Mobile header

Apply Now

  • Home
  • About
    • Locations
      • Mortgage Rates
      • Mortgage Lender
      • First Time Home Buyers
      • Living in San Diego
    • Blog
    • Contact
      • Apply Now
  • Loan Options
    • FHA Loan
    • VA Loan
    • Reverse Mortgage
    • Conventional
    • Loan Purpose
    • Resouces
      • Today’s Rates
      • Interest Rates & Their Meaning
      • How to Refinance
      • Mortgage Calculator
      • Home Loan Basics
  • Refinance
  • Purchase
    • Get Pre-Qualified
  • Testimonials
    • Media
  • Contact
    • Apply Now
    • Secure File Upload
 
 

San Diego Mortgage Broker 619-857-7191 | Mortgage Lender 92108

Helping San Diego Actualize Financial Freedom

  • About
    • Locations
      • Mortgage Rates
      • Mortgage Broker
      • First Time Home Buyers
      • Living in San Diego
    • Blog

      • Why Credit Karma Scores Differ From FICO Scores
      • 5 Reasons to Move to Clairemont, San Diego
      • 5 Reasons to Move to Mission Valley, San Diego
      • Costa Verde Strip Mall Revitalization Project Approved
      • How to Get a Home Loan: Guide for First-Time Home Buyers
    • Contact
      • Apply Now
  • Loan Options
    • Loan Options
      • FHA Loans
      • VA Loan
      • Reverse Mortgage
      • Conventional
      • Loan Purpose
    • Resources
      • Today’s Rates
      • Interest Rates & Their Meaning
      • How to Refinance
      • Mortgage Calculator
      • Home Loan Basics
  • Purchase
    • Get Pre-Qualified
  • Refinance
  • Testimonials
    • Media
  • Contact
    • Apply Now
    • Secure File Upload

Set up your consultation now!

(619) 857-7191

Apply Now
  • About
    • Locations
      • Mortgage Rates
      • Mortgage Broker
      • First Time Home Buyers
      • Living in San Diego
    • Blog

      • Why Credit Karma Scores Differ From FICO Scores
      • 5 Reasons to Move to Clairemont, San Diego
      • 5 Reasons to Move to Mission Valley, San Diego
      • Costa Verde Strip Mall Revitalization Project Approved
      • How to Get a Home Loan: Guide for First-Time Home Buyers
    • Contact
      • Apply Now
  • Loan Options
    • Loan Options
      • FHA Loans
      • VA Loan
      • Reverse Mortgage
      • Conventional
      • Loan Purpose
    • Resources
      • Today’s Rates
      • Interest Rates & Their Meaning
      • How to Refinance
      • Mortgage Calculator
      • Home Loan Basics
  • Purchase
    • Get Pre-Qualified
  • Refinance
  • Testimonials
    • Media
  • Contact
    • Apply Now
    • Secure File Upload
You are here: Home / First Time Buyers / Lunch N Learn Radio Interview

Lunch N Learn Radio Interview

April 27, 2016 by Maureen Martin

 

Eran Sinai: Happy Wednesday everyone! Eran Sinai here; Consumer Guardian Law, Lunch N Learn Radio. You can listen to us. You should be listening to us, especially today. ESPN 1700 a.m. or watch us live, and you do wanna watch us today. I’m telling you, lunchNlearnradio.com. I have here two great people, good old friend, I mean she is younger mold but she is good young friend and she is Maureen Martin. And Maureen is a mortgage originator with HomePlus Mortgage. Hi Maureen!

Maureen: Hi Eran!

Eran: Good to have you back.

Maureen: Thank you.

Eran: And Maureen introduced me to a nice, great lady, her name is Jamie Kurtz and Jamie is the realtor with Team Aguilar Real Estate. Welcome Jamie!

Jamie: Hi, thank you for having me.

Eran: Thanks, I mean, before the show I heard you guys laughter and everything and I’m like, “Oh my God, this is gonna be a great show today.”

Maureen: Two peas in a pod here, right?

Jamie: It’s gonna be a kettle show.

Eran: Just thinking about that makes me think that it’s gonna be like, [recording –whohoohoohoohoo. [Laughter]

Maureen: Probably, that’s probably close!

Eran: So, we have so much to talk about and you know what I actually wanna start today with, it’s not really related to you because you ladies are always gonna be young.

Maureen: That’s right.

Jamie: That’s right.

Eran: But…and always look young but here is the thing, this guy is often called the next Thomas Edison, okay, his name is Raymond Ray Kurzweil. He was born in 1948 but what he is, he is the principal inventor of the first charge-coupled devices, the flatbed scanner, the omni-font optical character recognition, the first print-to-speech reading machine. So many more things. He is a real brilliant man and he is being very much…he is what people consider futurist and an inventor and here is what he said. Now, even Bill Gates, by the way, said about him that he is the brain and really if we are talking about future this is the guy we should count on what he has to say. Now, here is what he says, he says that, you know obviously you have heard the phrase, life is short or like what would I do to be at that age group, right? Believe it or not in 15 years you might not have that problem anymore. He believes that, like he says more than once, humans are on their way to living for eternity. And in an interview he had with PBS, okay, recently last week, he described how it will happen. He said that by the year of 2030 computers are gonna be so small, computers are gonna be the size of blood cells, okay, and they are gonna be in your body, travelling around your body collecting data and they are gonna take that senses, awareness, physical pains or all kinds of alerts that your body send you and shoot it to the cloud then you will be able to resolve all those problems before they happen. And the time of us going back and living to eternity or life extension services they call it, is really around the corner.

Maureen: I mean but…[laughter]

Jamie: Who wants to live that long?

Eran: Okay, so that was on and we’ll talk about it

Maureen: And where is this cloud anyway? I am really curious about the cloud.

Eran: Okay, so this, just to let you know, life extension service science, also known as the anti aging medicine is identified, you know, it’s all those life extension products, experimental gerontology. I can’t even say those words they are so complicated and above me, but they all got to go with this stem cell research and all that. They are really talking about that it’s really possible. Okay, I’m not saying it is or isn’t because, look, there are a lot of people that say that, you know, it’s not gonna work. There are ethical ramification of life extension that are debated by bio-scientist, you know.

Maureen: Well let’s just assume, let’s assume that this occurred and what are we gonna do about population control?

Jamie: And trash control and the earth.

Maureen: We won’t have enough room

Eran: I mean, I don’t wanna get into that. What are we gonna do?

Maureen: I don’t mind looking young!

Jamie: I wanna look young but let’s use that science and improve quality of life for those that have ailments and then let’s just expire when it’s time.

Interviewer: You know, what are you gonna do…I’m gonna tell you something you are not gonna like, what are you gonna do with all the toilet paper?

Jamie: That’s what I’m saying, the trash, the earth?

Maureen: The plastic bottles?

Eran: It is crazy, it is totally …I think…[recording – This is ridiculous!]

Eran: It is, isn’t it?

Jamie: Absolutely!

Eran: I mean, but look, he says, even…like it says, Bill Gates says about him 10 years ago, and I’m quoting, he said that, “He is the best predictor of the future artificial wisdom.”

Maureen: He is like today’s Nostradamus.

Eran: So people are really…yeah, we may wanna take him seriously. After all, he is responsible for so many inventions that have changed our lives.

Maureen: The scanner!

Jamie: That’s a big deal.

Eran: Speech recognition, there are so many things he is responsible for and I mean, yeah, look, some of the products have been criticized by medical experts including the American Medical Association, obviously, but he says that everything in a strange way is a part of a life’s circle. He says that after all the human race advance and eternity is no longer a dream. If we spend the last couple of thousands of years justifying death, we no longer have to surrender to that old reality. Things may just have changed.

