BUYERS WITH CREDIT SCORES BELOW 620 ARE FINANCABLE

Does your lender finance anything  below a 620/640? FHA/VA/ USDA loans are all regulated by the government.  They don't truly have minimum credit scores, but lenders have what is called overlays.http://www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/what-is-a-lender-overlay/  These overlays are a set of rules specific to each lender.  Most lenders sell their mortgages in large pools to investors.  These investors set minimum credit score requirements for loans that they will purchase from these lenders.  Since each lender has different investors, there are different minimum score requirements per lender.

I deal with many different lenders, and I have a very reputable one who will go as low as a 550 score on all three types of mortgages: VA,USDA, and FHA.  Other lenders are required to receive approvals from an automated software system specific to the type of loan requested, in order to close and fund these types of mortgages. My lender underwrites the loan manually, which means that  they don't have to receive an automated approval through any of the government software systems. This allows me the ability to finance many more ready, willing, and able buyers.

In order to finance any of these buyers with sub 620 scores, they are required to provide 12 months rent checks evidencing they've paid all of the payments on time.  The lender will not accept rent receipts, money orders, or letters from a landlord/apartment complex.  In addition,  the buyer will have to furnish 12 months checks or a printout from at least one utility company to evidence timely payments.  The most common types are cable, internet, cell phone, electric, heat, and car insurance. Any of these will work, and the lower the score, the more utility references we may require.

If you know of anyone who may fit the description of a buyer who is capable of owning a home please have them call me.  I will give them an answer within 48 hours one way or another.

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
NMLS # 118317
(484)-695-5972
www.abacusmort.comhttp://www.abacusmort.com/

3 DAY MANDATORY BUYER REVIEW OF HUD-1

Is this another way of slowing down our turnaround times?  It is bad enough that the government enacted so many lending changes in the past few years, much too late to avoid the kinds of loan fraud which were prevalent in the mid 2000's.  Now they are continuing to find more red tape that slows down the lending process.  They changed the good faith estimate, requiring that the lenders would have to eat any fees being over charged to the buyers at settlement.  This was a novel idea which kept the predatory lenders from using bait and switch tactics to take advantage of consumers.  They required licensing for individual loan officers,  mandatory continuing education, testing, criminal background and credit checks.  All of these have been effective in eliminating the less than desirable loan officers from continuing to originate loans.

Why are they requiring a minimum of a 3 business day review of the HUD-1?  As of August 1, 2015, there is a mandatory 3 business day review  in which a buyer can cancel their contract to buy a home after receiving a copy of the HUD-1. This is an example of an overkill.  Any discrepancies at closing fall within the 10% tolerance, meaning that the lender or loan officer will have to absorb any additional lender  charges incurred by the buyer.  Since the fees cannot be changed from what the borrower was shown at the time of application and/or within 3 business days from the date of application, there is no need to delay the closings an additional 3 business days.  Many lenders take until the day of closing to do the final preparations of closing papers.  They wire the monies needed, and email the papers to the title company within 24 hours of the closing.  With these changes, they will have to have everything to the title company at least 4 business days before the closing so that the title company will have the time they need to complete the final HUD-1 and get it to the borrower.  This is doing nothing to help anyone, because the culprits who changed the fees at closing are long gone, and only the remaining experienced and reputable loan officers remain.  All this does is provide another reason why the government agencies are too late to act, and often overreact to problems. Tack on another 3 days to your real estate contracts!

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972

NMLS #118317

Ask the "Mortgage Man": Free Credit Seminar December 5th 9:30-10:30AM at B...

Ask the "Mortgage Man": Free Credit Seminar December 5th 9:30-10:30AM at B...: This seminar is a free event where you will learn more useful tips for improving your credit in 1 hour! Dave Wheeler from Credit Plus wil...

FHA LOANS WITH 600 SCORES

We are introducing a new program for FHA with scores as low as 600.  There is no catch! Most lenders are requiring a minimum of 640 credit scores to finance FHA, but Abacus can do much lower scores.  These programs are almost the same as the typical FHA mortgages with a few minor differences.  I am outlining the differences for both programs below.

