Kerri Finch Mortgage

01/12/2025

Info for people who have recently lost their homes. This info comes from posts by people I respect in the real estate industry and my own advice as a lender.

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I’ve been asked more than a couple of times now by friends of people who were affected with the fires and lost their home what they do with their house payments. Unfortunately, the payments still need to be made until a forbearance can be put in place. Make sure you are talking to your Bank or lender immediately to have something set up with your mortgage payments otherwise it will absolutely affect your credit. You also have to ask your lender to not report the missed payments to the credit bureaus. It’s a vicious cycle that is going to have negative effects in more ways than one.

Credit - Kathryn McGovern Tapie thank your for this info.

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The last appraisal done on a home lost can be very beneficial when working with insurance.

Many people purchased and/or refinanced their homes in the past 5 years. This document will help evidence some structure details (appraisers provide a lot of valuable info) and valuables in the home (photos).

Since the homeowner will be working with their lender and it is in the lenders best interest to help the homeowner, ask for a copy of the appraisal to be sent during first conversation with lender. Their loan servicing company/lender has ability access. Might take a moment to pull from archives. Very little of the rebuilding from loss moves quickly. Prayers for strength and patience to all affected by the beast 🔥.

Credit- Me (Kerri Finch)

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From an industry contact to anyone impacted by a disaster to their property:

I am thinking of my friends who have lost their homes, and others that I don't know who have as well, and thought I would offer the following advice to those that have from my experience losing my home to fire. Feel free to share with anyone you know that has lost their home.

1. Public adjusters will swarm you immediately, don't fall into their trap. They take a percentage of every dollar that you are owed, which will ultimately detract from the funds you have to rebuild your home and replace the contents you lost in your home.

2. Insurance companies, no matter which one you have, will have what seem like unreasonable demands to rebuild your home and replace the contents of your home. However unreasonable they are, do your best to comply, and make friends with your adjuster as best as you can. They are your advocate to get as much funding from your insurance company as possible.

3. This will be a long process to rebuild your home, and the architects and engineers that you need to produce the plans needed to gain approval to rebuild will likely be very busy with the volume of work. I suggest reaching out and finding an architect as soon as possible to start drawing up your plans. They will all be very busy, and many will likely stop taking on new work as they won't have the capacity. The key to the whole process of getting back into your home is getting plans drawn up, submitted to the City and the HOA and approved to start construction.

4. The initial estimate the insurance company will give you to rebuild your home will be low. The cost my insurance company initially gave me was half of what the ultimate cost to rebuild was. Don't get caught up in this at the start. It is a process. Select a contractor that is familiar with rebuilding after a fire, and working through the insurance company. THIS IS KEY! If the contractor is not familiar with the demands of the insurance companies, you will likely miss out on tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, and unnecessary delays due to their lack of experience on such jobs. Pick a contractor that has dealt with insurance losses before, and knows their ways and nuances. The amount the insurance company paid me out ended up being double their original estimate, and I did nothing to get there, my contractor did it all.

5. I was fortunate that having worked in the homebuilding field for decades that I was familiar with the process. If you are not familiar with the process, consider engaging someone who can help you with the architect selection, plan completion, City and HOA approval, and the construction process.

6. You will have to fight (nicely) with your insurance company to get as much money out of them as possible. You can't take their initial response as the final answer. It is a negotiation. You have to keep arguing with them to justify why you deserve what you are asking for.

7. Unfortunately, I would plan to not be back in your home for two years. I was out for 18 months, but my house was one house that burned down in a fairly efficient City to work in. The City of LA is tough, and plan reviews and inspections will take a long time, especially with the volume of work they will be burdened with.

Credit - Holly Manning’s post from a business contact she respects.

09/19/2024

Market is getting ready to adjust as the rates adjust. Time to check in with people on this page.

Curious…how buyers agents and sellers agents are navigating their way (legally of course) through uncharted waters (see below comments).

