STEVE:  Hi.  This is Steve Westmark.  Thanks again for watching my weekly video blog.  This week, I thought I’d bring an expert in in the area of mortgages, and her name is Jill Meents of Bell Mortgage.  So welcome, Jill.

JILL:  Thanks, Steve.

STEVE:  You know, one of the bigger things that I’ve run into in the marketplace in the last five years is all the mortgage fraud that went on.  And so the mortgage industry has really changed.  Jill, what is it that’s gone on in the mortgage marketplace that’s changed significantly that you have to help people understand?  Like for instance what’s going on with FHA or Fannie Mae or jumbo loans.  What do you find has changed in the marketplace from where it was three to five years ago?

JILL:  You know, Steve, what’s interesting about mortgage fraud, it has really changed our mortgage world.  It used to be that we would get a few pieces of documentation, run a credit report, do an appraisal, and we were done.  Unfortunately, because of the mortgage fraud, we’re now looking for two years of tax returns.  We’re looking for bank statements, paycheck stubs.  We’ve really gone above and beyond what we need for paper today.

Now as long as someone has all that paper, that’s great.  But it is a real frustrating world for buyers right now having to come up with that much documentation, even on good buyers.

STEVE:  I think another question that some buyers may have today is what does it take to be able to get into a house.  I mean, we used to have zero down financing.  I know that it takes some amount of money.  What amount of money does it take to get into a house today?

JILL:  You know, Steve, it really hasn’t changed the criteria for actually applying for a mortgage today.  If you’re a veteran or if you’ve been in the Armed Services or in the Reservists, you can still come in with zero percent down.  If you do FHA, which most of our first-time homebuyers do, that’s 3.5% down.  And part of that or all of that can actually be a gift from a relative.  We can actually structure a transaction to have the seller pay the closing costs.  And then of course for our second-, third-, and fourth-time homebuyers there’s conventional financing, which generally, we’re wanting 5% down.

STEVE:  You know, I put in a recent newsletter that I don’t think my parents ever saw a mortgage at 4%.  And I used to sell houses in the early 80s where rates were at 17% and 18%.  What is going on with the interest rates in the marketplace today and what do you look for in trends in the future coming months?

JILL:  Steve, you’re right.  Interest rates are at an all-time low.  We’ve been writing some mortgages in the high 3%.  But it’s interesting.  Now with the new QE2 Program coming out, which is the new stimulus package, money is going out of the bond market into the stock market.  You’ve seen your stock market start to improve.  We’re also a little bit concerned about inflation and what’s going to happen with the value of the dollar.

All of that starts to drive interest rates back up.  So sure enough, we’re about a half percent higher today than we were at the all-time low, and we think we’ve probably seen the low, that rates will slowly start climbing back up.  But they’re still phenomenal.  When I came into the business, they were 21% and we’re still writing loans today at 4 and an eighth or 4 and a quarter.  So they’re wonderful.

STEVE:  Well, I know another big question people have is in the area of refinancing because sometimes a person can refinance and get a lower rate.  What are the things that you look for in helping a person in determining refinancing today and what are the things that are the concerns that you have to help somebody through in determining whether they can refinance their house or not?

JILL:  Well, refinancing has certainly been a huge part of our business this year, and one of the first questions I ask someone when they call up and they want to refinance is “What is the goal?” or “What are we trying to accomplish here?”  Are we trying to drop the rate?  Are we trying to shorten up the term?  Are we paying off debt?  Are we paying off a home equity credit line?  What are we trying to accomplish?  But I think the biggest challenge that we’re having, of course, is values dropping.  Where somebody thought they may have had quite a bit of equity in their property, today that equity has actually eroded.

 But the good news is the administration has come up with a couple of good programs that even if your equity has eroded, we can still look at refinancing if you qualify for certain criteria.  So we’re writing a lot of refinances that are much more challenging.  People are very disappointed in their values, but we’re getting them done and saving people a good deal of money.

STEVE:  Well, as you can tell, I have to be a professional in the real estate area just like Jill has to be a professional in the mortgage area.  So Jill, if somebody has questions in the near future on whether it be purchasing a home or refinancing, what is the best way to get a hold of you and how can you help them?

JILL:  Thanks, Steve for inviting me on the program.  The best way to reach myself at Bell Mortgage is 952-278-8731, and we’d be happy to run numbers for you whether it’s a purchase or refinance or just looking at restructuring debt for you.

STEVE:  Hey, thanks for joining us today and we look forward to you watching us next week.  And thanks again, Jill for coming in and sharing your great wisdom.