A New Image For A New Kind Of Lending

www.soEZmortgage.com

It’s with great excitement that we unveil our new website to you. Aside from an updated look, the new website features a powerful new way to calculate savings, making it easier for you to better understand our wide range of services and capabilities.

In addition, we've revamped our news section in order to bring you better/fresher content, update you on new and exciting things happening with home lending, and share with you fun things we’re up to as a corporation. If you don’t follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you'll be able to see our new postings by using the link in the lower center of most pages of the website and we're providing TV clips to help you understand how to choose your mortgage product. We think you'll like the new look and we’re sure you’ll like the improved navigation and fresher information.

Other ways to find us.

www.soeasymortgage.com
www.soez.tv

Privacy Policy

So Easy Mortgage, Inc.,

PRIVACY POLICY DISCLOSURE

(Protection of the Privacy of Personal Non-Public Information)

Respecting and protecting customer privacy is vital to our business. By explaining our Privacy Policy to you, we trust that you will better understand how we keep our customer information private and secure while using it to serve you better. Keeping customer information secure is a top priority, and we are disclosing our policies to help you understand how we handle the personal information about you that we collect and disclose. This notice explains how you can limit our disclosing of personal information about you. The provisions of this notice will apply to former customers as well as current customers unless we state otherwise.

The Privacy Policy explains the Following:

• Protecting the confidentiality of our customer information.
• Who is covered by the Privacy Policy?
• How we gather information.
• The types of information we share, why, and with whom.
• Opting Out - how to instruct us not to share certain information about you or not to contact you.

Protecting the Confidentiality of Customer Information:

We take our responsibility to protect the privacy and confidentiality of customer information very seriously. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to store and secure information about you from unauthorized access, alteration, and destruction. Our control policies, for example, authorize access to customer information only by individuals who need access to do their work.

From time to time, we enter into agreements with other companies to provide services to us or make products and services available to you. Under these agreements, the companies may receive information about you but they must safeguard this information, and they may not use it for any other purposes.

Who is covered by the Privacy Policy:

We provide our Privacy Policy to customers when they conduct business with our company. If we change our privacy policies to permit us to share additional information we have about you, as described below, or to permit disclosures to additional types of parties, you will be notified in advance. This Privacy Policy applies to consumers who are current customers or former customers.

How We Gather Information:

As part of providing you with financial products or services, we may obtain information about you from the following sources:

• Applications, forms, and other information that you provide to us, whether in writing, in person, by telephone, electronically, or by any other means. This information may include your name, address, employment information, income, and credit references;
• Your transaction with us, our affiliates, or others. This information may include your account balances, payment history, and account usage;
• Consumer reporting agencies. This information may include account information and information about your credit worthiness;
• Public sources. This information may include real estate records, employment records, telephone numbers, etc

Information We Share:

We may disclose information we have about you as permitted by law. We are required to or we may provide information about you to third-parties without your consent, as permitted by law, such as:

§  To regulatory authorities and law enforcement officials.

§  To protect against or prevent actual or potential fraud, unauthorized transactions, claims, or other liability.

§  To report account activity to credit bureaus.

§  To consumer reporting agencies.

§  To respond to a subpoena or court order, judicial process or regulatory authorities.

§  In connection with a proposed or actual sale, merger, or transfer of all or a portion of a business or an operating unit, etc.

In addition, we may provide information about you to our service providers to help us process your applications or service your accounts. Our service providers may include billing service providers, mail and telephone service companies, lenders, investors, title and escrow companies, appraisal companies, etc.

We may also provide information about you to our service providers to help us perform marketing services. This information provided to these service providers may include the categories of information described above under "How We Gather Information" limited to only that which we deem appropriate for these service providers to carryout their functions.

We do not provide non-public information about you to any company whose products and services are being marketed unless you authorize us to do so. These companies are not allowed to use this information for purposes beyond your specific authorization.

