Fort Thomas, KY Mortgage Specialist

IF HOME BUYERS ARE SO SMART, THEN WHY AREN'T THEY GETTING PRE QUALIFIED?

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:31:31 -0500

IF HOME BUYERS ARE SO SMART, THEN WHY AREN'T THEY GETTING PRE QUALIFIED?

No doubt most buyers are getting smarter all the time. With listings available on the Internet, most people have access to a computer and it is said most shopping for a home starts online, then it can be assumed home buyers really are getting more savvy.

Having said that, however, it befuddles me that the message to get pre qualified, to research loan programs available, to understand the buying process does not take place before a contract is written. Of my recent inquiries for a home purchase 2/3 wrote contracts before contacting a lender. Further, who are these Realtors writing offers for these people?

It can be costly to not get pre qualified. Along with qualifying home buyers I educate them about selecting a real estate agent to work with, what pitfalls to look for such as what properties can't be financed besides the loan process itself. Doing the prep work up front is so valuable I wish all home buyers would take that step to get pre qualified first. There are times it works out just fine to do things in reverse, but it can sure add some unnecessary angst.

Home buyers need to be smart and get pre qualified. My website has a lot of information for the Kentucky home buyer www.dagriffinfinancial.com. Rather than spend a lot of time there, I am always happy to break it down in a phone conversation and supply a top list of mistakes made by home buyers as well as steps to take before buying a home.

MY LOAN IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:00:22 -0500

MY LOAN IS BEING HELD HOSTAGE

The first email I opened this morning was from an Appraisal Managment Company advising me the first panel appraiser for the appraisal I ordered yesterday requested an additional $50.00 to complete the assignment.

I EQUATE THIS TO HOLDING MY LOAN HOSTAGE.

As a mortgage broker I must quote a borrower accurate fees for their loan. I am not allowed to help this borrower out by paying the $50 for them even if I wanted to with the new loan officer compensation rules.

I've worked with this AMC for some time and I'm sure the appraiser did request additional funds, but I wonder about the real reason for the requested increase. Is it likely because the AMC is taking 90 days to pay the appraiser? The property is located in a heavily populated area, immediately off the expressway and there are multiple comps for the same style and age home.

I find it infuriating that consumers are continually being asked to ante up more money for appraisals that are ordered through AMC companies. An appraisal like this would have cost the borrower $300 prior to HVCC/AIR. The cost has been $400 for about 6 months, and now the AMC wants $450. Delivery used to be within a week, now it is weeks. When are the powers that be going to wake up and realize how detrimental this process is to the economy and housing recovery!

Appraisers cry out to have their fees returned to the norm (prior to HVCC/AIR), but the only way this is going to happen is by the borrower paying a much higher fee to keep AMC's in the process. I feel sorry for appraisers who are working harder and being paid less, but I feel equally sorry for the home owner who is paying more for less.

It is not fair, nor reasonable that every home owner is paying more and getting worse service because of those who were fixing appraisals not being prosecuted. Instead of prosecuting the wrong doers, rules were enacted affecting every appraisal. This seems to be the rule of the road these days - punish everyone.

WILL BANK WRITE DOWNS HELP SAVE HOUSING?

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:02:17 -0500

WILL BANK WRITE DOWNS HELP SAVE HOUSING?

I find myself reviewing several articles on the above subject again today and I have to ask "will bank write downs help save housing?" And, how do I feel about that?

It seems everyone has an opinion on the subject. One school of thought is that a home purchase did not come with a guarantee of appreciation in value, so a commitment to pay should be valid even if the home is under water. Many of us have lost value in our homes.

I can understand this way of thinking. Each month as a home owner makes a payment that includes principal and interest, they get a little closer to owing the home outright.

A second school of thought is that a bank write down would indeed cut down on foreclosures, that home owners would stay and pay. I'm sure there are some home owners out there who look at the situation and decide they won't pay for a home that lost significant value. I'm not convinced they represent a high percentage of foreclosures.

From my experience foreclosures are not because borrowers are upside down and they are walking, they simply cannot get a loan modified at a market rate or they have lost jobs or have a serious illness, something that is a once in a lifetime occurance, perhaps. I wonder if the hype about writing down balances is just another stab in the dark that would not be helpful overall.

