George's Blog

In an article in USA Today, Noelle Knox reported that according to the National Association of Realtors “43% of first time home buyers put no money down” on the purchase of their home. I would say that figure would be low here in Connecticut. My experience has been that probably more that 50% of my loans on first time home buyers are no money down 100% loans.

Mr. Knox sees this as a bad thing because he and his sources feel that housing prices are going to continue to drop, and that these first time homebuyers are going to find themselves in financial difficulty. His reasoning behind this theory is that his research shows that as many as one-third of homeowners take out “riskier loans, such as interest –only or flat-minimum-payment mortgages”. I for one really question the accuracy of this research, and chock it up to more “Media Negative Hype” to sell more newspapers.

I can only speak about what I am experiencing in Connecticut, and the housing market is not plummeting down a hill of destruction. On the contrary I have seen a big increase in activity in this first month of the year so far. To say that just because someone is into a 100% loan that they are on the road to financial destruction is ridiculous. This is assuming that the majority of first time home buyers are buying homes beyond what they can afford. Are there some that have bought beyond what they should have, yes there are. But that is not anywhere near the epidemic proportion stated in this article. In the last two years alone I have not had one buyer lose his house because they were into a 100% loan. Maybe I have been lucky, but in order for the figures in this article to be right then a lot of other Loan Officers would have to be writing some really bad loans.

As far as for one-third of homeowners taking out “riskier loans, such as interest –only or flat-minimum-payment mortgages”, again I would highly disagree with this. Most people are afraid to even take out an “Adjustable Rate Mortgage” must less the “Neg Ams” or “Pay Option ARM”. Have some done this, absolutely they have. But is this anywhere near the one-third that he is talking about, I would highly question that it is anywhere near that figure.

So here we are starting to experience again another positive up turn in the market, and here comes the news media trying to squash it down. We in the Real Estate Industry can not let the Media keep on getting away with this garbage. People are buying and the overwhelming number of them are buying within their means. This is like being back at school and you have one kid who does something stupid, and all the sudden the whole school is filled with bad kids, this is no different. We will always have buyers that buy beyond what they can afford, and we will always have Loan Officers and Realtors that are more interested in their commission than doing the right thing. But those people are in the minority, and we should not let the minority be what this business is judged by. It is up to us who are out there each and every day experiencing the true conditions of our markets to speak up and correct the false prophets of the news media.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

Two months ago I wrote a Post “Communication Could Prove To Be A Problem”, about a hearing impaired Borrower that one of the Realtors that I work with referred me to.  Since then I have communicated with this Borrower several times by e-mail, and we even scheduled three appointments during this time.  Each time she did not show up for the appointment, and did not contact me until two to three days later to tell me she was not able to keep the appointment because of a family situation.

Well today we finally met, and the meeting was very different that what I had expected.  One of the reasons why she had not kept the previous appointments was because she was going to come with her daughter so that se could sign for me, and relay what her mother was signing to me.  I did not mind her not showing up for our prior appointments, because of this.  I felt that her daughter would be a big help to the two of us, even though her daughter is only 11 years old.  Communicating with someone who is hearing impaired, was something that I have not had much of an experience at, and I was a little nervous about it.

So today when we finally met at my office, and her daughter was not with her I was more than a little concerned, especially when she started to speak to me.  Her speech was very hard to understand, and very hard to follow what she was trying to say.  So I sat her down next to me by my computer where she could see the Loan Application on the monitor.  By having her next to me I could point to what I needed to know on the monitor, and she in turn could write down the information that I needed.  As difficult as her speech was to understand, her handwriting was the complete opposite, it was very easy to read.

We got through the Loan Application and I ran her credit.  It was not good, but I have seen a lot worst.  The things that were causing the credit problems can be quickly fixed.  These were credit issues that should only take one to two months to correct.  She has enough money to clear up these credit issues, and for a downpayment.  Once these issues are corrected her Credit Scores should increase 50 to 60 points, and she will qualify for a conventional loan.  It was not easy to explain to her what she needed to do, and I had to do some writing myself in trying to explain to her what I was trying to say.  Unfortunately for her my handwriting is no where as neat as hers, in fact you might say it looks like I write with my toes.  But we got through it and she understood.  I made her write back to me what she thought I was trying to explain to her.  However, when we meet again I am going to make sure that either her daughter is there, or I will bring a friend of mine that knows how to sign.

