Brett Sampson's (bsampson) Blog

I hope you had a safe and happy holiday season!Some thoughts on mortgage rates going forward…The Fed finally hiked on December 16th, but there was no immediate reaction in mortgage rates.Some experts think that an economic contraction might not be too far away. Others are concerned about a lack o...

Christmas is for spending time with those you love, and putting memories into your memory bank.I hope you did lots of both!Reminder – property tax bills are due at the end of January.If you have a non escrowed loan and don’t have the money to pay the tax bill, or don’t want to pay the tax bill th...

Here we are at the end of the year.Now is the time to think about what you want to achieve for the coming year. …To set your goals.I would like to suggest one of the goals you should incorporate for the coming year if you aren’t already doing it is to create a savings program.I’ve written about t...

It’s a good time of year to take a step back and review your year.…what you did. What you wanted to do, but didn’t. …and, what you want to accomplish next year.…and, what you’re grateful for.I’m on Simple Truths email list. They sent an email of this video on being grateful. It’s great, and short...

  If you are considering getting a part time job to give you extra income for mortgage qualification purposes – consider this…FHA will want to see that you have a two year stream of this part time income before they will give you credit for it.…So, in other words if a loan officer tells you that ...

I’m starting to see bank statement programs being introduced by major wholesale mortgage investors. Yes, they are already in the market now, but mostly just from small non QM type lenders. This is different.These are programs where self employed borrowers can prove their income by providing 24 mo...

This may sound funny coming from a mortgage guy, but sometimes it’s not necessary to refinance your mortgage to reduce the number of years left on your mortgage.I have to tell people sometimes that it just doesn’t make sense to refinance. The drop in rate isn’t significant enough to warrant the c...

Just because FHA, or Fannie Mae allows for something in their guidelines doesn’t mean your current mortgage company will allow it. Many mortgage companies have their own overlay guidelines. These overlay guidelines go on top of the basic loan guidelines.Overlay guidelines are restrictive, more co...

If you have been considering refinancing your FHA loan we are at the best time of the year to do that.With Conventional loans we have more flexibility to roll closing costs and prepaids into a loan.FHA has strict rules on what can be rolled into a refinance loan. So, with FHA often times you end ...

I hope you guys have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!Now, down to business…Fun facts about Thanksgiving and Turkeys…Did you know:-The pilgrims didn’t use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers.-Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States.-Abraham...