I recently suggest to one of my very best friends that he call Quicken Loans to refinance his Adjustable Rate Mortgage to take advantage of today’s great deals on 30 year fixed rates…they are under 5%.  I had recently done business with Quicken loans, and had enjoyed a smooth and simple refinance. 

My buddys wife calls the company to find out if they will qualify.  The agent tells her that they will, and then in my buddys’ words…”pressures her to place a $750 “refundable” security deposit to cement their business relationship.”  His wife was told that Quicken was confident they could get the loan done for them…but if they couldn’t, their $750 deposit would be refunded in full. 

OF COURSE, Quicken is not able to get the loan done as they had thought…something about the home not appraising at the level they thought it would.  No Big Deal, Right?  Just send us our deposit back and we will try to make other arraignments.  THEY WOULD NOT GIVE THEM THEIR $750 BACK!  My buddy is MAD!  He has made it his personal mission to tell everyone he knows to avoid Quicken Loans like the plague…and I don’t blame him. 

I FEEL BAD about making the suggestion.  My experience was fine.  Maybe I had a better loan officer?  Maybe I met their “perfect customer” profile?  Either way, why are they charging $750 just to get a good faith estimate?  That seems shady, especially if there is ANY chance that you may not get that money back if you get a crappy appraiser for your home. 

Is anyone else out there having trouble with Mortgage Companies?  Let me know your experience, good or bad.  After I suggested QL to my buddy, I found this resource online…sounds like they are upsetting A LOT of customers these days.

As I’ve shared in the past, my wife and I built our dream home about 3 and a half years ago…right at the height of the housing bubble here in Michigan (and across the US for that matter).  Hind sight is always 20/20, but it sickens my some days to think of how many beautiful homes I could be buying TODAY, ON THE CHEAP, had I not went “house crazy” at the ripe old age of 26?  We have a beautiful house that we will enjoy for years to come, Blah, Blah, Blah, is what we keep telling ourselves.  This is fine, you live and learn!  But the bottom line is that I dumped WAY too much of my dry powder into my home.  If I had that cash now I can think of 5 places I would buy in a HEARTBEAT today for 75% off their rebuild price. 

I tell you this story becuase I know there are some of you out there who are wondering if now is the time to buy your first home or to invest in foreclosures or whatever.  I’m just saying that if I had a couple hundred grand liquid to invest for the long term, I’d be snatching up some of these deals in a minute.  The demographics of the United States support my theory.  Our populations is still growing at 1% or more per year.   These fine folks are going to need a place to live.  Supply and demand seems to suggest that values will be sightly higher in the future. 

YOU ALWAYS MAKE YOUR MONEY ON THE BUY SIDE OF A TRANSACTION. 

So knowing when to buy is very important.  Now may be the time, I don’t know.  But depending on where you live, it might make sense to talk to an expert and see if there are opportunities in your area! 

Good luck, and do as I say, not as I do…because I probably moved into my house on the VERY DAY that the housing bubble burst!  Crazy stuff.  I thank the good Lord that we weren’t trying to FLIP anything.  We would be up the creek baby!!!

I took a tour with my Uncle over the holiday of several of the properties he had purchased, and several that he was considering for purchase.  My uncle is taking advantage of the fact that we are currently experiencing the biggest real estate slump in Michigan since the Great Depression.  While others are afraid and are dumping real estate…my uncle is scouting SE Michigan for those “diamond in the rough” great deals that are available to the patient investor. 

There are AMAZING DEALS out there right now in MI and elsewhere.  But it takes extreme discipline and calculated risk to take advantage of current market conditions.  I applaud Uncle B for his hard work and smart strategy in building his property portfolio.  I believe that his actions today are going to create significant appreciation and wealth for his family over the next couple of decades!