I do not have any doubts that she will quickly do what I told her, because she is very motivated to correct these issues.  She is motivated because she wants to move back to New Hampshire, and purchase a piece of property where she can teach hearing impaired children to ride horses.  This is a true passion of hers, and it would earn her some income, while at the same time being able to help others who share the same disability.

I was really encouraged by this meeting, and hope to help her achieve her dream.  Hopefully I will have her ready to start looking for a property in about three to four months.  At that time I will try to find her a Realtor in New Hampshire that would like to take on the challenge of working with her, and help her fulfill her dream.  This meeting today did not result in a Loan, but it was a great way to start my week.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

Those of you that have been following the comments on my “Four Part Series On First Time Homebuyers” know that Dena Stevens in “First Time Homebuyers Seminars…..Part #3”,asked the following.  “My question to you (everyone) is how do you get these people to show up for the seminars? Several have been held in the Pueblo area lately with poor results.”  Dena’s question was a very good one, because no matter how good a Seminar you put together, and how informative it is, if people do not show up it has not accomplished what it was intended to do.  I responded to Dena’s question in my Post, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt that I needed to go into it a little more in depth.

We at McCue Mortgage, have a State Wide Radio Advertising Campaign that is directed at “First Time Homebuyers”.  We have been doing this for almost three years now, and it has been very effective for us.  The first message that we used on our Radio Advertising was for “First Time Homebuyers” that they needed to get “Pre-Approved”, and to work with a “Professional Realtor”.  Our radio spokes person for these ads is one of the local female basketball heroes, Rebecca Lobo, who was on the University of Connecticut’s first National Women’s Basketball Championship Team in 1995.  Rebecca is also a Sports Commentator on ESPN for both women’s College and Pro Basketball Games.  She is very well know in Connecticut, and has done an excellent job for us.

When we decided to change our message, we felt that we still wanted to target “First Time Homebuyers”, and so the idea of doing the “First Time Home Buyer Seminars” on our own, on the first Thursday of the week was born.  These ads are on several times during the week at prime commuter times.  The ads also instruct the “First Time Homebuyers” who plan on attending one of these Seminars, to go to our website to see where the closest Seminar to them is being held, and to register for it.  Those who want to attend can also call our 800 line if they do not have access to the website and register that way. By having those attending register on the website we now have there contact information, and can follow up with them on the week of the Seminar to remind them about it.

Along with the radio advertising each Loan Officer than advertises their Seminar in the area that it is being held, by placing Posters in public places, and in businesses like Laundromats.  We also mail out flyers to local apartment complexes, and inform the Realtors that we work with about them, so if they have a Buyer that they would like to attend they can give them the information.

When we do these Seminars with other Real Estate Professionals, like Realtors, Attorneys, and Home Inspectors, we do all the things that we do for the Seminars that we do on our own, plus everyone involved does mailings to there clients, and we all share the cost  of advertising in the local newspapers.

Eli Magen also offered some suggestions in the same Post.  Eli is holding a Seminar on January 27 and February 10 at the Fidelity National Title, 1603 South Hiawassee Road, #130, Orlando, FL.  Eli is doing the following advertising for his Seminar:

• Local Radio show in Orlando. (today on the first radio talk -  4 people called and reserve a seat!)
• Hundreds of flyers to public places in 8 mile radius of the seminar...
• My own newspaper, with distribution of 35,000 in South Orlando & Kissimmee.
• Posted a new page on all of my 3 web-sites.
• Mail-out to apartment renters, and homes absentees.
• And the "big" one ...posted a blog about it on AR.

