Latinas in Business: A growing number of Latino business owners are women, generating nearly $46 billion in sales nationwide last year, according to a study published this year by the Center for Women's Business Research. The study estimates that in 2010, almost 750,000 businesses in the United States were majority-owned by Latina women -- an increase of 121 percent in the period from 2000 to 2010. Latinas represent about 37 percent of all Hispanic businesses. For the nation as a whole, about 30 percent of businesses are majority-owned by women.
Sources: CNN.com , The Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia.
Latino business ownership is growing three times as fast as the national average.
Latino purchasing power is expected to reach more than $1 trillion by 2011, according to the Census Bureau and other studies. The Latino consumer market here in the U.S. is actually as big or bigger than the GDP of Mexico or Canada. The Latino U.S. market is second largest economy in North America. There are nearly 1.6 million Latino-owned businesses, producing nearly $222 billion in revenue, in 2002.
Latino buying power will reach almost $1.2 trillion by 2011 -- about six times what it was in 1990 Latino buying power will be just over $860 billion in 2007, an 8 percent increase from 2006. The Latino community will top all minority groups for purchasing power. Advertisers spent more than $3.3 billion in the United States to market products to Latinos in 2005
Home buyers and homeowners are becoming increasingly aware of a lending concept called “risk-based” pricing. This policy rewards borrowers with better credit and higher down payment amounts with more favorable loan and pricing terms than those who have less attractive credit scores and less “skin in the game”. These changes can easily add up to 2-3% or more of the loan amount. While this particular policy is not changing the rules surrounding the information provided to borrowers is.
Under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, mortgage lenders must disclose credit scores to a borrower at application. In addition, if the borrower is declined credit for a reason relating to their credit report, they are permitted to obtain a free copy of that report from the credit reporting agency.
Under new rules going into effect January 1st, The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Trade Commission will, generally, require a lender to provide an applicant with a notice that the available credit provided will be on less favorable terms due to credit-related issues. Consumers who receive this notice will be able to obtain a free credit report to verify the accuracy of the report.
Alternatively, a lender may provide consumers who apply for credit with a free credit score and information about the score. Currently, while most consumers can receive a free annual credit report, they must typically pay a fee to obtain their credit score.
2011 - V.A. LOAN ELGIBILITY AND REQUIREMENTS - VETERAN HOME LOANS - VA LOANS 1. Determining Eligibility
•VA guaranteed home loans benefit veterans because they do not need to make a down payment and there is no upper limit or required cap on the income of the borrower. Without a down payment as security against foreclosure, lenders receive a certificate of guaranty from VA. In essence, as gratitude for honorable military service, the government is vouching for the veteran's trustworthiness to repay his/her debt.
•To determine eligibility, a military veteran, active duty person, or a member of the national guard or selected reserves, must submit a VA Form 26-1880 (2 pages) (Form is now in a FILLABLE format - but people with Adobe 5.0 seem to have trouble with it) along with proof of service (DD Form 214, a statement of active duty, or proof of participation in the national guard or reserves) to the VA Eligibility Center, P.O. Box 20729, Winston-Salem, NC 27120. Based on the applicant's length and type of service, VA issues a certificate for each person determined eligible to apply for a VA guaranteed home loan. Check the status after ten days by calling 1 (888) 244-6711 between 8:00 - 4:00 Eastern time. back to top
2.Viewing and Inspecting the Home •Home buyers usually use the services of state-licensed real estate agents to: determine an affordable price range, suggest certain home features suitable for the buyer, schedule home tours, negotiate sales contacts and hold earnest money deposits. State-licensed real estate professional can explain the legal requirements for buyers and sellers, and can refer buyers to local lenders and certified home inspectors. Buyers should accompany their preferred home inspector during the inspection of the property to ask questions about the home's systems. back to top
3.Requesting the Loan •Home buyers may want to contact a lender even before they sign a contract for a home, so that they can be pre-approved to determine their maximum mortgage amount. Home buyers who wish to obtain a VA guaranteed loan should make sure that the sales contract includes a phrase, sometimes called a financing contingency, making the contract subject to approval for a VA guaranteed loan. Lenders verify and review past and present job and credit history of home applicants, and compare it with VA loan approval guidelines. If the documents with the loan request cannot be approved, then additional written information must be presented to the lender or the VA for further consideration. •VA Lender Appraisal Processing Program (LAPP) lenders can process loans faster than other lenders. VA LAPP lenders do not need to send any paperwork to VA until after the home sale is closed. VA's long-standing policy is not to recommend any specific lender. •VA recommends that buyers compare lending terms among several lenders in order to find the best combination of interest rates, discount points, and other negotiable costs for a VA guaranteed loan. back to top
