Happy Thanksgiving.. what are you thankful for this year?

Recent short sale…. perfect pay history

Todd Pianin on Fox 5 San Diego

Samuel Scott Financial Group and Windermere Exclusive Properties have created a new entity to serve you…

Windermere Exclusive Properties is constantly looking for better ways to help support your business.

In order to assist you and your client’s mortgage needs we have re-tooled our affiliated mortgage relationship. In addition to the mortgage help you have been receiving from Countywide Mortgage and their loan officers, we have added a new group into the mix; the Samuel Scott Financial Group and we have created a new entity to serve you, RPM Mortgage.
Robert and Robin Behic, owners of Countywide Mortgage will continue to provide you with the same ongoing service they have been providing to you over the last 8 years.

Todd Pianin, President of Samuel Scott Financial Group and Brian Reynolds, Executive Vice President, of Samuel Scott Financial Group, will run the Samuel Scott Division. Todd Pianin, Brian Reynolds and their team put their clients first, build lasting relationships, and provide home loans with unparalleled service, integrity, and teamwork.

RPM Mortgage Inc.

Windermere Exclusive Properties and RPM Mortgage

looks forward to providing the expertise, service and support to build long lasting relationships with you and each one of your clients.

Mark, Jim and Steve
is a privately held family owned mortgage bank and brokerage, which has been in business since 1985. RPM, a leading provider of mortgage services for individuals seeking a residential mortgage, has the opportunity to work with over 100 lenders, close loans very quickly and maintain more control over the transaction. RPM can offer their customers the choice of a broker, while delivering the control and turn times you have come to rely on with direct Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and VA lending. For those clients that are interested, we also have several outlets for Private Mortgage Banking.

 

 

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended Until May 1st, 2010

The House voted to extend the tax credit for homebuyers and today President Obama signed this bill!

 First time homebuyers have been receiving tax credits up to $8,000 since January but the program was scheduled to expire at the end of November.  Not only did the House vote to extend this program to the spring but they expanded it to many people who already own homes.

How do you qualify?

• If you have owned your current home for at least 5 years would be eligible for tax credits up to $6,500 (subject to income credits)
• First time homebuyers or someone who has not owned a home in the past 3 years, could receive up to $8,000.
• Buyers have to sign purchase agreements before May 1, 2010 and close before July 1, 2010.
• The tax credit is available for the purchase of principal homes costing $800,000 or less.  
• Vacation homes are ineligible. 
• The credit is phased out for those with an income greater than $125,000 and for joint filers with incomes greater than $225,000.

  We are always available and here to answer any questions that you may have.

Call us today if you or a loved one are interested in purchasing a home.   

 You can reach Todd Pianin directly in the office at 858-259-4014 or you can reach Mark Robertson directly in the office at 858-793-4904.

    We a team of mortgage professionals who put clients first, build lasting relationships, provide home loans with unparalleled service, integrity, and team work.

What people are saying about Samuel Scott

We have recently recieved a few testimonials from our clients and I thought I would share them with you.  If we have helped you with the purchase or refinance of your home, please share your experience with us. 

You can share your experience here on this BLOG. 

If you are familiar with Yelp, you can visit http://www.yelp.com/biz/samuel-scott-financial-group-san-diego to share your experiences.  We look forward to hearing from you.

 

“Being that this was our first home purchase, my wife and I were very worried about the process and if we would even be able to purchase a house.  Todd and his team at Samuel Scott Financial Group made everything easy to understand and helped us to get the best rate that we could, and put our mind at ease during a very stressfull time.  Even our realtor was surprised at how fast Todd and his team were able to process our loan and it seemed like in no time, my wife and I were proud home owners.  We thank them for all thier hard work and effort to help us achieve our dream of owning a home.”

 Justin Smith, Recent VA Client

 

“After Wells Fargo gave my buyers a fully approved loan, but could not follow through at the close of escrow…..Todd Pianin and his team at Samuel Scott Financial Group came to the rescue with professional skills and closed the deal very painlessly and quickly.  You can trust Todd and his team to do what they say!” 

Ann Casadont, Realtor, Distinctive Properties REMAX, Del Mar

Why aren’t rates going down when the FEDS put money into the market?

Good question, simple answer. 

