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How to use – The Work Number
February 15, 2013 by Mark Wilson · Leave a Comment
The work number is a third party verification of employment company used by bigger corporations to provide dates of employment as well as confirm wages and commissions earned.
When you’ve been informed that you need to obtain a verification of employment (VOE) and your company uses the work number,you must call this number 1-800-367-2884. You can check out their website here, but we have found that calling them directly at the above number will get the information that you need.
You will need two obtain two things:
- Employer Code — A Identification number for your company that allows us to confirm your employment in their system.
- Your 6-digit salary key — A personal number assigned to you, by The Work Number staff that gives us access to verified income information.
Fair warning, this process will take at least 10 minutes with their automated system and can/will be trying on your patience, for that we are sorry. Once you have gathered these two pieces of information, all you need to do is send that to the lender (us) and we are able to take care of the rest.
8 Legs of a Refinance – 3 Appraisal
January 15, 2013 by Glenn Groves · Leave a Comment
We would like to breakdown a refinance into 8 different steps to simplify the understanding of the process. Today’s lending environment is ever changing and at times seems to be far too complicated and confusing. Hopefully this helps shed light on KEY steps that go into your refi.
Appraisal – If you have a VA or FHA Streamline refinance then an appraisal is not necessary for your transaction, that’s part of what makes it a streamline!
If you have a conventional mortgage and are refinancing it the appraisal is one of the most critical parts of getting a mortgage. The purpose of an appraisal is to confirm the home value for the lender. If the value comes in too low the entire deal could be sunk!
An appraisal is a professional estimate of the value of the property that you are planning to purchase.
According To Wikipedia:
Real estate appraisal, property valuation or land valuation is the practice of developing an opinion of the value of real property, usually its Market Value.
The need for appraisals arises from the heterogeneous nature of property as an investment class: no two properties are identical, and all properties differ from each other in their location – which is one of the most important determinants of their value.
So there cannot exist a centralized Walrasian auction setting for the trading of property assets, as there exists for trade in corporate stock. The absence of a market-based pricing mechanism determines the need for an expert appraisal/valuation of real estate/property.
If the appraiser’s opinion is based on Market Value, then it must also be based on the Highest and Best Use of the real property.
Appraisal Related Links / Resources:
What Do Appraisers Look For When Determining A Property’s Value? -
Most people are surprised to learn what appraisers actually look at when determining the value of a real estate property.
A common misconception homeowners generally have is that the value of their home is determined after the appraiser has completed their physical property inspection. However, the appraiser actually already has a good idea of the property’s value by the time they have scheduled an appointment to stop by the property.
…..(read more about What Do Appraisers Look For)
Five Myths About Home Values –
Regardless of whether home prices are going up or down based on outside economic factors that impact housing markets, appraisers have continued to follow a standard set of guidelines and best practices to determine values.
The following questions / myths about real estate appraisals should help clarify why your property’s value isn’t necessarily where you think it should be:
…..(read more about Five Home Value Myths)
Understanding The Difference Between A Neighborhood Comp vs Actual Appraisal -
Why is there such a difference between what my appraised value is and the price similar homes are selling for on my street?
It’s a great question, and you don’t have to be a mortgage professional or a real estate agent to understand the answer. The distinction lies in the purpose of the two valuations and who is responsible for creating them.
…..(read more about Five Home Value Myths)
How Do Mortgage Companies Value A Property That Hasn’t Been Built Yet? -
It’s obviously easier to picture the process of estimating value on an existing property in a neighborhood that has a history of home sales, but the task of determining the value on new construction projects does pose some challenges.
Appraisals on homes that haven’t been built yet generally require the contractor and home buyer to supply more documentation in order to get a more accurate estimate of the property’s value.
…..(read more about Valuing A Property That Hasn’t Been Built Yet)
I hope that you have enjoyed our 3rd installment of: The 8 legs of a Refinance
Remember to abide by the RULES of LENDING during any mortgage process!
8 Legs of a Refinance: 2 – Loan Submission
January 10, 2013 by Glenn Groves · Leave a Comment
We would like to breakdown a refinance into 8 different steps to simplify the understanding of the process. Today’s lending environment is ever changing and at times seems to be far too complicated and confusing. Hopefully this helps shed light on KEY steps that go into your refi.
LOAN SUBMISSION – Now that we have assembled all of your required documentation and figured out what the best course of action will be, we can submit the entire loan package to the lender.
We will take an in depth look at your asset statements to insure that there are no ‘unusual deposits or activity’.
Some of the other fantastically interesting things that we will be doing:
- Typing all of the loan information into our processing program, including:
-Name(s)
-SSN(s)
-DOB(s)
-Employment
-Income
-Assets
-Credit profile(s)
-Loan Amount
-Interest Rate - Reviewing tax returns for any mass deductions that could effect qualifying income
- Reviewing credit and preparing any letters of explanation for Credit Inquiries
- Sending out Verifications of Employment
- Reviewing the preliminary title report for anything that is out of place
- Double checking all hand written disclosures and applications
- Running an automated Underwriting program
- Stacking and combining the entire package and digitally importing it to the mortgage lender that we will be utilizing
Pretty dry stuff, but the devil is in the details. This is really one of the most critical steps in the entire process. The challenge is getting everything in the proper order and to make sense for the Underwriter. If everything has been checked and re checked it will just insure a smooth / quick trip through the underwriting maze at the lender.
