California Dude Turned Rockstar Mortgage Guy!

Years ago when I started my real estate career one I had a hard time finding a mortgage lender that I could refer my clients to. I am very selective in who I refer my clients to and when it comes to lenders I have a very strict set of criteria I look for, and fortunately I found Matt Cady at Summit Lending that is able to perform to my standards.

The first thing I look for in a lender, and a quality I identified about Matt very quickly, is that they show up. What do I mean by "show up"? I mean they don't ride the flaky train. They return calls promptly. They follow up consistently and often. They don't leave my clients hanging.

Matt unfortunately, is the exception, not the rule when it comes to mortgage professionals in this regards. When I refer him a client he contacts them promptly, he is easy to get a hold of, and when you leave a message he returns your calls promptly, he conducts himself in a professional manner, and he always gets the paperwork done quickly and on time.

I don't want to be too negative on the industry as a whole, but there are just a lot of flaky mortgage lenders. I would often refer clients to lenders and they wouldn't return phone calls promptly, follow up in a professional manner, or they would take a long time to do the pre-approvals.

Another quality in Matt that gives me confidence in referring him is that he does the work and he gets the job done. A lot of mortgage professionals will not do their due diligence in the pre-approval stage and that results in a lot of wasted time for myself and my clients. Matt takes the time and does a thorough pre-approval verifying a clients income and other factors to assure us when he issues a pre-approval that the client will be able to get a loan.

Furthermore, Matt has worked hard to arrange for a number of loan products so that he is able to work with all types of buyers, not just those with amazing credit, a huge income, and no debt.

I have been referring Matt to my clients fro several years now with great success. He has even saved several transactions for me that had gone South in escrow and when other lenders couldn't close the sale.

Matt Cady at Summit Lending
Matt@MattCady.com
949-238-6035

Prince Harry Seen Cleaning Ponds in Orange County

Well maybe he's not Prince Harry exactly, but Seamus aka The Pond Doctor does have fiery red hair, an oversized personality, a smile that melts women's hearts, and a guy you want to have a beer with...oh yeah, and he knows everything there is to know about pond construction and maintenance.

Years ago, before I was a real estate agent, I met this Irish guy name Seamus, who drove around in a beat up MASH green colored pickup truck with a stenciled logo and the name of his business on the door "The Pond Doctor."

At the time, Seamus was teaching high school English and coaching the girls running team, while also operating a pond maintenance and construction business. Yes, he is an English teach too, or at least he was. He spent his afternoons, weekends, and summers cleaning, repairing, and building ponds.

Over the years his pond business grew, and he stopped teaching. I have seen him build dozens of amazing ponds, do extensive clean ups, repair countless sets of pond equipment, and speak at length on water chemistry and the requirements of fish...which is best not to get him started FYI unless you interested in the optimal pH/total alkalinity levels for Koi or the pros and cons of bio-filters or the hundreds of other pond topics he can pontificate at length about.  

Although he is great at was he does and knowledgeable in his trade, after knowing him for a number of years I can say his biggest strength is that he cares about people. He cares that his clients are happy and enjoy their ponds, and that is not just some marketing platitude that is something I have seen first hand.

If you are thinking of having a pond installed in your yard, need weekly pond maintenance, or have your pond equipment needs repair, call Seamus The Pond Doctor.

Areas he services: All of LA and Orange County

Contact Information: 800-681-4161   ponddoctoroc@gmail.com

4 Tips to Determine How Much Mortgage You Can Afford

By: G. M. Filisko

By knowing how much mortgage you can handle, you can ensure that homeownership will fit in your budget.

Homeownership should make you feel safe and secure, and that includes financially. Be sure you can afford your home by calculating how much of a mortgage you can safely fit into your budget.

Why not just take out the biggest mortgage a lender says you can have? Because your lender bases that number on a formula that doesn’t consider your current and future financial and personal goals.

Think ahead to major life events and consider how those might influence your budget. Do you want to return to school for an advanced degree? Will a new child add day care to your monthly expenses? Does a relative plan to eventually live with you and contribute to the mortgage?

Consider those lifestyle issues as you check out these four methods for estimating the amount of mortgage you can afford.

1.  Prepare a detailed budget.

The oldest rule of thumb says you can typically afford a home priced two to three times your gross income. So, if you earn $100,000, you can typically afford a home between $200,000 and $300,000.

But that’s not the best method because it doesn’t take into account your monthly expenses and debts. Those costs greatly influence how much you can afford. Let’s say you earn $100,000 a year but have $1,000 in monthly payments for student debt, car loans, and credit card minimum payments. You don’t have as much money to pay your mortgage as someone earning the same income with no debts.

Better option: Prepare a family budget that tallies your ongoing monthly bills for everything -- credit cards, car and student loans, lunch at work, day care, date night, vacations, and savings.

See what’s left over to spend on homeownership costs, like your mortgage, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, utilities, and community association fees, if applicable.

2.  Factor in your downpayment.

How much money do you have for a downpayment? The higher your downpayment, the lower your monthly payments will be. If you put down at least 20% of the home's cost, you may not have to get private mortgage insurance, which protects the lender if you default and costs hundreds each month. That leaves more money for your mortgage payment.

The lower your downpayment, the higher the loan amount you’ll need to qualify for and the higher your monthly mortgage payment.

But, if interest rates and/or home prices are rising and you wait to buy until you accumulate a bigger downpayment, you may end up paying more for your home.

3.  Consider your overall debt.

Lenders generally follow the 43% rule. Your monthly mortgage payments covering your home loan principal, interest, taxes and insurance, plus all your other bills, like car loans, utilities, and credit cards, shouldn’t exceed 43% of your gross annual income.

Here’s an example of how the 43% calculation works for a homebuyer making $100,000 a year before taxes:

1.    Your gross annual income is $100,000.

2.    Multiply $100,000 by 43% to get $43,000 in annual income.

3.    Divide $43,000 by 12 months to convert the annual 43% limit into a monthly upper limit of $3,583.

4.    All your monthly bills including your potential mortgage can’t go above $3,583 per month.

You might find a lender willing to give you a mortgage with a payment that goes above the 43% line, but consider carefully before you take it. Evidence from studies of mortgage loans suggest that borrowers who go over the limit are more likely to run into trouble making monthly payments, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns.

4.  Use your rent as a mortgage guide.

The tax benefits of homeownership generally allow you to afford a mortgage payment -- including taxes and insurance -- of about one-third more than your current rent payment without changing your lifestyle. So you can multiply your current rent by 1.33 to arrive at a rough estimate of a mortgage payment.

Here’s an example: If you currently pay $1,500 per month in rent, you should be able to comfortably afford a $2,000 monthly mortgage payment after factoring in the tax benefits of homeownership.

However, if you’re struggling to keep up with your rent, buy a home that will give you the same payment rather than going up to a higher monthly payment. You’ll have additional costs for homeownership that your landlord now covers, like property taxes and repairs. If there’s no room in your budget for those extras, you could become financially stressed.

Also consider whether or not you’ll itemize your deductions. If you take the standard deduction, you can’t also deduct mortgage interest payments. Talking to a tax adviser, or using a tax software program to do a “what if” tax return, can help you see your tax situation more clearly.

Related: More on Mortgages from HouseLogic

G.M. Filisko is an attorney and award-winning writer who’s owned her own home for more than 20 years. A frequent contributor to many national publications including Bankrate.com, REALTOR® Magazine, and the American Bar Association Journal, she specializes in real estate, business, personal finance, and legal topics.

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