Make the Winning Offer

Who doesn’t want to know how to beat out the other purchase contracts in today’s multiple offers and lower inventory markets, and buy that house!

There was a really good article in the Wall Street Journal recently about Hard Money loans.  It was informational to borrowers and investors alike.  It spoke of the fact that Hard Money loans will account for 1% of the 5.5 million home loans originated this year, up sharply from prior years.

It mentioned “Hard Money” filling an important void.  Look at just a few instances:

1. You are 1 of 12 different offers with a highest-and-best counter, on a house you really want to live buy.  You have the ability to put down 30% of the purchase price and get pre-approved for a hard money loan with a quick call to a good local Hard Money Lender.  You remove loan contingencies, increase your earnest deposit and make a 15 day closing date and your offer gets accepted!  Now this is a scenario where you win and Hard Money can fund that loan!
2. You just did a short sale on your home and want to buy another one.  Your favorite bank won’t even talk to you.  You know that prices are at rock bottom and you can buy the same home that you bought 5 years ago for $400,000 now priced at $250,000!  Hard Money can fund that loan!
3. You lost your job and your credit is shot.  You now are back to work making the same money and you want to buy a house.  You’ve got 30% down.  No bank will touch you as your FICO score is 525.  Hard Money can fund that loan!

The Wall Street Journal article further states that the fees and rates are no doubt higher than a bank, but it is well worth it as “no bank is willing to listen.”

The real gist of this article is to not give up about buying a home; It just takes a strong and strategic offer to beat out all the others, despite not being the one with the most cash!

Even at Hard Money rates (some of which I’ve gotten funded as low as 9%)  its worth it because you’d be getting in at the bottom of the market and down the road could refinance to a 30-year fixed rate loan once qualified again.   Your gain from buying at the right time can offset the cost using Hard Money.

Take advantage of a Hard Money loan or help your potential Buyers succeed at getting into a new home by directing them to such versatile financing!

CREDIT – The Bane of Home Loan Approvals

This aspect of qualifying for a home loan boils down to good credit versus bad credit.

The lenders left in the mortgage market arena, let’s call them institutional lenders, the ones that are offering the 30 year mortgages at historic low rates, require good credit (among other things).

Hard Money lenders allow bad credit. Institutional lenders will make you wait years after you have a bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale before they will lend to you.

Hard money lenders will loan to you immediately after any of those events and even while you are going through them!

Same with recent credit problems including 30, 60, 90, 120 day lates, judgments and/or collection accounts.  Institutional lenders hate these.  Private money lenders can do a loan in spite of these.

Hard money lenders generally require just 2 things:

1. Equity or a good down payment and
2. Ability to repay the loan.

Look at the important role played by Hard Money:  Guy has a free and clear property.  He fell on some misfortune and his credit was damaged.  He makes plenty of money and he has no house payment.  He goes to his favorite bank where he’s been for 25 years.  Loan denied due to bad credit.  He calls a loan officer friend who works for a bigger bank who tells him he’s out of luck due to bad credit and to come see him in a couple of years.

This guy has a free and clear property and none of the institutional lenders will lend to him due to bad credit.   A Hard Money broker will do this loan!  There is equity and ability to repay.

Let’s say you have a happy couple who make good income and have saved up enough for a decent downn payment to buy a house.  They filed bankruptcy a year earlier which included a short sale so no bank will help them out.  Yet a Hard Money broker will do this loan as they have decent down payment and ability to repay!

This handles the credit aspect of a loan.  Give me a call today and let me help you and your Buyer(s).

Out of the Ashes…

LENDER’S VIEWPOINT
by CA Broker, Owner

Out of the Ashes…
I have empirical evidence of the real estate market recovery. Statistics I monitor that have seen a dramatic turn recently. It has me more excited about the recovery than housing sales.
My Past Borrowers are buying houses, and they are using Hard Money to do it. And it’s logical that they would.

Picture this, my office did over 400 loans annually up to 2005 when the market tanked. The average Borrower up until 2005 borrowed 80% of the value of their home. A lot of them got a “free” home equity line of credit to boot as the lenders were giving those out like it was Halloween candy!

Then values were slashed in half in Sonoma County where I live. The median priced home in August 2005 was $619,000 and it dumped all the way down to a median of $305,000 last year. In outlying counties, the drop was as much as 66%.

