One important thing to keep in mind is to realize that you’re not just buying a home, you are also taking on very important and expensive financial product. It definitely does matter which Idaho mortgage company you choose at this point because will affect you for years and years to come. Let’s take the example of you buying a $300,000 house at an interest rate of 6 1/4%. (for example – not the current rate) If you happen to keep that mortgage for the entire 30 year time frame, did you know that you will actually pay around $365,000 in interest alone on this mortgage loan? Because of the weight of this decision, it is important that you are treated right and taken care of during this mortgage process.

Most important attribute when choosing between Idaho mortgage companies

Service plays a huge role when it comes to who you should choose for your home loan.  If you use an inexperience loan officer, it might cost you a lot initially, and down the road.  One mistake from your loan servicer could prevent you from even getting the loan closed on your new house at all.

Some very key tasks that your mortgage officer will handle during the mortgage process is:

• getting a preapproval that is accurate and doesn’t change later on in the process
• locking your interest rate with the right timing to save you money down the road
• making sure that the loan documents are ready in time per your contract to avoid closing delays or contract cancellations
• working closely with your real estate agent and escrow team to make the process smooth
• ensuring that your rate and terms of your loan are what you expected at closing
• being available to answer questions for you and give you experienced advice along the way

So, even though your mortgage rate is very important, comparing Idaho mortgage companies and mortgage officers also includes making sure their mortgage team and services are sharp. My recommendation is to make sure that you choose an experienced mortgage officer who is full-time in the business and is in the market day after day and has a proven track record of successful transactions with happy Idaho borrowers.

Is there anything coming up that we should know about?

• Are you purchasing a new home?
• Are you remodeling or renovating your existing home?
• Are you purchasing a vacation or second home?
• Is now the time to refinance your current home?
• Is now the time to drop the mortgage insurance from your current mortgage?

Or do you possibly have any friends or family that have any of the above needs?

Please call or email today for more information!

Credit-related jobs – specifically, “credit intermediation and related activities,” jumped 11,000 in March, with depository credit intermediation adding 6,100 jobs and commercial banks adding 5,700 lending positions.

What is your opinion on how this affects us locally?

Article from DSNews.com

Spring Break doesn’t have to be expensive to be memorable.

Here are some suggestions to plan a fun family Spring Break:

1. Create a Budget – Decide early how much you can afford to spend on Spring Break for the entire family.
2. Create a Savings Account – Set aside money each month.
3. Family Input – If it is a family vacation, make sure it is a family decision.
4. Options – make sure that you do the research, find seasonal discounts online to help save you money.  Keep adventure options open.
5. Advanced Planning – Unplanned activities usually end up costing more money than you may have budgeted for.  Make a schedule and stick to it.
6. Have a plan B for finances – make sure before you go that you have at least one credit card ready in case of emergency.

Be sure to take a camera and an open mind…creating memories with family is simple and more inexpensive than most of us realize.

Spring Break is and always has been ‘family time’ for most of us, use the ideas above to make the most of yours!

Tax Day is coming…are you ready?

If you can get organized, Tax Day is much less painful.  Now is the time to gather the information you’ll need to complete your tax return.  Whether you do your own taxes or not, being organized is going to help once Tax Day arrives.

Organization in the following areas is ideal:

1. Paperwork:

• Last year’s return
• All income info: W-2 forms, 1099 forms, alimony, self-employment income
• Any 1098 forms: mortgage, educational institution statements, etc.
• IRA info
• Savings and investments info

2. Deductions:

• Charitable contributions
• Job hunting costs
• Moving costs
• State and local income taxes and sales taxes
• Real estate and personal property taxes
• Home mortgage interest and investment interest
• Points on a home mortgage or refinance
• Casualty and theft losses not covered by insurance
• Non-reimbursed business entertainment and travel expenses, including car use
• Business use of home
• Medical expenses
• Educational expenses

3. Miscellaneous expenses:

• Tax preparation and tax advice fees
• Safe deposit box rental
• Investment fees and expenses, including service charges on dividend reinvestment plans and trustee’s fees for your IRA, if separately billed and paid
• Convenience fees charged for paying income tax, including estimated tax payments, by credit or debit card
• Appraisal fees for a casualty loss or charitable contribution
• Ask a tax professional about other expenses you can deduct if you have extensive investments, or estate, trust, IRA or Social Security issues

The above are only guidelines to help you organize some of the information you’ll need to prepare your tax return. If you have any questions about these or other tax matters, always consult with a qualified tax professional.

Hopefully you have found these tips useful in preparing for Tax Day!

Thinking about Selling your home?

There could be more reasons than you think to do it now rather than later.

Spring has traditionally been the best time to put your home on the market but times are changing.  In many locations, now may be the right time to put your property up for sale.