If a borrower's credit score falls between 620-639, a maximum debt ratio of 43% is allowed.  You can't go to 45.  If a borrower's new mortgage payment (PITI) doubles what a borrower is currently paying in rent, they must show an extra 2 months mortgage payments in reserve ( IRA, 401K, etc.)
They can't spend every dollar on buying the house, as a normal FHA program allows.  You can still get the seller to pay 6% of the selling price toward the buyers closing costs, but the buyer's 3.5% down payment CANNOT be a gift.  They must show proof that it is from their own funds. 
If a borrower's credit score falls between 600-619,  maximum debt ratios may not exceed 33/45%.  In addition, the borrower must put 5% down payment, not the standard of 3.5%.  The entire down payment must be the borrower's own funds.  If there is a doubling of the mortgage payment compared to what the borrower is currently paying in rent, they must show proof of an extra 2 months mortgage payments in reserve (IRA, 401K, etc.). 

This is a great opportunity to finance people who have experienced a problem with their credit in the past but have cleaned it up and still show scores below what is the norm.  It also helps to enable borrowers with high credit card debt to be able to purchase a home before having to pay down their revolving debt. 

For more solutions to your mortgage needs please contact me on my cell, email me at andrew.williams@abacusmort.com, find me on twitter at #abacusmort or find me on facebook.

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
NMLS # 118317
484 695 5972

Reason no. 45 why to use Abacus Regional Mortgage

Everyone has the problem where a self employed borrower hasn't shown enough income in order to qualify.  This is the time of year when they prepare their tax returns for the previous year.  Everyone is gathering their receipts and deductions to try and pay as little income tax as allowed by the federal government.  The more you pull out of Uncle Sam's pocket, the less house you can afford.  Since lenders use a two year average of income to qualify a self-employed borrower, careful consideration must be used in doing 2012's return.  If the income is high enough, a buyer can boost their buying power greatly. 

The problem lies in what is know as Form 4506.  Because of many cases of loan fraud having occurred in the past, where buyers have given fraudulent 1040s to their lender far different than the actual one they filed with the IRS, lenders won't allow buyers to close on their homes until they receive proof of income from the IRS.  This form when sent to the IRS, verifies the 1040 transcript matches the one given to the lender.  It can take as long as 8 weeks by the IRS to verify a return has been filed by a borrower.  This has delayed many closings, and in some cases causing hardships with families.  I have three lenders who don't send this form to the IRS; therefore, I can close the loan with a newly filed tax return.  No delays means happy customers, and happy realtors.

Call me with your next mortgage loan.

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972
NMLS # 118317      

Who is the King of 15 Year Mortgages?

If you have been living under a rock or on a deserted island you may not know about the historic low mortgage interest rates.  Since statistics have been kept in 1933, never before have mortgage rates been this low in our nations history.  The lowest fixed rates of all are the 15 year variety.  They are below 3 and quite possibly dropping further.  A little know fact about 15 year mortgages is that only 1% of the population actually obtains a 15 year mortgage.  Most people want the comfort of the lowest payment available to them, thus they choose the 30 year option.  I am drawn to the fact that the interest rates are as much as .75% lower for a 15 year than a 30 year mortgage.  You would think that the payments would be comparable to each other, but they are not.  The payment is roughly
$ 200 higher for a 15 year mortgage for each $ 100,000 borrowed.  It scares most borrowers to death. But if you compare the current rates of people who have purchased their homes in 2007 and are still making payments based on interest rates in the 6% range, the 15 year payment at today's rates are comparable to what they are currently paying. If you can afford the payment now you should be able to afford the new payment at 15 years in the future.  Most borrowers can shave off 10 years on their mortgage and still be at a comparable payment to what they are currently paying.  Since I show this analysis to most customers, I have seen a dramatic increase in the number of borrowers obtaining 15 year mortgages.  My percentage of customers getting 15 year mortgages is 600% higher than the national average.  Did you know that there is no credit score requirement for a 15 year mortgage other than the minimum 620.  There is no effect on the interest rate charged.  Maybe you should consider a 15 year mortgage.  Come to the King of 15 Year mortgages for your next loan.

Andrew Williams
NMLS # 118317
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972

Why don't more people listen to me?