There is no guarantee that if all or some of these advertising methods are followed that there will be a large turn out, but they will significantly increase the chances of having a successful Seminar.  Each and every Seminar is different, and where and when they are held has a lot to do with how successful they will be.  It is important to find a location that will be viewed by “First Time Homebuyers” as a neutral site.  They work best if they are presented as an “Educational Seminar”, and not as a “Sales Seminar.”  It may take some experimenting to figure out what works best in your area, the important thing is to not get discouraged if the first one you do does not produce the results that you were hoping for.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

In the first Post of this series “First Time Homebuyers Seminars…..Part #1.” I gave an introduction into the “First Time Homebuyer Seminars” that we at McCue Mortgage, started to promote in September of 2006. This is a different concept in how these Seminars have been done in the past, and so far they have been well received. The second Post of this series “First Time Homebuyers Seminars…..Part #2.” I covered the costs involved in purchasing a home, and presented questions for home buyers to consider as to how expensive a home they can afford to purchase. “First Time Homebuyers Seminars…..Part #3” was about the steps that a Buyer will go though in “Obtaining A Loan.” In this forth and possibly final Post in this series I will cover the process that takes place before and at the Closing, as well as some of the more important documents that Buyers sign when they Close on the house.

I left off on the last Post with the Loan being approved and Commitment Letters being sent to the Buyers, and the Attorney. This sets into motion the final stage in purchasing a house.

Commitment Letter - This letter satisfies what is usually the first date and condition that Buyers must meet on the Sales Contract that pertains to the Loan, and shows that they have a firm commitment for a Mortgage. Once this is done and the Commitment Letter sent to the Buyers and their Attorney (CT is an Attorney State) the Closing process is set into motion.

Conditions - The Commitment Letter will state the final conditions that the Buyers and their Attorney must meet in order for the Closing Department to give the Attorney a “Clear To Close”. The Commitment Letter will always have at least one condition that the Buyer has to meet, and that condition is that the Buyer has to now get a Homeowner’s Insurance Policy and name the Lender on it. There could be other conditions that the Buyer might have to satisfy like provide missing paystubs, bank statements, payoff a judgment or collect to just mention a few of the most common conditions. It will also state the conditions that the Attorney needs to meet. When the Commitment Letter is sent to the Attorney it is accompanied by all of the documents, and contact information that the Attorney will need to prepare documents for the Closing.

Closing Package - Once the Attorney has received the Commitment Letter and the other documents form the Closing Department, the Attorney or his staff will start to put the Closing Package together. I do not go over all of these documents at the Seminar, but I do go over the ones that I consider most important.

• Settlement Statement (HUD-1) - The HUD-1 is basically a financial statement which contains all the costs and credits that both Buyer and Seller will incur or receive on the day of the Closing. For me this is the most important document that both Buyer and Seller will sign on the day of the Closing. I tell the Buyers at these Seminars, that it is very important that they look at every figure carefully and make sure that it is what they expected, if it isn’t, they need to ask question until they are satisfied with the answers. Here in Connecticut the Buyer and Seller will sign 6 – 7 original copies of the HUD-1 depending on the Attorney.
  
  
• Truth-In-Lending - They will also sign a new Truth-In-Lending, that has been adjusted to reflect the actual costs which were not known at the time they signed the original one with the Application.
  
  
• The Mortgage - This document is the legal device that is used to secure the property. It pledges the title to the property as security for the Loan. This document is several pages long, and will stipulate what the obligations of the Buyers are, and what will happen if they default on the Loan.
  
  
• The Note - Is the written promise to repay the amount borrowed to the holder of the Note along with interest. It will state the amount of the debt and the interest rate. Once the Buyer signs this document they are personally responsible to repay the amount stated on the Note. The Note contains a lot of the same terms and conditions that were also stated in “The Mortgage”. They are so similar that many times Buyers think that they are signing the same thing, but it is different and carries different obligations.

Title Search - While the Attorney or his/her staff is putting the closing documents together, the Attorney will either do or order a “Title Search” to be done, to show that there are no liens against the property. The Attorney will also check existing recorded documents at this time to verify the boundary lines of the property. It is a good idea to have the property surveyed to verify the boundary lines that are on record are correct, but a survey is not mandatory.

