has also adjusted their rates significantly upward to help increase their margin on products for housing the riskier loans. In connection with this they are also increasing the QC (Quality Control) measures to help detect fraud! The mortgage market as a whole is in the worst slump in 16 years. New construction building permits are down, new construction home marketing is up, financing concessions are seen on almost every deal (i.e. increased realtor commission, giving away Plasma TVs, paying ALL closing costs etc.) and builders are slashing prices to hopefully decrease their inventory of homes, which also is at an all time high. Existing home sales are down, they are trying to compete with new construction and thus chopping prices which in effect are killing home values across the nation. Overall home sales in the Mid-West market are down almost 46% from the previous year!

What does all this mean? You need to get with a lender that knows the market, watches the market (i.e. rates, programs, guidelines, bonds, etc.) is honest, prepares you for the unknowns, and has references and testimonials! The market is littered with lenders who simply do not know their trade. We at Professional Mortgage Group, Inc. go above and beyond what our clients expect time and time again! We have satisfied strategic partners (i.e. Realtors, financial planners, bankers etc.) that continuously send us business. Why? Because we do things the right way. We offer constant continuing education, we hand deliver our well-known "Buyer's Guides" to help home buyers with all of the questions that arise throughout the mortgage process, we developed "loan tracker status" on our website to help both our clients and their Realtors track the "real time" status of their loan, we are rolling out a realtor forum during the winter months to help get some feedback and educate local housing individuals on the mortgage and lending market, we developed our "Service Guarantee" for both realtor and clients, we have testimonials and surveys to prove how well we do things and we do this all because we think it SHOULD be done! Your business, your home , and your well-being are why we are here!

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