Realtor commission
Recently I have a couple of files where as the Realtor has not received any documentation from the Builder on how much commission is going to be paid and on what.
As an example, although the MLS states 3%, the builder has come back, at CLOSING, and said that they are only going to pay 3% on the base price and not on upgrades or closing costs.
And there is nothing in writing. Everyone just assumed the “standard 3%”.
Now I have been out of the Realtor world for quite some time, but I remember getting written contracts between the builder and the buyer’s agent, stating just how much commission I (the Brokerage) was going to receive.
So, remember the famous phrase, “if it isn’t in writing it does not exist”.
Now the fine print: I am not a licensed real estate agent in the state of Idaho, you should always contact your Broker.
Loan application
Questions was posed to me today on how long is a loan application good for and when does a borrower have to re-apply.
Technically under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, an application needs to be “approved” or “denied” or acted on, with in 30 days of applying. But this means having all of the proper information, including an address.
If the borrower is continually shopping for a home, and we do not have a property address, then applications are pretty good for up to a year. As long as the borrower and loan officer are in constant communication and keep sending the loan officer updated items, such as paycheck stubs and bank statements. Paycheck stubs expire after 90 days, bank statements after 2 months, and credit reports after 90 days.
Mortgage Rate
Mortgage rates have actually improved over the last week, mainly due to drop in oil prices and the inability of the Trump White House to get anything passed in Congress.
Wall Street’s love affair with Trump, since the election, seems to be slowing down, as Trump has gone from executive order to actually trying to get a law passed.
The fear is if Trump can’t get the Obama Care replacement passed, he is not going to get Tax Reform passed either, and that is what Stocks and Companies were betting on since the election.
Credit Score Chaos
Well lots of new info about Credit Scores:
- CFPB fined Experian $3.0M for “lying” to consumers about credit scores. It seems that Experian was publishing one of the “FREE” credit scores on their web site, called “PLUS Score”. And although they were saying it was a “educational” score, according to the CFPB they were “falsely representing that the credit scores it marketed and provided to consumers were the same scores lender use to make credit decision”
- July 1st Credit Report Change: Well if you haven’t heard, beginning July 1st, liens and judgements, where they are active or satisfied. So what does this mean:
- For the borrowers, it will mean that peoples credit FICO scores are going to increase, A LOT
- For the lenders, we are going to have to have another option to check on peoples liens and judgements.
- For the borrowers, it will probably mean the lenders will have to pull some other report, thus potentially costing them more fees.
- For the Realtors, it will mean that a pre-approval letter will need to ensure that not only has a credit report been seen, but a Lien/Judgement report as well.
More information will be coming on this, I am sure.
Lenders, including 1st Choice, can now have access to “what if” FICO calculator. Let’s say you have a borrower that has a 580 FICO score, and needs to get to 640 in order to do Idaho Housing 100% financing program. Before a lender would make some recommendations and hope or through experience, get that person’s FICO score up. Well now that is changing. We can take a person’s credit report, and change items on it, say pay off a credit card, pay a collection or even get a new credit card with a small balance. The FICO calculator will then tell you how many points you will gain and how long it will take. And from what I hear, it is about 99.7% accurate. A VERY sweet program.
AND DON'T FORGET
Vote for 1st Choice Mortgage for Treasure Valley top Mortgage Lender!!!
Linke here: http://idahostatesman.secondstreetapp.com/l/2017-Best-of-Treasure-Valley-Voting-Ballot/Ballot/ProfessionalServices