Snowbird mortgage rules are the same for anyone looking to finance a vacation home, unless the borrower resides outside the U.S. In the latter case, there are more onerous foreign national mortgage regulations, a higher interest rate would apply, and there are several title, estate planning, legal and tax issues which would need to be carefully considered. Given today’s exchange rate [CAD$1.00 = US$0.76], Canadians would do well to obtain a mortgage from a U.S. lender – preferably one affiliated with their Canadian bank (for relationship, credit history and funds transfer purposes).  

But here are a few thoughts for those who are able to qualify for a conventional mortgage for the purchase of a property in the sunny South:

1. Whether a condo or single-family home, call it a second or vacation home – not an investment property (rent it later, if necessary) - you can borrow up to 90% of value (vs 85% for a rental) and avoid a risk adjustment charge of 2.125% to 4.125% of the loan amount, depending on your credit score.
2. Get your credit score to 740. Otherwise, depending on your down payment, another 1.125% to 3.250% risk charge could apply.
3. Get a reliable pre-qualification letter. You don’t want to find out just before closing that your debt-to-income ratio (including mortgage obligations of all properties owned) exceeds the maximum lender threshold.
4. Understand the costs, and then budget accordingly. There will likely be unexpected repairs, improvements, HOA/property management fees, travel costs, etc.
   

One cold and snowy night, Bob Cratchit was wondering how he could purchase a new home for his family by Christmas.  Not just any home, but one that would surely be perfect for Tiny Tim and his wife – a dream come true.

Their current home was fine, but space was cramped now – and the heater and roof would likely need to be replaced within the next few years.

“I could sell my home and use the net proceeds towards the down payment of our new home”, he thought, “but I need more time to get our current home ready for sale.” “And, how can I afford mortgage payments on two homes?”  It didn’t seem possible.

Would his cruel boss, Ebenezer Scrooge, give him a bonus to make this work?  As expected, Cratchit was laughed out of Scrooge’s office.  Discouraged and dejected, Cratchit gave up.

But Scrooge, after being visited that night by Christmas ghosts, miraculously agreed the next day to simultaneously lend Cratchit two loans: 75% and 80% of the values of his current and dream home, respectively!  Cratchit, having just a 680 credit score, could now use Scrooge’s Bridge Loan proceeds towards the down payment on the new home.  Scrooge’s 12-month Bridge Loan term would provide ample time for Cratchit to sell his existing property.  And, Scrooge waived all Bridge Loan payments until Cratchit sold his current home – when the principal would be paid back plus accrued interest. 

Cratchit made an offer on his dream home the next day!

Do you own your business and maximize your expenses to minimize your taxes?

Who wouldn’t employ this strategy!

Well, a break-even tax return would prevent you from getting a conventional mortgage. But if your business has been open for two years, and you can show reasonably consistent deposits each month – then you might qualify for a mortgage under a bank statement program.

You can be approved for a mortgage based solely on your bank statements – without the lender even needing to see your tax returns. There are programs that will accept as little as three consecutive months of bank statements. The more months you are willing to provide (i.e., 24 months provides the best interest rate), the more comfortable the lender can become with your operations.

The lender will tally your average business deposits, and apply an expense ratio – which could be from: (i) an internal or third-party industry standard, (ii) your external accountant, or (iii) your Profit & Loss Statement that matches your selected bank statement period.

Since your resulting net income figure is used to calculate the mortgage amount for which you could qualify, it is more advantageous to select the current bank statement period that maximizes your business deposits.

Some lenders will:

• Extend a loan as high as 90% of the purchase price (Required: 680+ FICO, 4 months reserves)
• Credit you for any positive net cash flow from a rented property that has at least 25% equity
• Allow you to use a gift for the down payment

Sellers know their bottom-line sales price. But sometimes it pays to incentivize a motivated Buyer – especially if the Buyer has limited liquidity to cover their down payment, closing costs and reserves.

If a Buyer makes an offer contingent on financing AND predicated on the Seller paying for all or a portion of closing costs (i.e., concessions), then the Seller may wait for a better offer. However, if the Buyer’s offer is silent on concessions, the contract may progress to a stage where the Buyer may consider sweetening the purchase price – in exchange for dollar-for-dollar concessions at closing.

A few issues to consider when Seller concessions are involved:

• The property may not appraise at the increased purchase price
• The loan amount is likely to increase, thereby potentially making it more difficult for the Buyer to qualify for the mortgage
• The higher capital gain may have adverse Seller tax ramifications

Lenders refer to Seller Concessions as Interested Party Contributions (IPC’s).  IPC’s are generally the responsibility of the Buyer – but paid for by the Seller, and are either “Financing Concessions” (e.g., mortgage closing costs) or “Sales Concessions”. Financing Concessions are expressed as a percentage of the lesser of the appraised value or purchase price, and any costs covered by the Seller that exceed the Financing Concession limits (per the chart below) are deemed Sales Concessions.

Note that lenders deduct all Sales Concessions from the sales price when calculating LTV for underwriting purposes. Therefore, excessive IPC’s could limit the amount of Buyer loan proceeds.

Subsequent to the Housing Crisis, the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act imposed many new rules. This was a response, in part, to some unscrupulous mortgage lenders and brokers charging excessive fees to consumers.

Mortgage lenders and brokers cannot charge origination fees to borrowers that represent more than 3.0% of the loan amount (the “Points & Fees Cap”). As reasonable as this fee cap concept sounds, it is fraught with restrictions that are unfair to the people it was meant to protect.

Let’s take an example of a consumer wishing to borrow $120,000 to buy a home:

$2,700.00 - Mortgage Broker Fee (2.25%* of Loan Amount)
     975.00 - Lender Administration (Standard Average Flat Fee)
$3,675.00 - Total Origination Fees

* Average Florida mortgage broker fees range between 2.0% to 2.75% (based on the interest rate selected, the borrower is eligible to receive a credit at closing to fully cover this fee for most conventional loans).

On the surface, the loan fails the 3.0% Cap (i.e., $3,675 of fees represents 3.1% of the loan). This renders the loan a “Non-Qualified Mortgage”, in which case Fannie Mae could elect not to purchase the loan from the mortgage lender. The lender might stamp “decline”, given their potential inability to monetize the loan.

And, if the lender imposes customary “risk adjustment fees” to compensate for a higher loan-to-value or lower credit score (or if the borrower pays a reasonable fee to “buy-down” the rate), these “Discount Points” must also be added into the calculation – making it impossible for the borrower to obtain a Qualified Mortgage. Fortunately, the regulators have acknowledged that some “bonafide” fees may be excluded from the cap calculation, allowing most mortgages to qualify after time-consuming compliance checks.