creative real estate financing
STRATTON EQUITIES’ HARD MONEY MEET AND GREET ON MAY 22
Loan Officers, Real Estate Agents, Developers and Investors are invited to the Son Cubano Restaurant in West New York in May to learn more about Stratton Equities
April 17,2019- Parsippany NJ – New Jersey based Mortgage Lender, Stratton Equities, is making noise with their launch event; The Stratton Equities’ Spring Meet and Greet on Wednesday, May 22. To RSVP or learn more information about the Spring Meet and Greet follow the link here: https://strattonequitiesspring2019.splashthat.com/
Stratton Equities is a leading Nationwide direct Hard Money Lender that offers the most diverse array of programs in Today’s industry. Providing loans such as Hard Money, Private Money, Fix and Flip, Stated Income, Commercial, and more.
The Parsippany, NJ, flagship location is home to Founder, serial entrepreneur Michael Mikhail, and hungry Loan Officers that close their first loans in an unheard of previously – 4-6 weeks- and now they are ready to make a splash in the fast growing Mortgage lending industry with their upcoming Meet and Greet event.
After their soft launch in mid-2017, Stratton Equities focused on building their foundation of providing the most innovative programs at the lowest rates.
In early 2019, Stratton Equities became listed in the Scotsman Guide and focused their efforts on expanding outreach with the creation of their Seasonal Meet and Greets.
The focus of each event is to connect Loan Officers, Real Estate Agents, Developers and Investors– face to face- with curated one on one meetings during an entertaining affair focused on showcasing the high quality and luxury lifestyle that Stratton Equities possesses.
On Wednesday, May 22, The Stratton Equities’ Spring Meet and Greet will commence at Son Cubano Restaurant in West New York, in partnership with Remax Realtor Carlie Carreira and Media Partner, Realty 411.
Attendees can enjoy signature themed cocktails, the New York City skyline, and tasty appetizers, while they network with top influential members in the industry.
All guests will be able to take home a Stratton Equities’ VIP Gift Bag filled with products from their sponsors: Simplicity Title, Design + Build Enterpríses, United Real Estate New Jersey, Nationwide Property & Appraisal Services.
To find out more about Stratton Equities, please visit www.strattonequities.com
For more information about the event and to RSVP, please visit https://strattonequitiesspring2019.splashthat.com/
All press or media inquiries should email, Jordan Elizabeth Gelber at [email protected]
Meet Your Creative Financing Experts Rebecca Rice & Jim Beam
By Sandy Fox
Our 5th Annual Los Angeles Real Estate Investors’ Expo will feature some remarkable experts. On that day, we will spotlight Rebecca Rice and Jim Beam, industry leaders in a little-known financial area. They’ve perfected a way to turn a unique and specific kind of life insurance policy into a reservoir of money you can use to simplify your real estate investing. More than that, the strategy actually compounds and increases the ROI on your investments.
A Financial Vehicle That Compounds Your Investments
When you hear from Rice and Beam you’ll find a financial vehicle beyond what most investors use. Typically investors turn to cash, mortgages, private lending or a combination of the above. Each has its own costs and limitations.
Beam, who started as a real estate investor in Florida said, “We worked awfully hard to make our money. And it seemed like someone was always standing there at the end of the day with their hand out to take our money. Closing costs, fees, taxes, interest rates.” He felt there had to be a better way.
His search led him to Rice and her specially constructed policies. He learned a way that he could:
• Keep his money safe and private
• Borrow money at low cost or net-zero cost
• Avoid credit checks and bank approval for loans
• Gain tax-free retirement income
• Loan his business money and save on taxes
• Pay off debt faster
• Create an emergency fund that earned interest four times higher than most banks pay
He now helps other real estate investors learn how to take advantage of this system. This type of insurance policy is not new. It’s has been around for centuries and is tried and tested. Currently banks, businesses, and high net worth individuals use it to preserve and grow their money. But Rice and Beam offer a unique structure that makes it a powerful tool for even the small real estate investor.