Maureen: Yeah, but that’s man made change and so you know when you, like, mess with the ecosystem, you know, that’s why they have limits on how many animals you can kill when you are hunters and stuff, because if you mess with that ecosystem you mess with, you know, how it all works and I think that’s what make it so scary.

Jamie: I agree.

Eran: And also, look, There is a lot of people, you know, look at the Bible and said, well according to the Bible, God said, you cannot live, you will not live more than 120 years.

Maureen: That’s still kind of long.

Eran: That’s still kind of long but nobody does.

Jamie: Have you ever seen that movie Wall-E? That’s what I’m picturing. It’s just the earth is covered in trash and somebody builds this huge spaceship and everybody just gets fat because everything is electronic, touch screen, you get the menu. And then little Wall-E goes and cleans up the earth and compacts all the trash and puts it in a nice little cube and then somehow the spaceship comes back to earth.

Maureen: Little kids. [Laughter]

Eran: I don’t know but here is the thing, so think about that but even there are people today that live to 90, 100, whatever but what is the quality of life. But according to him, that would not be a problem because…

Maureen: Okay, all…my thing is, you get to 110, 120, all your friends are dead, right?

Eran: Well, you won’t anymore, according to his theory.

Maureen: Right.

Eran: The problem is, there are some people that they can’t wait for them to be gone off here [Laughter].

Jamie: So can we pick and choose who gets to live that long?

Maureen: No that would raise ethic issues in a way.

Eran: Exactly! So, I mean complicated but anyway, I wanted to bring it to you because I’ve known you Maureen for years and you have not changed so I figured, do you use that?

Maureen: It’s the Botox! [Laughter]

Jamie: Yes! Yes!

Maureen: That’s the way we are grooming today but we’ll see, we’ll see [Laughter].

Eran: Alright, so anyway, I figured let’s have some fun before we really dive into the market. So we have so much to talk about, I want to talk about a guy that paid his mortgage in three years. Is it worth it? Is it not worth it? Should we are should we not? There are 10,000 new baby boomers a day. We talked about that baby boomers are those born…what was it?

Maureen: Forty-six to 64

Eran: Forty-six to 64, right.

Maureen: You just made it.

Eran: That’s right, we just did. I did, not you.

Maureen: Me? Out!

Jamie: I’m out of that equation.

Eran: You are the generation Z. Did you say that you were born in 2000?

Maureen: No, you have 2010.

Eran: That’s right.

Jamie: Whoa!

Eran: Exactly, exactly.

Maureen: I’ll take it.

Eran: Yeah you will. So, we want to talk about that and we wanna talk about the fact that’s it really, believe it or not, it is getting harder to become a home owner especially in San Diego. So we will talk to Jamie about that. We will talk to Maureen about should we are should we not pay our house in three years and there is so much more but we got to go and pay some bills so when we come back we will continue. Eran Sinai with Jamie Kurtz and Maureen Martin, we will be back with you.

[Advertisement]

Eran: Welcome back. Eric Clapton in the background, Eran Sinai with Jamie Kurtz and Maureen Martin. So that was Eric Clapton, right? So today in 1945 Eric Clapton was born, that’s his birthday today.

Jamie: Ah, happy birthday Eric.

Eran: That’s right! Now, why did I pick that song? Because this song was written for the movie, Color of Money. I don’t know if you have seen the movie or not but it’s directed by Martin Scorsese and it’s about, you know, with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise as pool sharks.

Jamie: Yes, yes.

Eran: Okay, so you know what I’m talking about. The bottom line is because Teddy or Eddie who was Paul Newman didn’t like the techniques of Tom Cruise who was shady and so it’s all about honesty and it’s all about integrity. And bringing you guys and bringing you Maureen and you Jamie, I figured, you know, couldn’t tie better because talking about integrity. So you have been doing that for a while and we were just talking about other banks now that they haven’t been…haven’t had integrity, double jeopardy, but they had to close down or there I think, so I just think it ties in really well. So, let’s jump to you Maureen for a second. So you have been in the business for…

Maureen: Seventeen years, but I only look like…

Eran: Seventeen years.

Eran: Yeah, you started….I remember you told me…

Jamie: When she was 10.

Eran: Your grammar school teacher was like, “Maureen, you can’t get into the business, it’s too early yet” but you did anyway, right?

Jamie: Put your pager down, Maureen, no pagers in class [Laughter].

Maureen: No pagers in class [laugher] I’ve got one by the way.

Eran: That’s right. she didn’t show off because she was like, sorry I’m busy because I’ve got things after school. Alright, so quickly, what happened with WJ Bradley? What’s your take?

Maureen: So my understanding of what happened…so recently in October we had a major, major change in the industry which is called TRID. So in the last 40 years we have not had changes that are this critical, if you would, and really significant. I mean, we have had so much. Every form has changed, every timeline, everything has changed. It has really just turned the industry over. So it was really challenging for lenders to comply because the guidelines were a little vague and so investors and banks and everybody kind of had to figure it out on their own and my take is that WJ Bradley was not able to get their loans that they had already originated under TRID. They weren’t able to get them sold so when direct lenders, like what I am, with direct lenders they loan in their own name which is what WJ Bradley did. They put their loans on a warehouse line so basically they get a loan to fun the loan and then they sell it after they fund the loan to the investors but if they can’t get the investors to buy it then they can’t get it off their warehouse at all.

Eran: Then what happened to those loans?

Maureen: So they got to sell them at a loss

Eran: Because if they can’t sell them to the investors, the investors isn’t buying it because they don’t comply with the guidelines, the rules or whatever. And that’s why it is so important when you are in escrow, if anyone has ever been in escrow which I am sure that you guys…I know you guys both have, when the lender ask you for so many things I always joke, like, so sorry, you know, I’ll be over later for your, you know, for your DNA sample. And we ask for so much because we have to put together a file that, if opened and when opened say over the next 30 years, it has to speak for itself. They can’t call the borrower and say, I don’t understand what this means. So it has to kind of tell a story based on the guidelines of that very moment to be saleable and they get opened, they get reviewed.

Eran: And I know, I’m gonna give your number because…I know last time by the way, someone did call you after the show, right?

Maureen: That’s correct.

Eran: So obviously people know and they like what you have to say. So Maureen’s number is 619-8577191, 619-8577191 and Maureen is a mortgage originator. And you know what? She is not just a mortgage originator.

Jamie: No, she is not.

Eran: No, she is not, right, she is much more than that.

Jamie: She is a super seller.

Eran: That’s right, and she knows her business.

Jamie: She absolutely does.

Maureen: Well, and it is so cheesy, if it is true, I always say, it’s not just a loan, it’s an experience because number one, when you are in escrow it can be so stressful. It can be so stressful. So if you can’t find your lender you can’t get the answers that you need or you know, the processors is asking you for the same thing, you know, ten times in a row. It can be extremely frustrating and you are getting ready to move, and you are trying to find your movers and you’re removing contingencies which your earnest money deposit is at risk. I mean, there is so much and, and, and, and.

Jamie: Timeline.

Maureen: And so….

Eran: And it’s a big investment.

Maureen: Ah, it is, it is.

Eran: Well not for everyone, I mean, let’s say, take for example, you know, it’s funny because today in 1853 Van Gogh was born. Vincent van Gogh, you know, he was known for cutting his ear. It wasn’t really his ear.

Maureen: For love. It was for love.

Eran: Whereas the truth is, it was only the lobe, it wasn’t the whole ear, so that people made a big deal out of it. It’s not common, it’s only the ear lobe.

Jamie: He’s not…yeah.

Maureen: He’s not that crazy.

Eran: Precisely, he is not that crazy.

Jamie: What about Edgar Allan Poe, wasn’t it the whole ear? Or are we talking two….

Eran: I think it’s two different ears [Laughter]. But here is the thing, during his last time here I only saw one picture….one painting.

Maureen: Right.

