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Benefits of using your VA Home Loan
 NMLS #70358
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Article Archives for Portland, Oregon VA Home Loan Team - Since 1999 (Page 2)QR Codes in Advertising in Portland ORJune 19th, 2011We have started using QR codes in most of our VA advertising I the Portland OR metro area. QR codes are pretty amazing. The smart phone has the capability to go directly to a webpage instead of requiring the user to type in the URL to get to a web destination. I look forward to continuing to use QR codes to make the process smoother. Kerry N. Greenwald Sr. VA Loan Specialist 360.571.LOAN (5626) Stranger Tides Pirate ContestMay 19th, 2011Here at Creekside we are having a competition to see what team can get the most new people to “like” our Facebook page. The winners get a free lunch, half day off paid and movie passes to see the new Pirates of The Caribbean movie that comes out this weekend. Please help us to be the top winning team so we can enjoy the bounty and not have to watch another team commission what is rightfully ours! If you are already a fan…thank you!! Do it for Captain Jack!! Thank You in advance!!
Elisa Cotton / NMLS#86692 Assistant to Michael Frakes NMLS#71539 360-571-5626 x 115 360-326-1672 Fax Like us on Facebook!! Portland Oregon Real Estate Market 2011April 22nd, 2011The Portland Oregon housing market seems to be recovering and stabilizing nicely. Our opinion at Creekside Mortgage Inc. is that we have noticed over the last 2 to 3 months of 2011 a strength in the Portland OR Metro area on VA home purchases, which seem to have increased greatly. Hopefully this trend continues in Oregon State throughout the rest of 2011. The key to this is the stabilization in the price of houses, they are either going up or down. There is volatility in either waiting or jumping in too early, but when you get stabilization and consistency in buying houses in Portland metro area, it seems to be helping overall in the market.
Sr. VA Loan Specialist 503.445.1038
Happy 49th Birthday Packy!!April 14th, 2011Oregon Zoo’s beloved Packy turned 49 today!! Packy made headlines on his birth by becoming the first elephant born in this part of the world in 44 years! Visitors flooded the zoo and the gifts poured in over this “little” miracle. Packy was even featured in Life magazine to celebrate his arrival. He was one of the biggest announcements in the world at the time. The Oregon Zoo will hold a celebration Saturday, April 16 that they are calling “Elephantastic“. They are encouraging visitors to stop by from 11-4 for games, crafts, elephant ears and more. The event is free with zoo admission and birthday cake will be provided for free at noon. There will be a chance for kids to enter a drawing to help deliver Packy’s cake. This should be a lot of fun for young and old alike. It isnt everyday that we get to celebrate a local celebrities birthday with so many fun festivities. Saturday is supposed to be sunny in Portland, if our local news is correct, so it will be perfect for the celebration. While youre there dont forget to say HI to Packy’s kids, Rama and “Shine”, who also live at the Oregon Zoo. If it is sunny Saturday the elephants should be out and in great spirits!! NMLS#71539 360-571-5626
Intel Expansion Good for the Portland Metro AreaApril 5th, 2011The expansion of Intel started here recently has been an incredible resource of jobs in the Beaverton/Portland area. The project is at a large capacity being done through Hoffman. This is giving the area a lot of opportunity for employment, and it looks like it will take some time to complete this job. This should help improve the overall Portland/Beaverton housing market in the near future, even as far out as into Hillsboro, McMinnville, and Yamhill County, which should be supported by this job being done by Hoffman. Most of the employment has been done locally and not outsourced to other states. An extra thanks to Hoffman for maintaining it in this area.