Title Insurance Policy - Once the Title Search is completed and all the documents that are needed along with it, the Attorney can order a basic Title Insurance Policy. Buyers most often think that this is being done for their protection, but in fact it is done for the Lender, to protect the Lender. Instead of the basic Title Insurance Policy, the Attorney will usually offer the Buyer an “Owners Policy” for a few dollars more which protects the Buyer as well. There is both pro’s and con’s to this, I personally like it because of situations that I have seen where the Buyer had no recourse against the “Title Company” in a boundary dispute.

Closing Date - Once the Buyer has met all the conditions on the Commitment Letter, and the Attorney has prepared all of the documents that are needed to Close, a “Clear To Close” is given and Closing Date can be firmly set. Manny times this date is different from the date that was initially written in the Sales Contract. Either the Buyer or Seller wish to close earlier, or sometimes the Seller isn’t ready to move yet or the Buyer is having trouble meeting their conditions on the Commitment Letter, and they want the date on the Sales Contract moved back. Regardless of the date that is set, it must be set within the “Rate Lock Period” of the Loan. If it is not, then either the Buyer or the Seller will have to incur an additional expense to extend the Rate Lock Period.

Day Of The Closing - Everything is set the Buyer has met all the conditions, the Attorney has prepared all of the necessary documents, the Sellers moved out, and Closing Department has given a “Clear To Close”.

Walk-Through - Sometimes this is done on the day before the Closing but most of the time it is done on the same day before the Buyers come to the Closing. The “Walk-Through” involves the Buyers and their Realtor taking a physical walk through the property and inspecting it to make sure that everything is as they expected it to be. If it is great, if it isn’t then those things will be discussed at the Closing and an agreement on how to remedy the situation will have to be reached before the transaction can be finalized.

Signing Documents - All documents are explained by the Attorney, and signed by usually very nervous Buyers. This is most likely the most money that they have ever committed themselves to, and there is usually a very nervous excitement in the air. I attend my Closings, not because I serve any useful function there, except to offer support to my Borrowers, and their Realtor. Also if there should be a question in regards to the Loan that the Attorney is uncertain about, I can clarify it, as well as contact the proper people if need be.

Keys - Everything is signed by the Buyers and the Sellers, everyone is hopefully happy, and the much awaited “Keys” are exchanged. The Buyers are now the proud owners of the house of their dreams. I do not say this at the Seminar but at this point, I usually give the proud new home owners a nice bottle of local wine, and tell them that I hope they will enjoy it with their first meal in their new home.

Recording The Deed - Even though everything has been signed and keys have been exchanged, one more thing still remains to be done, and that is for the Attorney to formally record the new Deed onto the Land Records, at the Town Clerks Office. Once the Town Clerk has done this a copy will be sent to all those involved in the transaction.

This concludes what I cover at the “First Time Homebuyer Seminars”. I hope that it will prove useful to those that have taken the time to read all four Posts, or that at least has given someone an idea of how to go about conducting a Seminar of their own. If any Buyers have read these Posts, I hope that it will better prepare you for what you will encounter along the way to purchasing you dream home. There might be one more Post added to this series, but that would be directed to those who might want to do one of these Seminars, but are not sure how to go about advertising it to their community.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

In the first Post of this series “First Time Homebuyers Seminars…..Part #1.” I gave an introduction into the “First Time Homebuyer Seminars” that we at McCue Mortgage, started to promote in September of 2006.  This is a different concept in how these Seminars have been done in the past, and so far they have been well received.  The second Post of this series “First Time Homebuyers Seminars…..Part #2.”  I covered the costs involved in purchasing a home, and presented questions for home buyers to consider as to how expensive a home they can afford to purchase.  In this Post I will cover the process that a Buyer will have to take in order to “Obtain A Loan” with us.

Once I have gone over the costs in purchasing a house, and presented the questions for those in attendance to consider as to how expensive a home they feel they can afford to purchase, that I covered with them in Part #2.  They will then need to get Pre-Approved from a loan by a Professional Loan Officer that will take the time to take a full loan application, this means not only looking at their credit, but also complete financial situation.  I will not go into detail about this process here, but for those who are interested in seeing in detail what that process is, you can read my Post “1^st. Time Homebuyers…..What You Need To Do First.” Once they have been Pre-Approved they can begin to look for a home in the price range that they can afford and qualify for.

