Brian P.'s Blog

When you've been in the mortgage industry long enough, you may think you've seen everything; but alas, you still haven't. One of our recent mortgage loans was for a newly married couple who decided to use their cash wedding gifts toward the down payment of their first home. It sounded like a grea...

Whether you're a mortgage broker in Tampa, or a Realtor anywhere, you're probably complaining about something. The world in which we live is in constant flux and the thing that you didn't need yesterday to get the deal done, you sure as heck need today. Navigating clients from offer to closing ha...

For anyone buying real estate, it's pretty obvious that you need to prove to mortgage lenders that you have a good credit score and are responsible. But many myths persistent about what is good and what is bad for your credit. To that end, here are some ugly credit history truths that are commonl...

Just another heads up to all you Realtors out there...the current flood insurance program is set to expire (again!) on May 31st . And of course because that is a holiday you need to make sure you've got the flood coverage nailed down by this Friday, May 28th. If you recall, the last time (when it...

In other adventures in lending, I had a client who told me she wanted to buy a home because she was getting divorced. Not that she didn't seem like a really nice woman and not that I wasn't compassionate for her situation, but there were no divorce papers filed and no lawyers involved. To an unde...

In both the mortgage and real estate industries we've gone beyond the "It is on the Internet, so it must be true." to "How did they just spin that?" Really smart and really successful Steve Harney (negotiation expert and leadership trainer for real estate professionals), recently crystallized my ...

I've ranted before about the challenges real estate industry insiders are having trying to keep up with flurry of legislative changes and most recently with the new and improved HUD. For example, in 2009 what were commonly referred to as add-on or transaction fees charged by a real estate brokera...

I don't know everything, but because I have logged probably thousands of hours working with underwriters I can safely say I know more about their requirements to approve a home mortgage loan than the average borrower. And it is pretty rare that a borrower decides they should challenge that expert...

The concept of the classic Florida condo is an inspired one, peace of mind by design. A condo owner can enjoy the sunshine then "set it and forget it" as their unit is part of a whole that will be cared for in the condo owner's absence and will receive a level of security that is suitable for hom...

"What's the interest rate today?" is the typical question; but the real question is: "What are they going to be tomorrow?" We've already seen the first hiccup from the Federal Government's exit from the mortgage backed securities market. No one wants to hear I told you so when it comes to interes...