George's Blog

That is right you read the title correctly.  Most people, especially here on the East Coast think of Vermont when the subject of Pure Natural Maple Syrup comes up.  But Vermont is not the only State in New England that produces Pure Natural Maple Syrup, Connecticut does as well.  And the best Connecticut Maple Syrup, in my opinion, is produced by my neighbors, the Graves Family. located on Chancey Road in Middletown.

They do not produce it in large amounts, and it is only sold at a Stand located on their farm, but it sure is good. I missed taking pictures earlier this year, when they were collecting the Maple Sap from the trees.  But the three pictures in this blog should give everyone a good idea of their little operation. 

They collect the Maple Sap from the trees twice a year, late Winter/Early Spring and Late Summer/Early Fall, in 5 gallon buckets that are placed at the foot of the trees to receive the Maple Sap from tubes that have a metal tap on them that are driven into the trees.  They tap into just about every Maple Tree that is within about a two mile area.

Once each bucket is fairly full it is taken to the building in the picture below where the Maple Sap is taken through a purifying process.  Once the Maple Sap has been purified it is bottle and sold at the Stand in the pictures above.  One of the amazing things about their sales process is that no one mans the Stand, sales are done on the honor system.  People drive by, take what they want and place the money in the little black box in the corner. I have never heard them talk about anyone stealing the Maple Syrup or money, so those that purchase their Maple Syrup must respect their trust. 

So if you are driving through Middletown, Connecticut make sure that you stop at the Graves Farm on Chancey Road, and purchase some of the best Maple Syrup that your pancakes will ever be dipped in.

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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

MI Companies are notorious these days for making changes without any advance notification.  The latest change that we are seeing is that MI Companies have lowered the back end ratio, especially on loans with a 95 LTV to 41%.  Also if the area happens to be one that is being classified as a declining area, the lowest LTV that they will issue MI on is 90%.

I don't know if EVERY MI Company has made this change, but the four major ones that issue MI here in Connecticut have adopted these changes.  These latest changes further make FHA and VA Insured Loans much more attractive loan products than they have ever been before, especially where First Time Homebuyers are concerned.

There will probably be more changes, given the recent losses that MI companies have been hit with.  These days we can not presume that MI will be issued on any loan, and Lenders are being far more careful in Committing Loans before they have received verification that they will be able to obtain MI on loans with less than 80 LTV.

Realtors that have turned their nose up on FHA & VA Loans in the past need to reconsider their position about these loan products, before they advice their Sellers to hold out for a Buyer that is using a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac Loan Product.  These days Buyers that submit offers and are using Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac backed loans are a much higher risk than FHA or VA Borrowers if they do not have 20% to put down.

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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

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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

One of my Borrowers Closed on a Refinance Loan yesterday that many of us in this Industry would consider a "Slam Dunk Loan".  This Borrower had Credit Scores in the 800's, ratio's of 15/17, and 60% LTV.  "Slam Dunk" right? Wrong!

This house was located in a neighborhood made up of a small cluster of house that are separated from most of the other residential neighborhoods in town.  The last known sale in this neighborhood was 8 months ago, and nothing comparable to it in near by neighborhoods had sold in a lesser time period.  The Appraiser did an amazing job in documenting and justifying the value of the house on the appraisal, but the 8 month time period began to create a big problem.

See Banks/Lenders need to have the option to sell off loans on the Secondary Market when they need to.  If they take in loans that they can not later sell off, it could create a major problem for them.  Most Banks/Lenders need to sell off loans to free up money so they can fund new loans.  Look at what happened to at least on major Lender, they financed loans that did not fully comply with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or FHA Guidelines, and found themselves not being able to sell them later, and as a result they found themselves in a cash flow bind.  A smaller Lender like the one I work for has to be even more careful.  The reason why we are still around and in financially good shape is because we follow all the rules, dot every "i" and cross every "t".

Because the closest Comp was 8 months old, our Secondary Department checked into the possibility of selling this loan to our Investors.  The answers start to come back as "NO".  We even offered to do a second appraisal using an Appraiser of their choice (after all we were at 60% LTV and had 20% to play with on this loan) but all, except one, came back agreeing to that, and with that answer we Committed on the loan. If they had not agreed to purchasing this loan, we would have had to consider keeping it in our portfolio.  Now granted this loan is as good as they get, but Lenders these day are very reluctant to do that.

This loan Closed in the end to the delight of a very happy Borrower (I made sure I attended this Closing), and we did not charge the Borrower for the second appraisal. Hopefully with the increased sales that we have started to see this Spring, this will stop being a problem.  But I would expect this is not the only neighborhood where this set of conditions exist.  For me this goes to show that we can not take any loan for granted right now, and have to be on top of each and every single loan no matter how much of a "Slam Dunk" it appears to be.