4.Appraising the Property •When an eligible veteran contacts a lender to request a VA guaranteed loan, the lender obtains a VA number for the request via the Internet. The lender uses the VA number to monitor progress of the appraisal and loan application. The lender also sends a VA form to a state-licensed real estate appraiser who will visit the home to give the lender and VA an opinion of the market value of the property. The appraisal tells the lender and VA whether the property is expected to be adequate collateral for the requested loan. Neither the appraisal of the home nor the VA guaranty is a warranty from constructional defects and their resulting repair costs. Builders and brokers can issue warranties for the condition of the home's structure and systems. back to top
5.Closing the Sale •If the loan and home are approved, the buyer needs to contact a state-licensed insurance agent who will provide homeowner coverage to protect the owner and lender from property damage and loss. Title to the home is usually examined and insured by a title insurance company that may also prepare closing documents and enter them into public records after the closing. After the home is purchased and the loan is originated, the lender usually sells the active loan to another company which will receive the loan payments and pay the real estate taxes and insurance premiums. back to top
6.Closing Costs for VA Home Loans •VA regulates the closing costs that a veteran can be charged when obtaining a VA home loan. The closing cost regulation is designed to keep lenders from charging veterans those closing costs that VA has determined as being beneficial to the lender and not necessarily beneficial to the veteran. For a list of allowable and unallowable closing costs, please follow the link below. A List of Allowable and Unallowable VA Closing Costs. back to top
7.Prequalifying Worksheet •The Prequalifying Worksheet will give you a general idea of what you can afford, and whether you are within VA underwriting guidelines for approval. This Prequalifying Worksheet is not a commitment to lend, nor can it be used to determine whether a lender will approve the VA loan. Please note, the Prequalifying Worksheet is in Excel format. Prequalifying Worksheet back to top
Of course it is... Pre 2007 it was just a lot easier. They use to have loan programs such as NO-DOC, Stated Income, Low-Doc, and some others I can't remember. Now in todays age, the banking industry is a lot stricter. They are more concerned with Debt to Income Ratio and credit is not as important. Well let me first define Debt to Income Ratio.
The two main kinds of DTI (Debt to Income) are expressed as a pair using the notation x/y (for example, 28/36).
The second DTI, known as the back-end ratio, indicates the percentage of income that goes toward paying all recurring debt payments, including those covered by the first DTI, and other debts such as credit card payments, car loan payments, student loan payments, child support payments, alimony payments, and legal judgments.
Example In order to qualify for a mortgage for which the lender requires a debt-to-income ratio of 28/36:
Yearly Gross Income = $45,000 / Divided by 12 = $3,750 per month income.
$3,750 Monthly Income x .28 = $1,050 allowed for housing expense.
$3,750 Monthly Income x .36 = $1,350 allowed for housing expense plus recurring debt.
Now with FHA financing you can be approved with a back end of 50%, which basically means half of your bills including mortgage must not be more then half of your monthly income before taxes.
So the problem with self-employed people is they don't want to pay taxes, and banks are now looking at your tax returns to document your income. So because most self employed people say they only made 30,000 when they actually made 100,000 basically messes them up when it comes to buying a house. So to answer your question Self-Employed people can still buy houses but just may have to put a higher downpayment now to reach their debt to income ratios. I hope this makes sense to you guys, but if not send me an email or just call me
Electronic Signature - Top 5 reasons why it's important
The future is here ! If your going to last in real estate you must continually evolve. Companies like Docusign.com have signature technologies that tie into zipforms.
1. It's super fast. Your signature request gets sent in an email to the signer(s). They click a link that takes them to Docusign secure site. They choose their signature look and then begin the signing process. They will just click where you set them to sign. They dot actually sign anything they just click their mouse.
2. Super clear -- contracts and documents when faxed over and over loose their viewing capability. If it gets too messy the title company will delay your closing and make you write a new contract and forcing everyone to sign again.
3. Paperless -- no more hard files ! No more saving and storing tons of paperwork. No more worrying about losing documents. Simply save the complete contracts on your computer and backup your computer. Docusign will also store all your documents on their server.
4. Professional and Impressive ! This makes it a lot easier for your clients and your clients will appreciate that. They don't want to hassle with printing and faxing, they expect you to be the top of your field, so show them you stay on the edge of technology.
