"Ask Mac About Mortgages"

 All-time high sales prices have first-time homebuyers priced out of the market. What are the options?  San Diego County has seen home price increases at approximately 16 percent since last year. The San Diego Association of Realtors reports the median sales price of $674,900, and the average sales price is $851,479. Where is the affordable housing in San Diego?  http://media.sdar.com/media/CurrentStats.pdf The obvious answer is that affordable housing in San Diego doesn't exist. Many first-time homebuyers consider moving up the I-15 corridor, north of the Temecula Valley, into the Inland Empire, for lower-priced housing.  Becoming a daily commuter with the rising gasoline prices can be a burdensome consideration. Sure, you can get more for your money, but is it worth it in the big picture?   As a former Bank of America mortgage employee during the 2008 to 2012 financial recession, I am reminded how those areas are the first to drop value. Our Bank of Ameri...

What is the #1 most important advice I can provide for first-time homebuyers?  A positive attitude and action plan are most important. It is too often that first-time homebuyers will become discouraged by the rising sales prices and talk themselves out of a home purchase. Some may cringe at the thought of a daunting and agonizing purchasing experience or disqualify themselves by not having the funds for a down payment. They give up before they ever get started.  Why settle for renting an apartment at the same price you could be spending as an owner? It is all up to you. If there is a will, there is a way. The process may take a two-year plan, but it begins when you commit.  Sitting on the sidelines sucks! Housing prices are up, but interest rates are the lowest in history. Housing affordability factors your monthly payment, figured with a debt-to-income ratio. The current market's low-interest rates are an attractive incentive .  Did you know that there are areas wit...

What Happened to Jumbo Non-Qualified Mortgages?    All of the jumbo non-QM products evaporated by late March 2020, due to investors concerns of instability in the secondary market created by the Covid-19 global pandemic. This episode was a haunting experience for those in the non-QM loan market as it resembled the 2008 mortgage crisis.  Pipelines of non-QM loans had no chance of funding. Most reputable non-QM lenders sent their customers a formal statement with an apology and letters of explanation for their decision to exit the market. The actions were very little help for the Account Executive's relationship with the mortgage lender or the mortgage lender's relationship with their customer.  Presently, non-QM investors have re-emerged with an appetite, non-QM loans are back. However, they are back with more stringent program guidelines. The "make-sense" underwriting policies have changed to "make-sure" underwriting policies.  IMN provided an informative Q...

Will history will repeat itself?      The financial crisis in 2008 was a life-altering experience and the most-important event in history for anyone to know in the mortgage industry. The U.S. economy was at risk of a complete collapse placing the world economy at risk. Millions of Americans lost their homes, businesses, and employment during the greatest depression in our history.       The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) on October 3, 2008, kept the nation's banks operating during the financial crisis. The government bailout became the most successful and most hated in U.S. history.          Panic: The Untold Story of the Financial Crisis of 2008, provides the factors that led to the 2008 financial crisis and the efforts made by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy Geithner, and Federal Reserve Chair, Ben Bernanke, to save the United States from an economic collapse....