Creekside Mortgage - Blog
News, tips, and updates just for you!Are surviving spouses of military veterans eligible for a VA home loan?
Recently I was presented with a question that I think few people take into consideration when talking about the VA Home loan program. The question was asked by a young woman I met at the dog park. She asked “Can I use my husband’s VA benefit to buy a house if he was...
Why Am I Only Eligible For $36,000?
So you got your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) and it says that you qualify for $36,000. That’s great if you could get into your time machine and buy a house back when that amount was decided on in 1987! Let’s take a step back and get a little history on the VA...
Does the VA Lend Money?
When beginning the process of purchasing a home, it’s important to understand the different roles that each organization plays. We will focus on three organizations to answer the question, “does the VA lend money?” You need to understand what a mortgage broker is and...
The Silver Lining of Winter Rates.
There will not be a Week in Review video this week but our hope is that this post will help make up for the missing video. Rest assured, Creekside Mortgage, Inc. will have a video post next week for your viewing pleasure. Mortgage rates have risen to 3 month...
The Calm Before the Storm
We’re experiencing the normal calm that happens before the storm, and it’s about to break loose. The Federal Reserve will be making an announcement Wednesday, and is expected to discuss (again) the plan to pull out of the bond market. If they announce or even hint...
Basic Home Loans
That beautiful house just down the street, it’s the one you drive by and think to yourself, “If I had that house I would have a huge garden, swings for the kids and a garage to finally work on my bike.” Well, it just went on the market. There is a big, bright for sale...
Christmas Around the Corner
Whether you’re aware of it or not, Christmas is quickly approaching! Based on the relatively limited number of Christmas cards I’ve received this year, I’d say the season has snuck up on a lot of people. That or my family made it on far fewer people’s “nice lists”. We...
How to Fail a VA Loan
Getting a VA loan can be a complicated process, and there are a lot of resources out there giving advice on what you should do to simplify the process. But what about the things you shouldn’t do? During the process of buying a home using the VA benefit, there are many...
Vets Hiring Vets Shout Out
By Joe Kuziel With so many organizations claiming to assist veterans, I wondered how much they actually helped. I soon found that my skepticism was, in fact, warranted. My struggle was not in finding just any job, but in finding a career that was both rewarding and...
Thanksgiving Challenge
Thanksgiving is almost here and whether you’re looking forward to spending time with friends and family or dreading the event entirely we all have something to be thankful for. The lessons I learned in Iraq are true still today, “things can always get worse”, that’s...
Of Service and Sacrifice
With Thanksgiving around the corner, it’s easy to get caught up in the commercialism, family, and food. I don’t have any problem with doing that, and enjoying the season, but I encourage you to take a moment to not only be grateful, but truly show your gratitude....
Veterans Deserve It, Our Economy Needs it – The VA Loan
This nation’s pride and joy, our military veterans, have put their lives on the line for the rights and values we hold dear. It’s no wonder we have no problem offering those service members the opportunity to get into housing with much more relaxed lending standards...
When to Buy a Home?
Buying a home is one of the most exciting and nerveracking decisions most people will make in their lifetime. It is also likely to be the single largest purchase most people will ever make. With all the stress of buying a home, it’s no wonder you’re questioning when...
What Makes America Great?
Isn’t it nice to have dedicated holidays to help us remember the things that are important to us? I know we should always be grateful, especially for the men and women who sacrificed so much for us, but life gets overwhelmingly busy. I’m grateful we have days like...
Symbol of Freedom Luncheon
This year our own Mike Frakes represented Creekside Mortgage, Inc at the 2013 Symbol of Freedom benefiting CDM Long-Term Care services. This year’s event not only honored our Veteran’s but also commemorated a dark day in history. Fifty years ago this month, President...
Happy Veteran’s Day
Veteran’s Day is just around the corner and if you were wondering what to do this weekend we have compiled a short list of free eats and treats, shopping and entertainment. Get out of the house and see a parade! On Saturday, November ninth come hear cannons fire and...