Eran: And today also in ’87, it just so happens on his birthday. Today in ’87, I mean, he was born in 1853. He sold his sunflower painting in an auction in New York for 39, I’m sorry …yeah, 39.85 million dollars.

Maureen: That’s a beautiful picture too.

Eran: Yes, it was a beautiful picture.

Maureen: Hope I don’t make my money after I die.

Eran: That’s exactly right.

Maureen: I’ll do my loans when I die.

Jamie: That was fun.

Eran: Alright, talking about making money, we have a guy, paid off his house in two years, right?. Regret, no regret, what’s your thought guys?

Jamie: Regret.

Eran: Regret, okay. Jamie said regret, why?

Jamie: Well, tax write-off, first of all. And I think there is bigger and better investments with your money. So whatever the price point may have been, it probably wasn’t here in San Diego, that’s a given.

Maureen: That’s aggressive.

Jamie: That’s aggressive and probably not possible too.

Maureen: And if he has that kind of dough. But I mean, you know, in the article, I read an article about it and it said the balance is like 150,000 that he had paid off. And I mean, that, you know, depending on your income and that could be a significant amount of money. So, I mean, you can do so much more. I mean, returns right now, I know the stock market is dipping or whatever but you know, historically, my dad, he is such a great guy, he always said, you told me you love the stock market. You told me, was the stock market more in 1970 than it is today? Yes dad, you know. [Laughter]

Maureen: What about 1980? You know, it will eventually go up, it’s gonna drop but it is gonna go up.

Jamie: Eventually.

Eran: Yeah and he’s like, show me today, where it was in ’70. Is my point taken? And then he is sitting in his chair and he is like, [recording – song, hallelujah] [laughter] That’s what it is.

Maureen: But it’s the same thing with house prices. You tell me Eran, in 1970’s, are the house prices higher than they were in 1970, today?

Eran: Obviously not.

Maureen: There is no way they can be, you know, so it depends. Eran, you know, and my dad would love you for this, the rule of ’72.

Eran: Hmm huh, Sorry, I’m choking on my own water again. It’s not saliva it’s just water. So look, we are talking about the cost of money. I call it OPM, which is other people’s money, right? So if you get 150,000, okay, and rather than pay off your houseyou’re your mortgage, mortgage rates are really low, it’s below 4 percent, okay? We cant call it exactly but it’s below 4 percent, okay? The rule of 72 says, if you take that 150,000, per say, let’s take conservative.

Maureen: Conservatively, it’s 6 percent.

Eran: Six percent which analyzer or financial planner will say that a long 30 years you can take 6 percent. The rule of ’72 says interest you’re getting divided into 72, so 6 into 72 is 12. Every 12 years your money will double. So let’s say he took that $150,000, in 12 years you’ll have 300, in 24 years he’ll have 600,000, right? Thirty-six years he’ll have $1.2 million. That’s with the rule of 72. So…

Maureen: So his $150,000 house, likely in 36 years, you most likely will not be worth 1.2 million. It’s hard to say. Again, if it is definitely in San Francisco.

Jamie: New York?

Eran: Even then, I mean again, it depends but like Jamie said, you know, but what’s your financial situation?

Maureen: But a house doesn’t pay you unless you move out of it, you know, and then you are just getting meager rent.

Eran: And then you are sitting in it. So now he is sitting in a paid off house. It’s like money that is put in his safe deposit box. Yes, the house appreciates but the house would appreciate anyway.

Maureen: You could get rent but it’s definitely not going to be the same return as if it’s like 1.2 million.

Eran: And like Jamie said, the tax write off, I mean again it depends on your position but there is some benefit in that.

Maureen: There is a lot of benefits in that.

Eran: Go to Jamie with that 150,000, even if with 150 you could go get another house, right?

Maureen: Well, if you think about it, well, the down payment, split that up in two even, you know what I mean. Seventy-five thousand dollars down. I mean, if you are a VA. Jamie is great with the VA buyers, I mean, if you are a VA, FHA, a little as zero to 3 ½ percent, yeah.

Eran: And even if not 150, Jamie, that could get you good 20 percent on the house.

Maureen: True.

Jamie: Absolutely, yeah.

Eran: That’s a good chunk.

Jamie: Or back to Maureen’s point, you could even split it and have two, have a rental investment property and then have your own home as well. So, there is a lot more that could be done with that money, I think, here in San Diego. And again, it depends on your position, financial outlook.

Maureen: My financial planner too, he is always saying, “Only have a third in real estate, a third in real estate and you wanna kind of diversify yourself.

Eran: So, our consensus, what we think is…

Jamie: Regret.

Eran: Maureen?

Maureen: Boo, hoo, you need your tax write off.

Eran: Okay, so we all agree.

Jamie: You can find that finance lady.

Maureen: I don’t love debt though, don’t get me wrong.

Jamie: Yeah, and I would say, I am one of those people that I get super nervous when I borrow….I don’t borrow from people and even from a bank, I would be super nervous so I can see the appeal to give a huge….

Maureen: But if you borrow money from a person you couldn’t use the tax write off, so a little different.

Eran: Yeah, that’s true. So basically if, we said, you have 150,000 laying around and you’ve saved it in such a short time, our first reaction is? Certainly reaction is like, yeah, you know, maybe go to Jamie, get another house, go to Maureen finance the house.

Maureen: Get a couple loan.

Jamie: Get a couple loan, absolutely.

Eran: Then you are good to go.

Jamie: Well, there you go, building that portfolio.

Maureen: Exactly. No doubt about that.

Eran: Okay, case dismissed, we are done. Okay, we’ll move on. We’ll move on, okay, so now, in a minute we are gonna take a break but before we take a break Jamie, because we are gonna…when we come back I really wanna talk to you quickly about some real estate stuff that’s happening.

Jamie: Okay, I’m your girl.

Eran: How long have you been?

Jamie: Almost 11 years.

Eran: Wow! Eleven years. Where do you pick your girls up, in school?

Jamie: We were just good buddies.

Eran: And your business is mainly where?

Jamie: Mostly central metro area, San Diego. So anything…

Eran: What does that mean?

Jamie: From the beach area, take I-8 East, anywhere that kind of touches that veins into Mission Valley.

Eran: So, and again, Jamie is with Team Aguilar. She is a realtor and Jamie’s number is 619-9526455, 619-9526455. So let’s take a break, when we come back I wanna talk to you about the baby boomers coming in, what are they doing? Are they downgrading? What are they doing and is it or is it not hard to buy a house? Is it getting harder in San Diego. And then I wanna shift that and talk about what are the signs that you are not ready to get a mortgage. So you could both can help me with that. Alright guys?

Maureen: Sounds good.

Eran: Eran Sinai with Maureen Martin and Jamie Kurtz. We will be right back.

[Advertisement]

Eran: Welcome back. It’s great.

Maureen: You pick a great song, you do.

Jamie: Great song!

Eran: Thank you. I love music.

Maureen: I know.

Eran: You know, I just want to shut off and listen but, you know, my wife says you always listen to music and you know we had friends over the week end and we had Pandora, we had Pandora listening, you know, and every song is about three seconds. I don’t pick the songs by, Oh you know, this is this, this is that so people are like, what is wrong with you? Anyway, which is Paul Simon, so today in 2013 actually, U.S. music producer and pioneer and digital recording Phil Ramone die. He was the biggest, he was the most successful producer in history, writing 40 Grammy awards, working with stars like Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Paul McCartney, obviously Billy Joel and Paul Simon. He produced major first commercials, so he has done so much. If you Google him, Wikipedia, there is like, in alphabetical dictionary of all the albums he produced. That was one of them.

Maureen: I would love to get one.

Eran: Ant the song though is, believe it or not, is a gentle reflective song dwelling on middle age, many baby boomers could relate. That’s what Paul Simon said. So it’s ‘for the baby boomers and…

Maureen: We are here to support the baby boomers.

