Posted on Friday, 28th August 2009 by chrisjones

Specifically, Utah County.  Our latest batch of appraisals in the Utah County area have come in about 10% lower than projected.  Since we run all of our appraisals through the best AMC on earth, 1st Choice AMS, we know these are not appraiser-specific values.  These are across the board, almost all properties, all appraisers and [...]

Tags: lehi lender, mortgage shopper, utah mortgage, Utah Realtors
Posted in Blog & News, Finance 101, General | Comments (0)

Posted on Thursday, 4th June 2009 by chrisjones

Got a question from a client the other day that I hear a lot, so I thought I’d post my response to it, in the hope that it would be helpful to more than just her.
Q: Why do I need to provide my social security number and birthday?  I’m not sure I want to give [...]

Tags: approval, lehi mortgages, utah mortgage, utah mortgage broker, utah mortgage lender
Posted in Blog & News, Finance 101, General | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 19th May 2009 by chrisjones

Once, a thousand years ago, there were new loan programs coming out every day or two.  Now there are only a few left, and no innovation coming from the private loan markets, because it is the Fed that is doing all the dictating.

But they are doing some dictating.  Yesterday HUD said it is writing rules [...]

Tags: downpayment assistance, DU Refi Plus, mortgage industry, mortgage lending, mortgage loans, mortgage modification
Posted in Blog & News, Finance 101, General, Rate Watch | Comments (2)

Posted on Tuesday, 19th May 2009 by chrisjones

A couple weeks ago I posted about debt and spending in A Conundrum Wrapped in a Paradox, Stuffed in a Burrito.  The point was that we as a country can get - and have gotten - to a place where we can’t keep spending as we have, because we weren’t spending our money, and now [...]

Tags: debt, Fed, personal responsibility, savings
Posted in Blog & News, Finance 101, General | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 28th April 2009 by chrisjones

Now that it appears that mortgage cramdowns are going to be stripped out of the housing bill in Congress, let’s talk about why they were a bad idea in the first place.
Yes, I know that bankruptcy judges re-write credit card debt all the time.  This is the argument that Elizabeth Warren, the chief TARP watchdog, [...]

Tags: cramdowns
Posted in Blog & News, Finance 101, General | Comments (0)