Here’s a unique co-marketing business model that combines RateWindow, the wholesale mortgage rate engine and HomeGain’s AgentView to give teams of mortgage brokers and Realtors an innovative online marketing presence. Using RateWindow and AgentView together will help position the Realtor and mortgage broker as a team solution for their local client base.

Please let me know what you think about the new marketing model.

Are you using VA loans properly in your real estate brokerage business?  Most agents don’t fully understand them and their customers are suffering because of it. 

Here are four myths, truths and action items, about VA home loans, that could help you serve your home buying customers better:

LOAN MYTH 1:  You have to be on active duty, in the military service, to use a VA home loan.
FACT:  Eligibility is determined by current and past service.  Essentially, if a veteran served for at least six months, from 1964 to today, they most likely have VA home loan eligibility.  There are 15 million veterans under the age of 65 today; most of them should be eligible.
ACTION ITEM: Ask every new homebuyer, regardless of their age if they served.  Don’t rule out the gals; about 10% of those vets are women.

LOAN MYTH 2:  Sellers have to pay for the veteran’s closing costs.
FACT:  The VA doesn’t allow for certain loan-related fees to be paid by the veteran.  Those fees are usually about $1,200.  The loan originator or REALTOR can pay those fees.  THE VA allows the seller to contribute up to 4$ of the selling price towards ANY loan-related costs but the seller does NOT have “mandatory” fees.
ACTION ITEM:  Write “seller not responsible for any allowable or non-allowable VA loan-related costs” and call the listing agent to explain this when presenting an offer.

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Mortgage rates have been very volatile this past month.  If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll note that the Fed is trying to drive fixed-rate conventional loans down to a 4.5% rate.  Last week, The Fed announced it would purchase mortgage-backed securities, in the open market, in order to drive down mortgage rates to 4.5%.

The preponderance of the Government intervention is being perceived as inflationary.  In short, investors believe that the Government has created so much money in the past eighteen months that it could render our currency as worthless as a Banana Republic.  This should drive mortgage rates much higher in 12-18 months. Continue reading this post

Happy New Year, HomeGainers! 

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Are you asking your buyers if they’re veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces? There are 25 million veterans in the U.S. today, 2 million of which are women. While more than two-thirds of them are over 40, a substantial number could benefit from the Veteran’s Administration (VA) Home Loan Program.

The VA Home Loan Program is the only national 100% financing loan program. Veterans can purchase a home with no down payment and the seller can contribute up to 4% of the home price for their non-recurring closing costs and impounds.

Often referred to as the VA No-No program, combining the max sellers’ closing cost contribution with a VA home loan affords buyers the chance to “get into a home”, for no money, at a below market rate.

There are no “stated income” options nor “interest-only” options for a VA home loan. Veterans must qualify on full income documentation. Their total monthly obligations (including the proposed mortgage payment) must be under 43% of their monthly income unless they Continue reading this post