All Forum Posts by: David Mackin

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) was up 8.1 percent in January. In December it was up 2.5 percent.

January did see a slight dip in rates, so perhaps a lot of people hopped off the fence to take advantage. Now that rates are back up to about 7%, it will be interesting to see if pending homes sales continue to increase. Inventory continues to drop as well, so that's a whole other issue to tackle.

The VA loan is amazing. It can even be used for multiple properties in specific cases.
No monthly MI, 0% down, lower rates.
There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to VA loans, so make sure you reach out to a good lender that will go over all the benefits and bust any myths that you may have heard.

Best of luck!

Starting March 20th, new FHA borrowers will be paying 30 bps less in mortgage insurance. The premium right now is at 0.85%. It will now go down to 0.55%

This is huge for those that have higher loan amounts. Yes, MI is there for the life of the loan, but those that are taking advantage of low down payment on FHA will see much lower monthly payments.

Does this change how you feel about an FHA strategy? Let me know what you think.

You could go a couple different ways.

Talking to a lender early is important to make sure you can maximize your buying power.
Meeting a few real estate agents first (especially ones that specialize in helping you start investing) is a good idea because they likely have lenders they work with that have proved they are good at what they do.
It can go the other way as well. You could find a good lender that can recommend really good agents in this space. 

I would recommend interviewing both. You may find that you find a good lender and a good agent individually.

Think and Grow Rich is a great read as well.

Be the person that people think of when real estate comes up in conversation. Go do things that you enjoy and meet as many people as you can. Let these people know that you are a Real Estate Agent. This keeps you top of mind. If their friend asks if they know any agents, you want to be the name that they mention.

I personally love playing softball, and I play every week. You better bet that everyone that's there every week knows I'm a mortgage broker.

I think being open to opportunities beyond the preferred method is a good idea.

A lot of areas in Colorado have turned into a mindset of affordability and appreciation over cash-flow. Perhaps for deals that may cashflow once you are out and no longer house-hacking. Set yourself up to only house-hack for the occupancy year and move on to the next one. Slow and steady when starting, learn as much as you can, then go for faster growth when it makes sense. 

Wow wow wow! What a sweet deal considering your initial goal was just to live affordably. Turned into a cash-flow monster!
Good for you guys!

Common misconception that an FHA loan is only for FTHB. Sometimes (depending on your situation) you can utilize a product that's ACTUALLY for FTHB and keep the FHA opportunity open for a purchase in the future. You can only have one active FHA loan at a time.

Spring EQ has an 85% LTV product but it's less of a line and more an equity loan. Full draw. So, it has its pros and cons. This is available through a mortgage broker.