Today I’m going to a going away party for some friends, who happen to be clients as well.  Actually, they started out as clients purchasing investment property after they took a class we offered at the Phinney Neighborhood Assocation.  Now, many years later, we’re working together in a different capacity and under different personal circumstances as I’m helping them sell their home as they prepare to move back to the midwest.  It will be interesting to be at the party because we’ll have one of the more unusual personal arrangements with them in the room of people since no one else there will have the same kind of personal or professional stake in their move as we will.

I’m sure there will be lots of questions about “how’s the sale going” and “how long do you think it will take?”  Usually these are discussions we’d be having more privately with our client and today it will become more of a semi-public topic.  It will be interesting and it might change our position as a guest at the party to being a bit too much of being put in the spotlight.  Not that I mind having these discussions, it’s just that it will probably be the major discussion I’ll have to have throughout the afternoon.  I’d rather just get to spend time chatting with our friends and the people we’re meeting about more mundane items.

But, such is the nature of the business….  no matter though, our friendship with the client is separate from our professional relationship.  With the rental property still being kept here for a time we expect to stay in regular contact after the move and house sale is done.  It’s all part of the circle of life and the many changes that you see people go through as their life follows a continuum of stages: growing up, school/college, career, family (vice versa or both), and moving toward retirement and eventually passing on.  Our business touches almost all of these phases and the good, bad and the ugly that can be part of it.

We look forward to the positive changes this will provide to this family whereby their daughter will benefit from the easier access to spending time with grandparents and cousins.  Plus the benefit of support and companionship that the mother and grandmother will receive as the grandmother had been dealing with a serious illness recently.  I can understand this need to move close after the struggle my parents have been through since their accident and my dad’s subsequent disability from it.  It can oftentimes take great strength of will to pack up all your belongings and move cross country to start over so I take my hat off to them that they’re making the trek.  They’re a smart couple and thankfully the husband’s job can be done anywhere around the country.  The wife will be starting a new phase for her, but it could be a really exciting time too since she’ll have options of how she wants to handle her future career and whether she wants to jump back into the job market right away or not.  A lot of people in the Seattle area don’t really have those kinds of options with the cost of living that we have here.  It’s all very exciting….

Cheers to you, friends, we will miss you tremendously!

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The new Conventional Loan Limit of $567,500 for Seattle may not be all it’s cracked up to be.  The program has restrictions that will rule out many situations, especially for those refinancing.

The new guidelines affect loan amounts above $417,000 to the new limit of $567,500.  This new category is called “conforming-jumbo”.  Here are the key features and restrictions for this category:

*  The maximum loan-to-value ratio for a purchase is 90%.

*  The maximum loan-to-value ratio for a refinance is 75%.

*  “Cash-out” refinances are NOT allowed.

*  Refinancing to combine a first mortgage and subordinate financing (2nd mortgage, heloc) is NOT allowed.

*  Single-Family properties only (no 2, 3, or 4 unit properties allowed).

*  Second Homes and Investment Properties are eligible, but the maximum loan-to-value ratio is restricted to 60%.

*  Full Documentation is required.  Stated Income or Reduced Documentation is not allowed.

*  Loan programs offered are 15 & 30 year fixed rates, 5/1 arm and 5/1 interest-only arms (arms available after May 1).

*  There will be a pricing “add” of 1/4% for a fixed rate loan and 3/4% for ARM loans.

*  To use current market value, 6-months seasoning is required.

This program should work well for borrowers purchasing homes, and for refinancing existing single mortgages, but it will not work for those who wanted to refinance to combine a first and second mortgage.

But I have a “MacIver” thought about that.  What about refinancing now to combine your first and second mortgage together into a jumbo loan, wait out the 6-month seasoning period, then refinance into the program.  It would take two steps but would ultimately get you there. Of course, who knows where rates will be by then?

I’ll post more information as we get it.

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