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Sorry to add to the soup here, but my lender was telling me just today how strict underwriters are getting. I've been on the hunt for five months and between all cash buyers that snap up everything in a day or so and houses that have been neglected for decades, I can't seem to catch a break.

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I did rehab lending through BCB (pre Pamrapo purchase). The arrangement I had with them was a 1 year interest only loan during the construction phase. The loan would then be refinanced into a more traditional mortgage.

The construction loan would release $$$ in stages as the building became more complete. Basically I would call them and say for example, the electrical and plumbing rough is done and they would inspect and then release $$$ so I could pay the contractors.

Unfortunately, just confirming your experience. I recently closed on a house where some finishing touches were underway on electrical (PSE&G to hook up line to street). City had already signed off on work. Was told the lender will not close if any issue is open. They basically want to know everything is in order in case they need to take the house. If the lender knows of the issue, they will not close.

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Could it be they're concerned about pipe freeze damage if there's no heat? Have you had a plumber in to see what it would take for minimal functionality? In a rehab deal this large $5-10k for a new boiler is rounding error. Problem is you don't own it yet. I had an owner pull an oil tank in contract, perhaps this could be similar.

Thanks for the response Brewster.

It wasn't the actual appraisal in terns of appraised value that caused tbe problem, tbe value and cash ratios were fine, rather it was that the appraiser reported that the boiler wasn't working and BOA said flatly "if the boiler isn't working, we can't make the loan".

I know for a regular mortgage the place has to be habitable, I don't consider these kind of problems to make the place inhabitable, as I am planing to rehab.

I am hoping some lenders are more liberal with such assesments. Maybe someone offerring "non-conforming" loans like BCB as mentioned upthread?

Robin.

No idea if they'll be better specifically on your needs, but I had a great experience on my last one with Investors Bank. At least they're small and local. When there's been hiccups in the autopay, their CS has been terrific.

Pamrapo used to be great for this stuff, but they imploded, were acquired by BCB, and the whole thing is a stinking mess.

I don't know why the appraisal should be a problem if the price reflects the condition. If it doesn't, well there's your problem. The solution yiu may not like, increase your downpayment till the loan lines up with what they're willing to swallow. We had to do this with a property that appraised $50k low in 2004.

Anyone recommend a mortgage lender that is not so strict regarding condition of the property?

I had a mortgage fall through with Bank of America because the appraiser pointed out the boiler wasn't working.

I don't care about the boiler, or about a roof leaking, as I am going to rehab the place.

I don't want a 203k, just a lender that will not kill the deal over these issues.

Robin.

you need a commercial re lender. search on bing. try northstar in hoboken

Currently looking for a lender for a mixed zone area. I am interested in properties with Commercial space on the ground floor and Residential space on the upper floors. All lenders I have used in the past only work with residential properties. Thanks!

I took out a mortgage with Investors three years ago and refinanced 18 months later. Both times, the bank offered me a good rate and was easy to deal with.

One small point: Although I was told that Investors usually does not sell off its mortgages, it did sell both of mine.

Interesting read...


If you have a job that involves building homes, buying homes, selling homes or that is in any way related to the mortgage industry, you might want to start searching for alternate employment. Seriously. Interest rates are starting to rise dramatically, and mortgage lenders such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are all cutting thousands of mortgage-related jobs. Last week, mortgage refinance activity plunged to the lowest level that we have seen since June 2009 and total mortgage activity dropped to the lowest level since October 2008. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. Mortgage rates closely mirror the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries, the the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries has nearly doubled since early May. But it is still only sitting at about 3 percent right now. As I have written about previously, it has a ton of room to go up before it hits "normal" historical levels, and so do mortgage rates. As I noted the other day, some analysts believe that the yield on 10 year U.S. Treasuries is going to hit 7 percent eventually. If that happens, mortgage rates will be more than double what they are today. And we have already seen the average rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage go from 3.35 percent in May to 4.57 percent last week. If interest rates continue to rise we could be heading for a "housing Armageddon" that will make the last housing crash look like a Sunday picnic.

The mini-housing bubble that we have been enjoying for the last couple of years is coming to an abrupt end. It doesn't matter what the mainstream media is telling you about a "sustainable" housing recovery. Just look at how the big mortgage lenders are behaving. They know the gig is up. According to Bloomberg, Bank of America has just announced that they will be eliminating 2,100 mortgage-related jobs...

Bank of America Corp., the second-largest U.S. lender, will eliminate about 2,100 jobs and shutter 16 mortgage offices as rising interest rates weaken loan demand, said two people with direct knowledge of the plans.

Would they be doing that if we were really heading into a "sustainable housing recovery"?

And Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase are also both eliminating thousands of mortgage-related jobs...

Mortgage lenders are paring staff as higher interest rates discourage refinancing and cast doubt on how long the housing market rebound will last. Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest U.S. home lender, plans more than 2,300 job cuts, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. may dismiss 15,000.

Would they be doing this if they thought that brighter days were ahead?

Of course not.