So anyone who borrowed to 80% of the value of their home and then saw a 50% decline in value, has been foreclosed upon, did a short sale or is hanging in there hoping that values might recover to their former glory.
It was a deal killer for my business because in the pre-debacle days, the biggest quantity of loans in my company came from Past Borrowers, that is past clients. In second place were Referrals from Past Borrowers. That source of business virtually went away from 2005 until only very recently.

Over 50% of the loans written in my office this month are Past Borrowers. That’s way up from 0%. Now that’s a recovery!

And it’s because of Hard Money. Every one of those Past Borrowers has either a foreclosure or a short sale – or both in their recent credit history. Many have a recent bankruptcy. Not even their favorite bank will loan to them. Hard Money will. With a good down payment or equity in the property and an ability to make the monthly payments, I can do that loan.

Owner- the Guy in the White Hat – is a CA DRE Broker with more than 24 years of experience in real estate and lending.  His phone number is (707) 523-2099.  Email is Broker@sunpacmortgage.com.  See newly designed website @ www.sunpacmortgage.com.  DRE license #01464899. NMLS #360993. 

The Winning Bid

It looks like the various predictions that 2012 will be the best year in Real Estate since 2006, are coming true.

The statistics bear this out for sure, but a more telling phenomena is the dreaded bidding war.  That is a listing that receives multiple offers.  These happen with frequency in a market with not emough homes and too many eager Buyers.  It also happens on really desirable properties.  Of course this is great for the Seller of that property and the values for that area, but only 1 Buyer will take home the prize.  The losing bidders will have to go find another one.  I have personally seen a Buyer from my office recently compete with 34 other offers on a property.

He had the Winning Bid.

What set his offer apart, as far as we can tell, is the fact that he was purchasing with Hard Money.

The listing agent knew that the Hard Money Pre-Approval for that Buyer meant that the lender was ready to go with this loan.  He knew that the property would not likely be a problem to the lender, as Hard Money will do really ugly properties, and this one was not that bad.  He also knew that it would be fast as the contract offered a close of escrow in 21 days or less.

So the Buyer made the offer using Hard Money with a 21 days or less close of escrow and all contingencies removed in 10 days instead of the default of 17 days. This was an offer the listing agent could really get behind and it was the Winning Bid – out of 34 others!

So if you are feeling beat up after making offer after offer to no avail, get to your local Hard Money Lender, get Pre-Approved and go write a Winning Bid!

Owner- the Guy in the White Hat – is a CA DRE Broker with more than 24 years of experience in real estate and lending.  His phone number is (707) 523-2099.  Email is Broker@sunpacmortgage.com.  See newly designed website @ www.sunpacmortgage.com.  DRE license #01464899. NMLS #360993. 

LENDER’S VIEWPOINT
By; Broker Owner

Sure Advice for Real Estate Success

As Rick Laws mentions in his 2^nd quarter real estate report, the Bay Area experienced over 30% increase in homes sold compared with last year.  A 30% increase!

The big question is: “How does a Buying Agent get their Buyers to write the offer that gets accepted?”.  The answer is: “ They make the strongest offer.”  But what does this mean?

Below are some very successful points of advice that, when followed as much as possible, will definitely contribute to a successful accepted offer:

1. Higher initial deposit.
2. Shorten close date.
3. Remove as many contingencies where possible. (For example, an investor or flipper who will remodel the home and resell or rent it, might go for removing inspection contingencies.)
4. Stronger loan; Shorter loan contingency removal date; No loan contingency at all.  (This can be accomplished by getting a hard money loan for example.)

Why should a Realtor or Buyer for that matter consider following the above points of advice to increase the likelihood of getting an accepted offer?  How about for these 4 main reasons to own a home:

1.  Tax Savings.
2. Pride of Ownership.
3. Appreciation.
4. Accumulation of Wealth.  (For renters, if rents go up in the next 30 years at the same rate they did over the prior 30 years then someone renting today for $1,600 will be paying $4,496 in 30 years.   30 Year Fixed rate mortgages stay the same and one can pay down their home and increase their equity, ie. accumulation of wealth.)

In today’s real estate market, houses are just increasing in value so Buyers are making smart decisions for their future financially.

Hard Money can definitely help make an offer “strong”.  I work with Buyers who have damaged credit including a bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale in the immediate past.  With a good down payment and an ability to show you can pay for the loan, you can get a loan and be a homeowner today.  So call me!

Owner- the Guy in the White Hat – is a CA DRE Broker with more than 24 years of experience in real estate and lending.  His phone number is (707) 523-2099.  Email is Broker@sunpacmortgage.com.  See newly designed website @ www.sunpacmortgage.com.  DRE license #01464899. NMLS #360993.