Kerry N. Greenwald NMLS # 70269 Sr. VA Loan Specialist 360.571.LOAN (5626)
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River Loacated on Swan IslandMarch 23rd, 2011We had an information meeting today with the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River, District 13, located on Swan Island. We had a meet and greet with about 15 Coast Guard members. We went over the advantages and benefits of using your VA loan. Mike Frakes and myself spent time discussing the mortgage loan aspects, and Stephen Granmo talked about the real estate side. Sean Mele from First American Title discussed title aspect of the loan process. It was very educational and a great time spend with the Coast Guard Sector Columbia River. We look forward to future opportunities to continue to educate any members of Coast Guard, Navy, or Marines from these units on the benefits of using their VA 100% financing in the Portland area. Kerry N. Greenwald NMLS # 70269 Sr. VA Loan Specialist 360.571.LOAN (5626) April 1st 2011 Industry ChangesMarch 13th, 2011The Changes in the mortgage industry on April 1, 2011 are going to be overwhelming. It is going to be the good, the bad, and the ugly. But overall, I do see the positive aspects in the changes that will happen on that day. The biggest thing is that everyone is going to have to do it. Where rules and laws in the past have subjected only limited amounts of the industry, at least what can be seen so far of these changes should affect everyone in the industry. There are aspects of the April 1 Frank Dodd Act that I feel will be good in the long run. A lot of people argue with the Safe Harbor Act portion, which states that it is our duty and our job to put the individual in the loan or the best option for them. There are a lot of people who say that hindsight is 20/20 when you look after the fact, for example, If certain individuals who took out a 7-year ARM and then decided to stay in the house longer than seven years, which they had not originally intended when they first moved, their situation appears worse than if they had sold as originally planned…or if they did a 30-year FHA loan when possibly they should have done a different type of loan to fit their needs. In my industry, what I see in the bill is positive. Everyday I come across people who are Veterans, that in some cases have service-connected disability benefits, and they are pushed in or roped into a loan that does not fit their needs. From my perspective, that should never happen again. If you do have your VA eligibility, and in some cases have disability through the VA, there is no reason and hopefully no time in the future that anyone will ever do a non-VA loan for you. So some parts of the bill I can see as benefits. Most of the changes, however, will be in accounting and pay structures. The intent of this bill was to have the consumer have less in cost, but I don’t think that will be successful. For example, right now, a year plus into the effects of the changes in RESPA that were instituted back in January 1, 2010, you can see that the individual borrower is actually paying more in cost than what they were prior to that event due to bank logistics and the individual companies involved that have to offset their expense to facilitate the law. I feel the same thing is going to happen on April 1. While the intent of the law is to lower the cost to the consumer and enable them to make more free choices, actually, in the end, it’s going to make it more expensive for them because businesses pass that expense on to the consumer. That is the one negative that will come out of this bill. Overcharging is still going to exist. It is not going to go away. It is going to be a shell game on how banks or how brokerages or how mortgage bankers will pay the individual loan officers. That’s just my opinion on what the law is going to effect, and I look forward to that date to find out exactly what is going to happen. Kerry N. GreenwaldNMLS # 70269Sr. VA Loan SpecialistCreekside Mortgage Inc.360.571.LOAN (5626)www.VALoanWA.comwww.OregonVALoan.comHomebuyers Tax Credit Extended Oregonian ArticleMarch 1st, 2011An article yesterday in the Oregonian had some great quotes by Steve Granmo saying that VA is one of the last loans out there offering 100% financing. The Oregonian did a great job in putting everything together and discussing this tax credit for Portland homebuyers and any Oregon state Veterans.
360-571-LOAN (5626) / 530-445-1038 Interest Rates ImprovingFebruary 23rd, 2011What an overall crazy week it has been in the markets, but the good news is that rates have actually been improving; sticking with the theory that bad news is good news for interest rates. The issues going on in the Middle East, oil prices drastically increasing, and the stock market on decline have contributed to improvements in rates over the last week. This will most likely continue over the coming months. No one sees any light at the end of the tunnel and oil prices will probably continue to increase through the busy fuel months into the summer.
Sr. VA Loan Specialist 360.571.LOAN (5626)/503.445.1038 Tax Credit Extension Coming to a CloseFebruary 14th, 2011Were you a Guard or other U.S. military member serving on qualified official extended business outside the United States for at least 90 days during the period between December 31, 2008 and May 1, 2010? If so, you may be eligible to receive the $8,000 tax credit offered for first-time homebuyers as long as you purchase, or enter a contract to purchase, a home before April 30, 2011, and close on the home before June 30, 2011. The definition used for “first-time homebuyer” in this case is someone who has not owned property in the last three years. So, even if you’ve had a home in the past, you could be eligible as a first-time homebuyer if you fit within these guidelines. Additionally, you must be purchasing a primary residence. There is a $6,500 credit available to long-time homeowners buying a replacement principal residence as well. Please see the IRS website for additional qualifying guidelines. This gives service members who may not have been in the country at the time the full opportunity that their fellow citizens had to take advantage of this government incentive. Often, people find that they can purchase a home for not much of a difference than what they pay in rent every month. With VA, you can get into a home with $0 out-of-pocket cost, since it is one of the few loans that will finance 100% of the appraised value of the home. Here at Creekside Mortgage, we have helped a number of Veterans purchase homes and receive this tax credit. Combined with historically low property values and great interest rates on VA loans, you can hardly turn this down! Give us a call with your questions. 360-571-LOAN (5626) / 530-445-1038
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