In fact, Well Fargo just announced that it expects to make 30 percent fewer home loans this quarter because of rapidly rising interest rates.

It's over folks.

The mini-housing bubble that the mainstream media has been hyping so much is over.

If your job has anything to do with real estate or mortgages, it is time to start thinking about a career change.

This is especially true if your job is related to refinancing mortgages. All of the smart people have already refinanced. As rates continue to rise rapidly, the only ones that will be refinancing are really stupid people. According to Zero Hedge, mortgage refinance activity has already dropped by a whopping 70 percent since early May...

For the 16th of the last 18 weeks, mortgage refinance activity plunged (dropping 20% this week alone). Since early May, when the dreaded word "Taper" was first uttered, refis have collapsed over 70%. With mortgage servicers and providers large and small laying people off, it seems hard for even the most egregiously biased bull to still suggest that the housing recovery is sustainable.

And this rise in interest rates is just getting started. The Federal Reserve has not even begun to "taper" yet. Once that starts happening, the consequences could be quite dramatic...

?In early 1994, when the U.S. recovery gained strength, the Fed started a tightening cycle and bond markets crashed not only in the U.S. but also around the world,? European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said on Tuesday.

?If spillovers were large in 1994, we can expect them to be even larger today in an even more deeply interconnected world,? he added in the text of a speech for delivery in Brussels.

Of course when the Federal Reserve "tapers" their quantitative easing it won't really be "tightening" as much as it will be slowing down the pace at which they are recklessly creating tens of billions of dollars out of thin air. But the effect will be similar to what we saw back in 1994.

As interest rates rise, it will become much more expensive to buy a home and much more difficult to sell a home. To give you an idea of how dramatically interest rates can affect housing affordability, I wanted to share some numbers from one of my previous articles...

A year ago, the 30 year rate was sitting at 3.66 percent. The monthly payment on a 30 year, $300,000 mortgage at that rate would be $1374.07.

If the 30 year rate rises to 8 percent, the monthly payment on a 30 year, $300,000 mortgage at that rate would be $2201.29.

Does 8 percent sound crazy to you?

It shouldn't. 8 percent was considered to be normal back in the year 2000.

Are you starting to get the picture?

As interest rates go up, home prices will have to fall. Otherwise, nobody will be able to afford them.

In the end, we could end up with tens of millions more homeowners that are substantially "underwater" on their mortgages.

So who is to blame?

The Federal Reserve of course.

They created this bubble by forcing interest rates down to record low levels.

At some point it was inevitable that interest rates would start reverting back to more "normal" levels, and that "adjustment" is going to be immensely painful for the U.S. economy.

As we saw back in 2008 and 2009, when the housing industry suffers the entire economy suffers.

And the higher that interest rates go, the more suffering there will be.

So let us hope and pray that interest rates do not go any higher, but let us also start preparing for the very worst.

Under no circumstances use Liberty Savings Federal Credit Union. They are unethical and wasted my time and money as I explained in this thread:

http://jclist.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=327098

I would recommend AFM too - had a mortgage through them (later sold to someone else), and the lady helping me was very curteous, and helpful throughout the whole process. So "rare" in this day and age...

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To my knowledge, Investors doesn't tend to sell its mortgages--I used them recently and would recommend.

The drawback to the mortgage being sold is that you have to deal with the new bank. Had automatic deductions? Time to set them up again. I had a mortgage sold to another bank--with the first, I was paying every two weeks and the new one didn't have that option. Probably not a dealbreaker if you're looking at a lender that might sell, but it can be an unexpected headache when they do... for me, it wasn't a smooth transition and the new lender just didn't have the same level of customer service as the first.

In the past I have used Investors Bank and was very happy with them.

However I recently had a relatively simple purchase and used American Federal Mortgage which I found on Zillow.com. They got great reviews on the site and the rate they were offering was amazingly low. I only paid them for attorney fees as they covered all the other standard bank fees even the appraisal. Granted I have been through the process many times so I know how to submit the requested documents but I was very impressed with their underwriter and timing of my approval/closing.

I got a mortgage through Joe Berg at Pinnacle Mortgage over in Hoboken. It has been sold but the rate was about as low as I've ever heard for a mortgage. The origination charges were only a few hundred dollars if I recall correctly. They encouraged me to shop around once they got my approved, and had my rate. No bank could come within 1/2% point with similar origination costs.

Also Heights, I'm curious as to what your worry about a mortgage being sold is?

I got a 7 year ARM mortgage on my condo in Hamilton Park in May, 2013 with Haven Savings Bank in Hoboken (through a mortgage broker) no problem.

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What is the reason behind your thoughts?

I worked with arthur saganda at guaranteed rate mortgage and had a very good experience. he was extremely helpful in explaining things (especially to a first time buyer) and was very responsive over email and phone. yes, my mortgage was sold, but that didn't really bother me or I would have worked directly with a bank. My mortgage was sold to chase.

Avoid mortgage companies stick with banks. And make sure your mortgage is not sold off to another broker.

Can someone share experiences with local mortgage lenders in and around jersey city. Which are good and which must be avoided?