If you are selling your home in the near future please keep these things in mind.

1. Nationwide statistics for the housing market do not necessarily represent your housing market.  The media reports what they want and the statistics could mean nothing to you as a seller because real estate markets are purely local.
2. Supply vs. Demand is very important to keep in mind if selling your home.  Locally, our supply is much lower than our demand…this is good if you are selling.
3. In speaking with your Realtor make sure and find out how many other homes that are currently on the market compare to yours so that you know what you are up against if selling.
4. Interest rates are low and it is good time for people to buy.

Many buyers would love the opportunity to make an offer on a property that isn’t tied up in a short sale or in foreclosure.  If you would like a bigger home or prefer to live in a different part of town, now may be the time for you to sell and buy!

Consider selling your current home if you have good equity position and buy your ideal property today!

The Story Behind G-Fees

The good news is the payroll tax cut was extended in December of last year. So people who earned up to $106,800 kept their 2% tax reduction. Nothing wrong so far. But exactly how is the government going to pay for it? That’s the bad news.

The government decided to make Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae increase their fees, which means, of course home buyers and those who refinance will foot the bill. We’re not sure how they figured this was fair but why ask why?

“G-Fees” (for guarantee fee) help lower risk for Freddie and Fannie which allows them to keep rates low and lend to more people.

The new increased fees will not help.

The new increased fees will be passed along in the form of higher rates. It’s impossible to predict how much rates will increase but it could be as much as an eighth of a point in rate. Ouch!

The increased G-Fees officially go into effect April 1st, 2012 but you may see the increases sooner than that as investors begin to price it in. We think this is just another reason buyers need to get going now!

Please call or email us today regarding G-Fees or any other mortgage finance questions!

Ever-changing is something we have become very accustomed to in the mortgage industry.  Guidelines change, programs go away, new programs appear…everything is always changing.

One of our most recent changes is the FHA Scorecard.

When you hear the word ‘Scorecard’, exactly what comes to mind?   For me…I immediately revert back to school and think about grades, report cards and the like…

Well, that is very similar to what this FHA Scorecard is like.  It has been designed to gauge the risk of all loans submitted to an automated underwriting  program.

By using the FHA Scorecard things like:

• making sure applicants are subject to the exact same ‘scoring’ guidelines no matter which automated underwriting system was used to approve their application.
• the FHA Scorecard will allow FHA to analyze all data submitted which will allow monitoring of trends and allow for changes which will limit risk.
• the FHA Scorecard will also allow for borrowers who may not have been automatically ‘approved’ via the automated system to have the opportunity to have a their loan manually underwritten.

There are many details to this that can be very overwhelming and potentially confusing.  The simple basics have been mentioned above.

If you have questions about the FHA Scorecard, call us today.

What is your perspective on today’s housing market?

Talk to a Realtor or do some reasearch about today’s housing market.

Given our economy and the fact that the media rarely seems to report any good news, most of us perceive that the housing market is not ideal.  I suppose it isn’t ‘IDEAL’ but it is still good, homes are very affordable today.  Given the barrage of negativity, it is very easy to over look the positive.

Some say that housing is more affordable than it has been in over two decades.  Seems crazy to think about that doesn’t it?  I suppose it depends on your outlook – is your outlook half full or half empty?

Even though housing is affordable – Financing can still be difficult.  If you haven’t looked at buying a home in the past few years, maybe it is time to seek out a lender who can help you get into position to purchase since houses are so affordable and rates are low.  There are programs that help those who have lower credit scores &/or lower income.  As the matter of fact some of those programs have income limits which means that you cannot make too much money in order to take advantage of the program!

Please call us today to see if we can help you qualify for a home loan and take advantage of the housing market!

What does Success mean to you?

We have all felt the sting of failure and the joy of success at some point in our life.
The real question is what is success?  Everyone has a different answer to that question.

What  is your opinion about successful people in general?  Have you wondered why they are successful and how they continue their success?  Have you wondered why you find certain people successful and not others?  Society tells us most frequently that money = success.  But does it?

Statistically, successful people consistently reach their maximum potential.  CONSISTENTLY.

Here are some thoughts after reading through a few articles about traits of successful people.

• They set measurable goals
• They focus on productivity
• They make informed decisions
• They take action and they take RISK
• They avoid perfection
• They subscribe to K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid)
• They are open to change and are consistently trying to improve, even in the smallest of areas
• They learn from their mistakes
• They surround themselves with a strong support team

Back to the question of what is success?  If success for you is owning a home, how will you achieve that?  We look forward to the opportunity to help you through the process of becoming a home owner.

Simply put, Success is the achievement of something desired.

Define what you desire, implement a strategy and you will be on your way.

SMART GOALS = SUCCESS