San Diego Mortgage Brokers – Using Services.

The Department of Real Estate (DRE) has recently updated “Using The Services of a Loan Broker.”

A mortgage broker helps you obtain a home loan. A mortgage broker may be licensed by either the California Department of Corporations or the California Department of Real Estate. Mortgage brokers make or arrange first mortgages and junior (second) mortgages. A junior mortgage secures a loan which is secondary or junior to one or more other loans on the property. Some home loans arranged through brokers are very similar to a home loan you might obtain independently from a bank, savings and loan association (S&L), credit union, finance company, or other type of lender. Some brokers offer shorter loan terms and/or different repayment plans.

While many Mortgage Brokers are out of business for shady business practices, sometimes using one has advantages.  Just like real estate agents, attorney’s, and lenders there is always good, bad and mediocre. If you approach a bank for your Mortgage Loan they have one source of money, while a Mortgage Broker can shop around and place you with the lender that fits your needs and goals.

Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Mekler, President of Liberty First Capital.  While I personally have not used his services, he comes highly recommended from some colleagues.

What I really liked about Michael is he takes the time to sit down and understand your situation and goals.  So many large lenders simply send you off to do an on-line application with little regard for your goals.

Michael is one of the “old school” service providers like myself that loves his job and is passonate about customer service.  You can reach him direct at 760-536-6200 or mmmekler@LibertyFirstCapital.com.  Hopefully I will do a video with Michael soon discussing the advantages of a Mortgage Broker.

To download the DRE Using The Services of a Loan Broker click on the image below:

Thank you to one of our readers that pointed out this article regarding the mortgage process.

Today in an article by Lily Leung on The San Diego Union Tribune they ran an article titled Quiz, homebuyers lack mortgage knowhow.

Pop quiz. True or false, the rates of 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages always increase after five years.

If you answered true, then you’ve joined 57 percent of people who also gave the wrong answer in a recent survey from real estate site Zillow on mortgage basics. (The right answer is false because while such loans do adjust after five years, the rates could go either up or down.)

This wasn’t the only trouble area. The 1,000-plus poll-takers also had trouble with interest rates, FHA loans and lender fees. Overall, 44 percent said themselves that they were lacking in knowledge of the basics.

While our government has reformed the HUD-1 Statement (Video how to read) to make loan shopping easier, too many home buyers don’t understand the process enough to get the best financing for their situation.  I have recently written an article on how important it is to make an informed selection of your real estate lender called “The ride you take, will be the choice you make”.

Each persons situation is different including the goals for home ownership.  Spending some time finding the right loan officer to understand your situation and goals fully, and that takes the times to cover all your options – will result in a much better financing solution for you.

Look to your Real Estate agent for some recommendations of realible lenders.  We are in the real estate business day to day and know  the good ones are, and the inexperienced ones – or worse the dishonest ones.

Picking a lender on loan terms alone is a mistake if they cannot actually perform and may  put you in danger of loosing thousands of dollars of your good faith deposit.

Photo courtesy of  Jon Candy via Flickr

Cliff Schneider of Wells Fargo Private Mortgage Banking

Having recently worked with an extremely qualified Clients, I was flabbergasted when Bank of America could not perform on a mortgage for them.  This client made a substantial income, had very high FICO scores, and low debt to loan ratio on the home that they were purchasing.

Having dealt with Bank of America for over 15 years in his business, they thought it would be a good idea to develop a local relationship for the new mortgage.

I recently wrote a post regarding the importance of picking the right lender titled Danger, Danger Home Buyer.

At my advice they pre-qualified with Bank of America and we had plenty of time to get the appraisal ordered and the package underwritten.  At our contingency release we confirmed that everything was okay with Bank of America and that the appraisal was in at value, everything seemed in place.

About 10 days prior to our scheduled closing I followed up with the loan officer packaging the loan.  I was told that everything was fine and I should not worry about the file since it was under control.  Over the next month we had every excuse from system breakdowns, lost documents,  endless request for more documents, and weather in Texas.  Needless to say we were not able to close on the agreed upon escrow close date and the Seller had already moved out.  Each day we would have a promise the following would produce loan documents and let them close escrow, and each day there was yet another delay or problem.

Now my Client was complicated and did not fit in the perfect box that Bank of America demands.  While I had cautioned them regarding the reputation of the Bank, they felt with all the past years of banking relationships it would be okay.

Finally at the recommendation of a very good real estate agent I made contact with Cliff Schneider with Wells Fargo Private Mortgage Bank.  He informed me over the phone that he did the underwriting on the file and had been doing mortgage origination for a very long time.  He offered to look at my Clients situation and within hours had determined the problems that Bank of America could not overcome, the main one being at the recommendation of the loan officer at Bank of America.

Within weeks of turning the mortgage over to Cliff Schneider he was able to get a new rush appraisal, underwrite the file and submit to upper management for approval.

Here is what I really liked about Cliff.

He always returned his phone calls and updated us on a regular basis.  In contract the loan officer for Bank of America was impossible to reach by telephone and would only communicate via e-mail.  Updates always had to be requested and the information provided was never accurate.