The cost of our standard commission program is $499.00 per YEAR - PAID IN FULL to TexasRealtyPros.com, Inc. You will be paid 100% commission on your sales at the settlement table. There are no administrative fees to be paid to TexasRealtyPros.com, Inc. You have the freedom to charge commissions to your clients as you see fit to help you pay for or offset your office fees. Should you choose to go from one commission program to another, this is acceptable. The only requirement is that you must notify us in writing about your desire to change programs, using a simple form that we provide to you on our agent intranet site. This change can be made on the first of the following months, January, April, July and October. All monthly fees are due by the 20th of every month and are subject to late fees if not paid.
Choose what plan works best for you - $89 A month, $495 Yearly, or $89 a Transaction.
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WASHINGTON -- President Obama signed the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill on Saturday, which included $125 million to continue through February 28, 2010 the enhancements made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to SBA's two largest loan programs {504 and 7(a)}. The SBA said the additional funding will support an estimated $4.5 billion in small business lending.
New approvals of loans with the higher guarantee and reduced fees made possible by ARRA are expected to begin by December 28, 2009. Loan applications from borrowers who chose to be placed in the SBA's Recovery Loan Queue will be funded first, followed by new loan approvals beginning on or before December 28, 2009.
"This Administration and Congress recognize that these key programs were successful in helping jump-start the economic recovery for America's small businesses," said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. "The increased guarantee and reduced fees on SBA loans helped put more than $16.5 billion in the hands of small business owners and brought more than 1,200 lenders back to SBA loan programs. The extension of these programs through February 2010 is important to continuing our path toward recovery and will mean thousands more small business owners have access to the credit they need.
"Just two weeks ago, President Obama laid out key aspects of his jobs plan, including significant ongoing support for small businesses. We will continue to work with Congress on moving those proposals forward, including extending these loan enhancements as the President has called for, to ensure that small business owners have the tools they need to drive economic growth and create jobs in communities all across the country."
As part of ARRA, SBA received $730 million, which included $375 million to increase the SBA guarantee on 7(a) loans to 90% and to waive borrower fees on most 7(a) and 504 loans. The funds for these programs were exhausted on November 23, 2009.
The extension included in the DOD bill authorizes the higher guarantee levels through February 28, 2010. The fee relief is authorized until this additional funding is exhausted or by the end of the fiscal 2010 year, whichever comes first. As was the case in November 2009, SBA will transition into a queue system as the funds start to wind down in order to ensure the maximum simulative effect of the programs and disbursement of funds.
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According to a survey of its broker-dealers, reports SBA 7(a) guarantee prices holding steady at 109-110 for 25-year SBA 7(a) loans secured by real estate and priced at the Wall Street Prime Rate plus 2.75%, adjusted quarterly. The sale price provides a 1% servicing fee to the seller. “After SBA 7(a) premiums for a P+2.75% loan disappeared completely during the height of the credit crisis in 2008, premiums have recovered to historical levels,” said Michael Sneden, Executive Vice President of ValueXpress. “Premiums returned to the benchmark of 110 in October/November 2009 and have been trading around those levels since. We continue to educate our partner banks and new partners considering the SBA 7(a) program on the benefits of this program.”
As a simple example, a $1-million loan originated by a bank utilizing the SBA 7(a) program secured by an owner-occupied building can be eligible for a 90% government guarantee. That means $900,000 of the loan is fully guaranteed by the U.S. government. The guarantee can be sold in the capital markets, and with more than 10 active broker-dealers, the guarantee for an originating bank can be sold, one at a time, immediately upon loan closing. A P+2.75% loan with a 90% guarantee sold at 110 will generate a $90,000 profit to the originating bank, plus a 1% ongoing servicing fee during the life of the loan. Only the $100,000 balance of the loan is counted on the bank’s books as a charge to its capital. Assuming a 10% capital requirement, the loan utilizes only $10,000 of the bank’s capital, but adds $90,000 in profit that flows to capital. So the beauty of the SBA 7(a) program is that it quickly grows profits and capital for the originating bank. “With the Obama Administration extending a waiver of borrower guarantee fees for the SBA 7(a) program, this product will be very attractive for commercial banks in 2010,” Sneden said.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Houston Association of REALTORS®
A growing number of Latino business owners are women, generating nearly $46 billion in sales nationwide last year, according to a study published this year by the Center for Women's Business Research.
Latino business ownership is growing three times as fast as the national average.
