Portland, OR VA Home Loan, VA Real Estate Lending Portland, Oregon. VA Home Loan Specialist, Multanomah County, OR

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

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

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

The benefits of VA vs. FHA loans

November 8th, 2009

Many people are confused about the benefits of getting a home loan through the Veterans Administration vs. the Federal Housing Administration. Both are similar loans due to the fact that they surround first-time home-buyer programs, or are a limited- to no-down-payment-required loan. An FHA loan requires a down payment of 3.5% and the seller can pay all of your closing costs. A VA loan is a true 0% down loan, with no down payment and no closing costs for the borrower, as the seller can pay all closing costs.

FHA loans have a monthly mortgage insurance calculated on the value of the house that lasts up to five years and until you get 75% loan to value on the house. FHA does have an up-front mortgage insurance premium of 1.5% added overall on top of the loan. VA has no such mortgage insurance on a monthly basis.

However, with VA, you do pay a VA funding fee. The first time you use your benefits, there is a 2.15% fee; it is not paid out of pocket, but is financed into the loan. Your second use requires a 3.3% fee. That is also financed on top of the loan; it is not something you have to pay up front, which in the long run is much cheaper than paying that extra premium on a monthly basis.

The bottom line: never, under any circumstances, if you’re a veteran, would you ever go FHA, unless you’ve lost your entitlement, or you want to buy a house with another person you’re not married to who is not a veteran. There are very few circumstances in which FHA would benefit a veteran more than going VA.

Most people try to talk veterans out of their VA rights because it is more difficult for the person doing the loan to complete the transaction. Never give up that benefit!

Another note: If you have any type of disability benefits of 10% or more from the VA, even if you’re putting 10%-20% down, a VA loan is always going to be cheaper for you.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions, always feel free to give Creekside Mortgage a call.

Kerry N. Greenwald, Sr. VA Loan Specialist

Creekside Mortgage partners with charitable organization for the benefit of children of veterans

October 29th, 2009

Creekside Mortgage is happy to announce that we are partnering with the Special Operations Warrior Foundation to help provide college educations to the children of fallen Special Operations forces. For every closed VA loan originated after July 1, 2009, Creekside Mortgage will donate $100 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in the name of the borrowing veteran. The foundation also provides assistance to special operations personnel who have been serverely wounded.

The Special Operations Warrior Foundation was started in 1980 as a scholarship fund named in honor of the legendary Army Green Beret Bull Simons. This fund provided college educations for surviving children of the men killed or incapacitated at Desert One.

Children awarded scholarship funds are survivors of Special Operations Forces of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Currently, the foundation is providing scholarships for 760 children of over 600 Special Operations Forces who have passed away in service to the country.

At Creekside, we are veterans who want to support our fellow service members and their families in every way that we can–not just by providing expertise in using VA home loan benefits, but by supporting organizations who have common cause to support families of service members. When you choose Creekside for your lending needs, you are partnering with us to help children of deceased service members and to make a difference in the lives of others. Please visit http://www.specialops.org for more information on this organization.

Kerry Greenwald Sr. VA Loan Specialist

Why put 5% down on a VA home?

October 25th, 2009

The VA loan allows a Veteran to utilize his/her VA loan multiple times with various combinations depending on military history, service connected disability, down payment, and prior VA loan history. I must preface my topic: “Why put 5% down on a VA home loan?” with a basic answer to another question: What is a VA funding fee? The VA funding fee is added as a dollar amount calculated by a percentage to the purchase price of the home you are buying. The VA funding fee guarantees to the lender that if a Veteran fails to repay the loan the lender is protected from $36,000 up to$144,000, and an additional amount equal to 25% of the allowed county loan limit for a single family home may be available. This is not to be confused with the veterans entitlement amount to purchase with $0 down, which is $417,000 in most counties, and higher in a few.

When a veteran with active duty service (which includes nearly everyone, including reserves, due to active duty service in multiple theatres of war) the VA funding fee is set at 2.15% for first time use of the VA benefit and subsequent use (another new home purchase or refinance) is set by the VA at 3.3%. The Veterans who are in reserves with no overseas service in Iraq or Afghanistan for example (on active duty) will have slightly higher fees, and for the purpose of this discussion I will focus on active duty and active duty reserves.

