Reply #15: I re-financed earlier this year. [View All]

[DURHAM D]

I didn't want cash out and the loan I was rolling was only 35% of the value of the property but I had to go through as unbelievable process. One thing that really struck me is that they did not care about assets. My loan officer (someone I had worked with for many years) told me that "assets don't matter". I commented that with all the boomers getting ready to retire and planning to buy a second home in Arizona or Florida if you don't want to see assets than none of them will qualify for any sort of loan and you are "helping" the home market bottom out. The lender told me Seniors will be required to pay cash for a second. That was a sobering thought.

Basically the lenders are only interested in young couples with two W-2s and a large down payment. Single people need not bother. Self-employed people can't get a loan. 1099s are not real. Money Market/Savings and Retirement accounts do not count.

I talked to a friend who works for another lender and he told me the reason that assets are being ignored is that the industry studied the defaults of the past few years and found that owners with assets walk away from a loan obligation that is going south sooner than those without assets. IOWs - they had more options and they took the hit. Therefore, lenders don't trust people who have cash on hand.