Opting Out

We also may share information about you within our corporate family of office(s). We may share all of the categories of information we gather about you, including identification information (such as your name and address), credit reports (such as your credit history), application information (such as your income or credit references), your account transactions and experiences with us (such as your payment history), and information from other third parties (such as your employment history).

By sharing this information we can better understand your financial needs. We can then send you notification of new products and special promotional offers that you may not otherwise know about. For example, if you originally obtained a mortgage loan with us, we would know that you are a homeowner and may be interested in hearing how a home equity loan may be a better option than an auto loan to finance the purchase of a new car.

You may prohibit the sharing of application and third-party credit-related information within our company or any third-party company at any time. If you would like to limit disclosures of personal information about you as described in this notice, just check the appropriate box or boxes to indicate your privacy choices.

x   Please do not share personal information about me with non-affiliated third-parties.

x   Please do not share personal information about me with any of your affiliates except as necessary to effect, administer, process, service or enforce a transaction requested or authorized by myself.

x   Please do not contact me with offers of products or services by mail.

x   Please do not contact me with offers of products or services by telephone.

Note for Joint Accounts: Your Opt Out choices will also apply to other individuals who are joint account holders. If these individuals have separate accounts, your Opt Out will not apply to those separate accounts.

What Type Of Mortgage Loans Exist In 2014

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) What's New?

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage HECM  Definition

Hybrid Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)

Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM)

Veteran Affairs Loan (VA)

Federal Housing Administration Insured Mortgage (FHA)

Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0)

Risky Loans Not Offered By So EZ Mortgage 

Stated Income

Interest Only

Balloon Payment

Prepayment Penalty

Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) Definition and The Difference Compared To Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)

A fixed rate mortgage will not change. The rate you get at the start of the loan, is the rate you end up at the end of the term. The payment stays the same until the loan is paid off. 

With an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), the interest rate may go up or down. Many ARMs will start at a lower interest rate than fixed rate mortgages. This initial rate may stay the same for months or years. When this introductory period is over, your interest rate will change and depending on market conditions, your payment can change for the better or worse. 

Based on a 250k loan, even if rates go up to the maximum as soon as possible, your payment would only jump up a maximum of about 200.00. Based on todays rates. The risk of the payment jumping up so high that you cant afford it, comes into play when you take an interest only ARM or an ARM that can adjust more than 5%. We don't offer either one of those products but some lenders might.

Part of the interest rate you pay will be tied to a broader measure of interest rates, called an index. Your payment goes up when this index of interest rates moves higher. When interest rates decline, sometimes your payment may go down, but that is not true for all ARMs. Many ARMs will limit the amount of each adjustment, and set a maximum or “cap” on how high your interest rate can go over the life of the loan. Some ARMs also limit how low your interest rate can go.

Tip: Know how your ARM adjusts. Before taking out an adjustable rate mortgage, find out:

• How high your interest rate and monthly payments can go with each adjustment
• How frequently your interest rate will adjust
• How soon your payment could go up
• If there is a cap on how high your interest rate could go
• If there is a limit on how low your interest rate could go
• If you will still be able to afford the loan if the rate and payment go up to the maximums allowed under the loan contract

Tip: Don't assume you will be able to refinance your loan before the rate changes. The value of your property could decline or your financial condition could change. If you can’t afford the higher payments on today’s income, you may want to consider another loan. To find out, use the calculators at soezmortgage.com to find out how much your payment could change and if it will make a difference. 

What Are VA Loans

Qualifying for Veteran Home Loans

The Veteran Loan program is designed for Veteran's who meet the minimum number of days of completed service. The program does allow for benefits to Surviving Spouses.

The VA does not have a minimum credit score used for pre-qualifying for a mortgage loan, however, most Lenders require a minimum credit score of at least 620.

A Veteran who has used their entitlement to previously purchase a home, may have entitlement left to purchase another one. If you previously purchased a home using your VA Benefits then you might still have some of that “Entitlement” available to you for the purchase a new home! To Calculate Maximum Entitlement available, consider the following:

If your previous home was purchased using a VA Loan, and that loan was paid off by the new owners, the full entitlement may have been restored.