SHE BROKE THE GLASS CEILING
Rice discovered Nelson Nash’s book, “Becoming Your Own Banker,” over 25 years ago. She recognized the revolutionary technique and became a protégé of Nash, building on his philosophy with concrete action plans.
It became her passion to help as many people as possible. “I help people see how money really works in the economy. It’s often not the way you think it does,” Rice says. “I love to show my clients how to reduce their debt in an extremely short period of time — faster than they ever thought possible.”
Through the years she’s structured Living Benefit policies for people from 21 to 93 years old. “Each is unique,” Rice says. “I’ve helped people profit who could only start with $100 a month. And I’ve worked with people who wanted to contribute a million dollars a year. Whatever your income or investment goals, you can use this to take control of your money and grow it faster and safer.”
Rice’s passion and dedication to her clients made her extremely successful. She became the first woman to be the top-performing agent at Mutual Trust. Then she went on to break the glass ceiling at Massachusetts Mutual as the first woman in its 170-year history to become the top life producer. She is also one of only three policy agents endorsed by the Palm Beach Letter, a financial newsletter.
Because she has written thousands of policies—and uses many of them herself — she knows every nuance of how to structure it to benefit you.
YOU NEED AN EXPERT
On the owner’s side, a policy looks deceptively simple and is easy to use. But the creative side takes an act of genius to give you all the benefits and advantages necessary to use it effectively in your business and investing.
Rice always learns what her client’s goals are. Then she tailors a Living Benefits policy specifically to meet those goals. Some want a pool of money to run their business. Others need free access to money for real estate investing or hard money lending. And some have their top goal to safeguard their wealth and transfer it to the next generation.
“It’s possible to accomplish all those goals without invading lifestyle money,” Rice says. Lifestyle money is what you live on after paying your bills and Uncle Sam. Rice’s brilliance is that she frees up money for you to invest from other sources. Often it’s from the debt payments you are already making.
PUTTING YOUR POLICY TO WORK FOR YOU
“The simplest way to use your Living Benefits policy is with hard money lending,” Beam says. “There are hundreds and hundreds of folks out there who are in need of hard money lending.” Beam works through organizations that send out leads for people who want to borrow the amount of money you have to invest —whether that’s $10,000 or $150,000 or more.
And the Living Benefits policy creates a vehicle to amplify the investment. “You borrow against your policy at 5% and you put it out on the street to go to work at 10% or 12% plus points,” Beam says. “But you’re still earning 5% on those same dollars within in your policy! Wow, what a platform to work from!”
Beam’s strength is that he can guide real estate investors in the best ways to take advantage of this platform for their specific goals.
There are a number of ways to take advantage of the policy. One of their clients buys HUD houses to rehab and rent.
Although her Living Benefits policy is only a few years old, she’s been able to use money from her policy to cut costs and increase returns.
• Used for a down payment for a conventional loan and saved the cost of mortgage insurance
• Used for repair costs on the house and avoided the expense and effort of a construction loan
• Kept an “emergency fund” that earns 5% or so on that money instead of a bank’s pitiful near zero rate
• Used a regional bank for a 5 year balloon loan with much lower loan origination costs and interest rates. She can do that because this system pays off the bank loan in just a few years—well before the balloon kicks in and interest rates rise
The client says, “The best part is that I end up with a house AND all the money that would have gone to mortgage payments!”
Can This Work For You?
You can learn more about investing in real estate using a Living Benefits policy when you attend national Realty411 events where Rice and Beam will be featured speakers. Plus, look for future issues with articles explaining in more depth how to increase your real estate returns using a Living Benefit policy.