If banks were to write down balances, then how does that affect the general populace? Will those who did not need a write down think of the others as losers who could not follow through on their promise to pay, perhaps they got an undeserved break. In the long run who pays for the write down?

I know of a situation where the home has declined 50%. The home owner has a balloon mortgage that is coming due this year. The owner cannot get refinanced, even with the current mortgage holder because the value has dropped, the value cannot be proven. In this situation, why would the bank simply not refinance this home owner at the market rate on the balance owed, even if the home is only worth 60% of the face of the mortgage. In my book that beats a foreclosure. Keep this home owner on the hook for the entire balance, just make the payment fixed and as low as possible.

Bank write downs may cut back on some foreclosures, but when employment is an underlying problem, it may not go far in curing the foreclosure crisis.

HARPING ON HARP II

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:46:50 -0500

HARPING ON HARP II

HARP II is intended to be an improvement over the original refinance program for Fannie and Freddie. Some things like the ability to go to 125% loan to value are still tricky because lenders may not go along. The one big benefit I see is that the loan level price adjustments can be much lower and that will open up more loans to be refinanced. Not all the changes are implemented yet, but should be in April.

During this time when low rates are so prevalent it would be sweet if everyone could refinance. There are still several things standing in the way for many, for instance if your loan is not Fannie or Freddie owned, or if credit or value is a problem. In these instances HARP II is not going to be the solution.

There is one key oops with HARP II that would have been extremely helpful to so many home owners, a requirement that the second mortgage be automatically subordinated. Since they are in second position already, what is the big deal by staying there for a more favorable loan to the borrower. There are a couple of states that do have this ruling even prior to HARP II.

As I write this I am dealing yet again with a lender who is taking over two months to say yes to subordinating their current second mortgage. This deal has a 70% front end and 81% back end. I've worked with this lender a lot in my career and would not have expected the 20 days they publish as their required processing time, but we could work with it.

After our request was submitted for two weeks, they tell me now they are working on the December 01 requests. Now we are looking at more than two months, and by the way, don't even think of asking for a RUSH. (I wouldn't because they would not recognize it I'm sure.)

(This particular loan does not require an appraisal for the first mortgage, the value was accepted by the automated underwriting system, but the second lien holder if they don't agree can order an appraisal, a further delay. Unfortunately one guide they use is Zillow, (can I insert a LOL here?). I've actually had this lender order an appraisal in a situation where there is NO MAXIMUM loan to value when they would not subordinate, wasting a borrowers money.)

While we wait, the borrower will lose his lock. Fortunately the rates have remained low, although it will cost him something to keep the rate I am sure. Then there is the question of when we may actually get the subordinated second. When they say they are working on Dec 01 requests, that does not mean we are six weeks out because as the customer service person said "they are not allowed to tell us what they think, only the day they are working on".

Most annoying about this scenario is the total lack of concern for someone who has a loan with this company. I cannot imagine a day that I could be so uncaring about a situation my borrower is in. The longest I've waited for a subordinated second was over 4 months. Too bad HARP II did not address this issue in a more logical way.

HOME OWNERS GET SET TO PAY FOR PAYROLL TAX CUT

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:19:17 -0500

HOME OWNERS GET SET TO PAY FOR PAYROLL TAX CUT

HERE IS THE SUBJECT OF AN EMAIL I GOT FROM ONE OF MY LENDERS TODAY:

Conforming and Non-conforming prices will change based on recent Congressional action, worsening pricing

"Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are increasing their Guarantee Fee (GFee) effective with April “settlements,” which will worsen pricing. (As a result this lender is factoring the fee beginning in February)

The GFee increase will worsen prices by up to 80 bps depending on note rate."

This is the fee being charged to Fannie/Freddie for the PAYROLL TAX CUT that was extended for two months.

Loan level price adjustments have become commonplace since the housing collapse. In the past if a borrower received an "approve/eligible" reading on automated underwriting and the home was a primary residence, and they were putting down at least 5%, there were no additional fees charged by Fannie/Freddie. Since the collapse there are fees depending upon loan to value and credit scores, among other features.

