Tag Archive for: loan

Get Found Online In The AI Era; Contingency Removal Battles

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A few weeks ago I wrote this blog: Your Grandma's SEO is officially dead. In that blog, I mentioned how our online lead volume plummeted over a few short months because the rules for online search optimization changed significantly and very quickly in the AI era - catching us completely off guard. Almost everything we had learned and were doing had become obsolete. I also mentioned a friend who updated his Google Business page with the help of highly trained and expensive consultants - and quickly saw his business improve (he had 6 transactions come in online in 2024 and none in the latter half of 2025). We too made significant changes to our SEO approach and saw our online leads shoot back up instantly. It was no small task though, as the realm requires a tremendous amount of sophistication. As a result, we decided to do a webinar for agents to share much of what we learned.Read More

“I Make $30,000 Per Month, But My Credit Score’s 560; Can I Get A Mortgage?”

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There are companies in college towns that make their money by renting apartments to college kids and keeping their security deposits when the kids move out – no matter what. It is an incredibly slimy practice because the firms prey on the kids who can least afford to absorb the expense or fight back. Sidebar: This happened when I was in college, but unfortunately for the apartment complex owner, one of the victims’ fathers was a high-powered class-action attorney in LA. Needless to say, he formed a “class of aggrieved former tenants,” and he ended up owning the entire 400-unit complex. Sometimes, trial lawyers are a good thing. I am sharing the story about the slimy apartment owners because we once had a borrower with collections from one of them on his credit report. The firm not only kept his deposit, but they hit him with additional charges for utter nonsense, and the borrower refused to pay on principle. The slimy firm promptly reported the collections, and the borrower’s credit score fell below 600. The borrower was able to get a loan, but he had to write a very strong letter of explanation and still had to pay off the collections – as painful as it was (he could have litigated, too, but that would have been more expensive).Read More

What Is a Doctor Mortgage Loan? A Guide for Medical Pros

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Medical school prepares you for a lot of things. Navigating a mortgage with six figures in student debt and a resident's salary? Not so much. That's exactly what doctor mortgage loans are designed for — and if you're a physician, dentist, pharmacist, or other healthcare professional trying to buy a home, this might be the most important financing tool you've never heard of. Here's how it works and whether it's the right fit for you.Read More

When You Should Drop Your Husband; Part II

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I am repeating this blog from several years ago because I forgot to include a MAJOR reason to drop your husband. The following text from an agent prompted my original blog, as it made for great blog fodder. “I received an offer on a property and it’s ‘wife only,’ stating ‘husband is starting a business and that’s why he isn’t on the loan.’ I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. Does this mean the husband has bad credit and they are trying to qualify with just her, and is that an issue?”Read More

Homeowners Are Getting Ripped Off By Call Centers

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Note To Agents Everywhere: your past clients are getting ripped off left and right. We know this because we’re seeing so many examples right now, and it’s worse than ever. Fortunately, there is a simple solution. The % of mortgages above 6% (21% of all mortgages) is now higher than the % of mortgages below 3% (20% of mortgages) – something I thought we might never see a few years back.Read More

Difference Between Points, Discount Points, & Origination Fees; Slimiest Thing I’ve Seen

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This is the slimiest thing I’ve seen in a long time. We quote most of our loans as “no points,” meaning that we truly don’t charge any points or discount points of any kind. But a borrower recently left us for another lender (temporarily) that offered a 1/8% lower rate and “no points” too. The problem was that the lender was also charging $10,000 in “origination fees,” and $10,000 MORE than what we were charging. Fortunately, the borrower shared his Loan Estimate with us, and we were able to illuminate the slime-factor and bring the borrower back to JVM.Read More

I Can’t Believe My Client Has $1 Million In The Bank And Can’t Get A Loan!

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Our Team Manager, Madeline Malinovsky, was covering for JVM over the weekend, and apparently, she’s way too smooth on the phone, as she was accused of being AI by several borrowers. This is a reminder of two things: (1) we are open every weekend to help agents and borrowers alike;  and (2) we’re actual humans, and not AI.Read More

BEWARE of 11th Hour Fraud/Credit/Employment Check

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Today’s blog is about one of the biggest and costliest mistakes we see buyers make, which kills deals and sometimes puts very large earnest money deposits at risk. Borrowers mistakenly believe that once their loan is fully underwritten, with all conditions satisfied or easily satisfiable - they can stop worrying altogether about making sure they remain qualified for the remaining few days or weeks until their loan closes.Read More

Buyers on the Loan Must Be on Title; “Title Only” Is Always OK

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If a borrower is on the loan, they must also be on title. But the "title only" option allows flexibility—especially when one spouse has poor credit or heavy debt.Read More

Must Be On Title to Be On Loan; Must Refi to Get “Off” Loan

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We sometimes have borrowers who want to be “on the loan,” but not “on title” (for tax reasons usually). This is impossible, however, as lenders require all borrowers qualifying for […]Read More