Category Archives: Mortgage Loans

Kansas City Mortgage Lending, Kansas City Home Loans, Kansas City Mortgage Loans

Five Star client satisfaction award puts Jason Brown in select group of Kansas City metro area agents

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The Jason Brown Group

For the 11th time, The Jason Brown Group has won the Five Star client satisfaction award from Five Star Professional. The award is a testament to the service my group provides our clients and the follow through that helps our home sellers and home buyers achieve their real estate goals. The award is especially meaningful this year as I’m one of just 34 real estate agents in the Kansas City metro area – out of several thousand agents – to have won the award 11+ times.  The Jason Brown Group goes the extra mile to ensure our clients are well represented and we have five star reviews everywhere online, including on The Jason Brown Group’s Facebook page. If any of your friends, family or neighbors mention making a move, I hope you’ll recommend they give me a call. My group is never too busy to help you or anyone referred our way!

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New Mortgage Loan Comes with No Lender Fees, Great Interest Rates and a $1,000 closing credit on most loans

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The Jason Brown Group

The important first step with most home buying processes is getting pre-approved with a mortgage lender. Buyers should definitely put some thought into who they choose as their lender because making a poor choice could lead to several costly outcomes. Some lenders have overly restrictive lending guidelines, some have high interest rates, some have high loan closing costs and all loan officers are simply not created equal. Blindly choosing a mortgage lender could lead to being on the short end of the stick on all these fronts.

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The Jason Brown Group knows the best lenders and loan officers serving our area and we’re up on the latest mortgage loan programs being offered to home buyers. One of the latest loans is an online loan option that comes without the lender fees typically associated with most mortgage loans. It includes no loan origination fee, no underwriting fee, no processing fee and there aren’t any additional crazy hurdles to jump through to qualify… There’s not a local loan officer to meet with but the loan otherwise includes a typical mortgage pre-approval process and works for Conventional loans, FHA loans and VA loans.

If your mortgage loan amount is greater than $150,000, as an added bonus you can get an ADDITIONAL $1,000 credit at closing, to be used to cover your third party fees such as your appraisal fee, credit report fee, etc. The lender is licensed in Kansas but unfortunately is not licensed in Missouri. If your #1 goal when getting pre-approved to buy a home is saving money, this loan is worth checking out. The loan is being offered exclusively to buyers working with a Keller Williams real estate agent and it’s a legit loan program or I wouldn’t be promoting it! Access to the lender portal for getting pre-approved, or just to get more about the loan details, can be obtained by downloading my real estate app…

Download my app here >> http://app.kw.com/KW2D8YIL. Then in the drop down menu click on the KELLER MORTGAGE SAVE THOUSANDS button (or SKIP FEES button on some mobile devices) for all the details or to start the loan pre-approval process… It’s FREE to check out, it’s a typical process to get pre-approved and there’s no commitment should you choose not to use the loan program.

The Jason Brown Group has been involved in the sale of 1,000+ metro area homes, all our agents are experienced agents and our Keller Williams office is the #1 producing office of any brokerage in the metro area…. We look forward to helping you with every step of the home buying process!

Contact The Jason Brown Group

* Certain officers, directors and owners of Keller Williams Realty Inc have ownership interests in Keller Mortgage. You are NOT required to use Keller Mortgage. Keller Mortgage is a mortgage option exclusive to Keller Williams transactoins and is available to home buyers working with The Jason Brown Group in the Kansas City metro area including Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, Leawood, Shawnee, Prairie Village, Gardner, Spring Hill, Merriam, DeSoto, Mission, Roeland Park and surrounding areas. Read our Affiliated Business Arrangement Dislcosure.

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Lenexa Kansas real estate update for January 2018: Details on the Seller’s market & Homes for sale in Lenexa

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The Jason Brown Group

Lenexa KS Real Estate Update

There were 19 homes sold (closed) in Lenexa Kansas the past 15 days. Comparing this sales rate to the current 142 homes for sale in Lenexa, the city has 3.7 months of inventory on the market. This volume of real estate inventory indicates a seller’s real estate market in Lenexa. The average new listing the past 15 days in Lenexa Kansas came on the market around a $352,000 list price and the average sales price during the same time period was around $285,000.