If you put down 5% on a VA home loan, your funding fee drops to 1.5%, no matter how many times you have used your benefit. This is a huge savings! If you look at an average home of $250,000, the funding fee for a second use on your home would be 3.3%, or $8,250. However, if you put down 5% the loan amount is now $237,000 and the funding fee would drop to $3562.50–a savings of $4,687! With a first time home purchase (funding fee of 2.15%), you still save a significant amount of about $1,813 on our hypothetical $250,000 home. The lower loan amount translates into lower monthly payments.

There is no other loan on the planet that even comes close to your VA home loan benefit…all other loans require some type of mortgage insurance paid monthly when you are in less than a 20% equity position. Additionally, on a VA home loan the seller can pay up to 4% of the purchase price of the home toward your closing costs, pre-paid fees, and VA non-allowables (fees the veteran by law cannot pay). Using the hypothetical $250,000 home again, the seller could pay up to $6,500 in closing costs, pre-paids, and VA non-allowables. This frees up a person’s savings to go toward a down payment rather than paying closing costs.

If you put 10% down, your VA funding fee will drop to 1.25% , which is a limited return for the additional funds required compared to the benefit gained by the 5%. Feel free to contact us for more information on your VA home loan benefits.

Michael Frakes, U.S. Navy Retired, Sr. VA Loan Specialist

*The guaranty means the lender is protected against loss if you fail to repay the loan. The guaranty replaces the protection the lender normally receives by requiring a down payment allowing you to obtain favorable financing terms.

*For loans in excess of $144,000 on purchases or new constructions, additional entitlement up to an amount equal to 25% of the VA county loan limit for a single family home may be available.

Michael Frakes U.S. Navvy Retired Sr. VA Loan Specialist

Portland Housing Market: A Snapshot

October 5th, 2009

Portland’s overall housing market has been one of the strongest in the nation as far as home prices holding steady. The majority of places int he country have dropped dramatically from 2000 numbers.

Our value here is still up 48% in the Portland Metro area, compared to other places. For example, Phoenix is up 6% from 2000 numbers and Las Vegas 4% from 2000 numbers. We have not felt the effect that most of the country has in dropping real estate prices.

We have noticed drops in the market, but not comparable to the rest of the country. The overall decrease in value in Portland should hold steady. We were the second to last major city in the United States to fall or lose prices; the last being Charlotte, North Carolina. Most economists predict that we are coming out of the worst now. Best case scenario, we are levelling off or going up a small percentage. Worst case scenario, we might see 5-7% decrease in the market, which doesn’t sound like a great thing, but compared to the last 18 months, it is positive news.

Portland should hold steady and be a great place to buy a house now and in the future.

Why is my VA appraisal $50 more than it used to be?

July 30th, 2009

Gone are the days of $450 appraisals. If an individual wants to purchase a home or refinance, they now have to pay $500 for an appraisal of a property. Alas, the VA could no longer hold off an increase in the VA appraisal fee amid the toxic loans and shrinking market values. As of April 1, 2009, the VA put out an update (26-09-4) which requires our esteemed VA appraiser to include the Fannie Mae Market Conditions Addendum, Form 1004MC, in all VA appraisal reports. Fannie Mae requires appraisers to document an overview of neightborhood market conditions and trends. Fannie Mae has the ability to buy loans from lenders, banks, etc. to keep the flow of money going so lenders have money to do more mortgage loans with the freed up funds. A lender needs to be sure that a loan meets Fannie Mae underwriting guidelines or they could be out of business pretty quickly if Fannie would not buy the loan.

The VA set the rate for the extra time this report takes at $50, which is passed on to the borrower. Appraisers’ jobs are more difficult than ever. Many borrowers are frustrated at the costs of appraisals (people often tell me “the appraiser was only at my house for 30 minutes!”), but what they don’t see are the hours of work behind the scenes. The extra $50 fee is in line with yet more responsibility heaped on the appraisers…this makes a better report for you and ensures that the deserving Veteran will buy the right house at the right price with more in-depth data to support the value. Solid data = a solid purchase, and long-term satisfaction with your purchase!

Feel free to talk with any of us about your VA home loan questions. You will have a great experience working with us. We are Veterans and we are in the business to help Veterans with the most important purchase most of us will ever make.

Michael Frakes, Retired U.S. Navy, Sr. VA Loan Specialist

Portland, Oregon VA Home Loan Team - Since 1999 (Veteran Owned And Locally Operated)

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