Finding A House -  The next step is to find a house and have their offer accepted by the Sellers, this means getting a fully executed Sales Contract. Once they have a Sales Contract they need to contact the Loan Officer that Pre-Approved them and apply for a Loan.  At this point I describe to them what the steps are that I take once a Buyer comes to me to apply for the loan.

Application -  If they were Pre-Approved by me prior to being under contract for a house, them I pull up the Application I took when I Pre-Approved them, and I verify that everything is still correct. If I have not Pre-Approved them before this, then I take a full application at this time. At this time I also collect all of their updated Documents the verify their income and assets. Depending on the type of loan, Income Tax Returns, and W2’s may also have to be collected.

Loan Programs & Terms -  I go over with them the Loan Programs that they qualify for, the interest rate for each one, monthly payment with taxes, insurance, and PMI if the downpayment is less than 20%.  I also go over the terms of each loan program.  I answer any question that they might have about each program until they have selected the one that they are most comfortable with.

Credit Report -  The next thing I do is look at their credit to make sure that there have not been any changes to it from when I Pre-Approved them.  If I did not Pre-Approved them before, I do this before I take the full application.

Automated Underwriting -  The Application along with the Credit Report is run through Automated Underwriting to make sure that we have an Approved/Eligible.  If we do I continue with the process, if I don’t I read the findings to see why it is not an Approved/Eligible.  Most of the time at this point, especially if I Pre-Qualified them before, the reason why I am not getting an Approved/Eligible is because I put something in incorrectly.  So I make the corrections and print out the Application and all of the disclosures.

Signing Loan Application -  Once I have done all of the above and have gotten an Approved/Eligible, I printout the Loan Application and all the disclosures for the Buyers to sign.  I then explain every page of the Loan Applications as the Buyers sign it, as well as the disclosure that I will talk about next.

Good Faith Estimate (GFE) -  Now that we have a property I do a GFE and go over all the Closing Costs with the Buyers line by line.  Any figures that I have to estimate, I estimate high because I do not want them to have any negative cost surprises as we proceed.  I also tell them what the full estimated amount is that they will have to bring to the Closing, including downpayment.  The only surprise I want them to have is that the Closing Costs will be less then what I told them.

Truth In Lending (TIL) -  I go over the TIL with them, and point out the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), Finance Charges, Amount Finance, and the Total Amount of their Payments.

Disclosures -  There are several other disclosures besides the GFE & TIL that they will have to sign along with the Buyers Certificate, which gives us the right to check out the information that they have given me, Rate Lock & Point Letter locking the rate and points for a specific period, and a 4506 giving us permission to ask the IRS for Tax Returns if we need to.

Appraisal -  Once the Loan Application is signed I order an appraisal, which the Buyer can receive a copy of if they want.

Underwriting -  Next the Loan Application along with all the disclosures, income and asset documents as well as Tax Returns and W2s (if needed),  Sales Contract, Copy of the Credit Report, and the Automated Underwriting Findings are all turned in with the Loan to be Underwritten.  The Underwriter usually has the Loan Underwritten by the time the Appraisal comes in.   If the property appraises for the full selling price the Underwriter approves the Loan, and sends it to the Closing Department.

Closing Department -  Once the approved Loan is received by the Closing Department, a Commitment Letter is sent to the Buyer and their Attorney with all the conditions that might still have to be met before the Attorney receives a Clear To Close.

This completes the steps that a Buyer takes with me in order to obtain a Loan.  From here all of the Documents that the Attorney will need to start what he needs to do before the Loan can Close is forwarded to the Attorney.  I will cover those steps in the forth and final Post in this series.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

In the first Post of this series “First Time Homebuyers Seminars…..Part #1.” I gave an introduction into the “First Time Homebuyer Seminars” that we at McCue Mortgage, started to promote in September of 2006.  It is a different concept in how these Seminars have been done in the past, and so far they have been well received.  In this Post I will start to describe what we present, and discuss with “First Time Homebuyers” at these Seminars.