Learn more with Rebecca Rice’s book, “Multiply Your Wealth: Essential Secrets for Financial Freedom.” Contact her directly (501) 868-3434 or online at www.rebeccarice.net – You can connect with Jim Beam at (239) 591-3781 or email: [email protected]
Welcome To Your MONEY PATCH
By Tim Houghten
Money might not grow on trees, but funding portal Patch of Land may have invented the closest thing to it…
Whether looking to grow your real estate investments with access to attractive capital, or boost your yields with passive income investments, this is one patch of the web worth checking out. Named one of Entrepreneur magazine’s ‘100 brilliant companies of 2015’, Patch of Land brings a unique twist to real estate lending and crowdfunding, and the proof is in the performance.
PIONEERING WIN-WINS
While peer-to-peer lending, and crowdfunding has been catching plenty of media attention, it hasn’t always been a walk in the park for fundraisers and funders. Until now the two main challenges have been the amount of work required for project promoters, without any guarantee of funding. And then a lack of track record, and organization base investment decisions on for those looking to put their capital to work. Recently, Patch of Land co-founder and CEO Jason Fritton provided a new perspective on how Patch has created a new model of peer to real estate lending. There are two things which really separate this platform from everything else on the landscape:
1. Patch offers ‘Pre-funding’, gives you your loan, and then raises funds from the crowd
2. Patch works together with institutional lenders instead of trying to replace them
This creates a true hybrid where “real estate, finance, and technology, converge.”
The startup that Fritton describes as a “tech and efficiency company” shares some threads with other peer-to-peer, online mortgage lending, and crowdfunding sites. These are that real estate fundraisers bring their projects, which are ultimately financed by the crowd. It is the execution that stands out.
Fritton highlights that his company is the “first in market to directly secure fractional investors in real estate loans.” That means Patch of Land underwrites, and gives real estate investors and professionals the funding under the supervision of SVP of Underwriting & Acquisitions Douglas Cochrane. Then Patch of Land opens up the opportunity to a range of individual accredited investors and institutional lenders.
Now operating in 25 states, and with over $600M per month in funding requests the company is able to offer retail investors, hedge funds, regional and “community banks the yields they really want, along with efficiency in origination.” In fact, Jason explains that this enables these capital sources the freedom to participate in deals they could not do directly, while permitting more common sense underwriting of deals. Operating under SEC Rule 506(c) of Regulation D, this connector empowers those with projects to raise money cost-effectively without all the marketing and substantial filing expenses of going it alone. All while delivering the due diligence investors need and crave. As of September 25 th , 2015 Patch of Land had a solid track record of performance, with no principal or interest losses.
THE SECRET SAUCE
Fritton explains that a great deal of the success has come from “the privilege to hire experts in all areas,” to grow the California based Patch of Land team. The founding and executive team now spans a wealth of technology expertise, lending professionals with billions in transactions under their belt, along with an entrepreneurial marketing team with experience in organizations like Disney. Silicon Valley appears very bullish on investing in ‘The Patch’ too, with a successful, oversubscribed Series A round of funding topping $23M, achieved in early 2015.
So far Patch of Land has perhaps been most well-known for funding single family deals, but Jason tells us they have recently funded a Ramada flagged hotel, office, and retail buildings, and are testing moving into new construction financing.
Whether you’ve got deals that need funding, or capital that deserves higher yields, Fritton says “give us a try, and come grow with us!
More details, statistics on past performance, and online tools can be found at PatchofLand.com.
How Investors Can Deal with Balloon Payments
By Bruce Kellogg
Creative Investors needing to maximize cash flow and leverage will often finance an asset using a two-step mortgage that requires a balloon payment after a set number of years.
A balloon payment is a substantial payment due at the end of a loan, if it does not reset. The loan may be a mortgage, commercial loan or or other amortized contract. Two-step mortgages often allow borrowers who might not otherwise qualify for a traditional loan to acquire investment properties.
Thus is the caveat to this creative structure: It loosens leverage options, but increases risk.