Jamie: That’s right, we are!

Eran: We are gonna talk about it now because there are 10,000’s of new baby boomers…

Jamie: A day.

Eran: Entering a day. So what does that do to the market? Should we even care?

Maureen: Of course!

Jamie: Absolutely, we should care!

Eran: Oh well, I am one, I’m at the edge of it.

Maureen: You are right there at the cut there Eran, you know.

Eran: That’s right! So Jamie, what have you guys seen, what have you seen by the way on that?

Jamie: With the baby boomers, given our low inventory, we’ve got to care about every generation and where they are gonna fit in this place. The millennials, can they buy? When can they buy? The baby boomers, where are they going? Are they staying in their house? Are they downsizing? Are ‘they going to single level?

Maureen: Are they millennial kids living with them?

Jamie: Are there any millennial kids, yeah.

Eran: Exactly, right!

Jamie: Or do they wanna move in with their millennials and there is a select few that might want to move to assisted living. So there is a lot of opportunity there for everybody to be involved. The millennials can take over. There are investors that wanna go out there and flip homes. So if it’s all original you can sell cash, ten day close to a number of investors that will bring it up to current standard, sell it for a profit. So there is a lot to be done and we need to help everybody in the market of selling.

Eran: So is it or is it not harder now to even buy a house in San Diego?

Jamie: Well Maureen you might be able to answer that a little bit better.

Maureen: I think number one, it’s inventory. Our inventory is really low.

Jamie: So it’s competitive, you have to be prepared.

Maureen: It is extremely competitive. I mean, it just turned spring right now and, you know, historically speaking, spring and summer is more….

Jamie: It’s the best.

Maureen: You know, there is more inventory, the sellers might be holding out because they think they can charge more, you know, because there are more people looking, but in all honesty it’s like, it’s pretty crazy.

Jamie: It is crazy.

Maureen: It’s like, there is just not a lot and that drives up the prices. It does drive up the prices but…I mean back to the millennial, excuse me, I mean…

Eran: Baby boomers.

Maureen: The baby boomers, I’m getting a lot of calls a lot of calls regarding the reverse mortgages. I even just recently got one where, I don’t think it is really millenials maybe gen. X, moving in with the baby boomers, they were flipping it. And they said, you know, we wanna sell our parents house, who is out of the county and then have our parents move in with us.

Jamie: Yes, I have heard that a lot.

Maureen: And then we are trying to kind of qualify who qualifies for what, I mean, they are all gonna live in this house and… I mean, this is an alternative for, you know, assisted living and that’s one way to do it.

Jamie: Yeah, I’ve heard that many times over where the millenials are…they have gone off to college or peace corps or wherever and they’ve come back and their parents’ home has a lot of value and the parents aren’t ready to give up but they can go out and maybe get a home improvement loan of some sort and then add on.

Maureen: Or the reverse mortgage because with the reverse mortgage the y don’t have any monthly payment.

Eran: And they can use that money for the down payment on another house, is that correct?

Maureen: You can… well, no. A reverse mortgage, you have to live in it.

Eran: No, no, no, but they can take the money and buy an investment house….

Maureen: If they…

Eran: If they are staying in the house?

Maureen: If they are staying in the house, correct. For an investment property that is correct but not for another owner occupied.

Eran: Yes, exactly, okay, yes, well obviously they are gonna have to stay but they wanna help their kids. Their kids are gen X, some millenials so then they can take a reverse on that, help their kids get the down payment, go to Jamie find a house come back to you and they’ll be one big happy family.

Jamie: And then they will live happy.

Maureen: Yeah, I mean, there is a lot of things with the reverse mortgage. I mean, number one, you can’t take it with you but, yeah, you can leave it to your kids. But some people don’t have children to leave it to.

Eran: Well, we are available [Laughter].

Jamie: I’ve got…my bank account number is…[laughter]

Maureen: And I think that it’s great, I mean, it’s a great opportunity to not have a mortgage payment, to use your equity for…you can take out, you know, it depends on your age as to see how much and your equity and your value to see how much you can take out but let’s just use an example. You can take out 200,000 if you were to qualify and put it in an account at 6 percent, you know what I mean, and kind of play that game, you know.

Eran: But yeah, let’s just remind the listeners that when we set 6 percent it’s an average for up to 30 years. We are not talking about, no one is gonna guarantee you 6 percent because you have to talk about rates and…

Maureen: But meaning, they can still take money out of the house and that it’s not wasted. You can earn interest in a conservative account and that could be the inheritance and then mom could still live…mom and dad could still live in their house without a mortgage payment and that’s the benefit of that.

Eran: So, where do you see, let me put you on the spot, where do you see the market going?

Maureen: Well, I mean…Jamie?

Jamie: I’ll say up. I’ll say up for now.

Eran: You say up?

Jamie: Yes, definitely.

Maureen: I mean, there are markets that we haven’t quite caught up to such as like San Francisco, New York, even Los Angeles, parts of Los Angeles. We are in a very desirable area. We are beach side, if you would, depending on what part of San Diego, but for the most part, I mean, 30 miles east is still the beach. Check out the weather, does anybody feel the weather lately? I mean…

Eran: It is, it is, my wife was in New York, we lived in New York City 18 years before we moved here 9 years ago. She was in New York two weekends ago and she was calling me, she said, can you try getting me out of here a day earlier, because talking about the storm coming and I don’t wanna get stuck. And I’m like, looking outside and sitting on the deck outside and like, a storm? What are you talking about? Isn’t it funny?

Maureen: Well, I mean, it is and I just…I see it’s supply and demand, you know, and there is a lot of demand for.

Jamie: A lot of demand and you’ve got to think about our buildable acres as well. To the north is Camp Pendleton. To the west is the ocean, to the south is Mexico and to the east is mountain and desserts. So within those borders are buildable acres, don’t quote me on this but I believe it is well below 200 acres. So everything is got to go up, everything is got to go vertical. But you still have that demand, you still have people moving here for the weather, you still have high rent.

Eran: And jobs are really…

Maureen: Booming! I just read an article that the jobs are coming south like from Silicon Valley because they literally can’t afford it up there. And I’m not gonna lie, I have a friend who moved up there and it is rainy!

Eran: It is.

Maureen: And it is cold and dark. [cross talk]

Eran: I went on a creek and the guys have been calling me to go on that creek and I said, oh my God, it’s been raining nonstop and I am not sure….

Maureen: So I’m like really, I’m getting a tan right now. So you have got to take that into account and not to throw out another movie but I just recently saw The Big Short and right now we are building all of these mortgages for the most part. I would say a solid 90, 95 percent of these mortgages are build on low 30 year fixed rates. So nothing is gonna happen. Their payments are not gonna go up, there is no adjustment period, there is no interest only.

Eran: And you have an analysis that describes to someone about how it can rebuild itself.

Maureen: Right. You can assess the viability of the market when you can compare rent payments within a 10 percent variance of a purchase putting 20 percent down with a 30 year fixed rate. If you are within 20 percent of rent versus what your mortgage payment is, including taxes and insurance, if you are within that range then it’s a sustainable value.

Eran: So let’s use an example. If you bought the house and you put 20 percent down and your mortgage payment is 4200 and you can rent your house for 4500….

Maureen: Or 38.

Eran: Or 38, you are still within 10 percent range and you are not, what economist believe, we are not in a bubble situation.

Maureen: Right, that’s correct.

Eran: So when it comes to real estate, really what we are gonna do here is [recording- all we want to do is pop] [laughter].

Jamie: Absolutely, we are just gonna pump you up.

Eran: So it’s still the best great investment and look…

Maureen: Even if it goes down, we have seen even with a crash…

Jamie: Yes, it will come back.

