Corvallis Oregon VA Home Loan, VA Real Estate Lending Corvallis, OR. VA Home Loan Specialist, Albany, OR.

Welcome to 2010!

January 4th, 2010

It’s the first Monday of the new year…… Here we go!

Even though I know this industry has more changes coming in 2010, I am ready for it. I fulfilled the OR and WA requirements as a loan officer, and am preparing to take the new, national test coming this year. I’m not concerned of the training and actually appreciate all of the education that is required of me and my colleagues.

I do find it interesting that the loan officers that work for a bank do not have to have this training and education. That bothered me at first, until I remembered that knowledge is power. Knowing that the loan officers at mortgage brokers will be more trained, educated and held more accountable then those loan officers who work at banks, I feel pretty good. No, I feel really good.

It is paramount that a borrower have complete trust in their loan officer, as they are probably making the biggest purchase of their life! I am proud to be able to declare being held accountable to a higher standard, and to be more educated and knowledgeable. Yep….. Welcome 2010!

Bonnie Miller

Thank You For 2009

December 30th, 2009

Creekside Mortgage would like to thank all of our 2009 clients.for their business this past year. We would also like to take this time to share with you something we are proud of. Our charity work! Each loan officer at Creekside Mortgage donates a portion of their earnings from every loan closed to our charity fund. It is really true that giving is much more gratifying then receiving! I know I blogged Monday about Operation Homefront, but there were several other charities we were able to contribute to that I would lke to mention today.

Special Warrior Operation Foundation - $100 contribution with every VA home purchase loan we complete. This we have the Greenwald family to thank for setting this up. Kerry Greenwald, the owner of Creekside Mortgage, Becky Greenwald, Kerry’s lovely wife and our CFO, and Floyd Greenwald, Kerry’s father and a senior VA loan officer.

FISH - Friends In Service to Humanity – Vancouver, WA - a pallet of food, including a gob(ble) of turkeys; Carole Collett-Wheeler, Mike Frakes and I donated our time sorting food from the Walk and Knock; and we held a Winter Weather Clothing Drive that brought in 4 huge boxes of warm clothing! Special thanks to Kevin Lawson, who bought several brand new coats for children and Kathy Ramage and Pam Conrad for buying many, many brand new gloves!

Newspapers in Education, a special request by Carole Collett-Wheeler because of her passion for education.

Humane Society of Southwest Washington, a special request by Cara Suter because of her passion for animals.

Janus Youth Program - Vancouver - a special request by Kathy Ramage and Jenn Stanford because of their passion to help troubled teens.

Operation Homefront – Oregon/Southwest Washington - a special request by yours truly, Bonnie Miller, on behalf of the entire Creekside Mortgage team because of the passion we all have to support our troops!

5 Local Families - a special request from Kerry and Becky Greenwald because of their passion to provide support for struggling families within the community. We were able to provide car loads of food to each family, and Christmas trees and children’s gifts upon request.

As we are closing the books for 2009 it warmed our hearts to see all the good we were able to do this year. We just felt we needed to thank you again for your business. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.

I can’t close this article without giving a special tribute to Kerry Greenwald and all of my co-workers here at Creekside Mortgage, for their particpation, enthusiasm and generosity with the charities this year. What a great place to work!

Thanks again for a great year in 2009 and special wishes to you and your family moving forward to 2010.

Happy New Year!

Bonnie Miller

Operation Homefront

December 28th, 2009

I took a special drive to Linn County on behalf of Creekside Mortgage to donate a nice sum of money to Operation Homefront! It is a wonderful charity that supports the troops and the families of the deployed. While I was there, I was able to witness the organization at work again! This time it was a wife of a deployed serviceman and his children whose water was going to get shut off. Operation Homefront got on the phone and paid the bill right there on the spot! Wonderful!

92 cents of every dollar donated benefits a service member or family in need. Operation Homefront helps with their home repairs, emergency mortgage payments, travel expenses to a wounded warrior’s bedside and other urgent needs. To name just a few more ways Operation Homefront supports our troops and their families while they are deployed - they ship care packages to deployed troops; provide technology to bridge the long miles between the front lines and the homefront; host toy drives and other programs during the holiday season. I could go on and on.

A large focus of Operation Homefront is to provide emergency assistance to military families in need so the next generation of vets aren’t homeless. Unfortunately, an estimated 1 out of 4 homeless is a veteran. Operation Homefront is dedicated to saving a whole new generation from this same fate through many of the progams they have in place, such as their housing initiative and the Wounded Warrior Wives program.

Operation Homefront is a national non-profit organization. I hope you take time to educate yourself about this wonderful charity and find a way to support the troops and their families.

A flyer posted at Operation Homefront by the parents of Spec. Rulon J. Anderson III puts it so well, “SLEEP WELL MY FRIENDS, OUR SON HAS YOUR BACK“.

Happy Holidays to each of you and your family during this wonderful time of the year.