Investors who forecast appreciation, rent increases, interest rates, or capital improvements incorrectly could be in trouble when the balloon note is due. Here are some important factors to consider before financing a property with the balloon-payment structure.
“Amortizing” Versus “Balloon” Notes
An “amortizing” note is one where the principal amount is paid off over the term of the loan. A “balloon” note is one where the payments are not sufficient to retire the debt, and an outstanding balance is due at maturity.
What Is The Problem?
The problem arises when the borrower does not have the funds necessary to pay the “balloon” amount when it comes due. Oh, oh! So, here are some ways to deal with that!
Refinance the Property
The first recourse for an owner who wants to keep the property is to refinance either the property itself, or another property in the portfolio. This is a good approach as long as financing conditions are favorable. If conditions are not favorable, other approaches will need to be considered.
Sell the Property
If the owner does not care to own the property any longer, they can sell it and have the sale pay off the loan. Or, they can sell another property to pay off the loan. If conditions are not favorable for selling, again, other approaches will need to be considered.
Renegotiate With the Lender
This is not an ideal approach because the borrower is negotiating from an inferior position. The lender “has the upper hand” because they can always foreclose. So, the borrower should offer the lender a monetary “inducement” for an extension, either a fee, an increasein interest, or payment amount, or both. But, it gets the job done! (Unless the lender says, “No”!)
Protective Note Terms
The best way for a borrower to protect themselves from becoming in an uncomfortable position is to negotiate protective terms in the note in the first place. One might be called a “rollover clause” or an “extension”. Here, for example, the borrower gets a time extension, say two years, for a 2% interest rate increase. This must be written in the note as one of its terms.
Another approach is to convert the note into an amortizing one when the balloon payment is due. Again, these terms need to be negotiated when the note is written and included with the other terms. In some cases, lenders do not need a cash payoff and enjoy receiving reliable note payments from a proven borrower.
Bring In A Cash Partner
If the above approaches aren’t working, the borrower can bring in a cash partner. This basically involves selling a partial interest in the property for cash to pay off the “balloon”. An escrow is recommended with title insurance, and an attorney should draw up an agreement between the parties, who might not be familiar with each-other.
Return the Property to the Lender
This is the least-desirable alternative in most cases. It involves giving up. If it’s going to be done, it needs to be done right, with an escrow, deed with a “Deed-in-Lieu-of-Foreclosure” recitation, title insurance, and transfer of any rents and deposits back to the lender. The lender should cancel the note, and return the original to the borrower. The lender should also record a “Full Reconveyance” in the escrow to clear the title.
File Bankruptcy
This is an alternative, but a risky one, and should only be used as a last resort. The day a bankruptcy is filed, a 30-day “Automatic Stay” of all collection actions is established. After 30 days, the lender can file a “Relief from Stay” request to foreclose on the property. There is a hearing, and in the case of homeowners the bankruptcy judge will urge the parties to work something out. In the case of investors, the “sympathy factor” is usually low because investors are considered to have resources and several years to handle the “balloon”. The lender is due the money, the judge is likely to rule. (i.e., no relief!)
Conclusion
A “balloon” payment is one of those things that isn’t a problem, until it becomes a problem. It is best to deal with it up-front, in initial negotiations, when the note is originated. During the term of the note, keep working to pay it off. If the due date comes and the payoff funds are not in-hand, find expert help. You’re going to need it!
Good luck!
About Our Contributor
Bruce Kellogg has been a Realtor® and investor for 36 years. He has transacted about 500 properties for clients, and about 300 properties for himself in 12 California counties. These include 1-4 units, 5+ apartments, offices, mixed-use buildings, land, lots, mobile homes, cabins, and churches. He is available for listing, selling, consulting, mentoring, and partnering.