Being an expert in his field he was able to gather the correct information from my Clients and ask the proper questions.  Once again, the biggest problem that Bank of America had with the file was leaving out some information at her advice, even though my Client questioned it repeatedly.  Cliff was calm, informative, and extremely knowledgeable working with high value Clients that don’t fit the cookie cutter requirements of Bank of America.

At the end of the day, Cliff Schneider pulled off the impossible and delivered loan documents before his promised deadline.  I highly recommend his services, particularly for those that have complicated financial history.  If we had called Cliff to begin with we would have closed on time and saved both the Clients and the Seller lots of worry and speculation as to why Bank of America was such a mess.

You can reach Cliff Schneider on his office at 858-729-6767 or cell at 858-472-2543.  His e-mail address is cliff.schneider@wellsfargo.com and his website is located at www.wfhm.com/clifford-schneider.

Pool Inspections by English Pool Consultants.

Any time that I have a Client buying a home with a pool that wants a complete pool inspection, I recommend Rick English of  English Pool Consulting.  I don’t know anyone in San Diego that is more qualified or able to give you an professional honest assessment with a complete pool inspection report.

Here are a few reasons that I recommend Rick English:

• 30 years experience in the swimming pool industry.
• Over 2000 pools constructed.
• Bachelor’s and Master degree in Engineering.
• Comprehensive full written reports.
• Member of many professional associations.

Rick English specializes in swimming pool construction defects, solar pool heating, and swimming pool service.  While visiting his website at www.poolinseptions.com I was surprised at some of the following facts:

1. Less than half the pools in San Diego County were built by a licensed pool contractor.
2. The building inspector does not inspect residential pool plumbing.
3. Most cities don’t require a soils report.
4. Most cities don’t inspect the thickness of the gunite walls.
5. The subcontractor mixes the gunite on site with no regulation.
6. There were not standards of pool construction until 1991 by ANSI.
7. Thousands of pools never had a final inspection.

You can reach Rick English at 800-864-7946 or 619-338-9197.  His e-mail address is rick@english.net.  Tell him that I sent you over.

Finally take a look at this recent video where Rick English talks about the dangers of swimming pool drain safety.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRbqrR01e6A

Home inspections and pool inspections are an important factor in buying real estate.  Please don’t save a few dollars to buy into a problem that could cost you thousands or more.  Here are 5 tips for a successful home inspection.

If you would like some other recommendations from services in San Diego be sure to check out my referrals page.  If you have a poor experience with any of these companies please let me know so I don’t continue to recommend them.

Highly Recommended – Pacific Coast Auto Detail in Downtown San Diego

Moving downtown and owning a black Land Rover Range Rover I was pretty stressed about finding someone to wash and detail my old classic.  Driving out of town on the way to a client appointment, I passed a very professional looking shop on G Street .

Running a little early I pulled into the shop a spoke to a very friendly lady by the name of Katie.  The web address is http://pacificcoastautodetailing.com/

I had just come back from the Anza Borrego Desert and the Rover was a mess.  She walked me though the various services and I decided to get everything done .  Katie promised to have the job done by the end of the day.  I could not help notice all the interesting cars including Bentley’s, Mercedes, and a few exotic models.  I felt my old Rover was in good hands.

Later that afternoon I got a call from her telling me the Rover was ready to be picked up.  I wished I had taken a before and after photo because it didn’t look like the same vehicle.  They did a clay bar treatment removing lots of imperfections in the paint and the car looked brand new – not back for a 2002 model.  Gone were the scratches, swirl marks, and years of oxidation.

If you live in the downtown area they offer free pickup and delivery.  Services are reasonable for the quality of work that is performed and I highly recommend them.  The phone number is 619-531-9319 and the shop is located at 1207 G. Street in downtown San Diego.

If you get on their mailing list they send out web specials or click here to view them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvxOC5SBEyI

After my post this morning, I got to thinking, “how can I help with good information regarding short sale options and loan modifications?”  After a search of Google and other sources, I found a great video on Jay Thompson’s Blog that I wanted to share with our San Diego readers.

Please visit the Hope Now website for many resources regarding what you may be eligible for.  You may reach them by calling 888-995-HOPE.

If any readers out there have any good local contacts, please don’t hesitate to comment below.  In fact shout it out so that people can get the help they need – not being yet sold another load of hype.

I had the pleasure of working with Peter Solecki during the time that I managed the Rancho Santa Fe Branch of Prudential California Realty. At the time, he was General Council for Prudential and not a week would go by that I did not seek council from him on legal matters. Times have changed, and both of us have moved on, but I always recommend Pete any chance I get at his new position as Partner at Winton, Larson, & Solecki LLP in Rancho Bernardo.  The firm is located at 11770 Bernardo Plaza Court, Suite 255 and there phone number is 858-385-0040.

Pete specializes in real property transactions including Purchase, Sale, and Leasing, Commercial Real Estate, Broker Best Practices, Risk Management and Litigation Avoidance (My Personal Favorite), and Escrow Matters.  You can reach him by the phone number listed above or his e-mail.  If you speak to Pete be sure to say hello from me!

Moving into your new home downtown takes some special consideration.  Visit my friends over at DCR Interiors for some tips on moving on their excellent blog.  Space is a premium downtown and they have some great tips to consider.

While you are there be sure to look at Green Design for some really interesting items.