by: Rick Gomez
8. Now for the biggest secret of all, ready? All banks have access to the same rates and the only reason everyone ends up with a different rate is directly related to how much your loan officer and bank is going to profit from you.
You should probably read that one again.
Your loan officer gets paid like all sales people either by:
1. Salary plus commission
2. Commission only.
It doesn't matter if you walk directly into a bank or work with a broker, basically everyone gets paid the same.
If you walk directly into a bank the loan officer most likely gets a basic salary and a percentage of the loan origination fee (points and yield spread premiums). If you work with a broker the broker usually works on a straight commission (points and yield spread premiums).
Becoming a broker allows the loan officer the ability to offer their customers the best loans with the most options.
It always amazes me when I see TV commercials or hear radio commercials advertising $395, zero closing costs. I always wonder if people understand how they can do that.
Ok, here is how it is done.
The inside secret is that in exchange for these low or zero closing costs the lenders will make their profits and cover the costs of the loan by charging you a higher interest rate.
This higher interest rate pays what they call in our industry a (YSP) yield spread premium.
By charging you a higher interest rate over the life of the loan the bank can easily afford the commercials, commissions, payroll, and cover the costs of the loan while still making a profit. Also the service is usually very poor and impersonal.
So the next time you see advertising with no closing costs you will know exactly how they are doing it.
So please remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch in any business. Business wouldn't be business if there were no profits. The most important thing is that you want the best loan available at a fair price with an experienced loan officer.
9. What are interest reserves and contingency funds doing in your closing costs?
The two things most customers do not factor into the cost of the building their new home are interest reserves and contingency funds.
Interest reserves are added to your loan amount to make the monthly payment on your loan. Yes, you read that correctly, you will not have to make a monthly construction loan payment while your home is being built.
The payments are made from this interest reserve account and no, it’s not free. This reserve is added to your construction loan amount.
Interest reserves were designed for the benefit of the customer. Most people building a new home are either paying rent or have an existing mortgage payment while their home is being built.
The last thing a customer needs is another monthly payment while building. So, banks created the interest reserve account by adding up the estimated interest payments over a 12 month period and add this to the loan amount.
If you do not want interest reserves added to your construction loan amount you can ask to make your own monthly construction loan payment.
Contingency funds are added to the loan amount just in case you need more money to build your new home.
With all good intentions construction loans tend to have cost over runs. The bank adds 5% to 10% of the cost breakdown and adds this amount to the loan amount just in case you have cost over runs or need better appliances.
If you don’t need or use this extra contingency fund then it will not be added to your mortgage upon completion of your new home.
So when you apply for a construction loan ask your loan officer to provide you a copy of the estimated construction loan budget.
The budget is created from your costs and includes every cost within the loan including land balances, closing costs, interest reserves, contingency and bank fees.
10. What is loan to value (LTV) and loan to cost (LTC)? Why it’s probably the most important factor in getting approved for a construction loan besides your income and credit.
Initially most banks are concerned with loan to appraised value (LTV) but banks are really more concerned with how much cash you have in the project (LTC).
If you were buying a home instead of building you would normally have to put 20% of the purchase price as a down payment.
Since you’re building a home your cash equity usually comes in the form of how much cash you put down on your land.
Cash equity is king when applying for a construction loan.
For example, if you bought a $200,000 piece of land and the land is owned free and clear you have a lot of cash equity.
With this much cash equity you will most likely not have to bring in any additional cash.
Or if you bought a piece of land over 12 months ago for $100,000 and its now worth $200,000 the bank will use the current value because you bought it over 12 months ago.
In both cases you have brought $200,000 cash equity to the table.
Now if you just bought a piece of land for $200,000 and you only put down $20,000 most banks will want to see 10% to 20% cash into the total project.
Other qualifying cash equity that can be counted are any pre-paid’s such as plans, grading, permits etc. These pre-paid's can be used for cash equity or you can be reimbursed from the construction loan at closing.
