Hey there and Happy Friday to you. Today is Friday the 22nd, and I am super excited that we’ve started the year off great! I hope the year is going great for you. As always, I always want to keep my clients, my realtor partners and business partners informed as to things that may affect you financially in the mortgage industry. We’re all affected by mortgages whether you’re buying or refinancing a house or not. Whenever my industry is doing great you guys should be doing good. When my industry is not doing good, nobody’s doing really well. People are buying houses and the economy is bolstered. So with multiple offer situations builders can’t keep up with the cost increases. Houses have gone up tremendously in the last 12 months and it’s a great opportunity for you. So If you don’t own a home right now, you need to give me a call at 407-250-9144, and I’ll help you get into house. I’m totally committed to helping you and your family become homeowners, quite frankly, there is no such thing as a rich renter. So, you want to establish wealth, I can show you how to do that in real estate. Now, here’s the three big things you need to know.

1. First of all, my business is growing. I’ve got an amazing staff, I’ve got great culture, and I’ve got good people here that cater to you and your clients’ needs that’s our job we cater to you. I believe in amazing service. I even have a receptionist, I know that’s an anomaly these days, but I have somebody that physically answers the telephone for me and helps guide you in the direction of where your call needs to go. I know that’s very unusual, and these days you have to push a button to get to the right department, and annoying. That aside, I don’t mean to rant. However, I’m looking to add some people onto my team. I’m looking for a couple of loan processors that have at least three years’ experience in my industry and, preferably, bilingual. I’m looking for five new loan officers to join my brand. If you are a loan officer, and you didn’t literally crush it last year, and have big expectations, then talk to me. I’ll show you how I can help you build your business in the mortgage industry as a loan officer. If you want to get into this business, either on the processing side, or if you would like to originate loans, then I take on two people every six months and train them through my training program and I am hiring two new people. Now, energy level of commitment availability is beyond belief. So I don’t compromise when it comes to hiring people, I want the best of the best. That’s all I’m willing to settle for, but if you think you might fit into that category and this may be an industry that you may want to get into, then give me a call. We’ll be happy to get you on my calendar to interview for that position. If you know somebody that you think might fit the bill for that please pass along my number.
2. Second big thing you need to know is the good, bad and ugly when it comes to forbearance. If you are in forbearance, and you have a mortgage right now then, the good news is, you have a bit of a reprieve on making payments. I hope you would only use that if you truly lost your job or a significant portion of your income. For many of you that I’m talking to every day, that did not happen to you and yet you took advantage of the forbearance, because you’re under the impression that your mortgage lender told you that it was okay. Now, the problem with that is, and here’s the bad if you did do that, you are unable to purchase a home, and you’re unable to refinance a home while you’re in forbearance. So now you have to catch up all those payments in order to be cleared to be able to refinance or purchase a home. Now here’s the ugly. Let’s just say that you went into forbearance, for no other reason than you thought it would be nice to not make the next three payments on your mortgage. They’ll just add it on to the next 30 years and I’ll worry about that 30 years from now. But now you call me and say, Bruce, my interest rates at four and a quarter I’d really like to refinance or take advantage of consolidating debt, removing private mortgage insurance and converting to a 15 year. Well guess what, you’re not eligible for it. And you’re not eligible for it because you’re basically telling everyone right now that you can’t make your mortgage payments. That is why you’re in forbearance, so why would somebody want to give you a new mortgage. Now you’ve got to pay up all that debt that you went behind and get the lender to report you on the credit bureaus as having a current loan and not in forbearance before you can refinance. So that’s the good, the bad, the ugly on forbearance.
3. And then the third big thing you need to know is, that the IRS has delayed accepting 2020 tax returns till February 12. Now, you may think that’s a good thing, unless you need your tax returns to qualify for a mortgage. So if you’re self employed, it might make the difference because maybe your 18 and 19, taxes, didn’t fit the bill, but 2021. Well, you’ve got to have those taxes filed and they’ve delayed that now, by a significant period of time. And then for them to be able to complete the forms that would require you to have, or the lender to have in order for you to obtain a mortgage could even be a delay from there. They said there’s 8 million tax returns from 2019, that they haven’t even processed yet. I don’t understand it, but that’s not me.

That is the three big things you need to know. So I’m looking for great help, don’t go into forbearance if you don’t have to and IRS is delayed. There’s your news. I’m always here for your and I appreciate your loyalty and I appreciate anybody that you refer to me. It really does not go unnoticed. You guys have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week.