The money is not in the market but it will be soon.  This is at least what we are being told.  The bigger question now is, “Are banks going to lend once they receive the money?”  Things are becoming a little scarier my friends.  One of the many reasons why the stock market has been so volatile is that the banks have been highly leveraged.  What that means is that when you deposit $100 in your savings account at ABC Bank, they can borrow up to $3000 on that $100.  When the markets start to freefall like we have seen they have to sell assets to keep within their leveraged guidelines.  Big bets equal big losses! A bigger margin calls.  The banks are freaked out and want to get our money that the government is giving them and then their leverage amounts will drop.  Today I heard one banker say that they would like to get to a 17 times leverage.  We are going to bail out these banks to make them more profitable and then not lend us any money.  It’s like going to your local bank, giving them $1000 and then asking them to give you a loan for that same $1000 but they tell you “no and leave your money in the bank.”  Supposedly behind closed doors with Paulson and Bernanke, the banks agreed to lend if the government gives them money for their balance sheets.  How is the government going to confirm this?  I’m not quite sure myself.  Let me get back to our original question.   Why are rates still high?  A much simpler answer is, these lenders have taken it in the chin for so long they have to make some money back.  The advantage of working with us at Samuel Scott is that we have the ability to broker as well as bank.  It is the nature of supply and demand.  We have a lot of lending sources who are competing for business and you the consumer are able to take advantage of this.  The in-house lenders or the big banks do not have this flexibility.  They have one menu and either they are in the market or out of the market.  So remember, if you are not getting your loan from Samuel Scott Financial Group are you sure you are getting the right loan?

Our Congressmen did the right thing, but can you get a car loan or a home loan?

That seems to be the question I am getting a lot.  The answer to a home loan is, Yes!  If you have worked with us lately you know that we have been pulling off the impossible. 

For those of you who have not been my clients for that long, I have been doing this for over 16 years.  I remember doing loans in a full documentation environment and having to read tax returns to qualify people.  What is crazy to me now is that there are people working at the big banks who do not know how to qualify a client, yet people still continue to go to the big banks to get loans. 

Then they find out that their loan officer packaged their loan wrong.  Now they are scrambling or they think they can’t qualify for a mortgage when perhaps the person they are using to qualify them just does not know how to qualify them.

I can say that it has been great beating my competition time and time again.  Not just by rate but by skill.  The really cool thing is I believe we are gaining customers for life, which has always been my mantra.  Most of my competitors will be lucky to do 7-10 million dollars in funding this year.  I guess I had a great year last month. 

 Now it is time to get off my soap box and answer the question.  On home loans, Yes! 

But I am hearing that on car loans even people with an 800 FICO score are having a very tough time.  I would suggest that either you come to the table with cash for a car or you wait a couple of weeks until some of this liquidity starts to move through the system.  It will take at least three weeks before Main Street feels the effects. 

Today, we received more sad news that another major bank has left the wholesale market.  Citicorp has decided to leave and only do business on the correspondent side as well as the retail side.  What is cool about this is that we are a bank as well a broker which means that we still have Citibank while my competitors lose another lender. 

The landscape is changing and pretty soon the consumer may not have as many choices which I don’t think is good.  I think competition is great and helps keep banks honest, but it seems that pretty soon you will either have Wells Fargo or Bank of America to choose from.  My big concern is do you really want a teller doing your home loan?  One of my mentors once said to me “Todd, a home purchase is a life changing event for someone.  They need to be handheld through this tricky environment and you will be successful if you do that.”  I have always heeded his advice and I believe that’s why you, my clients, still support me today. 

I hope to hear from you soon.  Call me with any questions, post a comment or a testimonial here, on this site.  I am sure that with all this going on you must have some questions that I would love to answer.  I’m also being quoted in the November issue of Ranch & Coast as well.

Will it happen this week?

Will it happen this week? 

Will the government bailout go through the House of Representatives?  I hope so for a number of reasons:

1)       I think that it will free up some of the capital markets and get people off the fence.

2)      Psychologically it will give the American people a boost.

3)      Wall Street will like it and the stock market should rally

 

If it does not go through what does that mean?  Good question.

It could mean the 777 loss we saw after the vote did not go through could be just the beginning of a steep decline in the returns on Wall Street.  We could see our 401K’s and IRA’s go up in smoke.  We could see another major company go bankrupt. 

