WHO YA GONNA CALL?
-PDC Mortgage Watch September 2008-

Who doesn't remember the popular movie "Ghost Busters" that became a tremendous hit in the United States and all over the world after being released in 1984? Remembering this film, and thinking about the everyday calls we get from some of the local realtors, some of them to meet with people to later find out they do not qualify for a mortgage, has prompted me to begin a list of Important Questions to Ask at the First Interview with your mortgage property purchaser candidate.  This is in an effort to save the Realtor time and money, while working with clients, and to only dedicate time to qualified buyers.

Nobody likes to show property to a client, or worse yet, negotiate a contract with a developer or a seller, to later find out your client was not qualified for the mortgage.

 Therefore, here are some key, and important, questions to ask your mortgage property purchasing client to save you time:

1.       Do you have a mortgage now and how much is your monthly payment?

2.       What would your FICO (for Americans) or BEACON (for Canadians) score be? (Normally the client knows, or has a general idea, as to what their credit score is).

3.       What other monthly payments do you have? (Utility bills, and other liabilities not showing in the credit report, outside of court appointed liabilities, as they are not considered in the qualification process).

4.       Do you have 25% to 30% available for a down payment? (Most lenders will loan up to 75% LTV (Loan to Value of the purchase price).

5.       What is your monthly income and how do you get paid? (This is a key question since it may determine the actual qualification of the client and how he/she can, or cannot, obtain a mortgage loan).

6.       Would you also have additional funds for closing costs? (closing costs are approx. 6% on a cash deal, and about 8% to 9% of the sales price on a mortgage deal).

7.       Do you know what a Fideicomiso (Trust) is?  (Every now and then we get a client that does not have the slightest idea of what a Fideicomiso is).

8.       Do you understand the importance of a Condo Regime? (We have had clients that have entered into contracts without a mortgage contingency that have found out, at the last minute, that they cannot get a loan because the developer does not have a Condo Regime.  In most cases, unless they come up with the full balance of the purchase price in cash, they end up losing their deposit.)

9.       Do you want to be present at the closing, or will you be issuing a Power of Attorney to someone to sign at closing? (A Power of Attorney is not very difficult to establish especially while they are in town.  It might become a bit more complicated if when they are outside of Mexico and with no access to a Mexican Consulate.  A Power of Attorney, commonly, must be Apostilled [Registered, Certified] by a Mexican Consulate Official when created outside of Mexico).

10.   Would you like to be pre-qualified, or pre-approved, by a mortgage broker previous to looking at any property? (this might be the best option for the realtor/developer, since after you have spent time with the client and even gone as far as collecting some of the basic information, once it goes through the mortgage broker filtering processes to find out that additional information is required, the client simply disappears, no longer responds to the realtor or the mortgage broker for that matter.  This just confirms our "What a Waste of Time" theory.     

 At any rate, and if you do not feel comfortable asking these questions, and have your client at your office requesting to see some property, perhaps you should just remember the famous "Ghost Busters" movie´s theme song, "Who Ya Gonna Call?", and pick up the phone and call your preferred mortgage broker in town.

This article is provided by Enrique (Henry) Saldana - Mexico Mortgage Solutions (in Mexico)/Advanced Mortgage Inc. (in the USA) Cell: (984) 116-8528; Cell:  (998) 147-8936 This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ; www.mxmortgagesolutions.com ;    You may contact us with any questions you might have in regards to National and Non-Resident /Foreign National Mortgages.

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