National Association of Realtors 2013 Report
The National Association of Realtors puts out an annual report on the current home buying environment. If you’re a numbers person like me, this report is priceless. But, I’m probably correct in assuming that the majority of you are not so intrigued by the numbers, and...
CCVAC Black Tie Event
On Friday, November first, Creekside Mortgage, Inc attended the Clark County Veterans Assistance Center’s Black Tie dinner and auction. Proceeds from the event will go towards assisting veterans as they make the transition from military to civilian life. The evening’s...
Happy Halloween
Creekside Mortgage, Inc would like to extend a happy and heartfelt congratulation to Michael “Mike” Frakes for winning this year’s mandatory potluck and costume contest! Mike took best in show as the club wielding Neolithic loan specialist. Way to go Mike! Hurry...
27th Annual Veterans Day Parade
Join Creekside Mortgage, Inc as we honor our veterans on Saturday November 9th at 11am. As a sponsor, we will be celebrating 27 years of the Lough Lagacy Veterans Parade at Fort Vancouver. The parade will begin with an Air Force fly over and a...
Is it time to move?
The market has made a big turn since the crash that started back in 2007. In fact, home sales have recovered nearly half what they had lost. Over the past few months, the home market has largely been in favor of sellers, but is it starting to change? According to the...
Interest Rates Hit Four Month Low
We have all heard of the stock market and watched during the news as reporters give a brief synopsis of the current state of the economy. However, this does not always reflect the situation for home buyers or home owners. What many are not accustomed to hearing...
Home Sales Drop, But Veteran Loans Go Sky High
Housing Market in General After months of rapidly inflating sales and home prices, the market began it’s adjustment in September. Home sales dropped 1.9% in September from their 5.39 million in August to 5.29 million. Economists have been anticipating this adjustment,...
New Bold Interest Rate Prediction
Over the last several months, we’ve seen some very dramatic roller coaster rides for the economy and mortgage interest rates. Between the Federal Reserve threatening to begin pulling out of the bond market and the political battle over the Affordable Care Act, the...
Announcing Someone Brand New
As a team of United States Veterans, Creekside Mortgage is proud to announce the addition of United States Navy Veteran Joe Kuziel! Joe graduated from the US Army Special Operations Combat Medic Course and then served in the Navy as a Reconnaissance Corpsman for the...
Business as Usual
The Shutdown and Debt Ceiling Tuesday marked 8 straight days of the government shutdown, and with an unpredictable end and a looming national debt default, the market is hunkering down and bracing for a big economic storm. October 17th is the deadline for the two...
No Sweets, So Sweet October Challenge
This month several people in our office have committed to a no sweets challenge until Halloween! We were so impressed by this goal that we wanted to share it with all of you, and invite you to join us. While it’s completely up to you for how strict you want to be,...
The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Oh wait, never mind.
What will happen with mortgages in light of the Government shutdown? The stock market suffered Monday as it anticipated the government shutdown. Then what the market feared, actually happened, and the result, the market improved as of Tuesday morning, mortgage...
VA Loan Interest Rates
What is the benefit of doing a VA loan versus a conventional loan. We often think of VA loans, which are designed for active duty military and United State Veterans, as a loan that gets you a better rate. While this is usually the case, there are several other reasons...
Using a Realtor
For most people, buying a home is a very important decision that is only made a few times in a lifetime. So how is the average person supposed to know all the possibilities and options available when buying a home? You simply can’t because it’s not your job, and...
Running to the End
Summer is coming to an end and while it may be sad, it has brought some pretty nice changes in the market. Ok, we’ll be the first to admit that the start of Summer brought some very unpleasant changes including a drastic spike in interest rates. But with Summer...
Wow! Big Surprise From the Fed
The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that they would continue their asset purchases at the rate of $85 billion per month. Ben Bernanke, chair of the Federal Reserve said that there is no calendar for when they will begin to pull back from their asset purchases, but...
Big News in the Mortgage Industry Coming Soon.