If you sold your home to someone, and allowed them to ASSUME your VA Loan, then you might have the full entitlement restored, if one or more of the purchasers were also Veterans.

If you still own the home, and you are renting it out – you might be able to purchase a new home using your partial entitlement, but there are several restrictions.

Allowable Income Sources used to qualify for a VA Loan include: Retirement Income, Social Security Income, Child Support, Alimony and Separate Maintenance, BAH, BAS and Disability Income. Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)for a Surviving Spouse can also be included. In addition, stable, documented income from employers remains the best income source for VA loans.

VA Loan application

The VA loan application is a standardized loan application form 1003 issued by Fannie Mae also known as Freddie Mac Form 65. It is a Federal crime punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, to knowingly make any false statements on a VA loan application under the provisions of Title 18, United States Code,  Section 1001, et seq. The only document you need in addition to a standard loan, is the DD 214 or Certificate of Guarantee

Property Preservation by Fannie Mae

The Fannie Mae Mission At Fannie Mae, our Property Maintenance team's mission is to ensure quality and cost effectiveness of our REO property maintenance services, consistently producing best in class, market-ready properties and maintaining them until they are sold from our inventory Our Goal Our goal is to provide services to maintain each property in Fannie Mae's inventory to a level of market readiness inside and outside of the property as well as to adhere to local codes and requirements. In addition, we strive to: Be a good neighbor. Remove any REO "stigma" and appropriately maintain properties. Minimize Fannie Mae's exposure to potential property damage and liability. Perform property maintenance to support and enhance the marketing of the property. Managing Local / Regional / National vendor relationships to ensure quality output while minimizing overall costs. Maintain properties in a manner in which, whenever possible, to sell them to owner-occupants who will stabilize neighborhoods and help the housing recovery.		Field Services for Fannie Mae Quality Control Layers Continued Community Focus

Field Services for Fannie Mae Fannie Mae utilizes local, national and regional Property Maintenance vendors to perform services for all REO properties in Fannie Mae's inventory. We expect each of our vendors to provide services in accordance with the terms of their contracts and ensure each property to be in "market ready" condition. Our Property Maintenance companies maintain the exterior of the REO properties year round. These vendors are required to visit the properties every seven days and keep the exterior of the property free of debris, maintain the lawn, and remove leaves and snow as appropriate. All interior areas are to be clean, free of debris with floors swept, mopped and/or vacuumed as appropriate each month. In addition, safety hazards are to be addressed and remediated immediately when possible (e.g., fixing a loose step, repairing a minor plumbing leak, or capping a wire). When properties become vacant, our initial services include the following items: Removal of all trash and debris Winterization, in season, and where geographically required Exterior maintenance / snow removal services Securing of property (as appropriate) Interior cleaning Identify and repair all safety hazards Each vendor also provides ongoing maintenance including: Monthly maid service Exterior maintenance and snow removal Emergency securing Removal of additional debris Identify and repair all safety hazards For more details on our field services, see our Field Services Checklists

Quality Control Layers To ensure the quality of the services provided by the Property Maintenance vendors, Fannie Mae uses three layers of property inspections including our Agents, national third-party inspection companies, and Fannie Mae Field Quality Control Specialists. Agent Signoffs – Fannie Mae Agents perform thorough inspections on 100% of their assigned properties to ensure cleaning services and trash removal performed meet Fannie Mae expectations, as well as safety issues addressed. National Third Party Inspections – Each month, Fannie Mae utilizes national field inspection companies to perform random quality control inspections on 30% of our inventory nationwide. These inspections allow us to implement better process controls, manage our vendor performance, and apply training programs to maximize staging and minimize disposition timelines. We are able to ensure property maintenance work has been performed to our expectations, as well point out any marketing issues such as missing realtor signs and materials. Fannie Mae Field Quality Control Specialists – Fannie Mae employs specialists who are located in key markets to perform inspections of our properties, as well as provide in-the-field training to our Sales teams, Agents and vendors.