The main question people keep asking me is, is there money out there to lend?  My comment back if you are looking for money under 700k it is not extremely easy to come by, but it really is not that hard to get.  Especially through our bank which is doing jumbo agency, conforming and FHA loans.  FHA, for some of us originators, has been a life saver when it comes to low down payments or people who have challenging credit issues.  I also feel like now is the time to be buying real estate in certain parts of the country.  I feel like we will look back at this time as the bottom and hopefully by spring summer next year, we will be hearing that we had hit the bottom right around now. 

If you have any questions or comments please ask and I will try my best to answer.

We have seen one crazy week!!

The current executive leadership has been saying for so long that things are not that bad and are only getting better.

Then, on Monday, we were asked as taxpayers to cough up $700 billion dollars to help save Wall Street.  First, this was sold wrong.  Secondly, the fear tactic that current leadership has been passing on to us, the American people, has become quite insulting.  I think that if the $700 billion bailout was brought to the public with some real issues, Americans probably would jump on board.  For example, did you know that GM has tapped out their working capital line and cannot get any more money because the liquidity markets have none?  How would the American people feel if GM declared bankruptcy and had to lay off all those workers and defaulted on their debt?  This truly is one example of how disastrous things can become but, we are not given that example.     

I really believe we, Americans and homeowners, are smart and do not need to be scared into a plan.  Give us the truth!  We will make the right decision and rally around it.   

What this means to you as a homeowner or someone thinking about buying a home is if this deal goes through it will backstop the liquidity in the market place and free up money!  This is what we need.  I know it sucks.  I know it seems like we are bailing out greedy individuals who put us in this mess but we are also helping out ourselves.  If we can’t get student loans for our children or if we can’t refinance our homes, this would change the world as we know it.  I think this bail out is going to be a good thing for us. 

We at Samuel Scott believe in this plan.  This will help our economy, increase home values and will cause rates to stabilize and continue to make home ownership affordable.  I believe this will happen and I think now is a good time to buy or refinance.  I think if you are sitting on the sidelines, 12 months from now you are going to be kicking yourselves.  We are available to you during this crazy period either by email or by phone.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions that you may have.

We can be reached in the office at 858.259.6070 or you can reach me via email at todd@samuelscottfg.com

Todd Pianin’s introduction

Well everyone, Katie Cortez in our office has suggested that I start writing a weekly blog.  With all the craziness in the mortgage business right now she thought it would be good to give an inside Southern California perspective.  So I will be writing this weekly and let you guys know what is really happening in the lending world!                                                                                                                                             Today the lending world stinks!  Let me explain it to you in more detail.    There is not enough liquidity.  There are people trying to buy homes and lenders not funding loans.   There are lenders out there who are approving people and then cutting the appraisal.  There are lenders who are offering to good to be true pricing bringing in the loans and then taking 30 or 60 days to underwrite them and then not extending the locks.  There are lenders who are taking 60 days to approve loans while realtors are writing 30 day escrows. 

The market has changed the world has changed.  My life and the mortgage brokers who work for me are working the hardest they have ever worked and are writing the best paper they have ever written and are getting raked over the coals.  In the past, the mortgage business was as much of a relationship business as it was a real business.  Today relationships don’t mean much.  Everything you read in the paper tells about how evil the mortgage broker is and was.   Did you know that in 2004 or 2005 Ameriquest mortgage made over 1 billion dollars in profit?  The liquidity mess that we are in is my fault!  My competitors are leaving the business because they cannot afford to stay in business because they have to work for the first time in their careers to get stuff accomplished.   Everyone at Samuel Scott has always worked hard and we are not afraid of what has happened in the past or what is heading our way in the future.  Many of our competitors have run to direct lenders like Wells Fargo, Bank of America etc.  Why? Because they need to survive and now they can only offer one product.  The one the direct lender is telling them to sell and they are having problems.  My competitors have said that I was going to be out of business last January and here we are still surviving and actually better than ever.  The cool thing is we have remained true to our course of remaining independent.  We have remained true to our clients by making sure we have all options like FHA to land loans.  This is the first of many blogs to come I appreciate your time so I will cut out now and speak some more next week on where things are going!  Remember Samuel Scott Financial Group, where the client always comes first!