2. Four weeks ago I would have advised against writing an offer without a financing contingency, but at this point, I would advise agents that you can write offers again with no financing contingency as long as you are dealing with a strong mortgage broker or lender whom you trust. If there are any questions about value, you can order a “pre-appraisal”, which will cost your borrower about 50% of the normal appraisal fee upfront.

3. The lenders with the best rates are still somewhat backed-up (one, notoriously so), but 21 to 30 days Cues are once more possible.

2. The buzzword in underwriting is now FIFE (fully indexed, fully amortized). FIFE has taken away one of the huge advantages of interest-only loans, namely, the ability to qualify with the interest-only payment. Most lenders now require that we qualify borrowers at the fully indexed (current index plus margin) rate, using the fully amortized payment. A similar rule applies to Option Arms.

3. Guidelines on stated income loans are tougher. This has been a trend in the past few months. Lenders now use third party data, such as salary.com or monster.com to come up with typical salaries based on job titles. If the stated income does not fall within 10 or 15% of the salary range, there will be a problem. Also, the lenders want a phone number to verify that the business exists, and they often require that the phone number be listed in a directory, I.e., 411. A work phone number can’t be someone’s cell phone number.

I hope this helps you understand a few more pieces of the current lending environment. As mortgage brokers, we have lost some of our major, it’s true, but we are navigating our way through, and most of us are enjoying the challenge.

I will keep you informed as things continue to settle down.