Once the lender has confirmed they have received the submission file we could be waiting anywhere from 3 – 12 business days before we get APPROVAL (Yeah it takes them that long sometimes.)
I hope that you have enjoyed our 2nd installment of: The 8 legs of a Refinance
Remember to abide by the RULES of LENDING during any mortgage process!
8 Legs of a Refinance: 1 – Game Planning & Required Docs
January 8, 2013 by Glenn Groves · Leave a Comment
We would like to breakdown a refinance into 8 different steps to simplify the understanding of the process. Today’s lending environment is ever changing and at times seems to be far too complicated and confusing. Hopefully this helps shed light on KEY steps that go into your refi.
One of the first steps in the loan process is GAME PLANNING. We need to figure out what objective you are trying to accomplish with refinancing your current mortgage.
- Lower monthly payments?
- Shorter loan term?
- Cash out equity to payoff other debts or a HELOC?
What program is going to work for you?
- Conventional
- FHA Streamline (no appraisal)
- VA IRRRL (Streamline, no appraisal)
- HARP 2.0
- Fixed? ARM?
What RATE will be most beneficial? (FYI – The lowest interest rate does not always make the most sense)
The list goes on and on. We pride ourselves in being able to sit down with our clients and figure out what the best possible situation will work for you, your family and your financial future.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS – Often at this beginning stage in the refi process we will need to go over all of the essential paperwork that will make up the bulk of your file – YOUR STUFF! This paperwork IS NOT required during the initial application & game planning process, but will be needed the majority of it to move on to the next stage. We will give you a tailored list of items for your specific situation.
This “stuff” includes, but isn’t limited too:
-Income
- Provide most recent pay stubs for 1 month
- Provide W-2′s for the past two years
- Provide all pages and schedules of last two years personal Federal tax returns
- If self employed, provide all pages and schedules of last two years business tax returns and corporate K-1′s
- If retired, provide benefit award letter, last two years 1099′s, and all pages and schedules of last two years tax returns
- If any rental income is received, provide copy of current lease agreement and mortgage statement
- If VA and active duty personnel, copy of Statement of Service Letter and Off Base Housing Authority Letter
- Assets
- Provide ALL pages of most recent 2 months statements for all accounts; including all checking, savings, stocks, IRA, 401k, etc. The statements must show your name, account number and the name of the banking institution.
- Credit
- We will run a lender grade credit report and review it with you to make sure everything is good to go.
- Other paperwork
- Current mortgage statement
- Copy of ID and Social Security card
I know it seems like a lot, but this is what is required for a lot of the mortgage programs out there today. We will also go over all of our disclosures and applications that will be needed to move forward with the loan. These include all of your stock standard disclosures for credit equality, authorizations, fair lending, privacy servicing and everything else under the sun!
I hope that you have enjoyed our 1st installment of: The 8 legs of a Refinance
Remember to abide by the RULES of LENDING during any mortgage process!
Pick a Closing Date That Will Yield Lower Rates
July 6, 2012 by Glenn Groves · Leave a Comment
Want a lower mortgage rate on your upcoming Santa Rosa home purchase? Think about moving up the closing date.
The reason is rooted in “rate locks”, a bank’s guarantee to honor a specific mortgage rate for a specific, finite period of time. Rate locks allow home buyers to reserve mortgage rates today even though their respective closings may be scheduled as far as a year into the future.
Click here for a live RATE QUOTE!
A rate lock is a contract. No matter what the “current market rate” is at the time of closing, the bank will honor the terms of the original rate lock.
It would be like making an agreement to buy Microsoft stock at a specific price 60 days from now. No matter what the price, you already know what you’re paying for it.
In this sense, rate locks are predictions about the future and, meanwhile, as we all know, the future can be a challenge to forecast. Lenders know this, too, of course, so it’s easy to understand why longer rate locks tend to be more expensive than shorter ones.
The longer the rate lock, the more risk to the bank.
Click here for a live RATE QUOTE!
To compensate for this “time risk”, therefore, lenders typically step-up pricing for rate lock guarantees as lock period lengthen.
- 15-day rate lock : The best of all pricing
- 30-day rate lock : 1/8 percent extra cost versus the 15-day rate lock
- 45-day rate lock : 1/4 percent extra cost versus the 15-day rate lock
- 60-day rate lock : 3/8 percent extra cost versus the 15-day rate lock
One percent of “extra cost” is defined as one percent of the borrowed amount.
Now, this incremental price chart is just a rough guideline; exact spreads vary from lender-to-lender. Overall, however, it’s fairly close.
That’s why it’s important to manage your closing date vis-a-vis your mortgage rate. Closing in 30 days versus 31 can save you an eighth-percent in closing costs. Assuming a loan size of $200,000, that’s $250 saved.