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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

At the beginning of the month I did a blog announcing the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce Work After Hours event that was hosted by the Galleria Design Center in Middletown last night.  I encouraged everyone that could attend to do so, and promised that they would not be disappointed.  Well the Chamber and the Galleria did not make a liar out of me, the evening was as promised.

The turnout was one of the best that I have seen, and there was no lack of shrimp, wine, beer, soft drinks, and several varieties of d'oeuvres.  The Galleria is large and spacious, but yet perfect for this type of event, and I was able to both make new contacts as well as renew some old ones.

Last night the Galleria also introduced a new product that they will be manufacturing themselves. Within the next couple of months the Galleria will be producing cement/concrete counter tops that will look like granite counter tops, which is presently a huge product line for them.  They are very excited about this new product and hope that it will provide a very viable and cost affective alternative the more expensive granite and marble counter tops.

I did get to tour once again their warehouse where they keep a remarkable selection of granite counter top slabs that import from many parts of the world.  I even saw a granite top that had been injected with different colors and made to look almost like a "Tie-Dye Shirt".

Of course their selection of appliances, bathroom and Kitchen fixtures, cabinets, tile flooring, decks, windows, doors, and window treatments are the largest that I have ever seen. I would love to take my wife their, but I am afraid that if I did I would walk away a very, very poor man.

The Galleria is very easy to get to.  It is located right off of Country Club exit on RT 91 in Middletown. Stop in if you are going down RT91, and prepare to be dazzled by what you will see.

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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

I wrote a blog at the end of last month Social Networking Workshop informing those within driving distance of Middletown, Connecticut, about a Social Networking Workshop/Presentation, at the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, on how we can more effectively use Social Networking Websites. The workshop was presented by one of our members Diana Bartolotta, who after listening to her is not only very knowledgeable about what she presented, but a Social Networking junkie to boot.

Diane concentrated mainly on Linkedin and Facebook, but also briefly touched on Twitter.  I of course brought up ActiveRain and Diane stated that she would most likely add ActiveRain to her presentation in the future.  I try to go to and take advantage of all workshops like this, because I always walk away with a better understanding of how I can do what I do better.

Presently I am a member of Linkedin, and Facebook, but I do not use these sites anywhere to there full potential.  My goal in attending this workshop was to try to gain a better understanding of how I could maximize my efforts by linking the sites that I am on, and how to improve my search position on Yahoo, and Google.

Diane did not disappoint, I came away with a better understanding of Linkedin, and Facebook, but particularly Linkedin.  Diane talked about the importance of the Status Update, and how often it should be updated.  She gave me a few pointers, on where I should be putting the information that I want to be searched by, and also covered how important the Summary Section of Linkedin is, as well as the need to present ourselves in the best light as possible. Diane also realized during her presentation that she is not taking full advantage of ActiveRain, and plans to start incorporating ActiveRain into her daily routine.

All in all this was a very good use of my time, and would attend another workshop with Diane if the opportunity presents itself.  I firmly believe that if we are not taking full advantage of the websites that are out there, and incorporating them in our business, we are missing out big time, and sooner or later will start to show up in our production.  Social Networking is not something that we should be afraid of, it should be something that we embrace.

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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

Click Here to See How McCue Mortgage has gone Green

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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

Earlier today I read a blog by Bill Gassett titled Buying a Bank Owned Home that focused on the process of purchasing a foreclosed property.  In his blog he made a statement that I thought would go very well with this blog which I had planned on writing earlier.

In his blog he stated "Buying a foreclosed home however, is not for the timid at heart and there are many things that buyers need to be aware of going into a REO transaction." That statement is very true, and anyone who plans on purchasing a foreclosed property would do well to take it seriously.

I am in the process of doing a Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) VA Loan for a young man that is purchasing a Bank Foreclosure.  When I was Pre-Approving him for a loan on this property, I tried to prepare him for the frustrations that he would most likely encounter along the way, and his Realtor did the same.  Neither one of us did it in a way to try to discourage him from purchasing the house, but wanted him to fully understand some of the things that tend to happen with these transaction.  Well what has been happening to-date has even surprised and frustrated us.  This transaction is proceeding more like a Short Sale than a Bank Foreclosure.

It all started before the bank even agreed to accept his offer.  The Realtor representing the bank contacted my Borrowers Realtor and proceeded to inform her that the bank would not accept his offer because it was a VA backed loan and that VA would not allow for the transfer of title within six months of the bank foreclosing on the property (flip rules).  This Realtor when on to tell her that he had to go FHA or Conventional in order for them to accept the offer.  My Borrowers Realtor contacted me right away to inform me of this, and to ask me to Pre-Qualify him for a FHA or Conventional Loan. I told her that I would be happy to do that, but that this bank and Realtor were wrong about that being a VA condition.  I also told her that even though the Borrower would qualify for a FHA or Conventional Loan, that his monthly payment would be substantially higher, because now he was going to have PMI included in the payment.