8. Now for the biggest secret of all, ready? All banks have access to the same rates and the only reason everyone ends up with a different rate is directly related to how much your loan officer and bank is going to profit from you.
You should probably read that one again.
Your loan officer gets paid like all sales people either by:
1. Salary plus commission
2. Commission only.
It doesn't matter if you walk directly into a bank or work with a broker, basically everyone gets paid the same.
If you walk directly into a bank the loan officer most likely gets a basic salary and a percentage of the loan origination fee (points and yield spread premiums). If you work with a broker the broker usually works on a straight commission (points and yield spread premiums).
Becoming a broker allows the loan officer the ability to offer their customers the best loans with the most options.
It always amazes me when I see TV commercials or hear radio commercials advertising $395, zero closing costs. I always wonder if people understand how they can do that.
Ok, here is how it is done.
The inside secret is that in exchange for these low or zero closing costs the lenders will make their profits and cover the costs of the loan by charging you a higher interest rate.
This higher interest rate pays what they call in our industry a (YSP) yield spread premium.
By charging you a higher interest rate over the life of the loan the bank can easily afford the commercials, commissions, payroll, and cover the costs of the loan while still making a profit. Also the service is usually very poor and impersonal.
So the next time you see advertising with no closing costs you will know exactly how they are doing it.
So please remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch in any business. Business wouldn't be business if there were no profits. The most important thing is that you want the best loan available at a fair price with an experienced loan officer.
9. What are interest reserves and contingency funds doing in your closing costs?
The two things most customers do not factor into the cost of the building their new home are interest reserves and contingency funds.
Interest reserves are added to your loan amount to make the monthly payment on your loan. Yes, you read that correctly, you will not have to make a monthly construction loan payment while your home is being built.
The payments are made from this interest reserve account and no, it’s not free. This reserve is added to your construction loan amount.
Interest reserves were designed for the benefit of the customer. Most people building a new home are either paying rent or have an existing mortgage payment while their home is being built.
The last thing a customer needs is another monthly payment while building. So, banks created the interest reserve account by adding up the estimated interest payments over a 12 month period and add this to the loan amount.
If you do not want interest reserves added to your construction loan amount you can ask to make your own monthly construction loan payment.
Contingency funds are added to the loan amount just in case you need more money to build your new home.
With all good intentions construction loans tend to have cost over runs. The bank adds 5% to 10% of the cost breakdown and adds this amount to the loan amount just in case you have cost over runs or need better appliances.
If you don’t need or use this extra contingency fund then it will not be added to your mortgage upon completion of your new home.
So when you apply for a construction loan ask your loan officer to provide you a copy of the estimated construction loan budget.
The budget is created from your costs and includes every cost within the loan including land balances, closing costs, interest reserves, contingency and bank fees.
10. What is loan to value (LTV) and loan to cost (LTC)? Why it’s probably the most important factor in getting approved for a construction loan besides your income and credit.
Initially most banks are concerned with loan to appraised value (LTV) but banks are really more concerned with how much cash you have in the project (LTC).
If you were buying a home instead of building you would normally have to put 20% of the purchase price as a down payment.
Since you’re building a home your cash equity usually comes in the form of how much cash you put down on your land.
Cash equity is king when applying for a construction loan.
For example, if you bought a $200,000 piece of land and the land is owned free and clear you have a lot of cash equity.
With this much cash equity you will most likely not have to bring in any additional cash.
Or if you bought a piece of land over 12 months ago for $100,000 and its now worth $200,000 the bank will use the current value because you bought it over 12 months ago.
In both cases you have brought $200,000 cash equity to the table.
Now if you just bought a piece of land for $200,000 and you only put down $20,000 most banks will want to see 10% to 20% cash into the total project.
Other qualifying cash equity that can be counted are any pre-paid’s such as plans, grading, permits etc. These pre-paid's can be used for cash equity or you can be reimbursed from the construction loan at closing.
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