In the South we have a “saying” that I love.

FOUND MONEY!

Do you know what that means?  It refers to that $20 you “found” in your bluejeans that you had forgotten about!  It’s about the extra money you make when you do the laundry, or the refund check for $17.81 that we recently got back from an overpayment to the IRS!  Money you hadn’t “earmarked” for anything else. My Grandmother use to call it “Hallelujah” money!

I talked to a really sweet girl tonight who has an Interest Only 80% first mortgage at 6.5% with a second mortgage that’s adjusted to 10.325%.  She’d been turned down by 2 other lenders when she called me… but by the end of the call she was CRYING (seriously) with JOY!

So… here’s what happened.  She can refinance today and save over $200 a month.  She will be paying down her balance and creating real equity in her home!!  (which is the REAL goal!)!

Why did she get turned down?  She had over 700 credit scores, and I had her ratios of income to debt at less than 40%!  Because of the way she presented information to the mortgage lender, and the way THEY didn’t ask more questions!

She said, “my husband has two jobs.  His income is $31,055.”  I asked her if it was commissioned, bonused or did that include Overtime?  “No,” she said, “but he has only had one since June.  He worked there before, but they were sold.”  I went on to ask her if they were past due on any of their debt, had they been past due this year or last, her answers were firmly no.  I asked about her debt, and her goals for refinancing.

Two things happened… when she was talking to the other companies, and the folks wanted to know about her payments, she was telling them what she was paying – not the actual payment on the credit card… they other loan officers also didn’t ask more questions about her husbands job that changed in June, and they were not counting that income.

As it turns out, her husband works 30 hours a week as a landscaper, and has done this for 7 years with the same group of people.  The company was SOLD in June, so he now works, doing the same thing, with the same guys, making the same money – only the name of the company changed.  That income is fully allowable, she completely qualifies for this refinance!

If you’ve been told that mortgage lending has changed, and you can’t qualify… it’s true, you might be beat… but there’s a chance that you are just talking to a loan officer who is not asking the right questions.  No matter where you are, I’ll be glad to talk to you (call me!), and I’ll ask questions, and I’ll give you honest feedback – and maybe we’ll find some “Hallelujah” money!!