I have told you before that you can't believe what you read, unless it comes from what I write, of course.  The word has been going around that FHA would be lowering the amount the seller can pay toward the buyer's closing costs.  Doing this would have a http://blog.american.com/2012/01/five-reasons-president-obamas-mass-refinance-plan-deserves-to-be-a-non-starter-and-two-modest-alternatives/catastraphic effect on the entire housing market.  With the government doing everything they can do to jump-start the housing market, they realize that a change like this could be detrimental to an improving economy.  They aren't stupid!  Just last year there was talk that the President was proposing changes to the conventional mortgages where they would finance only 70% of a home purchase price.  In other words, they were going to require a 30% down payment.  I read this too, but I have been in the business long enough   (4 decades ), that I knew that this would never come to fruition.  This too has little chance of happening.  Rest easy, better days are here, and they will continue to improve.

Andy Williams NMLS # 118317
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage NMLS # 113984
484 695 5972

Is this the beginning of the end?

Interest rates rose this past week for the first time in months. With no real apparent reason, we received higher rate increases, sometimes multiple times throughout the day. Whatever the reason, I sure hope this trend doesn't continue. Friday they got better, so I hope with this being an election year, they stay low for at least the next 9 months. Already, there has been an increase in activity, with many more sales compared to last year at this time. The amount of housing inventory, even with the short sales and foreclosures, is shrinking. Good bargains
are going quickly, with multiple offers on some houses. Since the housing
market is showing some signs of improving,we need to keep this momentum going!

Andy Williams NMLS # 118317
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage NMLS # 113984
484 695 5972

NO PMI insurance on Conventional Loans with only 5% down

The program is what is known as LPMI. This stands for Lender Paid Mortgage Insurance. The lender pays a Single Premium Up-Front charge, and the buyer is exempt from paying any monthly Mortgage Insurance for the life of the loan. The borrower must still go through the formal approval process through a participating PMI company, but they won't have to pay anything toward this program. This is offered by a few lenders for buyers who desire not to pay PMI or the FHA monthly risk premium. It is offered only on conventional loans with a minimum down payment of 5% and buyers with at least scores of 680 or higher. The higher their credit score is, the lower the interest rate that is offered to the buyer. Their is a cost to this in the form of a higher interest rate. The average add-on to the interest rate is .25%, but the actual hit can vary based on the borrower's credit score and the amount of the down payment. Obviously, a person with a 800 credit score and 15% down payment will pay less than a borrower with a 680 score and only 5% down. The best part is that the overall monthly payment goes down substantially for the customer - at least by 5%.

Please call me with any questions or additional details.

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972
andrew.williams@abacusmort.com
www.abacusmort.com

Do Some Buyers Think the Interest Rates Are High ?

I have heard more than one buyer state that the interest rates are too high. I can't even fathom that kind of talk. With interest rates at their historic lows right now they can't go much lower. They have no where to go but up! When I was in college studying business in 1981, the interest rates on conventional mortgages got as high as 18%, Fha/VA 16.5%. When I started originating mortgages in 1986 the interest rates had just fallen to as low as 10%, sometimes dipping as low as 9.5%. These rates are a gift and a temporary phenomenon to boost the economy. Buyers should seize this opportunity, especially those who've yet to purchase a home, because they won't last. The home prices are down significantly from their highs. The combination of these two opportunities make it a must for every willing and able buyer to buy a home now!

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972

Is this another positive trend for the housing market?

Lenders have been talking for a year that they offer 95% conventional financing. Lets face it, we all said we have it, but now we really can say that it is possible to get it approved. The previous guidelines stated that it is only available in geographical areas where the housing market isn't in decline. Where in the United States can you find an area where the prices aren't falling? Until recently, buyers applied for 95% financing only to be switched in mid-stream to 90% or converted over to FHA at 3.5% down payment. Since I have had multiple 95% financed properties approved and closed, I can guarantee you that this program is alive and well and offered to buyers with 680 credit scores. As many reports have come out pointing to our economy going into another recession, this is one of many positive signs that we've had showing a boost to the housing industry.

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage NMLS # 113984
484 695 5972
Pa. license NMLS # 118317

HOW VALUABLE WOULD IT BE TO HAVE THE TOOLS TO HELP SOMEONE IMPROVE THEIR CREDIT?

