Latest Loans for active military Podcast Episodes
The Top 5 Ways to Derail a Loan Approval
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - February 11, 2020 20:15 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsThere are five key ways that you can derail your chances of being approved for a home loan. If you’re serious about purchasing a home, you’ll want to avoid: 1. Taking on new debt. Doing so can change your debt-to-income ratios, which can upset your chances of being approved for a home loan. 2...
Conforming Loan Limits
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - December 27, 2019 22:27 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsThe U.S. government just increased conforming loan limits for all loan types. What does this mean for homebuyers? Each year the government sets maximum loan amounts for conventional, FHA, and VA loans. The loan limit for conventional and VA loans is now $510,400. In other words, all conventio...
The Real Value of Having a Will
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - December 02, 2019 18:18 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsIf you don’t already have a will, it’s time to set one up. Even if you don’t think you need one right now, the truth is that unexpected tragedy can strike at any time. Take, for example, a past client of mine who recently reached out to inform me of her husband’s passing. When I asked if he ha...
What Is a One-Time Close?
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - September 12, 2019 17:00 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsA one-time close, or OTC, happens when a homebuyer wants to build a home on land they own, but needs a construction loan in order to fund the build. When the home is finished, then we create the 30-year mortgage to get them on down the road with it. The one-time close has many benefits. It pay...
Before You Buy an Investment Property
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - August 15, 2019 19:11 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsSo you’ve decided to buy an investment property. What kind of financial regulations should you be aware of before proceeding any further? First, since I’m known as the “VA loan guy,” let’s get this out of the way: You can’t use a VA loan to purchase an investment property unless you’re purchas...
Why Is the VA Eliminating Down Payments?
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - July 23, 2019 15:20 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsIn case you haven’t heard yet, the VA has eliminated down payments on all high-priced homes. Right now, the conforming limit on a VA loan in most areas is $484,350. For a home purchase below that price, there is no down payment and no issue. For purchases above that price threshold, VA buyers...
Why You Can’t Quit Your Job During the Loan Process
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - July 11, 2019 14:36 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsIf you’re planning on buying a home and going through the loan process, don’t quit your day job. You’d be surprised at how often this happens. Let me tell you a quick story. I’m doing an FHA loan right now for a wonderful client. We contacted her employer to verify her income, but the employer...
What to Do When an Appraisal Comes Up Short
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - May 07, 2019 19:48 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsWhat happens when an appraisal comes up short of what a home is sold for? If the buyer has a VA loan, here’s what it looks like. Let’s say a home is sold for $250,000 to a buyer with VA financing. The mortgage company will send the appointed VA appraiser along with the contract for the proper...
USDA Loan Changes Can Now Be Used for Manufactured Homes
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - April 05, 2019 17:44 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsThere have been some recent changes to the USDA loan in regards to manufactured homes. Effective immediately in Texas, you can now use a USDA loan on pre-owned manufactured homes. What’s so cool about this? Well, the USDA loan is a zero down conventional loan program, meaning buyers don’t have...
Pre-Approval vs. Pre-Qualification
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - March 07, 2019 22:25 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsToday we’re going to talk about the difference between being pre-qualified and being pre-approved. I get this question a lot, so I figured I’d answer it for you. A pre-qualification means that a lender has pulled your credit, examined your documents, and submitted an automated online approval ...
5 More FAQs about the VA Home Loan
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - February 21, 2019 18:28 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsContinuing from last time, here are the last five questions featured in our series about the 10 most frequently asked questions we receive about VA loans: 6. “Can I use my VA loan to buy raw land?” I get this question nearly every single day, and the answer is no. The VA loan does not finance ...
Answering Your Top 10 Questions About VA Loans: Part 1
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - February 07, 2019 22:05 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsToday I’m excited to launch the first half of a two-part series covering the top 10 questions I hear about VA loans. We’re going to share five of these common queries today and finish with the remaining five in our next message. 1. What kind of credit score do you need to qualify for a VA loan...
Escrow Holdbacks
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - January 24, 2019 20:25 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsWhen there are required repairs or renovations that show up on an appraisal, they can be paid for through what is called an escrow holdback. As an example, I’m currently helping an elderly couple who don’t have the ability to make any repairs—but they do have the money needed to do so. In situ...
Conforming Loan Limit Increases
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - December 18, 2018 20:25 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsToday we’ll be talking about the recent increase to conforming loan limits and what it means for you. The conforming limit is the maximum loan amount the government allows someone to borrow when using a conventional or VA loan. Essentially, it’s been increased because home prices have risen. ...
1 Critical Step Unmarried Homebuyers Must Take
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - December 03, 2018 22:27 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsRight now, I’m working on two separate files for unmarried couples planning on buying a home together. And with that being the case, I thought now was the perfect time to share my insight on this scenario. Is it really a good idea for an unmarried couple to purchase a home together? Actually, ...