Type # Average $ Avg DOM
Listings Past 15 Days 14 $351,697 —
Total Active Listings 142 — —
Newest Contracts Written 20 $337,368 146
Sold (closed) Past 15 Days 19 $284,839 64

* The Average $ of Newest Contracts Written considers the list price when the homes went under contract. Data pulled from Heartland MLS and deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Low samplings in a category can skew results. Stats cover approximately 15 days from post date. DOM = Days On Market.

The last 19 homes sold in Lenexa Kansas were on the market an average of 64 days, while the last 20 homes to go under contract took much longer at 146 days on average. We look forward to helping you assess the effect these market stats have on your your real estate investment and the decisions you make when buying or selling a Lenexa Kansas home.

The Jason Brown Group gives Lenexa home sellers powerful representation and we get the majority of our homes sold in 21 days and for around 99% of list price. We represent Lenexa home buyer’s best interests throughout the home buying process and help with locating all area homes for sale that fit our buyer’s needs. Get an overview of how we will assist you in selling a Lenexa Kansas home or buying a Lenexa Kansas home and contact us for personal real estate assistance.

Lenexa Real Estate Information

View All Lenexa Homes For Sale

Additional Real Estate Market Stats

Lenexa Listing Agents

Lenexa Buyer’s Agents

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Happy New Year… And May All Your New Year’s Resolutions Come True!

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The Jason Brown Group

Happy New Year from The Jason Brown Group!

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View all Kansas City area homes for sale!

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My Short List Of Best Mortgage Lenders In The Kansas City and Johnson County Kansas Area

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The Jason Brown Group

The important first step in buying a home is getting Pre-approved with a mortgage lender. This involves contacting a lender, having them run your credit, going over details such as your income and employment history, and ultimately receiving a Pre-Approval Letter showing how much home you can afford. Choosing a lender is a very important decision that has both short term and long term consequences, so it’s not recommended to simply choose the first lender you come across. There are some critical questions that need asked about the lender and, more specifically, about the loan officer you’re considering using… Does the loan officer get 99% of their loans closed on time? Does the loan officer offer competitive mortgage interest rates? Are the fees charged by the loan officer/lender competitive with other lenders?

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Getting a solid mortgage interest rate is critical and will affect your mortgage payments for years to come. Interest rates also don’t just vary from one lender to another, they can vary from one loan officer to another. Many banks give their loan officers THE interest rate for the day and that’s it… Take it or leave it or check back tomorrow. Some mortgage brokers (with ability to lend funds from multiple sources) allow their loan officers to choose their compensation model, which directly affects the interest rate the loan officers offer borrowers. Yes it’s true, one loan officer could offer you a lower interest rate than the loan officer sitting in the next cubicle.  It’s simply worth checking with more than one loan officer/lender to be sure you’re in good hands.

If you’re in the market to buy a home, I have a great list of mortgage lenders that has been formed over my 20 years in the real estate industry. It’s critical to my buyers and my success that a loan officer gets the job done and lenders can and do move up and down my list over time. A few of the requirements to get on my list include being recommended from someone I know personally, having a minimum 3 years of mortgage lending experience, offering competitive interest rates, charging reasonable loan fees and the loan officer’s office being located within the metro area. From there performance is critical to be high on my list.

If you’d like my current list of top 5 mortgage lenders/loan officers, click the link below for several ways to contact me…

Request My List of Mortgage Lenders

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Hot Kansas City Real Estate Market Continues through 2nd Quarter of 2016

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The Jason Brown Group

During the 2nd quarter of 2016, the volume of home sales has continued to rise and home sales prices have followed. As it has for around a year now, the supply of homes for sale is failing to meet the buyer demand for homes. Not only has supply not started to correct itself, the volume of inventory has continues to go down while the demand for homes has remained on the rise.

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Kansas City area home sellers continue to obtain a very high percentage of their asking price with most obtaining 98% to 100%+ of asking price. Closings in the metro area rose 4.9% in the 2nd quarter with 11,605 home sales this year compared to 11,065 2nd quarter of last year. There were 8,582 homes for sale during the 2nd quarter this year and that’s a huge drop from the 11,894 homes for sale at this time last year… And compared to 4 years, listings are down an incredible 40%!

