Blog - JVM Lending

JVM Aligns With New Mortgage Bank; The Need For Speed & Jumbo!

July 6, 2020/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

We recently aligned with a new mortgage bank for three reasons: (1) to drastically shorten our closing periods; (2) to offer even lower rates; and (3) to access much better jumbo options. We have nothing against our former mortgage bank at all, as we simply were not a good fit for their model and we […]Read More

Innovating In Boom Times; 50 Companies That Died Because They Didn’t

July 2, 2020/in Marketing, Our Blog

We constantly get “recruited” by large mortgage banks that want JVM to affiliate with them (b/c they want our volume, reputation and/or trade secrets). The pitches always fascinate us b/c they often tout their nebulous “support” (something we don’t need) and growth, but who isn’t growing in this market? (all we ever want is extremely […]Read More

Why We Say A $2 Million Home Is Worth $999,000; Best Month Ever For Mortgage Rates

July 1, 2020/in Appraisals, Our Blog

“PIWs” REIGN SUPREME “PIW” stands for Property Inspection Waiver or an Appraisal Waiver. We are getting more of them than ever before, making both refinances and purchases faster, easier and cheaper. We are getting them more often now b/c Fannie and Freddie loosened their guidelines in response to the COVID-19 crisis and b/c more and […]Read More

“The Next Housing Boom Is Closer Than You Think”

June 29, 2020/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

The title of this blog is taken directly from this blog by Stansberry Research. I have hit the topic of a strong housing market numerous times in recent months but am hitting it again for several reasons: (1) Stansberry Research normally touts stocks, so when they shift to touting housing it means something; (2) some […]Read More

“Stips;” Loan Salability; Facing Huge Losses; And Why A Competitor Went To Bat For Us

June 26, 2020/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

What is the scariest thing on the planet? For mortgage banks, it is an unsalable loan. Mortgage banks literally borrow money to fund mortgage loans – using what is called a “warehouse line.” Mortgage banks only make money if and when they sell those loans that are “sitting” on their warehouse lines. For example, when […]Read More

Refinancing After Forbearance; Credit Inquiries

June 25, 2020/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

Over 4 million borrowers went into mortgage payment “forbearance” during the COVID-19 crisis, and many are now starting to end their forbearance periods – and wondering if they can refinance. Here are some of the guidelines. AUTHORIZED FORBEARANCE – PAST BALANCES PAID If borrowers with a formally authorized (by their servicer) forbearance formally end their […]Read More

Rapid Re-Scores; We Can’t Charge Borrowers

June 24, 2020/in Homebuying, Our Blog

RAPID RE-SCORES We often do a “rapid re-score” to repair a borrower’s credit for a variety of reasons: (1) to raise a borrower’s score above a minimum requirement, such as 700 for a HELOC or for Jumbo financing (more important than ever in this post-COVID lending environment); (2) to improve a borrower’s interest rate, as […]Read More

Examples of How Much Various “Factors” Affect Interest Rates

June 22, 2020/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

We constantly remind everyone that there is no “one interest rate,” b/c so many factors affect individual rates. I linked to those factors last week and set them out again below. We often get questions though in regard to how much each of those factors affects a borrower’s interest rate, so I am providing some […]Read More

When Appraisers Are Right (Which Is Often)

June 19, 2020/in Appraisals, Our Blog

We have an excellent pool of hand-picked appraisers that I tout often as a competitive edge. I tout them often b/c we used to get burned all the time when we were forced to use giant Appraisal Management Companies (before setting up our own appraiser pool). Several months ago, one of our appraisers came in […]Read More

Purchase Applications Hit 11 Year High; Refis = 63% of Volume

June 18, 2020/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

The Mortgage Bankers Association surveys multiple mortgage banks every week and then releases all of the data. The most recent survey, discussed in this National Mortgage News article, is particularly interesting. Here is just some of the data: Purchase applications are at an 11 year high. Refi applications are 106% higher than last year at […]Read More