Suppose I have a borrower who has more than 40% equity, an 800 credit score he/she may not have to pay any fee currently.. . . . BUT

With the above change he/she will; they could pay the 80 bps out of pocket. (On a $100,000 loan this is only $80.00.) For some borrowers it would actually be financed into the rate with premium pricing. Unfortunately often it will be without knowledge of the borrower. Not every originator will break down the costs for the loan.

We in the industry knew this was coming when the announcement was made that the payroll tax cut was paid for by additional fees to Fannie/Freddie. While I agree the deficit is too high, I'm not sure I support one segment of our population paying for a payroll tax cut for everyone else.

COST OF PAYROLL TAX CUT IS REAL

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:42:52 -0500

COST OF PAYROLL TAX CUT IS REAL

HOORAY!!!!!!!!! It appears the payroll tax cut has been extended for two months. The bad news is as I mentioned in an earlier blog the Senate bill had provisions for increased fees at Fannie, Freddie and FHA to "pay for" the tax reduction. The House has agreed to this.

As an example on a FHA loan the monthly MIP is 1.15%. To pay for the tax cut, it would go up 10 basis points to 1.25% a month. On a $100,000 loan this makes the monthly MIP $10.00 more, $120 more annually, and over ten years $1200.

Take this times the numbers of people who will get FHA loans and in ten years that is a lot of bread! I don't see how Fannie and Freddie won't look similar when it comes down to it. They are not going to pay the government funds they can't recoup, especially when they are broke.

Everyone should give the home buyers and refinance-rs a big old pat on the back for putting the extra dough in their pockets.

PAYROLL TAX CUT

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:37:20 -0500

PAYROLL TAX CUT

This week we are met with a Senate bill that antes up a two month extension to the payroll tax cut at the expense of homeowners!

The bill continues the reduced payroll taxes to particularly the middle class and extends unemployment benefits to others. It moves on to the House where hopefully it will NOT pass.

If the bill does pass the way it is now, then give the home owner who refinances next year, or buys a home a big hug.

Orchestrated by Kentucky's own Mitch McConnell it grants a mere two month extension to the payroll tax bill, and it is being paid for in large part by extra fees to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In the past perhaps this was not so meaningful to most of us because we did not pay so much attention. Now, those of us in the housing industry snap to attention at the mention of Fannie and Freddie.

Prior to the mortgage meltdown if one was not doing a special program, or investment property there were no extra Fannie Mae fees. Now since the meltdown, even those with credit scores over 740 can be subject to extra fees, called loan level price adjustments, with a 620 credit score the fees are outrageous. It is the agencys' way of getting on the road to solvency again.

It does not take a rocket scientist to realize fees charged to Fannie and Freddie will be passed on to home owners when they buy or refinance. What are our Senators thinking? Do they not realize we are in a HOUSING CRISIS in this country?

There are plenty of well qualified home owners right now who do not get to take advantage of the record low interest rates because the loan level price adjustments make it not feasible. Meantime, another Senator, David Vitter, LA, is asking FHA to up MI to the highest level allowed.

How does this help housing recovery? How can our Senate be so out of touch with reality?

payroll tax holiday

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:03:10 -0500

PAYROLL TAX HOLIDAY

Just when you are beginning to wonder if they will EVER get it in Washington, they come up with something new. The payroll tax "holiday" is under pressure to be extended.

The President and most Democrats and Republicans agree extending the payroll tax holiday would be a good idea. The problem is how to pay for it.

The President believes putting an extra $1000 a year in the hands of the citizens would be a good thing especially in this economy. Who are we to disagree? Who couldn't use an extra $1000?

The Dems want to tax the wage earners more who NET more than $1,000,000 a year. The House, controlled by Republicans has passed a bill that ties the tax holiday to a Keystone Pipeline, Oil, that is, from Canada to Texas.

One idea both parties support is having Fannie and Freddie charge lenders MORE for the loans they buy. Yep, and what do you suppose would be the ultimate end to that folly. Consumers would end up paying for it. Consumers who are refinancing or purchasing a home would get that fee passed on to them through loan level price adjustments.

In the lending world, Fannie and Freddie charge lenders fees for delivery of loans. Lenders in turn charge borrowers fees for delivery. How near sighted of our senators and congressmen to THINK most of us would not recognize this for what it is. A price hike to those borrowing money. A further detriment to housing recovery.