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Real Estate community, are we seeing more confusion from the recent loosely titled “DOJ vs NAR” ruing than the rapid changes during Covid, The California Purchase contract changes, Dodd Frank (lending), or even TRID (lending again, hey, it’s my lane and I stick to it 😁) went into effect? Is it just me? This time it only effects me if borrowers funds to close becomes impacted. Simply following along your journey and must say it’s a wild one this time. A bit impressed and saddened by all the ways people who are simply doing their fiduciary duty to help people find their home (largest purchase most people make) are having to find out how they are going to get paid.

Just wanted to give all of you a shout out and let you know I know and remember, “The struggle of change is real. - Hope you remember the true constant in Real Eatate is change. - One of the best feelings is sharing monumental moments in a First Time Home Buyers moments. Especially the final moments of closing and seeing their joy. - Receiving a random thank you from a previous client celebrating their monumental moment/holiday in the home you helped them buy. - One day is challenging and the next day a client is in tears of gratitude.”

Hang in there. Ya’ll showed a world that was once shut down with no warning nor instructions how to keep going and that nothing can stop a determined Realtor (am I still allowed to say that, it’s just a lot to keep up with 😱) buyer/seller and their real estate team from selling, buying, and after purchase capitalizing on lower rates to better the home owners asset. We kicked booties during the Pandemic.

Just some thoughts flowing tonight. Thank you for reading. YOU GOT THIS‼️ Let me know if I can help your journey. 🤗😁

- Kerri

07/22/2022

Decided to start using this forum as a place to share knowledge.

Today was busy with clients and friends who are worried about selling property or buying property in the current influx of news about the Real Estate Market.

Here is my continual take away from 30+ years of riding the mortgage/real estate market: Buy when you can afford the monthly payment on a home you want to purchase. Sell a home when you will net what you want to gain from the sale.

People keep looking at a home purchase like they do day trading in stocks. Real estate is a long term investment. Purchasing a home today locks in your monthly housing payment. Rents in CA went up 8% last year and are expected to rise another 10% this year. I find the 10% hard to swallow since legislation that went through only allowed about 8.9%. Even with conservative math that is 16%.

Please continue to reach out. I’m here to give an honest answer. Never here to give advice that will benefit anyone other than you the consumer.

Closing loans is how I earn an income. Have never closed a loan that didn’t benefit the consumer. Your needs and wants come first.

04/02/2022

What in the world is going on in the housing market? The attached video is from Thursday March 31. If you go to the 26-minute mark it gives some insight into the rate market, the housing shortage, and risk vs. reward.

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to answer.

KERRI FINCH
Senior Mortgage Loan Officer
NMLS # 1446653
CalDRE # 01177288
J&J Coastal Lending
NMLS #1318646

Long Beach Broker Preview Zoom Meeting 3.31.2022 with Kerri Finch

07/17/2021

Great news‼️

Example of why this is good news:
Have a refinance I priced earlier this week and decided not to lock the rate. Heard the .5 hit to rates was going away and knew it would benefit the client if we waited. Repriced the loan today and happy to say the rate and cost was much better. We locked the loan for 45 days instead of 30 days so the client can have her vacation next week, not be pressed for time, and it is saving her an additional $75 more than we originally discussed in monthly payments. Win-win‼️

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/fhfa-to-kill-the-adverse-market-fee/?fbclid=IwAR3RfPFr6oaFjxAz8Y-MSVsXfZSdIPZ8UW9X1C9HyVKxJXOcP6xSqrkDifw

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is officially axing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s controversial adverse market refinance fee.

06/09/2020

Clients are our why! We love helping people live their dream of homeownership.

Please let me know if you have home buying or refinancing questions. Rates are insanely low!! I say this because I have more than 30 years in this industry and am amazed by the products we offer.

