Kevin Hoover's Blog

As the end of this year approaches, I'm feeling this enormous sense of gratitude for all the wonderful people, both personally and professionally, in my life.  I'm also truly grateful for living in a wonderful and beautiful state.  Life is good!      I was lucky enough to go with a friend to the ...

Why does FICO keep coming up with new versions of their scoring models when no one in our business is paying attention?  Well, there are some very good reasons with the primary one being that medical collection accounts will now have a lower impact on overall scores that more accurately reflect t...

Yesterday the NM Supreme Court upheld that the concept of 'Tax Lightning' is indeed legal and can resume across New Mexico. What was happening was when a home was sold, the assessed value immediately became the sale price resulting in property tax bills that sometimes doubled or tripled in some ...

I hate to admit this but with the closing on my new rental home fast approaching on Wednesday, I'm feeling a bit nervous as well as being very excited as well.  This is the first home I've bought that needs some substantial improvements (windows, removal of add-on room) before I can rent it out o...

My personal story:  Buying a rental home...       One of the best decisions I've ever made financially (at least so far...) has been to invest in a couple of rental properties.  I figured, I'm in the business and should really take my own advice about diversifying my retirement income stream. I ...

I get asked all the time about buying a new primary residence and turning an existing primary residence into a rental, so I thought I'd put out some tips on how to accomplish this.  Here are the 5 main things to consider: Is the new home you're buying more expensive than the value of your existin...

If you’ve ever thought about purchasing a rental property, 2014 will be a great year to do it!  Rates continue to be very low and home prices are still very affordable as well.  From my personal experience and conversations with folks who have rentals, here are the first 3 things to consider when...

Just need to get this off my chest. Currently been working with several very marginal buyers who, by the skin of their teeth, qualify for a mortgage.  Very low FICO scores, high debt to income ratios, very low reserves, but really want the house. Some have other good compensating factors like a n...