While Washington is looking for some common ground, I believe more and more every day the middle class is finding common ground - we do not need representatives in Washington who are so far removed from our every day struggles.

CINCINNATI ZOO FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:52:10 -0500

CINCINNATI ZOO FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

My family and I went to the Cincinnati Zoo Festival of Lights Monday night. As expected it was a lot of fun. We have a little one who was comfortably warm with layers of clothing and a blanket.

If you are expecting to see animals, there will be minimal sightings. Some of the "houses" are open such as the reptile house and manatee. The polar bear was sleeping, which was disappointing. There was a random sighting of a lynx. One of the handlers had an owl out. I'm sure at different times there are different experiences in this regard.

One of the best parts of the experience was a puppet show. I would highly recommend this to any visitor.

Some concessions are open with hot drinks and food. As one would expect, eating at the zoo for humans is pretty expensive. We ate before we went, but could not resist the hot toasted cinnamon almonds.

The hours are 5- 9 nightly until January 1, 2012. There are 2 million lights and many great spots for pictures among the lights. Normally we purchase tickets ahead of time, but this time around we did not. I'd highly recommend a pre purchase to avoid the line once you get there. We had coupons for half off, which could not be used in the automated machines, so we had about a twenty minute wait. It was well worth it.

Visit the link below to get information on pre purchasing tickets and how to get coupons. Coupons are not valid every day.

If a visit to the Cincinnati Zoo Festival of Lights is in your plans, it is a great way to spend a few hours with family and just as important, all the visitors were in great Christmas mood!

http://cincinnatizoo.org/events/festival-of-lights/

WHO IS RUNNING THE CFPB?

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:12:18 -0500

WHO IS RUNNING THE CFPB?

Since the senate failed to confirm either Elizabeth Warren or Richard Cordray as director of the CFPB (Consumer Finance Protection Agency), then who is running it in the absence of a director? In the interim the acting director is Raj Date. His resume includes Capital One and Deustche Bank.

I wonder when I read that what he thinks now and thought then about his employer's credit card activity?

As this drama goes on and on in Washington, it makes me pause to consider the persons who are employed by the CFPB, the rules they are writing, the money spent to pay them, and how enforceable the rules are they are writing? My understanding is that rules regarding non banking entities are not enforceable without a director.

The CFPB is an agency that writes it own budget, answers to no one and cannot be restrained except in the case of a threat to national financial well being.

A quote from Timothy Geithner:

"The longer we wait to confirm a director, the more we’re leaving millions of Americans who aren’t doing business with banks vulnerable to the kind of predation and abuse that caused so much damage in this crisis,” Geithner said, quoted in the Treasury blog post. “That’s not something we find acceptable.”"

I understand this quote was directed toward the pay day loans.

Why even consumers may not be 100% behind a CFPB: So far every act that has come from Washington or the Feds to "help" the consumer has:

1) Hamstrung the consumers ability to get home financing,

2) Caused devastating financial loss to countless appraisers and mortgage professionals,

3) Driven up costs for the consumer for housing financing,

4) Reduced the sources of financing.

5) Not only made the mortgage loan documents more difficult to understand, but doubled the physical size of the loan package.

Given this track record, many are "underwhelmed" with the prospect of another government agency having more powers.

The CFPB is to have a budget of a half million dollars a year. The Republicans are fighting accepting a single director vs a board for the agency, and they want an agency like FDIC to have the ability to override the CFPB . I would not prefer a board over a single director, and certainly the CFPB doesn't need to be set up with another agency having a power of veto.

My take on the CFPB is that there is not enough money in the budget to have one group stick its nose into every consumer transaction in this country. There is not enough money to enforce the rules imposed by the CFPB. With all the changes that have been made by the Feds and Washington, it has not stopped appraisal or loan fraud. Every time I speak with a consumer who tells me the interest rate they are quoted and I know they are being lied to I am further convinced the government cannot save us all, nor should they.

Will a director ever be named. Probably, maybe even during recess.

WHAT AM I GOING TO MAKE MYSELF DO TODAY?

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 11:47:57 -0500

WHAT AM I GOING TO MAKE MYSELF DO TODAY?