Continued Community Focus At Fannie Mae, we continuously look for ways to improve our property maintenance processes, as well as find innovative ways to secure our properties in the neighborhoods we serve. One example is the introduction of Clear Boarding, a polycarbonate board-up system which offers an alternative to using plywood if a property requires boarding. Clear Boarding combines the necessary strength to protect the property with transparent window covers, giving an appearance of traditional windows, while securing the property and not exposing its vacancy to onlookers. Clear Boarding is already available in a majority of states across the nation and has enhanced Fannie Mae's position as the industry leader when it comes to the innovative way we secure our properties in support of neighborhood stabilization. BEFORE and AFTER photos of Clear Boarding.

HomePath by Fannie Mae

HomePath Financing Financing flexibilities for Fannie Mae-owned properties, known as HomePath® properties, include: Interested Party Contributions – this is usually paid by the seller – HomePath properties qualify for expanded eligibility. Multiple Financed Properties – flexibility for a home-buyer who already owns 5-10 financed properties. The above flexibilities are available on all HomePath properties. All other requirements of Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide apply. For more information on HomePath properties, lenders should see Selling Guide section B5-4-08: Loans Securing HomePath Properties (06/24/2014). See also Announcement SEL-2014-07. Effective October 7, 2014, Fannie Mae is retiring the HomePath Mortgage (HPM) and HomePath Renovation Mortgage (HPRM) products.

First Look™ Program Fannie Mae's innovative First Look marketing period was created to promote homeownership and contribute to neighborhood stabilization — allowing homebuyers to negotiate and purchase foreclosed properties before they are made available to investors. Details include: First Look is typically the first 20 days a property is listed on HomePath.com (Nevada is 30 days). Properties in the First Look period have a countdown clock on the property information page of HomePath.com displaying the days remaining to purchase. Eligible buyers during First Look are owner occupants*, public entities and their partners, and some non profits. *Owner occupants are those buyers that will occupy the property as their principal residence within 60 days of closing and will maintain their occupancy for at least 1 year. Owner-occupant purchasers are required to sign an Owner Occupant Certification as a rider to the Real Estate Purchase Addendum. A buyer purchasing in the name of a trust, purchasing as a vacation/part-time residence, or purchasing so another person or relative can live in the property will typically be considered an investor and not eligible during First Look. Investor offers submitted after the First Look period expires will be considered along with all other offers. Ask a Fannie Mae listing broker for more details. If you are concerned that the First Look marketing period is not being handled appropriately on a particular property, contact the Fannie Mae Resource Center immediately at 1-800-732-6643.

Financing Assistance Programs Many state and local housing authorities offer financing programs that can assist you with the down payment and purchase of your new home. Additionally, HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) provides homebuyer funds through special financing programs. We support public funds programs and offer additional assistance to the buyer, including the following: Earnest money requirement for individuals using public funds is only $500. Fannie Mae waives the earnest money requirement for public entities using public funds to purchase a Fannie Mae- owned property. Once an offer using NSP funds is accepted, buyers have the opportunity to renegotiate after receiving an NSP required Uniform Residential Appraisal value for the property. The standard closing period for a public funds offer is 45 days, which allows time to fulfill the NSP requirements for funding. Buyers using public funds to purchase a home can do so without competition from investors during the First Look marketing period (typically the first 15 days on the market).

Improved Properties Sometimes HomePath® properties receive repairs and improvements before they are listed for sale. National and local vendors provide services to Fannie Mae, improving items such as flooring and paint. You can easily identify the properties that have had improvements – they will be noted by one of the two symbols below. Properties with this logo have had certain repairs performed by The Home Depot as a preferred repair contractor for Fannie Mae. The Home Depot offers a one-year limited warranty on all repairs it performed. Properties with this logo have had certain repairs performed by Fannie Mae-approved repair contractors. Please keep in mind that Fannie Mae may not repair or replace everything in a home - we always strongly recommend that buyers hire an independent home inspector prior to purchase to identify any areas that may be of concern. Fannie Mae sells its properties "as is" and is not responsible for fixing problems after a transfer of ownership

Tips For Getting A Mortgage On Your Second California Property

Are you considering buying a California property as a second home or investment? Perhaps you are looking for a small cottage or apartment where you can escape for vacation, or maybe you want to have another home closer to family. Maybe you want to rent out your second property and make a steady income from your investment. Whatever the reason, a second piece of real estate can be a fantastic investment. However, sometimes getting a mortgage on your second home can be a challenge.