Bonnie Miller

Winter Weather Clothing Drive

December 8th, 2009

We’re launching a Winter Weather Clothing Drive today. Drop off any new or used (in good condition) winter clothing such as coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, warm socks here at the Creekside office. We will be taking them down to FISH on 12/18. Help keep our community warm this year! FISH is also in need of volunteers. I will be spending the afternoon there sorting and boxing food. Come on down and join me!

Bonnie Miller

Mixing Business with Pleasure

December 7th, 2009

Friday I traveled down to Linn and Benton Counties to mix some business with pleasure. After stopping in at the recruitment centers for The Army, The Marines and The Navy, it was time for a quick break. I decided to peek into The Heritage Mall for the first time in 8 years! As soon as I walked in I saw red, white and blue in the corner. I wandered in to see what it was. It was the headquarters for Operation Homefront of Oregon. I spent a good part of the afternoon learning about the charity. Dale Clark, the Chapter President and Karen Carver, the Operations Manager, were very gracious with their time.

Operation Homefront offers a wide variety of services for our service members and their families. They provide emergency financial assistance; support for wounded warriors and their families; boost morale with care packages; home and appliance repair…. The list goes on and on!

While I was there I had the pleasure of seeing a serviceman drop in to thank Operation Homefront for the care packages he received while in Iraq. The tears were flowing and hugs were plentiful, while the young man told them how important those packages were to him and his morale! What a gift that was for me to witness the gratitude on that young soldiers face! And before I left, an older gentleman came in to donate money to Operation Homefront. I read about charities, and I hear about what they do for others, but to experience the generosity of a donation and the gratitude of a recipient all in one day, was really a pleasure!

I explained to Dale my interest in veterans, and the experience we have with VA Home Loans at Creekside Mortgage. Dale agreed to display the Creekside VA Home Loan brochures to help educate veterans on VA Home Loans. We both agreed to stay in contact with each other, looking for ways to help each other and our businesses out.

Thank You Operation Homefront for all you do for our soldiers and their families! And Thank You, Dale and Karen, for spending time with me on Friday!

Bonnie Miller

SHORT SALES!

December 2nd, 2009

As I am arrranging my current files in my office I realize that 80% of all my current purchases are short sales.. A total of 14 offers to purchase. I have approval, ( verbal- not worth much) on some, some are in the waiting game ( months now) and some at the very beginning of the process. Closing short sale offers can be a very dicey proposition… A short sale is when, as an example the home owner owes 200k on their home and can only sell it for 170k so the homeowner is 30k short of having enough to pay off the existing lien or liens on the property. Here is where the fun begins! A buyer comes along as says fine, I will pay 170k for the home as that is what it is worth now. The seller says great I will take that offer of 170k and we are off an running. The bank or banks that hold the liens on the first and second ( most short sales have a first and second) have to agree on the purchase price and how the amount the sale will be short of covering the existing liens will be handled. ( How much first and second lien holder agree to take in funds or from amount short of full payment of liens). The fact that you get a seller to sign a contract on their home when it is a short sale really doesnt mean much at all, just that they will agree to the price if the bank does. The decision is completely the bank or banks involved as to whether they are OK with the price. Their will be a negotiator from the bank, there will be a BPO (Broker Price Opinion) done by the bank to see whether the price being offered by the new buyer meets their minumum for current market conditions. Now when the bank says OK if they do…then the sellers will be presented options from the bank/ banks on how in this case the roughly 30k short to cover existing liens will be addressed. The bank,banks can forgive the debt, the sellers may have to pay income tax on the 30k as it is income if the bank forgives the debt, could be a lien which would have to be paid back some how. Any number of things can happen in the end game. So after waiting for 1-6 months the deal can be off in a matter of minutes if the seller balks or is not willing to go along with the terms the bank / banks offer. Here is a couple examples that have happened to me in the month of Novemeber. With one buyer we waited for 4 months and got the offer approved with the bank and were going to be able to beat the looming foreclosure that would occur if not closed by a specific date. On this home there was a small first mortgage and a large second mortgage. The bank that owned the first mortgage took out a mortgage insurance policy on the second to protect their interest in the property. So… in the eleventh hour after a verbal approval but before the written approval was issued the bank that held the first withdrew their approval and decided to let the home go into foreclosure. This is a business decision and really can not fault the bank for proceeding this way as now they can get the insurance money and most likely collect more money in the final sale of the property than what my buyer was offering. My second example was a transaction that had one condition left to get the loan documents out to title… the seller decided to file bankruptcy in the 12th hour which terminated all proceedings in the sale of the home. Now it will be up to a judge. I speculate that the terms the bank offered the seller were not possible for the sellers to meet. Probably figured that better to file Bankruptcy and wait a few years and buy again. So in short …. Short Sales are very time consuming and have a lower chance of funding than a bank or seller owned property. Tomorrow I will write about what the Feds are doing to put the pressure on banks to expedite, and standardize the procedure for selling Short Sale Properties.

Michael Frakes

Tax Credits Beyond Home Buyers for 2009 - BE INFORMED!