I have that conversation with myself some days. Inside I'm screaming, "you can't make me!" but I KNOW that to be successful I must make myself do something I may not really enjoy.

Some things come easily like sending out thank you cards/letters, along with applicable information.

I know blogging is a good thing. I know actually getting the newsletters in the mail is a good thing, heck, even paying the bills is a good thing. We don't enjoy every aspect of a task and we often put off doing them.

I am not a natural born sales person. Especially in this area when I wake up and consider my to do list; there are things that I must make myself do. Money does not motivate me, doing a great job for someone does. Perhaps if I were more motivated by money I would find the "selling" task more enjoyable.

Today, I am going to make myself go to a Christmas party. I am going because there are people there I need to see and in the end, I'll enjoy it.

HARP II (HOME AFFORDABLE REFINANCE) CHANGES

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:50:30 -0500

HARP II (HOME AFFORDABLE REFINANCE) CHANGES

Changes were announced last week for HARP II (Home Affordable Refinance). I am including a link to the FannieMae website. It details the changes and has a Q&A section that is worth bookmarking. Many of us will need to refer to it frequently.

How will the HARP II changes affect those seeking to refinance a home mortgage?

There are several changes, some won't go into effect right away, and as always, it will vary somewhat from lender to lender.

For instance, a big change is lifting the limit on the LTV (loan to value) of the property. The first mortgage was limited to 105% LTV on HARP I. On the downside this change is not widely available until March 2012.

Current servicers will have the ability to do manual underwrites vs using automated underwriting.

The onerous LLPA's (loan level price adjustments) are a little less onerous with this change. The good news is that this goes into effect immediately. For instance the credit adjustment for a score of 620 was 3 POINTS prior to this change. Those with better scores won't see as much improvement, but those with lower scores will see the maximum for this adjustment .750%.

Total LLPA is limited to 2 points now. The LLPA changes will allow more people to refinance. Previously by the time the LLPA's were calculated it simply was too costly to justify a refinance. I will be going back through my refinance opportunities for Northern Kentucky to see if some are now more doable.

If I had a genie lamp and my wish(es), I would have wished for no loan level price adjustments if the loan received automated approval and I would wish any secondary mortgages be automatically subordinated, Period! For now, we have somewhat of an improvement. Check out the changes and all 100 Q&A's below.

For now, we'll see how this unfolds, what lenders will acutally do with it, etc. Anyone who has considered refinancing previously and determined it was not worthwhile, just may want to check in again to see how things have changed for them.

https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/mha/mharefi/pdf/refinancefaqs.pdf

What Will The 2012 Northern Kentucky Real Estate Market Look Like?

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:19:03 -0500

What Will The 2012 Northern Kentucky Real Estate Market Look Like?

It is that time of year when Realtors and Mortgage Loan Originators begin planning for the 2012 real estate market. We'll take time to analyze our results for this year, measure that against projections and attempt to come up with a plan for 2012.

For many 2011 is turning out much worse than 2010. The reasons are varied. We've seen many changes in the lending industry this year. It has been difficult for us to conduct business with constant changes. The biggest difference in closed loans is two fold. One is the appraisal problems. The second is increased costs to borrowers due to credit scores. I really do mean credit scores, not a question of whether one pays bills on time, but what score that person has.

When a borrower pays all their bills on time, yet has recent inquiries, or open new lines of credit, has high usage of revolving credit, he will score lower and costs to refinance or purchase a home goes up. Recently there was a change announced that will reduce the costs somewhat, but perhaps not enough to get these borrowers refinanced at the lowest possible rate.

We mortgage originators began to see failed closings due to appraisal problems increase in 2010. Increasingly this year it is reported that appraisals are wreaking havoc with pending sales.

At this point in time, I think 2012 will look a lot like 2011 as to volume.

In 2012 we are not going to see a big increase in loan products we can offer. I don't think we will see a substantial improvement in appraisal problems. We will most likely see a continuing shrinkage of products as well as sources for the consumer as more lenders leave the business. We see wholesalers announcing they are pulling out as well as there are fewer independent mortgage brokers in our market.