Overall in the Kansas City metro area, there’s 2.8 months of inventory on the market. That volume of inventory indicates a Seller’s real estate market. At this time last year there was 4.2 months available and while that’s still a seller’s market, it’s a much stronger seller’s market right now. And 3 years ago there was 5.7 months of inventory and that amount of inventory represented a balanced real estate market. Essentially we have about HALF the number of homes available for home buyers as we did a few years ago. This is a major reason home sellers have obtained an average sales price of $186,000 metro wide, which is $10,000 higher than 2nd quarter a year ago.

The current hot summer real estate market looks very much like it will continue right into the fall, and possibly all the way through it. But there’s also a lot going in the world that could change things… And interest rates are sure to rise at some point. The election year has historically played a role in the direction of the real estate market and nobody knows for sure just how that’s going to turn out. For now, we remain in a very fast paced market. If you’re thinking about making a move, give me a call to discuss the effects our current market have on your home buying and home selling decisions.

 

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Johnson County KS Short Sale Sellers Can Start Repairing Their Credit Score As Soon As The Short Sale Is Completed

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The Jason Brown Group

We’ve helped a lot of Johnson County Kansas homeowners with selling their homes in a Short Sale. A question we often get asked at the end of the process is, how long will it take before they can buy a home again? It had been two years in many cases, including FHA and VA loans, but recently FHA pushed the wait to 3 years. Guidelines are constantly changing and with so many mortgage options today, potential home buyers can call us and we’ll let you know what we’re seeing today’s market. We’re connected to many of the best mortgage lenders in the business and can quickly assess your financial situation and ability to buy a home. 

TmpThe biggest factor in being able to buy a home ASAP is to start improving your credit score as soon as the Short Sale has been completed. The #1 way to do this is to start paying all of your bills on time going forward. Your payment history makes up 35% of your Credit Score and you’ll need to show creditors that you are willing and able to pay all of your monthly bills on time. Until you can pay all of your credit card bills, department store credit bills and any/all other installment loans on time, you will continue to fight a battle with your credit score.

Credit scores range from 300 to 850 range and you’ll want to work to get your credit score up into the 700’s for creditors to start viewing you as a low credit risk. The lower your credit risk, the more willing a lender will be to give you a loan and the better the terms will be (i.e. lower interest rates). As for the rest of puzzle that makes up your credit score, 30% is how much debt you currently owe compared against the maximum amount of debt you could possibly have based on your current credit limits. This considers factors such as how much you owe on a credit card compared to the credit cards max limit, how much you currently owe on your mortgage compared to your beginning balance, etc.

The length of your credit history accounts for 15% of your credit score and considers how long you’ve had a credit card, how long you’ve had a mortgage, etc. If you heard of a great new credit card that you can’t pass up, you still will want to think twice about closing out your old credit card, because old credit is generally the best credit as far as credit scores go.  Accounting for 10% of your credit score is your credit mix, which looks at the different types of credit you use. Also, rather than getting two new credit cards at the same time, avoid a big shakeup of your credit by getting one new card, show a history of making payments on that card on time, and then add the second credit card. The last portion is how much new credit you have and this accounts for 10% of your credit score. Too much new combined credit, such as new mortgage loans, new credit cards, new car loans, new installment loans, etc. over a short a period of time will harm your credit score, temporarily at least.

 

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Great Opportunities Exist For First Time Home Buyers In Johnson County Kansas

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The Jason Brown Group

Johnson County Kansas home prices have been on the rise for several years and that trend has continued into 2016. Rising home prices and the stability of the local real estate market in recent years make the Johnson County real estate market a great option for renters looking to make the jump over to home ownership. Owning a home provides the opportunity for equity building as home values rise and when you consider the huge added benefit of the mortgage interest tax deduction that homeowners enjoy, there’s no time like the present to buy a home. 

