“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” Countryliving.com

The economy is changing, and families and individuals are modifying their living arrangements with the right financing. J.P. Morgan, CEO Jamie Dimon said recently, “brace yourself” for the economic hurricane. He was basing his prediction on the Federal Reserve’s perceived plan to continue bumping their Fed rate up multiple times this year and into the following year to try and push down inflation.   As the Fed continues to raise its rate and reduce its balance sheet of securities, the result looks like a recession in the future. 

Consumers tend to restrict the number of purchases and switch to more affordable brands in response to the rising prices caused by inflation.  Homeowners with a fixed-rate mortgage historically have fared well compared to renters, because the principal and interest portion of the mortgage payment for homeowners is generally fixed and not going up and down with the Federal Reserve decisions. 

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Some trends we see from the mortgage desk. 

1. 1. Renters escaping rising rents to buy their own home or build one.
2. 2. Retirement brings about time to downsize to a smaller home or move up to a larger home and live with other family members.
3. 3. Parents, children, and grandchildren moving back under the same roof and buying or building, or modifying the home they need. 
4. 4. Real Estate investors are acquiring more income-producing properties.
5. 5. Consolidating debt by refinancing to include variable-rate home equity lines and credit card debt to enjoy one stable payment. 

Lenders are working to provide just the right loan products to meet the needs of these trends.

1. 1. First-time homebuyer programs to assist renters to buy their first home. Many of these products offer down payment assistance to minimize the funds needed to close.
2. 2. Cash-out refinance loans to allow borrowers to refinance their first mortgage including paying off a variable-rate home equity loan and other adjustable-rate debt like credit cards.  By including variable-rate debt like credit cards and home equity lines into one, fixed-rate mortgage, the homeowner can eliminate the rising costs of the variable-rate debt.
3. 3. One-time closing loans that allow a borrower to lock in a mortgage rate for a year and not have to re-qualify during that time while their new house is being built. 
4. 4. Renovation and repair loans to help families affordably finance modifications to the home to allow for changing living arrangements.  

RENOVATION AND REPAIR LOAN- GI JERRY- FINDS HIS FOREVER HOME (BUT IT NEEDS WORK)

My phone was buzzing. When I picked it up a realtor friend was on the line.   “Jo, you know I have been selling homes for many years but this client we just have to give him some extra help.”

The realtor, a former military veteran, told of his elderly client who also was a veteran.  After his years in the military, our customer GI Jerry spent most of his life driving an 18-wheeler. He never bought a home because he stayed on the road all the time.   Now he was a widower and retired. The restless feeling, he had fought off over the years since getting out of the military really tugged at him how.   He wanted to have his own home where he could put his feet up on his own front porch.  

A few years went by, and Jerry would go look at houses for sale.  “There were some really big ones, “he said.  “There were some really pretty ones, but they didn’t feel like home.” 

One day Jerry convinced his realtor friend to take him to see a home that had been sitting on the market for several months.  The realtor advised Jerry that the old house was a waste of time. “It’s abandoned. It’s in terrible condition.  No lender is going to want to lend on that house.”  

But when Jerry stepped through the front doorway, his mind and his heart resonated with a blissful, secure feeling of being home.  He told the realtor and later told me, “No rhyme or reason—I just FELT peace when I stepped through the door.  I KNEW I can rest here. I was finally home.” 

The roadblock for Jerry was the condition of the old home.   But the realtor and our mortgage team went to work.  We helped him get a good contractor with an itemized bid on what it would cost to fix up the old place.  

We ended up getting Jerry approved for an FHA 203K renovation and repair loan so he could go ahead and close on his home and get draws from the repair escrow account gradually as the work was completed.  Within a couple of months, Jerry was able to move into his newly renovated Home Forever Sweet Home.  

If Jerry did not use the special renovation and repair loan, he would have been caught in a Catch-22 because the lender would not give him the mortgage until the structural repairs were done, but Jerry would not be able to do the repairs until he had the mortgage and owned the home.