The Re-Emergence of Flexible Financing
By Rick Tobin
Every financial “boom and bust” housing cycle over almost the past 100 years has been directly or indirectly tied to the flooding of markets with relatively cheap and easy money prior to the banks and Federal Reserve slamming their doors shut to the access to affordable capital for their customers. The access to third party capital is truly the main reason why housing is positive, stagnant, or negative partly since the vast majority of consumers need some type of third party financing to purchase residential or commercial properties.
In spite of interest rates reaching historical lows in recent years, it is still quite challenging to qualify for a home mortgage. This is especially true since the vast majority (upwards of 97% +) of funded conventional and secondary market residential mortgage loans have been either government backed or insured especially after both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were both bailed out by the federal government back in 2008. It is interesting and quite synchronistic that the average FHA loan funded is typically also near 97% loan to value (LTV) financing, and that upwards of 97% all funded conventional residential loans were either government backed or insured (e.g., FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc.) in recent years.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act was signed by President Barack Obama into federal law on July 21, 2010. Dodd-Frank, in turn, created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). One of the main alleged core reasons for the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was to rapidly improve mortgage loan pricing and fee disclosures for U.S. consumers.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau later established the Qualified Mortgage (QM) and the Ability-to-Repay Rule. To best simplify the explanation of Qualified Mortgage and the Ability-to-Repay Rule, lenders were supposed to better qualify their prospective buyers for mortgage loans, or these same lenders (banks and even individual sellers offering certain types of seller financing options) might be financially liable for future loan losses should the borrower later default.
These Qualified Mortgage guidelines made the qualification for mortgages much more challenging for mortgage loan prospects. An example of tighter underwriting guidelines is the maximum ceiling of the 43% debt-to-income (proposed mortgage payment, and possibly other fixed monthly debts, as a percentage of mortgage prospect’s gross monthly income) rule for any conventional loans to be saleable in the secondary markets. Some old subprime and Alt-A lenders used to allow much more flexible underwriting guidelines with upwards of 50% to 60% debt-to-income ratios.
Both Qualified Mortgage and the Ability-to-Repay Rule went into effect on January 10th, 2014. Shortly thereafter, it became much more difficult to qualify for conventional mortgage loans in spite of mortgage rates hitting incredibly low rates in recent years. Cheap loans are exceptional options for property owners IF they can qualify for these same mortgages.
Qualified Mortgage and an Ability or Not to Repay
The key root word in the “Qualified Mortgage” phrase is the shorter version of the first word which is “Qualify.” A mortgage loan product is useless for a borrower who cannot qualify for it, even if the lender is paying their clients 1% per month to borrow money from them, somewhat akin to a NIRP (Negative Interest Rate Policy) bank account option.
Let’s take a look below at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s own words used to describe their Qualified
Mortgage (QM) and Ability-to-Repay guidelines from their main website:
“A Qualified Mortgage is a category of loans that have certain, more stable features that help make it more likely that you’ll be able to afford your loan.
A lender must make a good-faith effort to determine that you have the ability to repay your mortgage before you take it out. This is known as the “ability-to-repay” rule. If a lender loans you a Qualified Mortgage it means the lender met certain requirements and it’s assumed that the lender followed the ability-to-repay rule.
Generally, the requirements for a qualified mortgage include:
- Certain harmful loan features are not permitted, such as:
- An “interest-only” period, when you pay only the interest without paying down the principal, which is the amount of money you borrowed.
“Negative amortization,” which can allow your loan principal to increase over time, even though you’re making payments.- “Balloon payments,” which are larger-than-usual payments at the end of a loan term. The loan term is the length of time over which your loan should be paid back. Note that balloon payments are allowed under certain conditions for loans made by small lenders.
- Loan terms that are longer than 30 years.
- A limit on how much of your income can go towards your debt, including your mortgage and all other monthly debt payments. This is also known as the debt-to-income ratio.
- No excess upfront points and fees. If you get a Qualified Mortgage, there are limits on the amount of certain upfront points and fees your lender can charge. These limits will depend on the size of your loan. Not all charges, like the cost of a credit report, for example, are included in this limit. If the points and fees exceed the threshold, then the loan can’t be a Qualified Mortgage.