Click here for a live RATE QUOTE!
The Groves Team prides themselves on keeping a sharp eye out on what rates are doing day to day to lock in the best possible rates for our borrowers.
So, when negotiating a closing date on a contract, keep in mind the math of mortgage rate locks. The shorter its length, the more money you might save.
Beware of the rules of Lending, 12 of 12 What You Can Actually Do!
June 13, 2012 by Elise Groves · Leave a Comment
Let’s look at the very short and sweet ‘DO’ list: Mainly…DO use your head…
DO KEEP MAKING YOUR PAYMENTS ON TIME—make all of your debt obligations on time and don’t miss any of them!
If a 30 day late from ANY of your accounts shows up at the end of the loan process, you may be denied the loan. That would be sad, so pay attention to the details while you are going through the loan process and all will be well 
DO CONTACT ELISE GROVES NOW with ANY QUESTIONS if you’re not sure what to do. I will guide you through the minefield and make sure you have a smooth and successful loan closing!!
Very nice!!!
If you enjoyed this post please click here ‘Beware of the rules of Lending’ to see all 12!
Beware of the rules of Lending, 11 of 12 Buying New Stuff
June 11, 2012 by Elise Groves · Leave a Comment
DON’T BUY A CAR, FURNITURE, APPLIANCES, OR ANYTHING BIG! Don’t think that the lender won’t find out…they have numerous ways to check on you during the mortgage loan process by accessing different databases of information.
It’s not really a matter of IF they check but WHEN.
If you go on a spending spree then guess what is going to happen next?
You could be at risk for no longer qualifying for the loan, losing your earnest money deposit as well as the home you wanted to buy.
LAY LOW… don’t spend ANY extra money, or charge ANYTHING new!!
I know you’re excited to start furnishing your new home and getting things lined up, like ordering carpet and flooring, or applying for new credit but wait.
If you simply can’t wait and the deal is just too good (yes we have had that happen) Please make the smart decision and contact us before making the purchase to that we can get all of the information that we need in order to keep the deal on track.
This will not be the last time the washer and dryer are on sale. Trust me.
Beware of the rules of Lending, 10 of 12 Deposits
June 5, 2012 by Elise Groves · 4 Comments
DON’T MAKE UNUSUAL DEPOSITS—That includes CASH. Be prepared to furnish COPIES of every deposit you make that isn’t a regular direct deposit of a paycheck or benefits.
Seriously…copies of your birthday check from your Grandmother are suspected as money laundering these days, so keep copies of everything!! Try NOT to put cash in the bank, or move other funds around during the loan process.
Usually any deposit made of over $300 that can not be immediately paper trailed will cause problems… for all the underwriter knows you are a drug dealer and this was your latest haul…
It just really irritates the underwriter, and it will NOT be counted toward making sure you have enough funds in the end. Weird but true… you would think it would be the opposite since ‘cash is king’, but not in this case. 
If you can already show the lender you have enough for the down and closing costs, just keep the cash in your pocket and save us all a headache of trying the explain those cash deposits. PLEASE KEEP YOUR DEPOSIT SLIPS/RECEIPTS! Underwriters watch bank statements like hawks and they want to know exactly what’s going in and out of your accounts and ‘why’ so just be prepared to back it up with explanations and actual proof.
Beware of the rules of Lending, 9 of 12 Co-Signing
May 31, 2012 by Elise Groves · Leave a Comment
DON’T CO-SIGN ON ANOTHER PERSONS LOAN— Whatever you do, don’t get talked into helping your kids, your in-laws or ANYONE else with getting financing that they can’t get on their own right now.
The underwriter is going to most likely count the new debt in against YOU, even though someone else might be making the payments.
A good rule to remember with Co-Signing is that you have to prove the other party has been making the payments on their own for at least 12 months… yes an entire year… so is that new car, TV, or whatever else really worth it right this second?
Trust me, whoever you are trying to help can wait until YOU are done with your loan transaction.
If you have already Co-Signed for someone that requested help, good on you for helping them out. Now since the debt is reporting when we run credit, (again assuming it has been 12 months) you will also need to produce all of the cancelled payment slips or checks to support the fact that you have not been making the payments or even been helping, not even a little bit… if we can paper trail it, you are helping. Note- In most cases this excludes Co-Signed student loans in deferment.
This could end your chances immediately of getting your own home loan, so just WAIT.
If you are thinking about Refinancing or Purchasing but have Co-Signing questions please CONTACT US so we can help you with a smooth transaction.
Beware of the rules of Lending, 8 of 12 Paying off Debt
May 29, 2012 by Elise Groves · Leave a Comment
DON’T PAY OFF COLLECTION ACCOUNTS OR CLOSE CREDIT CARDS -
The horrors that this can create are not pretty.
I know it may seem like the right thing to do, but this falls under the category of ’No Good Deed Goes Unpunished’. You can actually DROP your credit score substantially by paying off a small collection account or closing a long standing account.
Credit is one of the most valuable and tricky financial tools that we deal with. STOP, ASK ME FIRST before you do anything like this!!! There are very specific ways this has to be done.
