George's Blog

It is unbelievable how busy I have been since I returned from vacation, I have had barely enough time each evening to comment on some of the blogs that I follow.  Today was a little slower so I figured that I would take this change to post some of the pictures that took when I visited the Ripley Aquarium in Gatlinburg.

The Ripley Aquarium is a huge Aquarium containing over 2,000,000 gallons of salt water, which is the home for thousands of fish. They claim that there are more fish in this Aquarium than there are people in Gatlinburg.

There are multiple floors to the Aquarium and several rooms. Tthe area that impressed me most was a large tunnel that you go through on a conveyor that takes you from one end of the tunnel to the other.  The glass above and around you is about 8" thick but as clear as if you were looking outside your window.  While traveling through the tunnel both large and small fish are swimming around you including several large sharks and stingrays.

I tried to capture some of the fish in these pictures, but the pictures do not even come close to what it is like to be there.  I don't know what was more impressive the sharks or the look on children's faces as they watched these huge creatures swimming towards them.

If you visit Gatlinburg, the Ripley Aquarium is a must see, and an experience that you will remember for a very long 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

Well I finally have a chance to start posting some of my pictures from my vacation in Gatlinburg, and I thought I would start with some of different and more unusual shops and restaurants that I found there.  One of the places that I definitely wanted to stop at was "Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.", and it did not disappoint.  Before going into the restaurant they have all sorts of things with Forrest Gump sayings, like license plates, tee shirt, mugs, and a lot more.  They also have a replica of the bench that Forrest sat on along with his famous box of chocolates.  You know the one "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get".  OH yes and there was also a pair of oversized sneakers which you could step into that were replicas of the ones he wore on that very long run.

Gatlinburg also had one other restaurant that was named after one other notable character "Cooter's" named after Cooter from the "Dukes of Hazzard"  and of course it to had things like the General Lee, and one of the girls that stole my heart, Daisy Duke.

I got a kick out of places with names like "All Sauced Up" which had all of the kitchen fixins that you could ever want.  When I first saw the name All Sauced Up, somehow I thought it was referring to another type of sauce ..... LOL

"Jiggling George's" caught my eye for obvious reason's.  I should of had my wife take my picture in front of the sign, but I did not think of it until I was already on my way home.

My sweet tooth was satisfied at "Fannie Frakle's" as well as my cholesterol needs.  I can still feel those hot dogs running through my veins.

If you like shopping, Gatlinburg has 2 1/2 miles of shops, and my wife made me walk every step of those 2 1/2 miles, and go into everyone of them.  For some reason my wife also felt that we were not allowed to leave a shop unless she made a stop at the cash register. But I have to admit that I did have fun, and I might have been even responsible for a couple of those cash register stops myself.

There were many other things things to do in Gatlinburg, like several shows, and museums, as well as a huge Aquarium.  We did not have time to do the shows and museums, but we did go to the Aquarium, and I will blog about that next and share some of the pictures that I took.

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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

Back on June 16 of this year I wrote a blog "FHA ........ Major Condo Approval Change!!!" which covered the New FHA Condo Approval Process that was to go into affect on October 1st of this year.  Well FHA has just made it known that the New Condo Approval Process will now not go into affect until November 2nd.  This means that we have an additional month now to be able to do "Spot Condo Approvals" instead of a "Full Condo Complex Approval" on Condo Complexes that are not presently on the FHA Condo Approval List.

A quick recap of what the major changes will be to the new process are:

• FHA will now allow lenders who are "Direct Endorsement Lender" to determine project eligibility, review project documentation, and certify to compliance of Section 203(b) of the NHA and 24 CFR 203 of HUD’s regulations.
• An Environmental Study will no longer be required in most cases.
• The Right of First Refusal will not longer be an issue.
• Spot Condo Approvals will be eliminated.

I will try to keep everyone informed on any further changes or delays to the New FHA Condo Approval Process as I am made aware of them.