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Studies have shown that owning a home is 20-40% cheaper than renting. While renting is a fine short term situation in some cases, when it comes to a long term housing solution, renting is a financial sink hole with few benefits. Renters are basically paying their landlords mortgage while helping them build equity. Today’s low interest rates make it easier than ever to get into a home with a very affordable mortgage payment and take control of your own investment. Mortgage interest rates have risen slightly in recent months and while they’re expected to trend up in 2016, they are still at historical lows.

Now is a great time to get off the fence and get into one of today’s low interest rate mortgage loans — such as locking into a 30 year fixed mortgage with no rising payments — and start enjoying the benefits of home ownership. The Jason Brown Group can help you get with a great local lender to get pre-approved and start the home buying process. It’s easy to find out your ability to purchase a home, determine how much home you can afford and start the home search… Contact us today to discuss your options!

View Homes For Sale In Kansas City, Johnson County KS & The Surrounding Area

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Potential Deal Killers To Avoid Prior To Closing On Your Johnson County KS Home

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The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

So you’ve taken the big leap, gotten Pre-approved to buy a home, located the perfect home, made an offer and have now gone under contract… You’ve heard that all that’s left to worry about is the home inspections, right? While these are several of the most critical aspects of the real estate transaction, there’s another aspect which often gets overlooked by home buyers. And that aspect is making any changes to your credit report after the time you got pre-approved and prior to closing on your home.

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When many home buyers here this, they think as long as they stay current on their current payments that they’ll be in good shape. While those are very important, it’s more complicated than that and because the home buyer also needs to know they shouldn’t buy any new items that require using credit. Doing so will very likely alter your credit score, even if all payments are made on time. So buying a car after you go under contract is a terrible idea and home buyers should always wait to make any additional purchase until their real estate transaction has closed.

Just last month one of my buyer’s agents had a buyer go and purchase a refrigerator after going under contract. It had such an affect on the buyer’s credit that the automated underwriting system determined the buyer no longer qualified for the loan and that stopped the real estate closing. Fortunately for everyone, the lender was able to rerun the credit a couple of weeks later and the buyer’s credit was back in line enough to allow the closing to take place. Fortunately the seller was patient enough to extend the close date or it could have turned out even worse for everyone. 

So be sure to hold off buying the new car, boat, appliances, jewelry, furniture, etc until you have closed on your home. You should also avoid opening any new credit card accounts or doing anything else that would result in a change to your credit report. A couple of other things to avoid doing after you get pre-approved and before closing… Don’t switch bank accounts during this time and avoid making any unusual (ie. large cash) deposits into your bank account. 


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Getting Pre-Approved To Buy A Home In Johnson County Kansas

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The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

When buying a home in Kansas City, Johnson County KS, Overland Park or the surrounding area, the first thing you’ll need to do is get pre-approved with a local mortgage lender. The first mortgage loan question that I hear most buyers ask is, what are today’s interest rates?  While a very good question, there’s many other factors you will want to consider when choosing your mortgage lender. 

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Before you have a lender run your credit report (so they can determine what your interest would be), ask the lender what the loan closing costs will be. While closing costs for any lender should included similar appraisal fees, escrow amounts, etc, the lender is in business to make money and some of the fees they charge are likely specific to the financial institution. This means they can vary from one lender to another, so be sure to ask for a breakdown of the closing costs so you can see how much the lender is charging you to make the loan. 

Lender fees to look for could be labeled as loan origination fees, application fees, processing fees, underwriting fees, etc. Whatever it’s being called, the total amounts of such fees should be a reasonable amount. The best way to determine that you’re paying a fair rate is to start by getting a lender referral from a real estate agent like myself or from a trusted family member or friend. Another smart way to ensure you’re getting a fair shake is to shop more than one lender.

Prepare a few questions to ask your lender, such as… How long can you lock in the current interest rate? Do you qualify for an FHA and/or conventional loan? Will the lender help you get a lower interest rate later, if rates should drop in the mean time? How long is the lender’s turn-around time to complete the loan. We’ve seen some lenders requiring 40 days for closing because their underwriter’s are overwhelmed. If that’s the case, you’re better off going to a different lender because timeliness is critical in a real estate transaction. 


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