Entries from Searchlight Crusade tagged with 'stated income'

Fear and Greed, or How Did The Housing Bubble Get So Big?

(This was originally written February 16, 2006, but it's relevant still) One of the occasional questions I get from people has to do with why the housing bubble got so big (or if you're one of those still in denial...

Issues with Multiple Mortgages

We have several rental properties that we own (more than 10). When we were younger, before we got married, we both moved around a lot and bought houses, moved, stayed a year or so and did it again. I...

Wanting a More Expensive Property Than You Can Really Afford

This is one of the biggest issues with my local real estate market. Because the San Diego market has very high demand and limited supply of property, prices are high. A reasonable two bedroom condo runs around $200,000. A 1200...

Full Circle: Back to More Traditional Lending Standards

When things went south in the real estate market, I saw more changes in the lending industry in a few months than the previous five years. But those changes mostly restored us to the place we were a few years...

Loan Qualification Standards - Debt to Income Ratio

Many people have no clue how qualified they are as buyers, or borrowers. There are two ratios that, together with the credit score, determine how qualified someone is for a loan. The first, and by far the more important, is...

Existing Debt: The Biggest Hurdle in Mortgage Loan Qualification

I got a question about what the number one obstacle is to most people qualifying for the loan on the property they want. The answer is "existing debt." Credit cards, student loans, car payments, etcetera. It seems like more people...

Levels of Mortgage Documentation, or, Why You Should Demand to Do More Paperwork

(UPDATE NOTE: After several years of it being unavailable, I've recently started getting lender solicitations for stated income loans again. I haven't done any of these new loans yet, but as much as I don't like stated income there is...

Magical Thinking About Mortgage Loans

(This is an updated reprint of an article written in February 2007. The Era of Make Believe Loans that made it easier to qualify people for inflated loan amounts ended abruptly a few days later, but the sort of thinking...

Don't Allow Yourself To Become A Victim of Bad Real Estate Practice

This woman made herself a victim stayed in a hotel for 7 weeks looking for my "Dream Home." And, when I found it, even though it wasn't in my price range, I knew I would do anything I could to...

Retirement Account Contributions and Mortgage Loan Qualification

I know 401k contributions impact a persons Adjusted Gross Income, thus would it also affect the amount a person could qualify for? If so, I will delay enrollment for a few months... This depends upon what documentation you use to...

The Pin That Pops the Housing Bubble?

(I published this originally June 18, 2006. Anyone want to tell me I didn't hit this nail on the head?) The housing bubble is not the primary focus of this website, but to pretend it does not exist is plainly...

Housing Bubble Death Trap

(This blast from the past originally appeared June 7th 2006, and it wasn't my first such article. It's still relevant, though. Keep in mind that San Diego has been on the bleeding edge of all of this, so we're likely...

What Sort of Loan Can I Get? (October 2008)

Having had two separate very qualified buyers ask me if they could get a loan in the last two days was kind of an eye opener to all of the hype out there about how difficult it is to...

Retirement Account Contributions and Mortgage Loan Qualification

I know 401k contributions impact a persons Adjusted Gross Income, thus would it also affect the amount a person could qualify for? If so, I will delay enrollment for a few months... This depends upon what documentation you use to...

Wanting a More Expensive Property Than You Can Really Afford

This is one of the biggest issues with my local real estate market. Because the San Diego market has very high demand and limited supply of property, prices are high. A reasonable two bedroom condo runs around $300,000. A 1200...

Full Circle: Back to More Traditional Lending Standards

I've seen more changes in the lending industry in the last six months than the previous five years. But those changes simply restored us to the place we were a few years ago. Loans are easy to get, rates are...

The Biggest Hurdle in Mortgage Loan Qualification: Existing Debt

I got a question about what the number one obstacle is to most people qualifying for the loan on the property they want. The answer is "existing debt." Credit cards, student loans, car payments, etcetera. It seems like more people...

Magical Thinking About Mortgage Loans

Not very long ago, a woman who was impressed by my website called because she wanted to get pre-qualified for a loan. "Great!" I told her, and proceeded to ask about her income and her monthly obligations and everything else,...

The Pin That Pops the Housing Bubble?

The housing bubble is not the primary focus of this website, but to pretend it does not exist is plainly wishful thinking. One of the ongoing phenomenon that have been driving the bubble is the "Stated Income"loan, where the lender...

Housing Bubble - News from the Front

Inside Larry's Head has an article that starts "Dear Housing Bubble People" where he talks about the fed having signalled that the end of hikes in rates are likely near, and speculates that this means there is no housing...