These are exactly what I have now at my disposal. I have been doing mortgages for over 20 years, long before there were credit scores. I have been able to read and understand credit reports for 25 years, yet some of the mysteries of the credit score algorithm still confounds most people, including me. I have recently changed the credit reporting agency in which to order credit reports. I met a very dynamic individual who has a wealth of knowledge regarding specifics on credit scores. He has taught me how to find out exactly how much and how soon a person's credit score will go down or up based on what they pay, how they pay, and how much a borrower pays. The credit agency offers an upgraded software to the borrowers that allows us to evaluate the best course of action for them, instruct them on specific remedies for their credit in order to improve their scores quickly. Why should they payoff a collection account if it is going to bring their score down? Why open a new credit card if it isn't going to help them for 7 months? Why close their open zero balance credit cards if the scores are only going to go down? These questions will be answered at my Free Credit Score Seminar held at the Best Western Hotel at Routes 512 and 22 in Bethlehem, Pa on Thursday November 17th from 9:30AM to 10:30AM EST. Please RSVP to pat.wagner@abacusmort.com

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972
NMLS # 118317
Co. ID # 113984

CLASSIC HOMES DOES IT AGAIN

Why is it that a builder can sell inflated new homes to unsuspecting buyers and get away with it? This has been going on with builders in the Poconos for many years, but after many law suits and criminal charges, it continues to go on today. Classic Homes of Pocono Summit purchases lots at tax sales in A Pocono Country Place for up to $ 500 and builds homes on them. Doesn't seem like anything is wrong, does it? Well, when a buyer goes to get financing for them the lenders require an appraisal on the new home. Even though a newly constructed home costs more to build, you still have to compare the price of the new home with comparable sales within the same community. These sales must be within 6 miles and 6 months of the current property, and the comparable properties used MUST be Resale Homes and NOT newly constructed ones! Since the average sales price of homes in A Pocono Country Place over the past 6 months hovers under $ 60,000, it seems hard to believe that the average New Home with Classic Homes costs $190,000. They have closed over a dozen homes this year! How?

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972

FREE CREDIT RESTORATION

I have just signed up with a new credit reporting agency to run all of our credit reports. They offer a service where they will give any potential customer a list of helpful hints and advice on how to improve and restore someone's credit score. If a home buyer follows the advice step by step, they will be able to buy a home any where from 2 months to 24 months later. The time frame is contingent upon the severity and depth of the buyers credit and the amount of work needed to bring it to an acceptable level. I've seen scores improve by 15 points in 5 days and as much as 80 points in a matter of months. More and more customers need the extra help that I can give to help them to become buyers and realize their dream of homeownership. For more information, or to refer a potential buyer, please feel free to contact me on my cell phone at 484 695 5972.

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
NMLS # 118317
licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking

I HAVE REDUCED PMI INSURANCE RATES FOR YOUR BUYERS

I recently signed up to do business with a credit union in California who writes loans in Pennsylvania. One of their unique products offered to their customers is reduced PMI insurance. Because they are a credit union, as opposed to a bank or mortgage company, they get reduced rates on PMI insurance from two different PMI insurance companies. The average reduction in monthly payments is 41% less than what the large banks and mortgage companies charge for PMI insurance. The payment savings has made the difference in some people qualifying for a larger home than they otherwise would have been able to do. Plus the credit union offers fantastically low rates that match or beat my lowest banks and mortgage company's rates, too. For a PMI chart please contact me at 484 695 5972.

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage

Why aren't more people buying homes?

Interest rates have officially reached an all time low of 3.75% for a fixed rate..Can you believe it? Why aren't more people buying homes? Home prices in most areas of the United States have dropped at least 25% from their all time high in 2007. Why aren't more people buying homes? Many economists have predicted that the housing market has bottomed or is near the bottom. This means that prices have fallen just about as far as they are going to fall, eventually beginning their rise, again. Why aren't more people buying homes?

MORE SIGNS OF MORTGAGE MARKET EASING THEIR RESTRICTIONS!

As I have kept you informed of changes within the mortgage industry, there have been some signs of easing with lending restrictions. This time I am glad to say that in the very near future there will no longer be a maximum debt ratio of 50% on all loans. More importantly, there will no longer be a minimum credit score requirement with FHA loans. Most of you don't know that there is no minimum FHA score required right now. FHA doesn't have nor ever had a minimum score. The problem we have all had in trying to get buyers approved is that the large institutional investors who buy an sell FHA loans are the ones who have imposed the minimum credit scores on FHAs. Most lenders are requiring minimum scores of 620 because they have to sell the loans to these institutional investors. If they can't sell them, the banks and mortgage companies are stuck holding the loans in their portfolio. With these investors removing the minimum credit scores, we will be able to grant more mortgages, sell more houses, grow the economy and the GDP. We have hit the bottom of the market and are ready to turn a corner slowly. It appears like we are almost in a normal market. For now, I'll take it!