The biggest issue affecting housing recovery is that unemployment will continue to be a problem. As long as people are not working, they cannot buy homes. Workers who are being laid off, particularly those older workers will be hard pressed to find new work. On top of this the problems in Europe will be a long time getting settled. Add to these two things the foreclosures on the market and it is really hard to expect a vastly improving housing market.

These are the reasons I expect 2012 to not be a better year than 2011. I am hoping it will at least not decline further. Another factor is that consumers are not feeling comfortable enough about jobs to change their housing situation. Many will sit pat until they feel the worst of the storm is over. That will be a while yet.

Overall if 2012 is at least as good as 2011, it will be the best that can be expected. There is still an oversupply of homes on the market in Northern Kentucky. There will always be really good deals on a case by case basis. As always it is important to do your homework before considering a purchase or a refinance.

WORST THINGS FIRST!

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:00:59 -0500

Worst Things First!

I was thinking about this yesterday. I had a couple of tasks that (a) I was not excited about doing or (b) were downright not pleasant.

I usually do these kinds of tasks first thing in the morning because it gets them off my desk. This week I let myself slip into agonizing about these "worst" tasks; envisioning an outcome, even playing out an entire conversation. One task was simply annoying, not difficult, just annoying, so I put it off another day. Off and on these tasks would rise up in my brain and I'd push them back down.

Finally last evening I finished work and realized I had not done the "worst" things I knew on Monday I needed to do, so I made a list of what I was doing this morning but also thought about how long those things were going to take. How many minutes of my life were they going to take? How was I going to feel if I did not do them and five o'clock rolled around today?

I completed all three tasks today and combined time I'd say was less than 15 minutes! For this 15 minutes I spent two days of feeling agitated. So, for me it was the time that triggered the action. I am going to use this tool in the future. When I have something unpleasant to do, I am going to think about it in terms of how many seconds or minutes that is of my life. I sacrifice fifteen minutes, but go home with a clear head. Priceless!

I'll stick to my "worst things first" motto and I'll also be aware of just how much time an unpleasant task is going to take, especially when it is mere minutes. The feeling of accomplishment is well worth it once it is done.

DO YOU BUY LOCAL?

D A Griffin Financial.LLC — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 11:20:40 -0500

DO YOU BUY LOCAL? During this time when many of us are frustrated by waiting on our government to "fix" everything, I wonder how many people make an effort to BUY LOCAL?

I saw a TV program where a restaurant owner was about to lose his business because of the bigger restaurants coming into his market. When word got out, the town came in and ate, provided income for him to stay in business. When someone like this can stay in business, that person has money to spend in the local economy. It helps not only the restaurant owner, but all the local businesses.

I believe most patrons of businesses do so without much consideration. The business is perhaps on the way home, perhaps a little cheaper in price.

I am thinking about this today, Thanksgiving week, when we have so much to be thankful for. I am a mortgage broker. I started my business in 2007, just when the real estate market began to unravel.

It was a good move for me at the time. All my business is referral based; I built my business when working for larger banks based on trust, honesty, and genuinely caring about my customers. I did not see the housing collapse coming, primarily because I did not engage in the higher risk loan origination.

Now what I am witnessing three years or so later, housing problems have escalated. There are fewer mortgage loan transactions in Northern Kentucky where I work. The large banks are getting the lion's share of these transactions not because their rates are better or because they give better service. In fact, neither of these things are true.

With all the changes that have been levied against mortgage brokers many have left the business. Some of us keep soldiering on with the hope that sometime it will get easier. In the meantime, there are few real independent mortgage brokers left in the business. The flow of mortgage loan business is directly to the large banks. One can't help but think it was designed to be this way.

So, today I ask DO YOU BUY LOCAL? Do you think about the businesses you frequent? When it comes to mortgage loans, do you go to the large banks where someone in upper management can get an eleven million dollar bonus for getting fired? A a Realtor, do you think about where the money is getting spent when you refer your clients for a mortgage? Mortgage originators at banks saw their incomes slashed with the loan officer compensation ruling in April = LESS LOCAL MONEY. Most of the profit from originating a loan at mega banks is not staying local.

If you find yourself frustrated with the large banks. When their lobbying dollars are making the decisions for our country, do something about it. BUY LOCAL. Think about all of your purchases, we CAN change the trend.