Generally, a mortgage lender will have tougher standards for second home loans than primary home loans. This is because usually when you are buying a second home your finances will be stretched thinner and you will have less money to spare because you are already paying a mortgage on your primary home. This will mean that your second home mortgage can be harder to get and might have a higher interest rate.

Here are some tips to keep in mind that will help you to get the best mortgage on your second property: Build up a decent amount of savings. Your mortgage lender will want to be able to see that you have a large amount of savings so that you will have enough to pay for the mortgage even if you were to lose your job.

Pay off any credit card debt. Many lenders will be hesitant to approve your second home mortgage if they see that you have a lot of debt on your credit card. They will want to see that you have a low debt to income ratio so that you will be able to pay back the loan.

Use the first mortgage as a good reference. If you have always made your payments on time and you are most of the way through paying off your first house, you could ask someone from your current mortgage company to vouch for you. The lender for your second mortgage will be reassured that you are a reliable person to loan money to.

These are just a few tips to keep in mind in order to make getting a mortgage for your second property as easy as possible. To find out more about investing in California property, contact me at info@soez.tv or phone me at 855-955-SOEZ. 

How To Avoid Getting A Bad Mortgage

For those A+ paper clients who have perfect credit, lots of equity, great income and wonder, "why isn't getting a new mortgage easier?" Here is the answer. Because of banks like this, we all have to work much harder. I won’t hold it against you if you bank with BofA, however being in my position, I know allot about banks. The ones you want, you have never heard of, and the ones you heard of are the ones you don't want.  BofA is the number one bank on the FBI fraud list.

Bank of America’s settlement follows a series of
 similar deals by other banks with the Justice Departments.
 Photograph: David McNew/Getty Images

Have you ever seen the LEGO MOVIE, excellent film, in one scene Wild Style asks Emmett what his favorite restaurant is? He replies, "any chain restaurant" that’s when she realizes Emmett is not the SPECIAL, implying that someone who was important or special would know better than to like the chain restaurants.

The problem seems to rest on the trust. People trust big banks because they know they are too big to fail and they are afraid a small bank may not be around one day. That is an accurate portrayal of the situation, however it is for that reason that the big banks could care less about you and your savings, knowing their marketing and advertising dollars will bring in plenty of fish. On the flip side the small banks depend on repeat business and family referrals, they can't afford to care less about you. Every client needs to be VIP.

When you shop for a mortgage, or a bank and you have heard of that bank. Don’t go forward without first talking to a loan officer at a small outfit that you have not heard of. Just look for three things.

1. Do they have positive reviews and are they recent?

2. Do they have complaints and are they recent?

3. Do they show that they are licensed with both BRE and NMLS?

Just having an NMLS license is good enough to originate loans, but it does not mean they know anything about real estate. BRE and NMLS companies typically have a much greater education about both sides, mortgages and real estate.

Pick An Odd Amortization

So EZ Mortgage allows you to submit your loans and locks on FHA Streamline Refinance with odd amortization terms from 16 to 29 years. You can lower your monthly mortgage payment without increasing your term back to 30 years!

So EZ Mortgage continues to be the market leader with an improved pricing on conventional loans!

Save with our improved rates using an additional 25 basis points (0.25%) price incentive available on a conventional loan that meets all three of the following loan characteristics:

Subject Property must be a Primary Residence

Loan-to-Value (LTV) must be equal to or less than 80%, and

Credit Score (FICO) must be equal to or greater than 720.

What The HECM?