Maureen: Even a crash, you know, we recovered in 8 years, significantly, and we are past the point of the high point.

Jamie: The high point, yeah.

Eran: And even more so when we talk about, before the show, that, okay, 8 years ago some people took mortgages, you know, they had a foggy mirror, they were able to get a mortgage, right?

Maureen: Yeah, they were all built on sand!

Eran: Right, but this time around, if you got a mortgage it’s based on somebody you can support…

Maureen: A strong foundation.

Jamie: A strong foundation, absolutely.

Maureen: It’s based on your income, it’s based on your assets, it’s based on your repayment ability, it’s based on your credit, you know, and it’s based on you having a job. So you know like that movie, you know, the people that were buying the houses…

Eran: I mean, the restaurants, remember the waitresses, and all those buying [cross talk] you remember that?

Maureen: I recall a waitress and she purchased five houses during, you know, you have stated income, and those were all ARMs and most of them were interest only ARMs. And sure of course they could rent them out and make the payments but for two years it’s interest only and then it jacked up and then…

Eran: They are done!

Maureen: Re-amortizes and then the rate goes up so and that’s why everybody…and there was no skin in the game 20 percent down, I mean.

Eran: So let’s quickly before we go into the break, so now, we are talking about housing, what can you…when do you know you are not ready for a mortgage?

Jamie: That’s a good one. When…

Maureen: You should share your story Jamie about a few months ago she had a client that would be interesting.

Eran: So when…give us some points, how do you know you are not ready?

Jamie: Quickly, battered and bruised credit, no assets, and a FICO score, let’s say below 600. Anything below 600, that’s….as Maureen was saying earlier, there has to be a story and they have to see that you are going to pay back whatever you are borrowing. So FICO score is a big deal, jobs, big deal.

Maureen: You can’t pay your car payment, I mean, I guess you have to live in your house but you have to have a car to go to the grocery store too.

Jamie: Here in San Diego, yeah, unless you can build up some kind of metro system.

Eran: Okay, so one thing you’re gonna look at, you know you are not ready when your FICO score and your credit is…

Maureen: Below 620. I mean, I think, then you are just gonna get gouged on the re, you know.

Eran: And not only that, you are gonna eat rice and beans, you know, you are gonna live to pay the mortgage every month.

Jamie: Yeah, that new house smell wears off after a while so [cross talk]

Eran: Alright, give me another one.

Jamie: Let’s see, we talked about jobs, having a job.

Eran: Okay, so you wanna have a steady job.

Jamie: A steady job. Steady employment where you can show two years.

Eran: Okay, so the job, FICO score, a good credit, not a bruised credit, and have some assets and savings. Am I correct?

Maureen: Yeah, and you, I mean, if you have had anything serious happened like a bankruptcy, foreclosure, short sale, deed in lieu, anything like that, you need a solid three year seasoning, four years and sometimes seven, depending on what it is.

Eran: And I’m not saying….you’re right, because I am not saying, look, bankruptcy is not…I’m not saying it’s a bad thing at all. It’s a business decision, that’s how I look at that. It doesn’t make you a bad person at all, but you know what? It might work for your benefit because now you are debt free, you can file again for a number of years, whatever, right?

Maureen: Hmm huh.

Eran: And the good thing is, now you have no debt, you waited three years, you go to Jamie, you get a house, go to Maureen. You can qualify someone to buy a house three years after a bankruptcy?

Maureen: And that’s possible…but only after you have learned from that bankruptcy.

Jamie: And learn from your mistakes.

Maureen: Because I have seen so many times where they are right back where they started.

Jamie: Yes, they are not paying off that credit card debt and I am like, huh hooo!

Maureen: You could see that debt rising up and it’s like , oh my gosh, they didn’t change their habit!

Eran: And that’s right, when… and like I always say [ recording – I don’t have time to say this] don’t mess up your credit again!

Jamie: Don’t do it again!

Maureen: Do you know how long it is? So you can file bankruptcy?

Eran: After eight years.

Jamie: Eight? Really! They would let you do that? [cross talk]

Eran: Alright, let’s take our last break. When we come back we are gonna close strong and, don’t go anywhere. So Eran Sinai with Maureen Martin and Jamie Kurtz,we will be back with you, don’t go anywhere, alright?

[Advertisements]

Eran: Welcome back.

Jamie: Hello.

Eran: Do you like this one?

Maureen: I like them, all though.

Eran: Well, that’s the Stranger, Billy Joel, and that’s another album produced by Silver Moon and…

Maureen: I keep hearing you saying those pattern.

Eran: No, no, no. Phil Ramone. So this song is about when we think we know someone but we often hardly know that person. That came…Billy Joel came with a lot of.… not a few, not that great albums and he came back with this one. So my lessons here are two things, first of all, don’t give up, okay, you know. Never give up. Two, you know, I am introducing you to people that what you see is what you get, you know, you don’t have to worry about not knowing people, afraid that they are gonna mislead you. You have Jamie, you have Maureen, what you see is what you get. They are not gonna steer you wrong so that’s my finale of the song for today.

Jamie: We are not going to steer you wrong.

Eran: Okay, this is the other segment and you have about, you know, that’s in a minute each, I want you to tell me, give me anything to take home. Someone listening and you can give them your number again, what lesson should we take with us home today?

Maureen: Well, I think we shouldn’t be scared. Number one, I mean, I think that if you are looking to purchase a home in there, you know, and you know, I see the people that are really getting their offers accepted are number one, and they are working with a super like, aggressive, but, you know, in a kind way, aggressive and a negotiator, who can negotiate with a seller. I mean, if you are one of like 10 offers, you’ve got to know that your agent is going about for you. I think that offer letters are really important too, you know, because we are talking about actual sellers now, not banks. So the banks back in foreclosure days were in sales but not taking care. So but the sellers care. They kind of, you know, if it’s an owner occupied sale they might care who is gonna live in it and I think…I see that that works a lot. And who you are working with as your financing, I would say, don’t pay more, pay sooner. So I mean, we can close and I just close a VA loan in 15 days. So let’s give the seller their money quickly and, you know.

Eran: Let’s give them your number again, Maureen is at 619-857191. Jamie, your words of wisdom.

Jamie: To tag on to what Maureen was saying, it’s definitely, don’t be scared but have a good team that you are working with. Have a great lender, have a great agent me, of course, and you want your team to speak to each other as well because we are on deadlines. We have timeframes and Maureen meets and exceeds her timeframes every single time and every time I call her for a question or her buyers called, she always answer.

Eran: And I do the same. So let me just give your number, Jamie, 619-9526455 and let me tell you two [recording – I’ll be watching you]. So before we go anyway, I wanna thank you for coming.

Maureen: Thank you very much for inviting us.

Jamie: Thank you for having me.

Eran: And you know me, I can’t finish without a little bit of a trivia. No I’m gonna ask you, I’m just gonna tell you. Okay, so, I was talking about that, its gonna be used on the moon, it can be used on the water with zero gravity, astronauts use it, Americans and Russians, it takes one tree, you can make 170,000 of it? A pencil! Today in 1858 the pencil was patented by Hymen Lipman of Philadelphia. Let me tell you a little bit, we use two billion pencils, No. 2, in America. It takes about 8,000 trees to make those pencils. And the theory is that one word ‘pencil’ comes from the Latin word “penicillus” which means little tail, okay? And before the invention of erasers, that’s on the pencils, a writer would have to use bread crumbs to erase his page.

Maureen: What would that page look like?

Eran: That’s right, and…

Jamie: Just like my son’s homework.

Eran: And people say, how long can…that’s funny, people say how long can a pencil write? The average pencil holds enough graphite to draw a line about 35 miles long or roughly about 45,000 words. History does not record anyone testing these statistics so it’s just an estimate. So I wanted to leave you with that really important information.

Maureen: Thank you so much!

