Dean Hartman

Another Refi Boom?

March 8, 2012

There have been a few developing (and some already existing) programs that are worth mentioning, as the newspaper headlines applaud the opportunity. With interest rates remaining at near historic lows for quite some time, many people have been unable to take advantage of these rates because of problems in securing a high enough appraised value. [...]

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Two Things You May Have Missed

February 16, 2012

Before the end of the year, Congress and the President agreed to extend the payroll tax cut. In that bill, there were two items of interest for those involved in real estate. 1.) The hike in the Guarantee Fees charged by the GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The 10 basis point increase in the [...]

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Know Who You Are Working With

February 9, 2012

I have long been a proponent of referrals when choosing whom to do business with. But even with a referral, you owe it to yourself to do some homework. In terms of a mortgage, you have always had the Better Business Bureau and local regulators (like state banking departments) that you could contact. Over the past few [...]

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Who’s the Quarterback?

February 2, 2012

Given that it’s Superbowl Week (Go Giants!), I thought we might go with a football theme today. I can’t tell you how many different people I hear proclaim that they are the quarterback of the real estate transaction – the agent, the loan officer, an attorney, accountant or financial planner. But for goodness sake, the [...]

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What Value Does Your Loan Officer Add?

January 19, 2012

For the longest time, I have listened to other loan officers talk about why people should do business with them; and 95% of the time their presentations boil down to three things – price, product, and service. On the pricing front, they talk about low interest rates and/or closing costs; on the product side, they [...]

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The Power of Assumability

January 12, 2012

One of the rarely touted advantages of people taking FHA mortgages today is the fact that they are assumable. What that means is, when the FHA homebuyer of today is looking to sell his home, a qualified purchaser can “take over” their loan. Most people believe that interest rates will return to a “normal” range [...]

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