Washington State Mortgages, Made Clear. Buying or Refinancing? Let's find the right loan together.
This is a question I get more often than you’d think, and the answer surprises most people: a bankruptcy doesn’t permanently disqualify you from getting a mortgage and depending on the type of bankruptcy you filed and which loan program you use, you may be eligible sooner than you’d expect — in some cases, before your bankruptcy is even fully discharged.
The two things that determine your timeline are which chapter you filed and which loan program you use. Let’s break both down. [Read more…]
Mortgage rates don’t move in a straight line. They drift up, dip down, hold steady for a few weeks, then jump again — sometimes in the same day.
If you’re waiting for “your number” to refinance, that uncertainty can feel like a reason to wait on everything. Don’t start the application. Don’t pull your credit. Don’t look too closely at your current loan. Just… wait.
Here’s the thing: waiting for the right rate and preparing to refinance are two completely different activities. You can — and should — be doing the second one while you wait on the first.
Let’s walk through what that prep actually looks like. [Read more…]
If you weren’t buying or refinancing a home in the mid-2000s, “subprime” might just be a word you’ve heard in passing — usually attached to the phrase “mortgage crisis.” If you were around back then, you probably remember it very differently: as a borrower who got a loan you probably shouldn’t have, as a homeowner watching your neighborhood fill with for-sale signs, or — in my case — as a loan officer watching an entire segment of the industry implode in real time. [Read more…]
With the FIFA World Cup bringing matches to Lumen Field this summer, Seattle has had a lot of eyes on it lately — and I’m sure more than a few out-of-towners who came for a match are wondering, “could I actually live here?” That’s a fair question, and it deserves a more honest answer than a highlight reel of Pike Place and Mount Rainier on a clear day.
I’ve lived and worked in the Seattle area for over 25 years, helping people finance homes here since 2000 – this is what I tell people who call me asking whether a move to Seattle makes sense for them. [Read more…]