She asked me to contact the other Realtor and I did. He wanted me to give him something in writing showing him the VA rule that said that transfer of the property could occur within the first six months after foreclosure.  I told him that it would be hard to do since no such rule existed, and that instead his bank needed to show me the rule that says that transfer can not occur.  He knew that he could not produce that, so he agreed to accept a letter from me on my company letter head stating that VA did not have such a rule and that the property could be transferred.  I typed up a letter stating that, but I went one step further. I had my Underwriter e-mail one of the VA Underwriters asking the same question, and I provided him with a copy of the response stating the same thing that I was also in my letter.

OK we waisted about three days with that, but everything seemed to be back on track.  We were told that we would know if the bank would accept the offer withing two days.  Well a week later we still had not heard anything, but finally the Borrowers Realtor got a phone call saying that the bank had signed the contract, and that we would have it the next day.  The next day turned into two weeks, with several phone calls asking where it was.

We now had the contract and we should be all set, no you guessed it, we were not.  We were just coming to the end of winter and the house had been winterized.  The bank needed to de-winterize it in order for the Borrower to be able to do a Home Inspection and for us to an appraisal.  Again we were told that this would be taken care of right away, but right away seems to mean three week, because the bank just de-winterized the house yesterday.

Now anyone that is familiar with VA Loans knows that the Lender does not assign the Appraiser, the VA does, which means that the Appraiser does not respond with the same sense of urgency as the Appraisers on our list.  So this means that we will now most likely have to wait another two weeks to get the appraisal in, since VA gives their Appraisers up to ten business days to complete the appraisal.

It is a good thing that this is a CHFA/VA Loan, because the rate lock on it is good for 120 days, or we would be at risk of the rate lock expiring just as the appraisal is coming in.  We are about six weeks into this and who knows what else this bank is going to drag its feet on.

I have to give this young Borrower a lot of credit because he has been handling all this remarkably well.  Either he has unusual patience, or the Realtor and I did a better job than we though, preparing him for all of this.  It is crucial that we take the time to educate Borrowers/Buyers about what can happen when dealing with foreclosures and short sales.  If we don't then we are going to find ourselves putting in a lot of time on a deal that will end up blowing up in the middle of a transaction.

Borrowers/Buyers need to know that things like this can happen, and would be well advised to read blogs like this one and Bill's to help them understand what awaits them.  The resources for this type of information is at our finger tips here on ActiveRain.  Use these resources, they are free, and save yourself a lot of headaches by doing so.

Loan Modifications must be the new scam in town, because I have been getting three to four e-mails each day, each one from a different sender, but all with the same message.  They all start with the same subject line which contains my address followed by "value drop notice". The message is also the same in everyone:

Dear George:

If you are still residing in your home at "my address" and would like a lower payment, just based on your location you could bring your payment down by as much as 45% through a loan modification working with current MIDDLETOWN home values.

Late or in foreclosure, or already tried to negotiate with your lenders? We can help regardless of your circumstances to get current and keep your home, or relocate without your current home going to foreclosure.

LINK: MIDDLETOWN April Value-Based Loan Modification Proposal for "my address"

Sincerely,

"Senders Name"

MIDDLETOWN Loan Modification Consumer Savings Representative

Now how could anyone make the above statements without knowing my credit or financial situation?  Are people really falling for this stuff?

There always seem to be those out there that try to take advantage of people who have fallen on hard times.  Right now those who need Loan Modifications are the easy targets.  I have heard of homeowners paying $4,000 and more to those offering this type of service, to later find out that nothing was done on their behalf, and they can no longer reach the people that they gave their money to.

If someone is in trouble on their mortgage they need to talk directly to their Lender, or a Lender that they know to be reputable, and not respond to e-mails such as this.  This is another black eye that this Industry just does not need at this time.

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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

March 20th was officially the first day of Spring for 2009, but it was not my first day of Spring.  For me the first day of Spring is not a day on the calendar, or as defined by Wikipedia

"Spring comes in between the 19th to the 23rd of March and at different times. It changes on a yearly basis because the first official day of spring is the (Spring) Vernal Equinox. This is when the sun is directly above the equator. It rises due East and sets due West and does not do so on the exact same day every year, since the calendar is not exactly 365 precise days every single year."

Some might consider it Spring when they see the first sign of flowers, or leaves first appear on the trees. All those are great ways to define the first day of Spring, but for me the first day of Spring does not arrive until I take my lawn mower out of storage and cut the grass for the first time each year. So in the Souto Household the first day of Spring arrived today, April 19, 2009.

The first smell of fresh cut grass each year is a special time!!!

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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