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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 in the Middletown, Connecticut area, and are looking to take younger children to have a great time, then KidCity Children's Museum is the plase to take them.  KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut is a place that younger children, and their parents can spend hours at and still not do everything that they have to offer.

At KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut you will find several rooms.  There is a Musical Planet, Video Theater, Reading Room, Clubhouse Room, Cornfield Room, Clipper Ship & Fishery Room, Main Street Room, Farm Room, Spaceage Road Trip Room, and Toddler Sea Caves.  Each and everyone of these rooms is a special adventure for you and your child.  The scenery in each room as well as the things to do within each room is simple amazing.  Once you take your child there, you and your child will want to come back over and over again.

KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut is best suited for children the ages of 1 to 8 although children older than that can still have a great time.  KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut is one of those places that you and your child can play pretend together using your imaginations and have fun.

KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut is also the perfect place to have a party for your child.  KidCity can accommodate up to 10 children and the adults with them.  Each party lasts about 2 hours, and will include party desserts from a local bakery, or ice cream shop.

KidCity Children's Museum in Middletown, Connecticut has a great website to get much more information than I have written here, and to also get a good feeling for what you can expect when you get there.  If you are in the Middletown area, make it a point to stop by KidCity, you will be glad that you did.

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nfo 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

Thursday I began this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan The Application" which is a follow up to a blog I did on Tuesday about the need for Buyers to be Pre-Approved for a loan "Mortgage/Loan Programs with Low or No Downpayment Still Available In Connecticut ..... Pre-Appoval Letter", and the process that should be followed. In Pre-Approving a Buyer it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that the Loan Officer not just look at Credit and Income, or even collect documentation to verify the information that they were given, they have to complete a full Loan Application (1003). Without completing a FULL APPLICATION, mistakes are very likely to happen, because each page of the 1003 has questions if not answered can create surprises and huge problems later on.

As I stated Thursday one of the pages of the Loan Application (1003) that unfortunately does not get the full attention that it deserves, and taken for granted by many Loan Officers, is the Declarations Section VII of Page #4. Each question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application only requires a YES or NO answer, and maybe that is why it does not seem to be given the same level of attention as other parts of the Loan Application.

Since Thursday I have covered the first 11 question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application, and today I will cover the next 2 questions, and continue to explain why these Questions Must Be Asked On The Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application and there importance. The twelfth question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application states:

l.  Do you intend to occupy the property as your primary residence?

This question like many of the others before it seem to be simple and straight forward, and it is if answer truthfully.  The problem here is that many Borrowers who do not intend to live in the property and use it as an investment property, will not answer this question truthfully.  The main reason for them to not answer it truthfully is that downpayment/Loan To Value requirements, and points that are automatically assigned on investment property by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are much higher and stricter than they are on Owner Occupied Properties.  For example if a Borrower puts less than 20% down on a Non Owner Occupied Property they will be assessed 3.750 points, if they put more that 20% but less than 25% down 3.000 points, and 25% or more down 1.750 points.  Also if a Borrower is purchasing a Non Owner Occupied Property they will most likely need to put down a minimum of 20%, because  PMI Companies will not issue PMI on the property.

Therefore a Borrower looking to purchase a Non Owner Occupied Property will in many cases try to avoid having to come up with this much money by saying that they are going to live in the property.  Because this has become more and more of a problem, Lenders have establish some automatic red flags, below are a couple of examples of those red flags.

• The Borrower has a single family house and states that he/she is going to rent out the single family and live in the multi-family house that they are purchasing.  Not going to fly, they are not going to believe that someone would move out of a single family house, to share a house with renters, even if it is the truth.
• Borrower presently lives and works in a different State, and states that they are going to commute back and forth each day.  Here in Connecticut (it might differ in other states) if the commute is more than an hour between states, Underwriting will question it, and it will most likely not fly.  Even if the Borrowers claims that they will live near where they work during the week, but commute to the property on weekends to be with the family.  That will also most likely not fly.