Just locked a loan today for a client who is putting 3% down. Yes, 3%. Within a month my clients who have been on the front lines working the COVID pandemic will have a new home to go to at the end of long days in the medical field.

Love what I do and am happy to help!!

https://www.facebook.com/JandJCoastal/videos/2137429819810435/?vh=e

05/03/2020

This is not a political rant. I don’t do that. This is factual!!

Things are a bit crazy right now in the world we live in. Mortgages are no different.

In my 30+ years as a mortgage lending professional we have overcome the Saving and Loan Crisis and defense budget cuts that drove California to it’s financial knees in the early and mid 1990’s. Then came 1998 when Wall Street halted buying HELOCs. We all know what happened 2007-2011.

In 2008 I tried to reach out to my local Senator (Senate Majority Leader at the time) as TARP was being introduced and was given a complete run around three times. It was heartbreaking because I was an underwriter and understand risk. At the time I was helping friends and family negotiate their loan mods. I had first hand knowledge of both sides. All fell on deaf ears.

Now we are faced with COVID-19. It is crazy. Our government is again stepping in and making decisions in an industry they do not have first hand knowledge of.

When mortgage professionals could be helping qualified borrowers during an economic crisis the powers that be are tying our hands. Loans are still closing and business is still being done. It’s just a lot tougher these days and takes outside the box thinking.

Here’s a brief explanation of what is going on.

Have a friend who has agreed to take a 25% pay cut to keep their job. We as mortgage professionals could help by lowering their monthly out go through a refinance to a lower rate and possible debt consolidation. They would get to skip one-two months mortgage payments with this option and not go into forbearance. They qualify for a refinance. The powers that be would rather them put the loan into forbearance.

My concern as a professional are what happens when COVID comes back in the fall? The people who go into forbearance now will probably not qualify for another.

It is a last resort for me to ever suggest people tap into the future (401k / IRA / Pension Funds). I’ve heard the government is allowing people to do this without penalty. Why are we not suggesting this right now to help them make mortgage payments? That is an easier solution to overcome/repay than forbearance.

IF you are agreeing to a forbearance program have you looked at the EXIT STRATEGY to get out of the program? Do you understand what you are signing up for? Are you prepared to pay it back? Can you pay it back?

These are the questions you should be asking yourself before you go into this program.

I don’t want to see anyone set themselves up for failure and loose not only their home, their credit, their dreams and so much more.

Talk to me if you need clarity. My consultations are free and filled with many years of working in this industry as an insider and advocate.

Thank you for reading and realizing you have options.

Cheers to staying healthy, happy, and in your home‼️

03/28/2020

Mortgage lending is changing as fast as COVID-19 is spreading. All we as lending professionals can do do is stay on top of the changes and keep our clients informed. LOANS ARE STILL CLOSING (FUNDING). It’s simply a matter of continually tracking which loans can close and which ones need to be put on hold. Once the all clear is given to resume everyday life the housing industry will no doubt blow up. We have to stay strong and focus on what we CAN DO.

Many of the changes are temporary as will be the Pandemic sweeping the world.

Reading articles like this, watching current videos from industry leaders, speaking with Account Executives representing the various Investors we work with, and much more is how I’m spending a lot of my isolation time.

Please be patient with Realtors, Lenders, and people in general. These are unprecedented times we are all going through and a little patience and compassion can go a long way.

Feel free to reach out if you have questions.

Safe and healthy wishes going out to all!!

It looks like borrowers who don’t fit neatly into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s lending criteria could soon be running out of options if they want to buy a house. Over the last week, many (if not all) of the biggest lenders specializing in lending to borrowers outside the QM lending box paused th...

03/10/2020

This doesn’t surprise me. The end of last year I started saying the stock market was going up to fast, “It’s doing what housing did in 2004-2006.” When things go up to fast they are likely to fall fast.

The good news...rates are insanely low. Yay!!

If you have been on the fence about whether to refinance or purchase let’s chat and see if now is the time.