Blog - JVM Lending

How Do Teams Benefit Clients?

November 24, 2021/in Our Blog, Self Education

We have eight people on our pre-approval team who are far more diligent and academic than I ever was, who know lending guidelines 100x better than I ever did, and who are simply smarter than I am in many ways. I share that because numerous agents replied to my blog Monday about Big Teams Reigning […]Read More

Big Teams Reign Supreme Over Brokerages; Go Team Go!

November 22, 2021/in Our Blog, Self Education

In Friday’s blog about company names (and JVM’s new name), I mentioned I had a very sweet deal with a mortgage firm that was set up just like a real estate brokerage (which was legal at the time). They only charged me a flat fee of $2,500 per month and I kept every penny of […]Read More

What’s In A Company Name? (A Lot It Turns Out)

November 19, 2021/in Marketing, Our Blog

JVM LENDING’S NAME About 15 years ago during my loan officer days, I was affiliated with a brokerage with an extraordinarily sweet deal that I never would have abandoned but for one reason. I was tipped off that the broker of record was experiencing severe financial and emotional issues that were putting the entire brokerage […]Read More

Why We Don’t Align With UWM/Broker Channel

November 18, 2021/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANY IN MORTGAGE One of the most innovative companies in the mortgage space is also the largest wholesale lender. As a reminder, there are Three Primary Channels For Mortgages: (1) Banks & Credit Unions; (2) Mortgage Banks; and (3) Brokers. Banks perform many other functions (checking, savings, commercial lending) besides offering mortgages; mortgage […]Read More

Are Skyrocketing Rents Great For Real Estate? (Yes)

November 17, 2021/in Homebuying, Our Blog

CONDO IS PERFECT INFLATION HEDGE My wife Heejin and I own a rental condo in Scottsdale – with a small, fixed-rate mortgage and quickly increasing rent, as Scottsdale is one of the hottest markets in the country. It is a perfect example of why real estate is such a great inflation hedge. Our rental income […]Read More

Alternative Financing Options: Interest Only; Rental Income Only; Asset Depletion; Bank Statements

November 15, 2021/in Homebuying, Our Blog

“ALT A” LOANS In the 1990s, a lender called Headlands Mortgage pioneered what were then called “Alt A” mortgages. The loans allowed borrowers to qualify for competitive mortgages without having to go through the rigmarole of a “full documentation” qualification. In that high-rate era, “Alt A” interest rates were very close to the rates associated […]Read More

How Likely Are You to Get an Appraisal Waiver? Hint: Not Very :)

November 12, 2021/in Appraisals, Our Blog

WHY WE REFUSED REFINANCES IN 2020 This is a quick aside but a reminder that we stopped accepting refinance applications in 2020. It cost us millions in lost revenue but we did so anyway because we wanted to make sure we could maintain our service levels for purchase business. This is because we knew that […]Read More

Why Are Rates Not HIGHER – With Inflation, Fed Tightening, & Economy Improving?

November 10, 2021/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

HORRIFIC SPACE SHUTTLE CRASH On January 28th, 1986, the entire world watched the Space Shuttle Challenger explode and crash to the earth – on live TV. Seven people lost their lives, including school teacher Christa McAuliffe, right in front of our eyes and – everyone wondered what the hell happened? The talking heads in the […]Read More

Jack Dorsey’s Case for Hyperinflation (There Isn’t One)

November 8, 2021/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

JACK DORSEY = PARIS HILTON 😊 A few weeks ago, Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, tweeted this: “Hyperinflation is going to change everything. It’s happening.” And sadly, some of the talking heads on the various cable news networks seemed to agree. But, fortunately, cooler and better-educated heads are prevailing here and one of them is Erik […]Read More

How Monkeys Close Loans in 10 Days; Purchases? Not So Much…

November 5, 2021/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

30-MINUTE LOANS Closing a conforming (Fannie/Freddie) refinance for a W2’d employee with good credit can take less than 30 minutes of effort on the part of a lender. This is because lenders can now use artificial intelligence to underwrite clean files, and verifications of employment and assets are pulled automatically via the lender’s loan application […]Read More

