You’ve selected your dream home and have been pre approved by a lender.

The question that usually arises is:  “should I lock my interest rate?”

The answer is clear cut…

I was contacted yesterday by Steven Gandel a Senior Writer from CNN’s Money Magazine. Steven wanted to know if there were still “exotic” mortgage products available.  I told him about a recent approved application which the borrower has no income, no job, and the property that secures the loan is listed For Sale.

Recently “Option Arm” mortgages have taken a bad rap and I wish to clarify some misconceptions around a inovative product that if managed properly can be a useful vehicle to provide investment opportunities which may not have been deemed “affordable”.

When it comes to a person receiving the best mortgage offerings available, it gets down to a process of qualification.

There are dynamic, inovative and even secure and safe products.

The trick is:  “do you qualify”?

Just because condo-hotels are the new hot investment doesn’t mean I want one.  Geeze, I’m still learning what a condo-hotel is.

Major hotels have in recent years taken certain properties and converted them to condo hotels aka: “condotels, condohotels, condo hotels”. 

Is the title of this post an oxymoron or what…“bad credit/mortgage loans? Not really.

Interesting that when a loan is collateralized properly (there’s something to loan against like real estate) that banks become much more liberal in their credit criteria.

Case in point, there are various lenders which will offer decent mortgage products to clients who are 1 day out of bankruptcy.

I am sure there are some of you out there who wonder if it is possible to get a home loan if you are unemployed.

You probably think not because most people are convinced that one blip on the income or credit is immediate grounds for disqualification.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The dreaded two words home buyers hate to hear from a lender:  “Review Appraisal”.

Some lenders have the audacity to have the prospective borrower pay for this additional expense. In my case, the lender (First Franklin) is notorious for ordering reviews and they cover the cost.

With the condo market appearing to slow, one way to stimulate activity is to have affordable mortgage financing available to prospective buyers.

The purpose of this article is not so much to “pitch” option arm financing. The intent here is to bring to light an alternative product which, if fully understood can serve as the vehicle to reach a property which otherwise would not be an alternative.

Where do our offshore foreign investors go to obtain a loan for a real estate investment?

That would be my dilemma if I were sitting in my office in Buenos Aires noticing I had cash and I was looking to purchase an apartment complex in Miami and convert it to reasonably priced condos.

The current limit in Miami-Dade County for an FHA mortgage on a single family dwelling is $362,790.

Many properties in Miami-Dade (and other counties) exceed the limit; however there are fine single family homes and some very attractive condo developments which have prices within that range.

One of my previous clients emailed and told me he was in a tight spot and needed help meeting his monthly budget. What had occured was that his company had closed its doors, and someone convinced him that spending $35,000 at ITT Tech would solve his career problem.

When it comes to rating my top 5 choices in conforming mortgage lenders, Wells Fargo comes in 3rd place. I like them for generally good interest rate pricing, and excellent programs. What they lack are option-arms (low interest rate adjustable “hybrid"programs).

As more and more International visitors and other tourists from outside the U.S. are inquiring about Miami real estate/condo purchases, the need arises to produce a quality product for our valued Resident Aliens, Non-Resident Aliens and Foreign Nationals.

Some lenders avoid makng a loan to a Non-Resident Alien or Foreign National. But there is a large mortgage market for folks who don’t meet the standard guidelines.  Resident-Aliens, and most Non-Resident Aliens are candidates for the entire product mix of certain lenders.