Jamie: Very important, thank you.

Eran: I know you couldn’t go on your day without that.

Jamie: Not at all.

Eran: So Eran Sinai with Jamie Kurtz and Maureen Martin. I really wanna thank you for coming here.

Jamie: Thank you, it has been fun, for having us

Maureen: Thank you for having us.

Eran: You guys have been so awesome. I am so glad to have you. Have a great week for the rest it, great weekend and I’ll see you all next week.

Maureen: Okay, bye, bye.

Filed Under: First Time Buyers, Home Loans, Home Ownership, Mortgage Pre Approval, San Diego Lender Tagged With: buying home in san diego, credit score, home buyer, home loans, Home Mortgage, home ownership, mortgage, mortgage lender, San Diego County, San Diego mortgage

Side Form

Do you have questions?

Give me the details below and I will contact you
within a couple of hours.

    [cf7ic "toogle"]

    Client Testimonials

    Client Testimonials

    Maureen Martin
    Maureen Martin
    5.0
    powered by Google
    ch van
    ch van
    22:01 23 Nov 20
    Maureen was an absolute delight to work with. She was extremely responsive, quick to solve any issues and amazingly knowledgeable. It was such a relief to be able to count on her to walk me through each step. You are in good hands with Maureen. She is the best!read more
    Gina Meadows
    Gina Meadows
    16:09 12 Nov 20
    I had the pleasure of working with Maureen for the second time (I would not have contacted anyone else after my first great experience with her!) and she remains fabulous. Maureen is very knowledgeable, responsive, and FAST! I had a tight turn around time with a personal matter and to lock in a great rate, and she made it happen. I highly recommend Maureen to anyone who wants a fabulous loan experience.read more
    Julie Luke
    Julie Luke
    02:54 30 Oct 20
    We purchased a home and Maureen was our lending agent. She is FANTASTIC! Anyone reading this will NOT regret calling Maureen. She is professional, knowledgeable, and truly looks out for her clients. She also communicates every step of the way and is super efficient! Throughout the entire process we never once worried about the loan side of things. We would recommend Maureen to anyone without any hesitation!read more
    Frank Piermarini
    Frank Piermarini
    03:35 14 Oct 20
    Wow, Maureen is amazing! If you’re looking for an excellent communicator, prompt service and thorough industry knowledge you should definitely consider Maureen. I’ve refinanced on multiple occasions with Maureen and have had a great experience. There are countless choices our there for mortgage brokers. Receiving the personal care and attention Maureen delivers makes here stand out from the rest. Thank you again Maureen!read more
    Tom Rehor
    Tom Rehor
    21:50 30 Sep 20
    We contacted Maureen Martin while in the beginning phases of planning to buy our house. She walked us through the different financial strategies available to us to help us to best prepare our credit situation for the purchase. Two years later, we bought our house and Maureen was there each step of the way to explain our options and provide advice (such as, how to reduce PMI fees). Since buying our house, she has alerted us to dropping mortgage rates and let us know when it may be helpful for us to refinance (and has occasionally given us the honest answer of “now is not a good time”). Now, on our third refinance with Maureen, our mortgage payments are less than what a renter pays in our area. She is a dream to work with, very knowledgeable, and willing to take the time to help us understand the oftentimes confusing world of mortgage finance. If you are looking for someone who knows their stuff, is patient, and will give honest feedback along the way, Maureen is your person!read more
    delgadokd
    delgadokd
    17:50 15 Sep 20
    LOOK NO FURTHER!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! We closed on a VA loan in just 20 days. I interviewed 3 other brokers and ended up going with Maureen and I'm glad I did. Her communication was amazing; she always called when she said she would, and she thoroughly answered all my questions. if you're looking for a mortgage broker, CHOOSE MAUREEN!! She'll make you feel like you're her only client..read more
    Jennifer Wong
    Jennifer Wong
    22:57 01 Sep 20
    Maureen has been super helpful for us throughout our purchase process. We reached out to her for a second option considering our current lender had more stringent underwriting guidelines. Even though we were already working with someone, she reached out to her underwriters to find out if her underwriters would be able to approve our application in the case our current application fell through. She was quick to respond and totally fine standing by ready to help us. She is an absolute pleasure to work with and will keep her in mind for any future home loan needs! Thanks Maureen!read more
    Denise Gershwin
    Denise Gershwin
    19:13 29 Aug 20
    We have worked with Maureen Martin in the past for our mortgage needs and we were very happy with her, but to ensure the most cost effective refinance we compared rates and brokers before we decided to once again work with Maureen to take advantage of the current market conditions.Maureen Martin started out by guiding us with timing and loan options to save us the most money with refinancing. Once the timing was right, she expedited and simplified the process of the application and providing supporting documents to get our refinance started quickly. She provided insightful guidance as we made decisions about refinance options and locking our rate. She worked strategically to save us as much money as possible with fees and refinance costs. Then despite all we have been hearing about refinances taking much longer than normal, the process was lightening fast and seamless. She kept us up to date each step of the way and was amazingly responsive to our questions. She worked around our busy schedules while carefully ensuring that our closing occurred in a timeframe that avoided added costs. She has earned her place as our mortgage lender for life.read more
    Edward Harrison
    Edward Harrison
    16:29 26 Aug 20
    Maureen is the best!! She went out of her way to get us the very best interest rate and helped us immensely with all the loan details. I rate her as number one!!
    Clare Percival
    Clare Percival
    03:16 11 Aug 20
    The world needs to know how amazing a Maureen Martin is! First, buying a home during a global pandemic can be challenging but Maureen went above and beyond to make it a totally painless process. Any new disclosure or conditions regarding COVID were quickly and easily incorporated. Maureen was on top of continual changes and kept us informed every step of the way. Her communication and responsiveness are second to none. She was readily available to assist us in answering questions, running hypotheticals, and when it came time to pull the trigger on our dream home, Maureen stepped it up! She was incredibly efficient and continued to make this easy for us until the last step.Maureen helped us get into our forever dream home where we can raise our little girl and really call this home.If you’re looking for a painless, quick, and all around positive experience, we HIGHLY recommend Maureen.read more
    Deanna Hasten
    Deanna Hasten
    13:49 10 Aug 20
    Maureen is AMAZING! She was prompt, knowledgeable and informative. She got us a rate of 1% less, that our previous lender couldn't get... which saved us over $300 a month. The entire home buying process was a piece of cake. I would recommend her to anyone looking to buy a home! THANK YOU MAUREEN!!read more
    Alissa Bjerkhoel
    Alissa Bjerkhoel
    20:12 23 Jul 20
    I CANNOT say enough good things about Maureen! I found out about her through a real-estate agent friend of mine in 2012 and she helped with our purchase of our first home. Since then, I have used her 2 more times. She is so quick, so responsive (emails back within the hour and, typically, within minutes), and very professional. Given the current low interest rates, I asked Maureen about refinancing on July 2nd. I signed loan disclosure docs on the 7th and the loan has fully funded today, the 23rd, only 16 days later! An absolute pleasure to work with. I will never use any other mortgage broker.read more
    Ryan van Schilfgaarde
    Ryan van Schilfgaarde
    14:44 22 Jul 20
    Maureen happily explored our options and answered our questions and then processed our refi in record time. She was very accommodating and responsive. Highly recommended.
    Mike Adamski
    Mike Adamski
    21:52 11 Jul 20
    There's absolutely nothing but efficient professionalism with Maureen. She's help us now with a purchase and a refi now, and both times were super easy and quick. Top-notch!
    vanLeeuwen
    vanLeeuwen
    18:43 12 Jun 20
    Maureen Martin is a true professional. She provides excellent customer service and is extremely responsive to her clients. She assisted us with the refinancing of our mortgage and was able to secure a great interest rate. The whole process only took 22 days from start to finish! We highly recommend you contact her, if you considering refinancing or a new loan.read more
    Camarin Faddis
    Camarin Faddis
    18:28 04 Jun 20
    I highly recommend working with Maureen! She was incredibly helpful, very responsive and knowledgeable and so much fun to work on something that can be difficult to do! She was able to get through some hurdles we had with ease and was able to get us closed in record time! If you need a loan, do yourself a favor and call her!!read more
    lolly hunter
    lolly hunter
    20:11 16 May 20
    If you are considering purchasing a home, you should do yourself a favor a contact Maureen. She makes such a complex process seem effortless. She made me feel so comfortable with every step of the process. She’s honest and realistic and I really like that about her. Her response time is also something I appreciated. Will definitely use her in our future purchases! 😊read more
    Robin Kastner
    Robin Kastner
    19:02 24 Apr 20
    Excellent customer service for refinance! Could not have been happier working with Maureen. Very knowledgeable, kept me informed and updated throughout process. Absolutely would refer her to family/friends and would use her again anytime.read more
    Sarah Rego
    Sarah Rego
    02:04 16 Apr 20
    I found Maureen on Google - and saw all of the awesome things said about her. Well the are ALL CORRECT! She's the friendliest, most efficiant, kindest, most hardworking, level headed, just all around fantastic person! During a world pandemic she was able to get my loan through when many said no they couldn't. Well she DID it! She saved me a ton of money - and it was the easiest experience ever! Like SO easy! Call her! She's the best in town! Maureen - thanks again for giving my family a loan that will save us 3 years of mortgage payments!read more
    Kelly Dembicer
    Kelly Dembicer
    22:44 15 Apr 20
    Maureen is awesome to work with, especially during this crazy and unique time she was able to quickly close our refi and secure us a great rate, without missing a beat!. This is our second time working with her, she has helped us through our home purchase and now with a refinance. She is incredibly knowledgeable, very easy to communicate with and happily answers any and all questions throughout the process. You can tell Maureen genuinely cares about each client she works with and we will definitely be back to work with her in the future and are always recommending her to any of our friends and family looking to refinance or get a mortgage loan of any kind!read more
    David C
    David C
    19:09 09 Apr 20
    My refinance loan with Maureen just funded! This is my second time working with Maureen. She did my original purchase loan back in 2012 and she made such an great impression on me with her outstanding knowledge, responsiveness, and communication skills, that I knew she would be the only lender I would ever work with again! So here I am working with her the 2nd time around during the middle of this Covid-19 crisis and she is even better! Despite all of the new obstacles in today's environment, she expertly guided me through the process and even made me laugh and have fun along the way! Thanks again Maureen!read more
    Chris Cahill
    Chris Cahill
    18:13 04 Mar 20