Interest Only Loans Vs. Fully Amortized Loans

June 17, 2020/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

Borrowers often ask for “Interest Only” (IO) loans b/c they want lower mortgage payments, and we discourage them for a variety of reasons. I am discussing the pros and cons today. REASONS TO WANT AN IO LOAN: Payment Flexibility: Borrowers with cyclical income want lower payments during slower times (assuming payments really are lower – […]Read More

Condition Issues; What’s “Lendable”; Don’t Disclose in MLS if “As Is”

June 15, 2020/in Homebuying, Our Blog

We recently had an “as is” purchase almost blow up again b/c condition issues were disclosed in the MLS. This is another reminder to make sure the MLS references no significant condition issues if a transaction is “as is.” Both appraisers and underwriters review MLS and neither can turn a blind eye to condition issues […]Read More

Why Home Prices Did Not Crash With 15% Unemployment? Planet Money Explains

June 12, 2020/in Our Blog, Real Estate, Self Education

After the COVID-19 crisis was in full force, I wrote several blogs in March and April pointing out why I thought housing prices would not crash as a result of the crisis. In response, numerous agents emailed or called me to suggest that I was being too optimistic and potentially misleading people. So, was I […]Read More

“Fed Plans to Keep Rates at Low Levels for Years” What Are “Rates?”

June 11, 2020/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

This blog’s subject line is borrowed directly from this WSJ article. Fed Chairman Powell stated in early June that there are no rate increases in sight and that the Fed will do whatever it has to do to keep rates down through 2022. These actions include keeping the Fed Funds rate near 0% and massive […]Read More

Why Borrowers Should Not Pay Points to Buy Down Interest Rates

June 10, 2020/in Homebuying, Interest Rates, Our Blog

This is a topic I touch on or repeat at least once per year b/c borrowers continue to ask us if they “should buy down their rate,” and our answer is almost always “no.” EVERYONE WHO PAID POINTS IN 2009 WASTED THEIR MONEY In 2009, when rates fell below 5% we refinanced our entire database […]Read More

In Defense of Cities & Large Offices

June 8, 2020/in Mortgage Industry, Our Blog

I once had a client who was a commercial airline pilot living in San Francisco. As a pilot, he could live anywhere in the U.S., so he decided to sell and use his equity “to pay cash for paradise” in Tennessee. He lasted two years. He moved back, at an enormous cost, b/c he missed […]Read More

Rates Edge Higher Again; Normality? Will Rates Fall Further?

June 5, 2020/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

Mortgage interest rates edged higher again today, and the 10 Year Treasury is at its highest level since late March. Rates edged higher largely in response to a stronger than expected employment report; unemployment was expected to hit 20% but was instead at 13.3%. So, we are back to “normal” to some extent b/c mortgage […]Read More

Yes, We Have Inflation Now – ASSET Inflation; Real Estate = Inflation Hedge

June 4, 2020/in Homebuying, Our Blog

When I tout real estate as an inflation hedge, I often get comments like this: “Dude, we are seeing DEFLATION now; INFLATION is the least of our concerns….” I then get examples of items that are far less expensive now such as gasoline, cars (way cheaper now for all the tech, speed and safety we […]Read More

Loans Just Got Tougher For the Self-Employed; Low Supply Keeping Prices Up

June 3, 2020/in Homebuying, Our Blog

LOW SUPPLY/PENT UP DEMAND KEEPING PRICES UP Keith Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer of NextHome, pointed out in a post last week that there are about 30% fewer listings on the market this year, relative to last year. B/c there is plenty of pent up demand right now facing this decreased supply, home prices are remaining […]Read More

Great Housing Migration; Credit Repair More Necessary Than Ever

June 1, 2020/in Interest Rates, Our Blog

Chris Drayer, the founder of the Predictive Analytics company (Revaluate) we often recommend, wrote a great blog a few weeks ago called The Great Housing Migration. His point: People will likely be moving to the suburbs in droves once again – for many reasons. They can work remotely. COVID-19 has shown us all that working […]Read More

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