About Who I Can Help: May 2006 Archives

If so, the odds are excellent I can put you into a better situation.



If your agent or loan officer took advantage of you by putting you into a Negative Amortization loan (also known as Option ARM, Pick a Pay, and many other pleasant sounding nicknames), and it's making you crazy, odds are good that I can put you into a thirty year fixed rate loan at a rate that is lower than the real rate on the Option ARM. Your minimum payment will be higher, but it'll be a real payment, cheaper than your current 30 year option, and your loan balance will stop increasing.



If you have a short term interest only option that's about to adjust and suddenly require higher payments than you can make, I can help there also. Chances are excellent that I can move you to a thirty year fixed rate loan at a lower rate than you are paying, and I also have a variety of interest only options, both on thirty year fixed rate loans and others.



If interest only isn't an idea that works for you but you can't quite make the payments on a thirty year loan, I also have forty and fifty year loans available. These have somewhat lower payments than a thirty year fixed rate loan, but you're still making progress on the loan and building equity.



If you have an ARM that has or will adjust to something you don't like, please call or email. I can do home loans for bad credit, low to no equity, and many other problems that people have in the real world.

So you know how I do business, I hereby promise all my clients:

I will always put your interests before my own, even if it means advising you that, were I in your situation, I would not buy, sell, or refinance. If I don't think I can make your situation better, I will tell you straight out.

I will never work both sides of the same transaction. I'm working for your best interest, and no one else's. Whether I am representing the buyer or the seller, I represent them only, and will refer the other side of the transaction to another agent. I do not engage in dual agency.

I will never quote you anything but the full costs and correct rate for a loan I have reason to believe I can really deliver. I will guarantee in writing the cost and terms of my quotes, contingent upon underwriting approval. No low balls, no pretending costs don't exist or aren't my responsibility to tell you about. If you would rather, you may choose the terms of the Upfront Mortgage Broker's guarantee instead of my own. Only an underwriter can approve a loan, but that's no excuse for pretending I can deliver something I know I can't.

I will always tell you the complete truth as I understand it. I may be wrong, but I will not lie or obscure the truth.

If I see something that may be a problem with a property as a buyer's agent, I will bring it to your attention immediately, not bury the matter in the fine print of disclosures. I can always find you another property. Once breached, nobody can recover trust or credibility.

If I think I see a better way to do something, or a way to put you into in a better situation, I will advise you of it, but the final decision must be the yours, and I promise to respect that.

I never lose sight of the fact that once you're in the property, you are going to have to actually make those payments, and I want to make certain that you can. I will remain within your budget for buying a property. I will not show you properties which cannot realistically be obtained within your stated budget on a stable and sustainable loan for which I believe you will qualify.

I will work under non-exclusive agency agreements to the extent possible. I will not ask for an exclusive buyer's agent agreement unless I am giving you something that costs significant money otherwise. Exclusive buyer's agent agreements do not benefit the client, they benefit the agent by locking up your business for a given amount of time no matter what the agent does or doesn't do. Non-exclusive agent agreements are better for clients. They motivate the agent to work, because if someone else fulfills that buyer's needs that someone else gets paid and the agent gets nothing.

I will keep my list of active clients short enough that I can handle all the work myself. I owe you my personal attention, not a clueless unlicensed assistant who was working fast food two weeks ago. Where I do involve assistants, they will be behind the scenes. You get my personal best efforts on your behalf.

Dan Melson, Realtor and Loan Officer

danmelson@danmelson.com (no vendors)
619-300-7425 (no vendors)

Welcome to Dan Melson's San Diego Real Estate and Mortgage Tips Website. I've been running Searchlight Crusade for about a year, and it's up to getting an average of over 2000 visits per day due to the fact that I tell the truth as I see it about the markets and everything else. This site will have the same real estate and mortgage articles, but with a local San Diego bent.



I am a very experienced loan officer and somewhat new real estate agent. It's the same license, but the skills and knowledge involved are very different. Most real estate agents who do loans just started because they could make more money off the same number of clients. I spent time with an internet loan house and did more loans than most loan officers do in twenty years in the space of two before I started learning real estate. I also have a background in the financial services industry. I know what works and what doesn't, and why.



I am not going to try to bring anyone up to a professional level of knowledge in either real estate or loans. What I am going to try to do is educate you in the mindset and what you need to know to protect yourself from the less than ethical operators out there. I am also going to have some articles of strictly local nature.



There should be a link to the MLS service off my office's website before too long; the website is currently being redone. I'm putting it up for the folks who will want that sort of thing, but the main attraction of this website will be straight talk about San Diego real estate and mortgage loans. Since I started writing about my knowledge, I've often been asked why more loan officers and agents don't have the same sort of information on their site. The answer to this is twofold. First, many of them don't know this stuff. They got into this business "shake and bake" style because they were told it was an easy way to make money, and they really don't understand what is going on, particularly not the economic factors. Second, for those who do know, if they told you the unvarnished truth it might make it harder for them to make money off of you. I'm not afraid of that. I'd rather tell you straight off if I believe it is not in your best interests to buy, sell, or refinance at this time. I believe you'll respect me for it, and quite likely send me your friends, family, and anyone else you know who would like an honest answer to the situation. Furthermore, I believe you'll likely come back to me yourself when it is a good time. Finally, for those who could do well to buy, sell, or refinance, the fact that I'm willing to give a straight "I don't think it's in your best interest" makes my recommendation carry a lot more weight when it is in favor of doing something.



Over the next couple of days, I'll have a market outlook article publish, as well as my promise to all my clients and a piece on where I believe there are significant opportunities remaining. Then roughly one hundred already written consumer knowledge essays, at a rate of one per day. I will be writing more. Strategies to protect yourself, what folks in the business really mean when they say something, how to come out as well as possible. Perhaps even a bit of humor. They are written for the generally intelligent layperson, and they pull no punches. Most of them can be read in a break at work.



As I said, my background is very strong on the loan side. I also act as an agent. I specialize more in working with potential buyers than with sellers, but I am set up for both. If you have a property you wish to sell, you could do a lot worse than bringing it to me. I'll ask you what your needs and wants are and do an honest analysis of your situation before I start making recommendations, and the recommendations I make are always tailored to your individual situation. If you're wanting to buy, even better, because I know better than almost anyone else what kinds of loans can and cannot be done, and I'll stick to showing you properties within your budget. Buyer or seller, I'm always working to get you the best possible price, and I never work both the buyer's side and seller's side of the same transaction. That way I'm always doing my best for whomever I'm representing. When I find a buyer for a property I listed, I'll refer them over to another agent. My loyalties are never split.



I do my loans, both purchase money and refinance, on a much tighter margin than almost anyone out there, and I guarantee my quotes. This means that not only am I going to give you a cheaper tradeoff on the rate and cost of the loan, but that what I tell you at the start is going to be what you end up with. I'll tell you about a loan I can deliver, not a teaser quote just to get you to sign up. You won't suddenly be paying $150 per month more than I said, or have $12,000 added to your loan above my quote. When I guarantee a quote, I'll pay the difference, not you (there are some limitations that I'll be happy to explain). I also further discount my rates if I'm acting as your agent on the purchase. It means nobody is really going to beat my rates on a purchase, and it saves both of us a lot of aggravation. I work with over eighty lenders, and most of them give me better rates than they give their own loan officers, because they don't have to pay me when I'm not doing loans. This also means I can really find the loan program that best fits your needs.



Dan Melson