- Certain legal protections for lenders. Your lender gets certain legal protections when showing that it made sure you had the ability to repay your loan. Even with these protections, you may still be able to challenge your lender in court if you believe it did not make sure you had the ability to repay your loan.”
(*source above: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/1789/what-qualified-mortgage.html )
Ability to Repay Rule
“The ability-to-repay rule requires most mortgage lenders to make a good-faith effort to determine that you are likely to be able to pay back the loan. This is important because during the financial crisis many lenders made loans without making sure borrowers had enough income to repay their mortgage loans. As a result many borrowers ended up in risky loans they could not afford. Congress responded by passing a common-sense law that says mortgage lenders must make a reasonable effort to figure out if a borrower has the ability to repay the mortgage before the loan is made.
The CFPB is responsible for enforcing this law, and we have written a rule that says lenders have to make a reasonable and good-faith effort to figure out a borrower’s ability to repay a mortgage. In practice this means lenders must generally find out, consider, and document a borrower’s income, assets, employment, credit history and monthly expenses. Lenders cannot just use an introductory or “teaser” rate to figure out if a borrower can repay a loan. For example, if a mortgage has a low interest rate that goes up in later years, the lender has to make a reasonable effort to figure out if the borrower can pay the higher interest rate too.”
(Source above: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/regulations/ability-to-repay-and-qualified-mortgage-standards-under-the-truth-in-lending-act-regulation-z/ )
High FICO Scores and Less Qualified Borrowers
Over the past several years, conventional lenders have been funding mortgage loans for borrowers with much higher average FICO credit scores than perhaps ever seen in the mortgage profession. Lenders want to meet the Qualified Mortgage and Ability-to-Repay Rules while also not potentially being financially “on the hook” for their customers’ future mortgage defaults as well as not losing their access to government-owned secondary market institutions such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Most banks need to unload their funded loans as quickly as possible in the secondary markets. Should primary banks lose access to secondary markets, then these same banks may eventually run out of cash.
Ellie Mac (https://www.elliemae.com/ ), a technology company which analyzes mortgage data, recently reported that the average FICO (Fair Isaac Company) credit score for funded conventional loans in December 2015 was 754. This average FICO score was just one point lower than the average FICO score for mortgages funded in December 2014. FICO scores range from 300 (very poor credit risk) to 850 (exceptional), so a 754 credit score is almost equivalent to a very solid “A” credit score.
What is even more mind-boggling is that FHA (Federal Housing Administration) mortgage loans funded in December 2015 had an average FICO credit score of 688. It is a bit of a head scratcher because this average score was 7 points higher than the average FICO scores for funded FHA loans the month before in November 2015, and that FHA loans used to be known for much more flexible FICO score approvals in the 500 and low 600 FICO ranges in many cases.
The average FICO score nationally is closer to 695. Yet, only about 47% of younger Millennials (people between the ages of 18 and 35) have FICO scores above 670. Millennials, as of 2015, represent the largest percentage of home buyers nationally as well as the largest generation of all Americans. As a result, the number of qualified first-time home buyers for conventional mortgage loans is declining in many regions of the U.S.
Subprime and Alt-A Loans to the Rescue
As far back as the late 1990s, several subprime mortgage credit lenders were offering 100% loan to value financing for both owner and non-owner occupied residential loans (1 to 4 units). Some lenders offered zero down loans, with or without formal proof of income or assets, to as high as $1 million to $1.4 million dollars. Some lenders would offer these loans to clients with FICO scores as low as 620, and also did not require any proof of income such as tax returns or W2 forms, or even bank or investment account statements in order to confirm proof of liquid funds.
