Mortgage Independence Day

Happy Mortgage Independence Day!

Have you heard those words?  Do you remember your parents or grandparents having a "mortgage burning party" in the 60's or 70's?  It was the ultimate sign of financial independence to have your home paid off.  Ridding yourself of the bank's debt was an American ideal that sprang from the Depression.  Banks, during the Depression, haphazardly called people's loans when they were in trouble.  That means that the bank got in trouble and sent a letter to the homeowner to pay off the mortgage they held on the owner's property.  The owner had to pay or be foreclosed.

THAT CAN NOT HAPPEN TO YOU.

Read more »

Posted on July 03, 2007 07:11:54 by Brian.Brady

Wealth Planning Starts With Your Mortgage

Wealth Planning

If I have had the pleasure of helping you, you've heard me use the phrase, "We're going to play chess while the world plays checkers.".  What that means is that we are going to create and execute a strategic plan for you to use the correct mortgage to accumulate wealth.  We create that plan so that your wealth is created within the property and outside of the property.

READ:  Wealth Planning?  From a Mortgage Salesman?

So here is the five-step process I use before we start talking about rates and terms.  If you've ever bought a home, this is going to be dramatically different then what you've heard from the retail mortgage salesperson that originated your last loan.

Read more »

Posted on June 23, 2007 20:14:34 by Brian.Brady

Uh, Oh! I'm in BIG Trouble

Long Beach Home Loans

Notice Of Default - NOD

If you receive a notice of default (NOD) for your mortgage, you need to act quickly.   A NOD is a notification given if you have not made payments by the predetermined deadline (usually specified in your Deed of Trust).  It spells out repayment  (sometimes called curing) schedules and outlines  the foreclosure process and timeline.

You have until five business days before the foreclosure sale to cure the default. To cure the default you have to pay off missed payments, late charges, and fees for initiating the foreclosure. If you do not cure the default, the trustee can take steps to hold a foreclosure sale.

Steps to take if you receive a NOD:

Read more »

Posted on June 16, 2007 08:30:02 by Brian.Brady

Long Beach Home Purchase - Financing Rip-Offs To Avoid

Long Beach Homes, Realtors...

... and Lenders Oh My!

As a Long Beach Realtor many buyers contact me in need of other services.  We Realtors generally have a group of vendors that have become valuable team members.  Vendors who have proven themselves over the years to provide great customer service and care for our clients. 

The sub-prime problems have really shaken up the industry and have changed not just the way loans are approved but relationships between Realtors and their preferred lenders. 

Recently I sent a buyer to a local Long Beach Lender, who we have used occasionally on and off for several years.  The client needed credit cleaning so they would be in the lenders hands until such time as they were ready to begin their house hunt - about 2 months was estimated.  I made a follow-up call to the lender, about 5 weeks into the 2 months, to check on their progress and asked "How are things going with Mary and John?"  He replied "Who?".  I was stunned!  He quickly remembered who I was referring to and then told me that the credit cleaner had some personal issues and it didn't work out.  HUH?  No calls to me and my buyers were left unattended.  The lender apparently didn't understand the level of trust that was placed in his hands. 

He called the buyers, brought them into his office for a 3 hour meeting and arranged a loan for them, then called me to let me know what he had done and the terms of the loan.  He complained about a collection on Johns credit for $130 and one on Mary's for $30.  Both were items in dispute that they did not owe, minor junk that should not have mattered.  As a result he quoted them an additional 2% interest on both the first and second, jacked their fees up to over $14,000 plus a $6500 origination fee and told both the buyers and myself this was the best they could hope for.  When I asked him if he was actually going to be able to close this loan he said "I hope so?".  Well folks, that is just no-where near good enough for me or my clients. He is soooooo fired!  I call this kind of work shlock and there is no place for it in my business, not now, not ever!

Mary and John came to my office the next day.  We spent the entire day together.  They called Brian Brady, Americas Most Opinionated Mortgage Broker who laid out a very do-able financial plan for them.  They were treated with respect, loans were arranged for them-at very reasonable interest rates, pre-penalty's were done away with, a financial plan was put into place for the buyers to re-finance both loans in 6 months and make their dream of owning a Long Beach Home come true, without getting raped financially.   (There is enough equity in this Long Beach property to allow this strategy.)

Mary and John opened escrow yesterday on a Long Beach Home that they are ever so excited about. 

Read more »

Posted on May 18, 2007 14:38:44 by Laurie.Manny

Move Your ASS-ets Long Beach: Depression Economics

Many Long Beach homeowners are suffering from an insidious disease called Grandpa Economics.  Actually, so are many Californians.  I suppose most of the country suffers from this affliction. 

Grandpa Economics or Depression Economics starts off with the theory that you go to school, study hard, get a good job, save up money, buy a home and pay it off, save more money, retire, and live debt-free on a pension and/or social security.  That was a great plan for our grandparents.  They are often referred to as "The Greatest Generation" and I don't wish to take away from their many accomplishments.  They lived through the Depression, fought the war, built the roads and ports in our state, and were the backbone of our country.  These children of the Depression put Long Beach on the national map!

So why would I suggest that this thinking is wrong for the middle class of the new millennium?

Read more »

Posted on May 17, 2007 00:48:11 by Brian.Brady