    I found Maureen online and found great reviews online, and am SO I glad I did. She helped figure out a very complicated issue and put together a fantastic loan for my family. Her work ethic and dedication to us for months prior to getting our loan put together really shows how much she cares. You won't be sorry you gave her a chance to earn your business. Thanks Maureen!!!read more
    Kathy Le
    Kathy Le
    17:41 27 Feb 20
    Maureen was a pleasure to work with. She is fast, efficient and very knowledgeable. She provides awesome communication every step of the way which helped us feel comfortable the entire time.
    Brian Adams
    Brian Adams
    23:25 24 Feb 20
    Maureen was contacted through YELP and was kind and very responsive to initial, questions. After following up, I decided to refinance with her as not only were rates/fees very competitive, but she explained everything and made the whole process very easy and extremely quick. I would recommend Maureen to anyone seeking to refinance!read more
    Denise Gershwin
    Denise Gershwin
    21:02 06 Dec 19
    We are experienced home buyers so we have worked with many mortgage lenders in the past. Our experience working with Maureen was stellar! She was highly knowledgeable about our options and how they would affect various purchase options. She was very patient as our new home search evolved and was ALWAYS available to answer our questions day to day as they arose. Maureen and her assistant kept us informed of every stage of the escrow process, so we never once wondered about the status of our loan. Finally, she made sure we understood every aspect of the loan costs. Maureen really went out of her way to ensure that this was a positive experience. We feel we have been taken advantage of in the past, but now we found our mortgage lender for life. We would highly recommend her services for any of your mortgage needs.read more
    Magdalena Patterson
    Magdalena Patterson
    18:27 16 Nov 19
    Maureen Martin has helped me and my family trough out the years with home purchase loans as well as refinancing loans. She is definitely our lender for life. I highly recommend her and her team to do any home loans. She is very knowledgeable, honest, and gets it done. This year she and her entire team has made it possible for us to do 3 home loans.read more
    Erica L
    Erica L
    14:41 16 Nov 19
    My updated review now that we’ve been fortunate to work with Maureen again! Maureen is truly amazing!! We consider ourselves very lucky to have found Maureen (simply via Yelp originally) to help us purchase our first home, and then again recently she was of course our ‘go-to’ to help us refinance our loan. During both of these processes, I can’t imagine working with anyone else to support and guide us through the complex details and steps involved. Maureen’s customer service is exceptional. She is extremely responsive and available to you every step of the way, with the utmost patience, warmth, integrity, efficiency, knowledge, professionalism, and overall just a truly good human! She is definitely the person you will want in your corner as your mortgage expert. She had reached out to us (gently) to let us know we could secure a lower rate through refinancing, and we are so grateful she did. We were hesitant at first, but she was able to provide us with the estimates on our savings without any commitment from us. So, if you are considering a refinance, I would encourage you to reach out to Maureen to at least get some ballpark figures. We were so happy we explored and then pursued it - as it not only reduced our monthly payment and will save us a lot over the life of our loan, but it also resulted in some extra up front “savings” in our pocket (due to the escrow refund and skipped payments) so that we could finally do our kitchen remodel that we have been dreaming about. A huge thank you to Maureen for once again being a true gem to work with!Original review: All of these glowing 5 star reviews for Maureen are fully deserved!! We are deeply grateful that we found her (on Yelp!) and chose her as our lender for our home purchase! She is truly wonderful to work with, from start to finish! She is very knowledgeable, immensely responsive, reliable, efficient, trustworthy, and a wonderful source of support and encouragement, which is especially valuable during the stressful home buying process. To give you an idea of her efficiency and ease to work with, we first connected with Maureen at the start of August, and she had us pre-approved for a loan (through a very simple online application) and connected us with an awesome realtor before we could blink. We had an offer accepted on a home soon after and got our keys to our new home yesterday! I've only known her for slightly over a month, and yet, she feels like a close friend! She was our biggest resource and advocate during the escrow process. I highly recommend Maureen to anyone starting a home search, and especially first-time buyers because you will greatly benefit from having her as a support, trusted resource, friend, and 'cheerleader' through the process!read more
    Marisol Martin
    Marisol Martin
    01:52 13 Nov 19
    Impressed by such great service. Ms. Maureen responded to my emails quickly and was always friendly. Very knowledgeable. She helped me understand my mortgage and all options to refinance.
    Rick T
    Rick T
    16:34 07 Nov 19
    I called Maureen about some questions that I had and she was very helpful in giving me all the information that I needed. Very professional and helpful!
    gerardo sanchez
    gerardo sanchez
    19:29 23 Oct 19
    It was the best experience I’ve had. My first purchase was nothing compared to this one.Maureen was magnificent and soooo efficient,and easy to access and work with her.Every time I had a question, she was so nice and quick to reply and advise me on everything.I wish I would have met you sooner in my first purchase. But you definitely made my second purchase of a home soooo great and easy that I will recommend you to everyoneread more
    Christian Minnema
    Christian Minnema
    20:43 10 Oct 19
    My wife and I have used Maureen twice in the last two years. First for our home loan and most recently for a refinance of that loan. Maureen is incredibly professional, quick, knowledgeable, and always available if you have any questions. I have already recommended her to family and friends for their financing needs. If you're looking for some one to help you with your mortgage Maureen is the answer.read more
    James Marvel
    James Marvel
    04:13 21 Sep 19
    My wife and I are first time home buyers using my VA loan. Maureen encouraged us every step of the way, and went above and beyond in making sure we were able to purchase our home. We got pre-qualified and were able to offer a 21-day escrow to help get our offer accepted. We highly recommend Maureen. She was able to give us a frank, honest assessment about what we could afford, which helped us find the right home. Thank you, Maureen!!!read more
    JMS Silver
    JMS Silver
    05:16 15 Sep 19
    Maureen is an absolute pleasure to work with! She’s professional and prompt and always ready to help and educate anyway possible. Her team was able to help us close on our dream home in no time and so efficiently. She helped make a stressful closing, hassle free and smooth. I’d definitely recommend her to anyone and would love to work with her again in the future! She’s also very knowledgeable on VA loans and processread more
    Amanda Cline
    Amanda Cline
    01:35 29 Aug 19
    I recently worked with Maureen Martin as my mortgage broker for a home purchase in Northern California. I originally came across Maureen when I was living in San Diego through a mutual friend. I hadn't been a homeowner for over 13 years and Maureen helped guide me all the way as though it had been my first time. This was a years-long process as I came out of a $15K+ debt situation and saved for the down payment, but Maureen stuck by my side, offering financial advice and when it was finally time to pull the trigger when all the stars aligned, I had complete confidence in her. She is incredibly thorough and detail-oriented and found a fantastic rate on the loan. We went through several home offers before landing on "the one" and she was so patient in explaining everything to me, multiple times! Working with her hundreds of miles away (Norcal vs. Socal) was no issue at all. I cannot recommend her enough - she consistently went above and beyond to help me through and made it as easy as possible. Thank you Maureen!read more
    Katie Jones
    Katie Jones
    22:44 26 Jun 19
    I can't say enough about Maureen and her team! She is so amazing and wonderful to work with. We were in the process of buying a home while our daughter had surgery and Maureen was incredible through the entire process. She helped us know what we could afford and made herself available to answer any questions we had. She provided personalized pre-approval letters for every offer! She also goes above and beyond by calling listing agents to assure them your loan will go through! We bought with a VA loan and her understanding of the VA loan was so helpful! Maureen took care of us and helped us get our new Home! She is amazing!read more
    Katie Jones
    Katie Jones
    22:43 26 Jun 19
    I can't say enough about Maureen and her team! She is so amazing and wonderful to work with. We were in the process of buying a home while our daughter had surgery and Maureen was incredible through the entire process. She helped us know what we could afford and made herself available to answer any questions we had. She provided personalized pre-approval letters for every offer! She also goes above and beyond by calling listing agents to assure them your loan will go through! We bought with a VA loan and her understanding of the VA loan was so helpful! Maureen took care of us and helped us get our new Home! She is amazing!read more
    Mary DeLisio
    Mary DeLisio
    05:18 30 May 19
    I found Maureen on google while searching for brokers in the San Diego area. I loved her bio and something told me she was the perfect broker for my boyfriend. I encouraged him to call her but was a bit sacred and nervous being a first time buyer. He thought he wouldn’t qualify but Maureen made him feel so comfortable and walked him throughout the whole process. Needless to say he was approved and in less than a month and a half he received his keys and closed on his first home. I can’t say enough how awesome Maureen was and so professional. She is so detailed and knows her business well. Next home will definitely be calling her again. Thank you Maureen for making our dream come true! Rodrigo & Maryread more
    TERRANCE RUSNAK
    TERRANCE RUSNAK
    21:05 17 May 19
    We were introduced to Maureen when we moved last year. We were about to close escrow on the house we sold, and needed to expedite escrow and get a mortgage for the house we had just bought. She took charge of the situation and made it happen quickly and efficiently. She was extremely knowledgeable, highly professional and above all motivated to facilitate our needs. Friendly, very proficient and easy to talk to, she made the process understandable and effortless at a time when moving issues had our complete attention and were our highest priority. When interest rates recently dropped, we again turned to Maureen to refinance and she did not disappoint, doing her thing and looking out for our best interests. We had gone through the refinancing process several times in the past with others whom we trusted and felt good about. Our recent experiences with Maureen allowed us to reach an obvious conclusion - she's the best! Highly recommended!!!read more
    Michelle Edmonds
    Michelle Edmonds
    23:47 14 May 19
    5 stars all the way!! Working with Maureen has been amazing, She’s professional and incredibly responsive and does a fantastic job of explaining all of the ins and outs of mortgage financing options. My home buying process has been very lengthy, with several offers that have fallen through (in no part due to the mortgage terms) but Maureen has stuck with me through thick and thin. I trust her completely and highly recommend her services.read more
    Brian Dinh
    Brian Dinh
    23:33 14 May 19
    I’ve used Maureen for a few of my properties over the years and she’s been nothing but amazing and refreshing to work with.... she’s available when you need her and she’s professional and extremely competent and knowledgeable. You can’t go wrong and I’ve had a few other friends go through her and love her as well. Nothing like word of mouth! Thanks Maureen you’re the best.read more
    Next Reviews Write a review