In 2015, a large number of institutional investors such as crowdfunding platforms for real estate and hedge funds significantly reduced their acquisitions of real estate for both residential and commercial properties. As a result, many conventional banks and private funding sources are getting more aggressive with their mortgage underwriting policies by reintroducing subprime and Alt-A type loans products with much easier mortgage loan qualifications such as lower FICO scores, less paperwork documentation, and even 100% financing for properties as high as $2 million in order to provide more non-Qualified Mortgage type financing options for individual investors at much higher loan amounts.
As a prime example of more flexible mortgage financing in 2016: Let’s take a look below at the $2 million dollar “Poppy Loan” offered by a federal credit union in the San Francisco region with no money down and 100% financing as described from the financial institution’s own website below:
“STOP PAYING RIDICULOUS RENT!
For the first time ever, San Francisco Federal Credit Union has created a home loan product that offers up to 100% financing. Created by San Franciscans for San Franciscans who are fed up with paying ridiculous rents. The customizable POPPYLOAN™ is a game-changing solution that can significantly reduce the down payment needed to make your dream of home ownership a reality.
Why did we create POPPYLOANTM ?
We were seeing too many people interested in home loans, who were qualified in every way, and either didn’t have enough money saved up, had to tap into their retirement accounts, or needed to borrow from a family member for the 20% down payment required for a conventional mortgage loan.
We also see Bay Area rents skyrocketing. It’s not that people can’t afford to make a house payment (look at the amount of rent that’s being paid!), it was the lack of funds or access to the size of down payment that is typically required. We wanted to find a solution to this growing problem and help our community.
As San Francisco’s credit union of choice, we delivered a real solution for our community. Our Proud Ownership Purchase Program for You – POPPYLOANTM is our answer to the down payment problem so many people struggle with when trying to buy a home in the Bay Area. Too many people living and working in San Francisco give up the dream of homeownership or moving up to a larger home. The necessary down payment would require they commit their entire nest egg to the home purchase. They see it as hopeless. POPPYLOANTM brings back that hope, brings back the real opportunity to stop paying ridiculous rents and start having your money go to work for you.
How does POPPYLOANTM work?
It’s simple, really.
- POPPYLOANTM is available to anyone who works in San Francisco or San Mateo County.
- The home you want to buy and will live in as your primary residence must be located in one of the 9 Bay Area Counties. These are San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano.
- You can finance up to 100% of the purchase price or appraised value, whichever is less – all in one loan.
- Loans are available up to $2,000,000.
- There is NO added cost of Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI).”
(*Source above: https://www.sanfranciscofcu.com/poppyloan )
History tends to repeat itself partly since so many of the main financial institutions and investors follow the same script over and over. First, these same banks flood the markets with easy money while almost begging consumers to take the money from them. The same investors, in turn, acquire discounted properties and ride the appreciation wave for several years prior to the banks turning off their access to capital. Once the figurative water spigot to cash is turned off, then the markets begin to taper off or decline.
“Rinse, recycle, and repeat” as the markets and investors try to clean themselves up prior to the next financial boom. To me, one of more encouraging signs to be seen today for a potential upturn in housing markets is the potential for more flexible mortgage money access for a much larger number of mortgage prospects. Money makes the world go ‘round, for better or worse; mortgage money continues to be the primary driver of the housing markets.
There can be a very fine line between sane and insane (“fog a mirror and qualify for a loan”) loan options available during any “boom or bust” housing cycle. Hopefully, we will one day find the best middle ground so that we can have more stability for real estate and the rest of the U.S. economy. We do still have the one main positive of near record low mortgage rates helping those people who can qualify for conventional and non-conventional mortgage loans, regardless.
Author: Rick Tobin 
Look for Rick’s ebook on Amazon Kindle: The Credit Crisis Deals: Finding America’s Best Real Estate Bargains. Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the Real Estate and Securities fields for the past 25+ years. He has held seven (7) different Real Estate and Securities brokerage licenses to date. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), Equity Funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com.