A reverse mortgage, the most popular form being the “Home Equity Conversion Mortgage” (HECM), is a mortgage that allows seniors (aged 62 years and above) to access and borrow against the equity in their home without having to sell it, give up the title, or incur a monthly mortgage payment. While such funds can be used for any purpose, repayment is required only if the borrower dies, sells the home, or no longer occupies the home as the primary residence. The proceeds of the reverse mortgage depend upon the age of the youngest borrower, the current interest rate, lower of the appraised value or purchase price of the home, and the maximum mortgage limit. While the traditional HECM program offered financing on existing primary residence, Congress has, over the recent years, expanded the program to allow for the purchase of a home. Reverse mortgages have become increasingly popular with seniors who have equity in their homes and are seeking to supplement their income. During the first four years of the program, HECM originations increased exponentially exhibiting an average year-on-year growth of 167% and resulting in an increase in HECM originations from just 389 in 1991 to 6,737 in 1994. In the thirteen years that followed, up until the recession of 2008, HECM originations increased at an average annual rate of 33%, reaching 346,177 loans in December of 2007. This rapid growth can be attributed to the increase in elderly population of 5%, and a home price driven equity increase of nearly 45%. Due to the recent recession and resultant drop in home values, the HECM growth slowed to an average annual rate of 16% from 2008 to 2013. Since the inception of the reverse mortgage program, HECM origination volume and the Housing Price Index (HPI) have shown a strong positive correlation (Figure 1). As home values appreciate, the demand for HECM loans increases and vice versa. The Federal Reserve reported that new equity in household real estate rose by $2.2 trillion from the third quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2013, and is expected to have a similar growth in 2014. Equity growth and increasing home values provide a strong positive evidence for future increases in HECM loan volume. The numbers are also encouraging for the average U.S. homeowner, especially for those who are eligible and considering a reverse mortgage. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/rmra/oe/rpts/hecm/hecmmenu

Housing Price Index vs. HECM Loan Volume

With the upward trend on the tail of HPI, a similar upward momentum in HECM volume in the future is expected In addition to the exponential growth in home values (HPI), another factor that adds impetus to the future demand of HECMs is an increasing elderly population. The US Census Bureau projects the number of people with age 65 years and above to grow by another 10% by 2050 (Figure 2). Growth in the elderly population can primarily be attributed to the Baby Boomer generation born between 1946 and 1964, during which there were 79 million births in the U.S. Over the next 12 years, the Baby Boomers will continue to add to the HECM eligible population and provide further support to the reverse mortgage market. https://www.census.gov/prod/1/pop/p23-190/p23-190.pdf

Senior Population Growth

A steady increase in size of the 65 years and above population in terms of both in numbers and percentage of population is forecasted up to 2050 by the U.S. Administration on Aging. Besides increasing home prices and a growing elderly population, there is another driving force of home equity growth: reduction in debt. As a borrower makes the monthly principal payments on his/her standard forward mortgage, home equity grows while the mortgage debt reduces. To take an example, a 50-year-old homeowner with a 30-year-fixed mortgage will be HECM eligible in 12 years and will add at least 25% equity (Figure 3) until the age of 62 through regular principal payments toward the mortgage even if the home prices remain stagnant.

Equity Growth

Equity growth accelerates as the borrower repays the principal loan balance. According to the data released by National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), seniors have more equity in their homes today than at any time since mid-2008. During just the past twelve months, equity dollar amount has seen an increase of $117 billion. With appraised value of the property being a key factor to the amount of HECM proceeds, the recent signs of improvement in the housing market have been encouraging for seniors and will allow them to access more of the equity in their home. Over the next five years, with the projected increase in home values, equity, and the percentage of elderly population, HECM demand is also expected to show a robust growth. The expanding niche for reverse mortgages presents an excellent opportunity for So EZ Mortgage and its partners to capture this market share and establish a strong, long-term presence in the reverse mortgage market by providing senior citizens with the increased flexibility they need in planning for their retirement and financial security. Contact us today at 855-955-SOEZ to learn more about reverse mortgages and get Reverse Mortgage ready!