INCREDIBLE ACT OF KINDNESS

We were at the beach when a commotion startled us to our left... We looked to see a man grabbing at his throat like he can't breath..his wife runs to the lifeguard chair asking for help...another woman tells him to lie back in his chair..within seconds he stops moving and his face turns dark grey..he is dead. The lifeguards come running and pull him off his chair on to the sand by his legs. They immediately start CPR and a lady comes over and immediately starts pounding on his chest..she is an ER nurse. Within minutes, police come running onto the sand followed by Paramedics, but they can't get an ambulance on the sand because you can't drive on the beach. The Paramedics place the man on a stretcher with a Defibrilator attached to it. You can see his body jump but no pulse. Every minute, as they continue to work on him, his body jumps in response to the electrical shocks he is receiving but still no pulse. Eventually they manage to get a beach vehicle on to the sand and get him loaded onto it in the back. As they drive away you can still see the paramedics working on him but the mood is very dim with the remaining swimmers and beach onlookers' faces in horror over what we've just witnessed. A woman faints as another tells us that he has had 7 heart bi-pass operations and can't get another. As his loved-ones leave the beach, everyone else appears to try and get back to some sort of normal activity, but the mood is not good as we all know the outcome of this event. About an hour later, the lifeguard who originally started the CPR is back at his chair. We asked him what became of the man. He told us that his heart has started beating but it is irregular. He was lifted by Helicopter to a hospital in Atlantic City where he remains in critical condition. Since yesterday, he has been moved from Critical Care to Stable and is on the road to recovery. What an incredible story with a happy ending. Everyone from the bystanding nurse,the lifeguards, paramedics, police to the helicopter pilot all deserve kudos for what they have done for this man.

DO YOU THINK THIS BILL WILL PASS?

Have you heard the government's thoughts of increasing down payment requirements for mortgages? I don't believe it will ever happen. They attempted to stimulate the economy last year with a 1st time homebuyer tax credit of $ 8,000. That worked for the first three months of 2010, only to see a sharp decrease in sales immediately following the end of this tax incentive. Some stimulation! Now, they're thinking of increasing the required down payment for qualifying for a mortgage? This bill will never pass! Since the housing market is a huge chunk of our GDP, and since it spurs increases in the auto industry and retail sales, we need to continue to sell more houses and not stop them from being sold. This would only prove to decrease the number of overall home sales. There's no way this will ever go through. It will kill our already fragile economy. Home sales will slow to a crawl, home values will plummet and foreclosures will double already historic highs. Rest easy....there's no way this will ever happen!

SCAM'S LIST

I was selling at item on Craig's List. I don't know if you've ever sold anything but it's pretty straight forward. You negotiate with a buyer by email and usually meet face to face to exchange the item for cash.

In this case, the buyers were from overseas... so they sent a check by federal express. By email they told me that their employer would be purchasing the item for them, but the check was going to be for more than the cost of the item. This was supposedly a mistake and the difference should be refunded to them by me immediately upon receipt of the money. This is the first time I thought something is suspicious.

When the check arrived it wasn't certified as was stated in their email. It was written on a normal business check in the name of an LLC. The fedex package came from yet another company (LLC) from a different address. Now I'm really starting to get suspicious. The following day I received instructions to wire the money to yet a different person in another state, because they said the money shouldn't take more than 24 hours to clear. This is no longer suspicious- this is downright sounding like fraud.

They continued to pressure me into wiring funds, but I continued to state clearly that I have to wait for the check to clear since it is from out of state. I brought the check to the same bank in which the check was written. This way the bank can see if the funds are available and if the check is legitimate at all. After going into the system, the bank manager felt that the account appears to be legitimate, but she scanned the check I had deposited. Upon further review, the manager found the account to be closed. Now imagine if I had wired money to a stranger and didn't realize my mistake until after it was too late. Please be careful anytime you come across a scenario similar to this. Watch Out for FRAUD!

Andy Williams
President
Abacus Regional Mortgage
484 695 5972