As a busy professional, your time is precious. Taking time away from the daily grind to attend a conference is a big deal. Attending networking or professional development conferences can be really valuable for relationship building, recruiting, inspiration, vendor and partner sourcing, education, innovation, and new business opportunities. In order to maximize the return on your investment, you must have a plan.
Read More “10 Ways to Make the Most of a Conference”
As former Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, recently found out firsthand, the mortgage process can be complicated and unforgiving. But when it comes to the credit report, are there still options to correct and improve initial findings so the end result might be loan approval or a better interest rate? Absolutely. One of the ways we accomplish this re-evaluation of the credit score is through a process known as a rapid rescore.
Read More “Credit Report Rescoring: Can It Help You Get a Mortgage?”
For years, popular apps like Zillow and Redfin have been putting home buying tools in the palm of our hands – making the search for a new home easier with a few swipes of a finger. But recently, we’ve seen several new apps leading the charge in giving buyers the power to visualize their real estate options, and REALTORS® a competitive edge in a challenging market.
Read More “Top 5 Real Estate Apps for Home Buyers and their REALTORS®”
You have money saved, a good job and you’re tired of paying rent. It’s time to buy a home. Now what? Where do you start? You are taking on what will likely be the most important financial commitment of your life and it’s not as easy as buying a new pair of jeans. You can’t take it back if it doesn’t fit.
Read More “I’m Ready to Buy a Home – Now What?”
Here at RPM, we see a fair amount of high loan-to-value mortgage scenarios – meaning lower down payments with more borrowed from the lender. It’s because the real estate values in our service areas tend to be high and it can take a while for buyers to save the funds needed to purchase a home. So 10% down payments (or even less) are not uncommon and we see them across the borrowing spectrum, from the conforming range (below $417,000) all the way to homes exceeding $1 million. Some buyers also need a boost in their income to be able to meet the debt-to-income ratio requirements to qualify for a loan.
Read More “Should I Get a Gift or Co-Signer?”
We asked our Chief Credit Officer, Gary Scoma, to break it down for us.
FICO is the most widely used credit score. The three major credit repositories, Equifax, Experian and Transunion, work with FICO to develop their scores. But, when it comes to mortgages, FICO is the only credit score that is considered. So, when FICO recently announced it was changing its scoring system, the resulting headlines caused some confusion and debate. Will FICO’s decision to recalculate credit ratings be a boon for the mortgage industry? Some say the changes will not impact consumer credit in any meaningful way. So, what’s the real story here?
Read More “What Does New FICO Scoring Really Mean for Mortgages?”
If you follow the news surrounding the housing market, you know that the reluctance of millennials to purchase homes has been a contributing factor for holding back economic recovery. New to the world of real estate, millennials face financial challenges that are magnified by factors such as student debt, a tough job market and a lack of credit history to qualify for loans. The vision of a dream home is often more grand than their budget reality.
Read More “Four Tips for House-Hunting Millennials”
Corporate culture can sometimes be difficult for companies to define. It’s something employees feel. It guides them through their work day and sets a tone for their experiences working with their company. It’s more than logos and slogans, it’s a unifying force that drives success or failure. But it is not always easy to capture or describe in words. So when Troy Chambers, branch manager of RPM’s Bellevue office, set out to define the culture that was developing around him, he enlisted the help of his team.
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For successful real estate agents, a certain portion of their referral business comes from the financial advisors with whom they have built trusted relationships. Financial professionals call on agents first when they have clients who need help with real estate, and there are three key reasons why they want agents to work with RPM:
Read More “3 Reasons Financial Advisors Want Realtors to Work with RPM”
RPM Mortgage, Inc. (RPM) is honored to have been named one of the Best Places to Work in Orange County, a project of the Orange County Business Journal. The award highlights RPM’s corporate culture which has been formed around trust, knowledge and community.
Read More “RPM Named to List of Best Places to Work in Orange County”