Qualifying For Mortgages With Assets Only – No Income Necessary

November 4, 2021/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

WHOM ARE ASSET BASED LOANS GOOD FOR? Asset based loans are perfect for two types of borrowers: (1) wealthy borrowers with very complex financial pictures that would make qualifying in the traditional manner a nightmare; and (2) borrowers with ample assets but too little income to qualify. HOW DO ASSET BASED LOANS WORK? INCOME: Income […]Read More

Zillow Exits iBuying & Proves ALL Is Right With the World

November 3, 2021/in Our Blog, Real Estate

BETTING ON CANADA! In the 2010 Olympics, Canada played the U.S. for the gold medal in hockey – and I upset a hockey fan and friend by betting on Canada. My bet on Canada was really a bet on “efficient markets” because Canada’s team had a larger aggregate payroll in the NHL. So, efficient markets […]Read More

Richest Man in Germany Got Rich FROM INFLATION; You Can Too!

November 1, 2021/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

A LOAF OF BREAD COST $200 BILLION! A loaf of bread in Berlin that cost around 160 deutschmarks (the German currency unit at the time) at the end of 1922 cost 200 Billion (with a “B”) deutschmarks by late 1923. By November 1923, one US dollar was worth 4,210,500,000,000 deutschmarks. Prior to the German hyperinflation, […]Read More

Inflation; Mercedes S-Class Cars; Here To Stay? Does It Matter?

October 29, 2021/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

MERCEDES S-CLASS SEDANS COST 1/2 OF WHAT THEY COST IN 1979 Leonard Steinberg wrote this in his excellent blog last week: “In 1979 a Mercedes S-Class cost about $34,000. Today about four decades later, an S-Class Mercedes sells for around $111,000, more than triple.” He was illuminating just how much inflation there already has been […]Read More

Don’t Stop Believin’ – Great Lessons From a Journey Song :)

October 28, 2021/in Our Blog, Self Education

My blogs have been too serious lately, so I am touching on a lighter topic – a Journey song that has proven to be far more enduring than anyone ever could have imagined. WHY JOURNEY? Because there is so much to learn from how the song, Don’t Stop Believin’, came to be. The WSJ had […]Read More

No Income Verification Loans: DSCR

October 27, 2021/in Homebuying, Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

I’ve mentioned this “horror story” a few times in my blogs. In 2005, I was at a Christmas party where a wholesale rep from SunTrust Bank was bragging about his “no down payment” (100% LTV) “NINA” Loans for investors. NINA stood for “No Income/No Asset” verification. Borrowers only needed a 680-credit-score and they could buy […]Read More

Rates Have Not Been This High Since… 2021

October 25, 2021/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

RATES HAVE NOT BEEN THIS HIGH SINCE 2021! I thought I would put interest rates in perspective again, given that they have risen so much (1/4% to 3/8%) since last summer and that there is so much concern! But – they are still slightly lower than where they were on April 1st of THIS YEAR! […]Read More

Our Massive Jumbo Niche & How It Benefits You!

October 22, 2021/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

The median home value in many of our core markets is well in excess of $1 million! As a result – we were FORCED to become “Jumbo Financing Experts” because conforming (Fannie/Freddie) loans in coastal California are about as rare as California Condors. And – IT WAS PAINFUL! It was painful because every jumbo investor […]Read More

2 Reasons the Current Realtor/Agent Model Is Here to Stay (And Won’t Be Replaced by Tech)

October 21, 2021/in Our Blog, Real Estate

BOUGHT CAR ON INTERNET IN MINUTES – IN 1999 (BUT NOT NOW) In 1999, I needed a new car and a friend of mine (a “car guy”) suggested I buy a Lexus GS400 – and he gave me all of the specs. I typed all of the specs into a car-buying website that was available […]Read More

The Real Reason Zillow Stopped Buying Homes & Why It’s Good For Housing

October 20, 2021/in Our Blog, Real Estate

Zillow announced yesterday that they are no longer buying homes (through the end of the year). It was all over the headlines, and numerous people sent me links to the announcement. At first, I thought: “oh, no… I wonder if their algorithms are predicting a softer housing market…” But, then I started to see links […]Read More

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