What You Need to Know Before Buying an Investment Property
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - October 30, 2018 18:51 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsThe rules for purchasing a rental property are highly specific, so anyone considering doing so should be aware of a few key stipulations. First, realize that you will need a 20% minimum down payment. That said, the higher your down payment on an investment property is, the better—as is the cas...
Can You Freeze Your Own Credit?
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - October 12, 2018 16:42 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsIf you’ve ever had your credit pulled without your permission or you’re worried about identity theft happening to you, a new federal law was recently passed that allows you to freeze your credit if you want to. The best part? You can do it for free. “A new federal law was recently passed th...
Zero-Down Home Financing for the Rural Homebuyer
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - August 06, 2018 15:50 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsToday we’re going to take a closer look at USDA home loans and the benefits they bring to homebuyers. A USDA home loan is a loan guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It doesn’t work everywhere, however—the purpose the of the program is to help with financing homes in rural areas. ...
What Credit Repair Companies Do to Fix Your Score
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - July 23, 2018 18:12 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsToday I want to talk about credit repair. What is it? And how can it help fix your credit score? Before I get to that, however, I want to talk about the things that cause credit problems. Obviously, late payments and collections both contribute to a negative credit score. More recently, I have...
The Importance of Knowing Your Deductible
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - July 11, 2018 15:28 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsDo you know what your insurance deductible is? In most cases, people tend to select a 1% rate in case of things like hail or fire damage. This means that if someone with a 1% annual rate has a $250,000 home, then their deductible would amount to $2,500. But in some cases, people may take shor...
Why Home Warranties Are so Important
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - June 21, 2018 19:12 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsWhen buying a home today, receiving a clean report from the home inspector does not mean you are out of the woods. Systems or appliances in your home could fail a week, a month, or even years down the line. And they may no longer be under warranty, meaning that you will be the one to pay if som...
What Homeowner’s Insurance Policy Should You Choose?
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - May 31, 2018 20:33 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsI get a lot of questions about homeowners insurance from clients as well as Realtors. So, today I’d like to discuss a few important points about this subject. Rates are going up sharply due to some pretty massive national losses from a lot of the insurance companies. Hurricane flooding in Hous...
12 Things to Avoid Doing During the Loan Process
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - May 01, 2018 18:59 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsHere’s a quick rundown of the top 12 things you should not do during the loan process: 1. Quit your job (or change jobs). Why is this important? The day before closing, we have to call your employer to make sure you’re still there. If you quit, retire, or change jobs, that will be known the da...
How to Combat Indecision in Today's Fast-Paced Market
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - March 30, 2018 15:14 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsToday, I’d like to talk about the effects of a fast-moving market. Recently, I’ve been hearing from a lot of frustrated buyers who are tired of losing out on homes. Oftentimes the reason they lost out was that they told their Realtor they needed time to think. When the client calls their Realt...
Is Your Future Property Located in a Flood Zone?
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - March 12, 2018 19:55 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsWhy is it crucial when buying a property that you check if it’s located in a flood zone? Let me tell you a quick story. I’m doing a loan for a couple who bought a 12-acre property awhile back but didn’t know that part of the property was in a flood zone. Since they only recently learned about ...
Why Should You Work With My Own Realtor
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - February 15, 2018 19:57 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsToday, we’re going to talk about why you need your own Realtor. When driving around looking for a home, you might come across a house you like with a yard sign featuring a phone number. Most people are tempted to pick up the phone and call, but you need to know that the number on the sign is ...
What’s the Difference Between an Inspection and an Appraisal?
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - February 01, 2018 15:46 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsWhat is the difference between an inspection and an appraisal? Today, I’d like to clear up some key differences. Many veterans call me believing that the VA is going to do an inspection on their home, when in fact, that’s not really the case. The VA will appraise a home, not inspect it. An ap...
Mortgage Loan Rules for Moving a Manufactured Home
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - January 08, 2018 15:00 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsToday I wanted to clarify the rules on moving a manufactured home. A lot of people don’t know this, but there are some very, very specific rules regarding this topic and there’s a lot of confusion about it. Why is this so important? A lender may not be able to do one of the top three loans—FH...
Where Can Veterans Get a Home Improvement Loan?
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - December 21, 2017 13:10 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsIf you’re a veteran looking for a home improvement loan to make some upgrades to your home, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is the VA doesn’t offer any loans for this purpose. The good news is the Texas Veterans Land Board does, and they recently doubled the amount they’re willing ...
A Unique Opportunity for Veteran Homebuyers
Real Estate Podcast with Patrick Fitzgerald - November 28, 2017 13:04 - Video ★★★★★ - 7 ratingsDid you know that you can not only use VA financing to buy a home with 0% down, but you can also use VA financing to buy a multi-family property? If you set things up right, the home will essentially pay for itself. Here’s what I mean. You are allowed to use a VA loan to purchase a multi-famil...
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