    Subscribe Form

    GET THE LATEST UPDATES

    Let’s Stay in Touch! Sign up for our newsletter.

      [cf7ic "toogle"]

      Latest from the blog

      • Why Credit Karma Scores Differ From FICO Scores

        Why Credit Karma Scores Differ From FICO Scores

        Did you recently try to apply for a loan, only …
      • 5 Reasons to Move to Clairemont, San Diego

        5 Reasons to Move to Clairemont, San Diego

        While looking into different neighborhoods in San Diego, you might …
      • 5 Reasons to Move to Mission Valley, San Diego

        5 Reasons to Move to Mission Valley, San Diego

        If I were going to name the most convenient place …
      • Costa Verde Strip Mall Revitalization Project Approved

        Costa Verde Strip Mall Revitalization Project Approved

        While Westfield UTC has a lot to offer the residents …
      • How to Get a Home Loan: Guide for First-Time Home Buyers

        How to Get a Home Loan: Guide for First-Time Home Buyers

        When most first-timers anticipate owning a new home, they often …

      Maureen Video

      Meet Maureen

      Please watch the brief video below for an introduction to the My Life Lender website:

       

      Navigation

      • Home
      • About
      • Testimonials
      • Contact
      • Blog

      Home Loans

      • FHA Loan
      • VA Loan
      • Reverse Mortgage
      • Conventional

      Loan Purpose

      • Mortgage Refinance
      • Home Purchase
      • Get Pre-Qualified

      Resources

      • Home Loan Basics
      • Mortgage Calculator
      • How to Refinance
      • Interest Rates & Their Meaning
      • Today’s Rates

      Locations

      • Mortgage Rates
      • Mortgage Broker
      • First Time Home Buyers
      BBB Accredited BusinessEqual Housing LenderNMLS Consumer Access

      Copyright © 2021 · maureen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

      Custom Footer

      Mission Statement

      To provide our customers with the highest level of customer service and the most competitive mortgage rate and term.

      Learn more about HomePlus Mortgage

      HomePlus Mortgage NMLS ID: 78669
      HomePlus CA BRE: 0142654

      Corporate Headquarters

      Maureen Martin google map

      Get In Touch

      2878 Camino del Rio S #402
      San Diego, CA 92108
      Phone: 619-857-7191
      Email: maureen@mylifelender.com
      Find Us On Google Maps
      NMLS ID: 247664
      CA BRE License: 01266511

      FacebookTwitterYoutube
      Copyright © HomePlus Mortgage | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org | Legal: State and Federal Disclosures and Licenses
      www.dre.ca.gov/consumers