The first thing that I do at these “First Time Homebuyer Seminars,” is to simply ask the “First Time Homebuyer” present, do they really want to own their own home? Just because they are at the Seminar does not mean that they have decided to purchase a home.  They might just be trying to gather enough information to make that decision.  So the first thing that I need to know is, why are they there.  By asking this question it also helps to break the ice, and gets them to start to open up.

Once each one has answered this first question, we move on to the first topic, “The advantages of owning a home”.  Again since it is usually a small number in attendance, I try to get them to participate by letting them answer this question themselves, before I state some reasons.  Some of the answers that are usually given are:

• A place of their own:  It is their own house and they can do what ever they want to it, and what they put into it is theirs.

• Stable housing costs:  The mortgage payment will always stay the same (if it is a fixed rate loan), unlike renting which can change every year.

• Increase in value:  As property values go up so does their equity in the property, and this can far exceed any money that they put in the bank over a period of time.

• Tax benefit:  This quite often is the first response, because everyone knows that the interest payment on your mortgage is tax deductible, and that this can substantially reduce your tax liability each year.

There are others that sometimes come up but these four seem to be the ones that constantly come up the most, and if they don’t, I make it a point of adding them.  I try to keep it simple, I am not there to overwhelm them, and provide them with information overload.

The next question that I ask is, can they afford to purchase a home?  In other words, have they considered the costs of purchasing a home?  Do they realize that they will need money for the following thing, or obtain assistance to pay for them?

• Downpayment:  Most “First Time Homebuyers” seem to think that they only need to have a downpayment in order to purchase a home.  Many are very surprised to find out that there are other costs involved.

• Up-Front Costs:  Represent many of the costs that “First Time Homebuyers” have not considered, and are very surprised when they are told that they are going to need money for an Application Fee, Appraisal, Homeowners Insurance, maybe Points, Earnest Money (deposit on sales contract), and even though it is not part of the Loan Process a Home Inspection is always advisable.  These are all cost that the Buyer will have to pay before they get to the closing table.

• Closing Costs:  Some “First Time Homebuyers” realize that there are cost that they will incur at the closing such as Attorney Fees (CT is an Attorney State), but do not have any idea that there are other significant costs involved, like Title Insurance, Taxes & Insurance that many times have to be put into Escrow, and Recording Fees.

The last question that I will cover in this Post, that I ask them is, have they considered how much money they can afford for a monthly mortgage payment?  This is very different from what they can qualify for a mortgage.  Qualifying for a mortgage, and being comfortable with the payment, are two different things.  In qualifying them for a mortgage I will look at all their revolving debt, which I will get from their Credit Report, but there are other expenses that are not taken into consideration in qualifying a Borrower for a mortgage.  These expenses can include, but not limited to Food, Clothing, Gas, Entertainment, Child Care, General House Maintenance, and Church Contributions to just name a few.  These expenses need to be considered when deciding on how much of a mortgage a “First Time Homebuyers” can handle.  A “First Time Homebuyers” can quickly get in over their head, so the more that I can bring to their attention at these Seminars, the better equipped they will be to determine how much they feel they can afford to pay for a mortgage.

In my next Post I will cover the steps that I go over with “First Time Homebuyers” at these Seminars that they will need to do to obtaining a mortgage. 

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

Customarily “First Time Homebuyer Seminars” are conducted by a group of Real Estate professionals, Realtors, Loan Officer, Attorneys, and Home Inspectors. Each one makes a presentation for about 15 to 20 minute on their area of expertise. These Seminars are advertised by everyone involved in the presentation, to their clients, and attendance is usually between 4 to 30+ people. These Seminars are advertised as educational, and usually held at a neutral location, like a hotel, library, Town Hall, Communities Center, Church, or restaurant. I have been a participant in many of these Seminars and have been successful doing them.

