Buyers and Sellers Today

You may have noticed that buyers and sellers are coming together on better terms and at near full asking price.

Aside from worrying about low appraisals, I'm very excited to see this level of recovery taking place. It has been a long, difficult road from the bursting of the housing bubble until now, and has been a struggle for buyers, sellers, mortgage lenders like myself, and probably you and your fellow agents, as well. I'm so happy that those days look to be behind us, and that we can work together to help more people sell their houses and more buyers get into great homes in the Phoenix area.

Now that things have improved, though, we all have a job to do, besides helping people buy and sell houses. We have to remember the problems that occurred when the market went down so sharply, so we don't get into the same kinds of problems again. The sound advice we give our buyers and sellers today could help all of us have a better tomorrow!

Allowable Seller Contributions Towards Buyers Loan Costs

Be sure to take a look at the interest rates below. Interest rates have jumped about a quarter percent (0.25%) over the past 2 weeks.

How you ever wondered how much a seller can contribute to a buyer's loan costs? I put together this simple table that will help you. After reviewing, let me know if you have any questions.

Buyer's Agent - 3 Important Steps

I have been working on a purchase transaction where the seller has a leased solar system with Solar City. The buyer's agent on the transaction is doing a great job completing the 3 important steps:

1. Make sure you tell your mortgage lender immediately if there are leased solar panels on a property your buyers are interested in. You'll need to find out what the seller's monthly lease payments are to the solar company. The lender will have to add the monthly lease payment to the buyer's liabilities. This potentially could put their debt ratios above the threshold, so be sure to let your lender know.
    
2. Make sure to put language in the purchase contract that protects your buyers. Make the home purchase contingent upon the successful lease transfer of the solar panel lease to the buyers.
    
3. Make sure your clients (buyers) apply with the solar panel company as soon as they can to get the lease transfer approved and the paperwork complete. You'll need to give that to your lender right away so everything is ready for a successful close.

Borrower's Credit Report for Medical Collections

I did some research on medical collections the other day. As a lender it is the most common collection that I see on a borrower's credit report. Did you know that more than 40% of Americans have medical collections?

Finally, there's some good news for our clients with medical collections on their credit report. The change could mean borrower credit scores could go up by as much as 25 points!

If you have potential buyers who have a medical collection accounts on their report, all three credit bureaus are no longer placing so much weight on those types of accounts. The change was announced a couple of months ago, and means a higher overall score and a better chance for lenders like me to get your buyers qualified for the home they want. Finally some common sense.

The reduction of the credit score penalty for medical debt should help bolster real estate sales. We'll take any good news we can get :-)