I have run into this several times especially with Borrowers who presently work and live in New York. Housing in a couple of towns in the middle of Connecticut is much cheaper than it is near New York City, or in parts of Connecticut near New York.  This is very attractive to New York Investors, and the above example seem to be a reoccurring theme.

The final question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application is:

• m.  have you had ownership interest in a property in the last three years?

This question show always be answered truthfully because if a Borrower has owned a house in the last three years it will show up on their Credit Report.  Where it does get confusing is in the case of a foreclosure as I talked about in the third blog of this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application #3".  I am not going to repeat what I wrote in post #3 here, so if you want to review those problems please just follow the link.

This question is also very important for Borrowers that are applying for First Time Homeowner Programs, which require that the Borrower has not had an ownership interest in a property for three years.

I hope that this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan The Application"  has made all those who have taken the time to read it, more aware of issues that can come up during that loan process is the Borrower does not provide truthful and accurate information throughout the Loan Application Process.

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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

Thursday I began this series "Questions That Must Be Asked ............ Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application" which is a follow up to a blog I did on Tuesday about the need for Buyers to be Pre-Approved for a loan "Mortgage/Loan Programs with Low or No Downpayment Still Available In Connecticut ..... Pre-Appoval Letter", and the process that should be followed. In Pre-Approving a Buyer it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that the Loan Officer not just look at Credit and Income, or even collect documentation to verify the information that they were given, they have to complete a full Loan Application (1003). Without completing a FULL APPLICATION, mistakes are very likely to happen, because each page of the 1003 has questions if not answered can create surprises and huge problems later on.

As I stated Thursday one of the pages of the Loan Application (1003) that unfortunately does not get the full attention that it deserves, and taken for granted by many Loan Officers, is the Declarations Section VII of Page #4. Each question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application only requires a YES or NO answer, and maybe that is why it does not seem to be given the same level of attention as other parts of the Loan Application. Since

Thursday I have covered the first 9 question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application, and today I will cover the next 2 questions, and continue to explain why these Questions Must Be Asked On The Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application and there importance. The tenth question on Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application states:

• j.  Are you a U.S. Citizen?

This is a very simple question, either you are or you are not a U.S. Citizen, but even here I have had Borrowers not answer this question truthfully.  This information is not as easy to verify as the previous questions, but if an Underwriter suspects that the Borrower is not telling the truth, they will investigate.  The last time that one of my Borrowers answered this question incorrectly, it created a huge problem for everyone.  It turned out that the Borrower did not answer this question truthfully because he did not have a valid Green Card, and thought that he could get around that issue by stating that he was a Citizen.  The loan ended up being denied, the Borrower was out the money he had paid for a Home Inspection, Appraisal, Loan Application Fee, and deposit on the Sakes Contract.  The Seller waisted almost five weeks that his house was off the market, therefore, missing out on other possible Buyers.  And the Realtor, who was on both the Selling and Buying side spent a lot of time for no compensation.  Charges could have been brought against this Borrower, because he signed at the bottom of Page #4 attesting that all of the information that they have provided is the truth to the best of their knowledge, but we did not press charges.

• k.  Are you a permanent resident alien?

This question goes hand in hand with the previous question.  If the Borrower is not a U.S. Citizen, then hopefully he/she is a permanent resident alien.  But as you can see in my previous example, that is not a given.  If a Borrower is a permanent resident alien, he/she will need to provide a valid permanent resident alien card (Green Card. I don't know why they still call it a Green Card, because it is no longer green) with a valid date for at least 12 more months and their status (card) needs to have been renewed at least once.  The Non U.S. Citizen will also have to provide a Passport and Social Security Card.

I will end this series with the next blog on the final two question on the Declarations Section VII Of Loan Application.  Hopefully this series is providing some insight into areas of the Loan Process that are not as well know outside of the Lending side of the process of purchasing a house, and making everyone more aware of why these Questions Must Be Asked On The Declarations Section VII Of The Loan Application.

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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