However, in September of 2006, the mortgage company that I work for, McCue Mortgage, decided to try to do these Seminars on our own, and to just cover the process that the “Homebuyer” will go through to determine the loan amount that they qualify for, the steps involved in obtaining a loan, and the Closing. We advertise the Seminars on the radio, our website, and at the bottom of all our e-mails. The advertisement instructs those who want to attend the Seminar to pre-register for the Seminar on our website or by calling our 800 number. This lets us know how many people are coming ahead of time, but more importantly, this provides us with their contact information so that we can follow up with them if they do not attend. Our Loan Officers conduct the Seminars every month on the same day of the week, same time, and same locations throughout the state. Since we started this program in September we have had over 200 perspective buyers register for these seminars, and have pre-qualified many of them who are now out looking for homes.

While I will continue to do “First Time Homebuyer Seminars” with other Real Estate professionals when I am asked to participate in one, I see advantages in doing these Seminars by myself. It enables me to do a few things that I was not able to do when I did them with other Real Estate professionals.

1. Because they are held at several locations at the same time, each one is attended by a smaller number of people, which enables me to focus more attention on each one that attends.
   
2. By presenting the whole presentation myself, I have more time to cover each point in more detail, and at the same time keep the Seminar shorter.
3. Since I am conducting the whole Seminar by myself, I am able to keep it simple and informal.
   
4. Because a smaller number of people attend, it allows more time for questions, and those in attendance feel less threatened to ask questions.
5. Once I pre-qualify a prospective Buyer that wants to start looking for a home right away, I am able to refer them to the Realtors, Attorneys, Appraisers, and Home Inspectors the I work with.
   
6. Realtors in particularly love this, because they are getting a qualified Buyer, and not wasting their time.

This Post is the introduction to the Posts that I will be writing throughout the week, covering each of the topics that we cover at these Seminars. My hope in presenting this series of Posts on “First Time Homebuyer Seminars”, is to give “First Time Homebuyers” an idea of what to expect when they attend one, and to also provide information for anyone else who would like to establish, and conduct similar Seminars.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com

If you are reading this Post you are probably thinking why would any sales person want to hear the word “NO”?  The word that sales people want to hear is YES!!!  That is the bottom line in any sales transaction, because without a YES there is no transaction.  So why should salespeople want to hear the word NO?  Well please humor me for a few minutes, and consider the following.

The answer to why sales people should love to, or at least want to hear the word NO is very simple if you just stop and think about it.  Anyone who has ever made a sales call whether it be cold or not, sent out a mailing, or done any type of marketing, knows that you will receive a certain number of NO’s before you get a YES.  I am not an expert on marketing, but I have been told that for every peace of mail that you sent out, you will be lucky to get 1 YES for every 100 peaces that you mailed.  I have done a fair amount of cold sales calls in my 31 years in sales, and I would say that if I get 1 YES for Every 10 cold calls I make I am doing pretty good.

So why should I want to hear 10, 100, or even 1,000 NO’s before I hear a YES?  It is because if I know that I have to hear a certain number of NO’s before I get a YES, then I should be happy that with every NO I hear it will be one less NO before I get the YES that I am looking for.  Instead of being depressed that I just got another NO, I should be excited that I am now one less NO closer to getting a YES.  No one likes to be rejected, and I am no exception to that, but when I look at this way, it makes the NO’s a lot easier to accept, and to move on to the next sales call.

It is important for sales people to find the positive in what we do, even in NO’s.  If we don’t look for the positive, than how will we motivate ourselves to put the negatives behind us, and continue to look for the YES’s in life?  We can look at a NO as a rejection, or we can look at it as one step closer to getting our YES. 

So when I am cold calling I can’t wait to get the NO’s out of the way so that I can get to the YES, and the quicker that I do that, the quicker I will achieve my desired result.  A career in sales is not an easy one, and in order to be successful in sales you need to look for positive motivation in what ever you do.  If you don’t then you will either not be around for long, or will just become an order taker waiting for the phone to ring.  No one likes to be around a negative person, even if that person is you.  Welcome the NO’s in life so that you can enjoy the YES’s.

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Info about the author:

George Souto is a Loan Officer who can assist you with all your FHA, CHFA, and Conventional mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes Middletown, Middlefield, Durham, Cromwell, Portland, Higganum, Haddam, East Haddam, Chester, Deep River, and Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com