December 1st, 2009

Do you ever ask yourself, what does it take to get into a home these days? An act of Congress? Well, kind of yes, given the home buyer tax credits we have available to us during this short, temporary time period. I’m certain that you have all heard about the tax credits, but here is a great link that will explain all the tax credits available for 2009 and those that we know so far for 2010. It’s a great resource to have, especially this time of year. Tax season will be here before you know it! Don’t leave any money on the table!

Get the details for the topics below at the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204335,00.html?portlet=6

Information for Individuals

· Making Work Pay Tax Credit.

· First-Time Homebuyer Credit Expands.

· Money Back for New Vehicle Purchases.

· Education benefits.

· Enhanced Credits for Tax Years 2009, 2010.

· Increased Transportation Subsidy.

· Up to $2,400 in Unemployment Benefits Tax Free in 2009.

· $250 for Social Security Recipients, Veterans and Railroad Retirees.

· Health Coverage Tax Credit.

· Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Incentives

Information for Businesses

· Making Work Pay Tax Credit.

· Work Opportunity tax credit.

· COBRA: Health Insurance Continuation Subsidy..

· Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Incentives.

· Net Operating Loss Carryback..

· Municipal Bond Programs.

2008 and 2009 Tax Returns

The law could affect some 2008 tax returns due in 2009. However, most of the changes in ARRA will affect 2009 individual tax returns filed next year and due April 15, 2010.

Bonnie Miller

So Much Documentation Just To Buy A Home! WHY?

November 30th, 2009

Do you find in today’s lending industry that the lenders are asking for way too much documentation? Do you feel they are suspicious of you and that you show up almost being “the bad guy? Do they want our business or what? Unfortunately, this is a direct outcome from the recent nightmare in the lending industry.

The “nightmare” began when large portfolio lenders introduced the “reduced documentation” loan. Borrowers were allowed to use bank statements without verification of deposit and pay stubs instead of verification of employment. This was a revolutionary change that quickly spread into the conforming market. Variations of the reduced documentation loan begain to show up everywhere!. Statistical models demonstrated that a borrower’s credit score was the best predictor of repayment, not their job or banking history. This discovery allowed lenders to tailor documentation requirements to the borrower’s credit score. The higher the score a borrower had, the lower the documentation requirements. That seemed like a great deal for everyone. Lenders could lend, and home buyers could buy!

Well, we all know how the story ends. Here we are. The lending industry is in a real mess. Apparently there is something to validating employment and bank history. Please try to keep this in mind when you apply for a loan and you get put through what might feel like “the ringer”. It’s better for everyone that people get approved for loans they can afford. It’s not as fun as the past, but it’s much better for you!

And this might make you feel a little better. Prior to the reduced documentation loan, maybe in the early 1990s the burden was put on the borrowers to document their loan application and it reached even more excessive levels. Loan originators and underwriters were trained to be suspicious about borrower documentation, and even simple loan packages could exceed 200 pages. We haven’t spun that far back, but it’s good to find the happy medium. Well, we can try to make it a “happy” medium. Find the right mortgage company that will try to make it as painless as possible on you. Of course, I recommend Creekside Mortgage.

Bonnie Miller

Rates fall back to all-time low!

November 13th, 2009

Rates have now fallen back to an all-time low, right around 5%, in some cases lower on government VA 30 year fix loans.

Once again, it is a great opportunity to buy a house. A lot of people are predicting this is the last run on rates going down, due to the inflationary factors that will be coming in the future due to governement spending at such a high rate. The government will soon have to start raising the cost of borrowing short term money to be able to pay for debt that is currently being incurred.

Kerry Greenwald Sr. VA Loan Specialist

A Drive to Linn and Benton Counties

November 9th, 2009

Friday I took a drive back to my roots - Linn County and Benton County in the beautiful state of Oregon. As I was passing through Albany, OR on Pacific Blvd on my way to Corvallis, I thought of my friend and colleague, Dennis Dunmyer, who is a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers. Dennis has been in the real estate business for years and has a very broad background. He has an A.S. Degree in Real Estate Technology and has been a Real Estate Appraiser since 1980 and a Real Estate Broker since 2004. Dennis Dunmyer knows this business inside and out! His passion for real estate shows with every client as he always goes the extra mile for them. And his involvement with Habitat for Humanity and Helping Hands for the Homeless shows his passion for people. That’s a great combination in this business!

I look forward to working with the people in my home town - in the Linn/Benton area. It will be a pleasure to find them the home loan that’s just right for them!

Taking the drive on Hwy 20 from Albany to Corvallis, following the Willamette River brought back some great memories. It’s a beautiful community with beautiful people! It’s always a good day when I go back home!

Bonnie Miller

800-920-5420 x107

Article Archive Page 2

Corvallis Oregon VA Home Loans - Since 2006 (Veteran Owned And Operated)

We Have Helped

Welcome to 2010!

Thank You For 2009

Operation Homefront

Winter Weather Clothing Drive

Mixing Business with Pleasure

SHORT SALES!

Tax Credits Beyond Home Buyers for 2009 - BE INFORMED!

So Much Documentation Just To Buy A Home! WHY?

Rates fall back to all-time low!

A Drive to Linn and Benton Counties