Mortgage Matters

A borrower using VA eligibility can get 100% financing on a home without having to pay for private mortgage insurance. This benefit is only available to those with VA status.

Because a VA home loan is guaranteed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the borrower does not need to put any money down. A VA loan allows the sellers to pay closing costs, has looser credit and income standards, and is easier to qualify for than a conventional loan.

National Bank Of Kansas City has something many local banks and lenders may not -- expertise in VA home loans. Too many veterans and service members are unaware of their entitlement to a VA home loan, and National Bank Of Kansas City is working hard to make sure that is no longer the case.

A VA home loan from National Bank Of Kansas City is a smart choice because:

• We are extremely experienced in all aspects of VA lending, more then 25% of our mortgage loans are VA loans.
• We do not charge any lender, origination, underwriting or processing fees.
• We do not charge points.
• You can finance 100% of the sale price of your home without paying for private mortgage insurance.
• Our rates are extremely competitive.
• We have access to the VA portal so we can assist you in obtaining a Certificate of Eligibility.
• We have VA certified underwriters on staff, allowing your loan to be approved in days, not weeks or months.
• We are an FDIC insured full-service national bank that's been assisting homeowners with financing their primary residence, second home or investment property for more than 20 years.

Learn more about National Bank Of Kansas City.

If you would like more information about a National Bank Of Kansas City loan, please call us at 1-800-375-8096.

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Congress recently created HOPE for Homeowners (H4H), a program to help those at risk of default and foreclosure refinance into more affordable, sustainable loans. This additional mortgage option, designed to keep borrowers in their homes, went into effect earlier this month.

 If you are one of the 400,000 homeowners that could have trouble making your mortgage payments over the next three years and want to avoid foreclosure through this program, give National Bank Of Kansas City a call today. We will try to help you by refinancing your loan into a new 30-year fixed rate loan with lower payments.

As an FHA approved lender in all 50 states, we are able to underwrite your new loan internally saving you the hassle and time of working with a lender who may not have underwriting capabilities.

Give us a call today at 1-866-931-0848 to talk to one of our National Mortgage Recovery specialists to find out how we can help.

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Why the two mortgage giants became wards of the federal government.

The U.S. Government took control of sister companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two massive public companies at the heart of the nation's mortgage system. Together, Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee more than half of the U.S. mortgage market - that's more than $5 trillion in loans.

Why did the government take control? In simple terms, banks loan money to home buyers. Many banks then sell those mortgages - assuming they meet certain credit standards - to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Banks then use the money they get from the sale of those mortgages to make new loans. Fannie and Freddie, meanwhile, bundle those loans, attach a payment guarantee to them, and resell them as bonds.

The system provided a continuous supply of relatively low-interest cash, allowing banks and mortgage companies to keep making affordable loans to home buyers.

But as home prices dropped, mortgage defaults soared, making it harder for Fannie and Freddie to raise money, thus raising mortgage rates.

So, in an emergency move in July, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the government stood ready to provide direct financial support to Fannie and Freddie, if needed. He said he hoped it wouldn't be needed.

But without an "explicit" guarantee from the U.S. government, the stock of both companies continued to drop, and major investors - including the central banks of Russia and China - started selling Fannie and Freddie bonds fast. That made it harder, and more expensive, for Fannie and Freddie to raise money.

The guarantee that investors wanted is now explicit. The U.S. government is now in the business of buying and reselling mortgages, and Paulson and his associates hope that sends the message that Fannie and Freddie are safe.

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Mortgage lenders favor loan applicants who show a steady, predictable pattern of handling their credit card accounts and other debts. When you suddenly close an account you break the pattern that you have established in the past several years, and your credit score likely will decline.

Closing the account now could also hurt your chances of getting a mortgage later because it would increase your debt-to-credit-limit ratio - a figure that represents the percentage of available credit that you have actually used. Lenders prefer borrowers with low debt ratios. Closing the account would automatically push your personal ratio higher even if you didn't put any new charges on the cards. Because of these factors, it would be better to close any credit card accounts that you are not using after you apply for the new mortgage - not before.

Much more can also be done to improve your credit score.

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SCRA also protects renters who are on active duty. It includes one provision that can stave off a landlord's eviction notice, and another that can allow a soldier to terminate an existing lease without penalty if he or she is called to war.

The SCRA rules are complex, and not every serviceman or servicewoman qualifies. For example, those who get a dishonorable discharge often are barred from seeking help under SCRA. And, for obvious reasons, the law doesn't protect soldiers or their spouses who lied about their income on their loan applications.

The personnel officer or the commanding officer of your spouses military unit should be able to provide more information about SCRA. The regional office of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which can be found under the "Federal Government" headings of your local White Pages, can supply information as well. In addition, visit the VA's website or the site operated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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With every new challenge, there is always a new opportunity. For the last decade, the consumer has been given a plethora of options when shopping for their home financing. In fact, if an option did not exist for a borrower or a group of borrowers, then a new option was invented. The theory was, "If Wall Street will buy it then it must be fine." Instead of qualifying for a particular product, banks and mortgage companies (backed by Wall Street), felt obligated to find or even invent a product for the consumer. In the end, it was the demise of the industry.

With every good collapse or failure, an opportunity pounces to the forefront. Rather than seeking a product that a customer needs to fit, how about this noble thought, "Let’s find a solution that best serves the customer." Maybe the solution is to rent for another year until the necessary down payment is accumulated. Maybe the solution is to buy a lesser house, build some equity and then trade up in 3 to 5 years. I would argue that today’s consumer needs to be treated like a client rather than a customer. A customer is always right. For the past decade, the lending industry told their customers that they were always right. A client is not always right. A client is told the hard truth. Sometimes you have to tell a client something that they do not want to hear. Sometimes a client goes somewhere else. However, they will be back when they realize that you had their best interest at heart.

Not only was the customer thinking in the short term over the past decade but the industry was thinking short-term as well. What is in the best interest for your client in the long term? The consumer needs to ask themselves what is in their best interest for the long term as well. If the industry and the consumer slow down long enough to ask themselves those two questions, then the industry and the housing market will rebound. Our work force is being challenged to look-out for the clients and advise them properly. Someone has to make the first move and National Bank Of Kansas City is willing to take that first step.

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Our country is in a real crisis right now. We are suffering from an over-built, over-leveraged, and "over-credited" industry. The housing market has carried the economy for the last several years. Home ownership has been at an all-time high. Builders, developers, bankers, mortgage companies, finance companies, etc. have all benefited from this surge in home ownership.

However, this "great run" has come at a price. In an effort to "feed the monster", the consumer was given more options than ever. The consumer that was maybe two or three years away from purchasing a house or the consumer that was maybe two or three years from purchasing their dream home was given an immediate opportunity. Suddenly, delaying gratification was a thing of the past. There are currently millions of consumers in a house that they simply can not afford and the house they currently are living in may be depreciating as they speak. Suddenly the dream home is a nightmare and the first time home buyer will soon be looking to rent an apartment again.

In an effort to undo this crisis, National Bank Of Kansas City has formed a division called, National Mortgage Recovery. The bank believes the consumer needs a loan that they should have received in the first place. We also, believe that the consumer should be educated and put back in the driver's seat. Our National Mortgage Recovery Team is currently working with current holders of mortgage notes in an effort to "work-out" a better solution for their borrowers. It is our hope that we can turn the nightmare back into a dream and to instill pride, not shame, back into home ownership.

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