Wednesday is quickly approaching, and it’s the day that we’ve been waiting for since late May. Ever since the word leaked that the Federal Reserve might begin reducing it’s monthly $85 billion bond market purchases, September 18 was considered to be the day that...
The History Behind the VA Loan
Due to service, military personnel are often removed from what is considered traditional circumstances. Whether its being deployed overseas or stationed on a military base stateside, our military end up with limited opportunities to build tradition credit histories...
Remember 9/11
If you listen to the news and politics, there is a lot of controversy and political agendas surrounding 9/11. Especially when you look at the 2001 and 2012 attacks together. We want to step back from all the rhetoric and agendas, and share our appreciation to all the...
FHA Eases Up on Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Wait
Over the last five years or so, there were an increased number of short sales because of negative economic situations for millions of people. For many people, these foreclosures and short sales have ruined their credit and made it extremely difficult to get back into...
ARMs, APRs, and MPRs
In the mortgage industry there are many acronyms, and they make it difficult and intimidating for Veterans to get loans. So we’ve put a list of terms on our website that are commonly used in a VA loan transaction. But before we direct you there, we’d like to...
The Three Reasons to Buy VA
There are several reasons you should use your VA benefit to buy a home. Veterans and military families all over the country are taking advantage of the huge savings that a VA loan brings, and we want to tell you why. In many cases, buying a home using a VA loan is...
How income is verified on a VA loan.
You know you’re a reliable and honest person, but the lender knows other people aren’t always like you. As a result, lenders have several standards to help measure your ability to repay the money you borrow. It’s easy to see getting a mortgage from a one sided...
Housing Market Week in Review 8.23.13
Interest rates for home loans have been going crazy, especially this last week. The main driver behind the interest rate spike is the looming pullback that no one seems to know when exactly will happen. This week’s big driving force was the release of minutes from the...
To Rent or to Buy?
Ten years ago the market was setting the foundation to have a major housing crash. Looking back now, for a lot of people, it would have been better to rent. Unfortunately we didn’t know, and a lot of people learned the hard way, that what goes up, must come down....
Here comes the BOOM…or did it already happen?
Getting a new home has been a little more difficult the last few months. More people are trying to buy in a market where less homes are available for sale. Another large factor in the ability to buy a home is interest rates. Interest rates have been increasing...
New Newsletter
We just released this month’s newsletter! We know it’s later than usual, but it’s because we wanted to be able to include the announcement of our new website and video series. We know that the mortgage industry can sometimes be a little daunting. That’s why...
New Video Resource
You are very important to us. That’s why we’ve allocated so many of our resources to a new tool for you. Each week, Kerry Greenwald, the owner of Creekside Mortgage, will be doing two videos with topics that are meant to help you. The first video is part of a...
Brand New Website
We're thrilled to announce our brand new website, loaded with tools and resources to help you prepare to finance your current or new home! We'll have weekly videos that share insights and tips about the loan process. We'll also have a "Week in Review" video featuring...
Starter Home Problems
We’ve talked about it before and you’ve noticed it - housing prices have gone up. In some of the most dramatic circumstances, places in Florida and Nevada saw a 20% increase in home values. Fortunately the rapid increase in home prices has leveled off. Most analysts...
Who’s Buying Homes?
When it comes to buying homes, there are three groups to pay attention to. The largest group of purchasers is existing homeowners who are “moving-up”, “moving-down”, or “moving-over”. They bought 44.6 percent of homes in June, up from 43.8 percent in May. Then you...
The Week In Review
Interest Rate Performance This week has been a good week for interest rates. They have mostly stabilized, which is a good thing since the past two months have brought a fairly dramatic upward spike. Interest Rate Future It appears that interest...
Resource Guide for Military Families
Every year the Southwest Washington Region - American Red Cross produces a book of helpful resources for military families. One of our favorite parts of the book is the section that lists various discounts at stores and for services. They have compiled a list of 174...
Negotiating
What comes to mind when you think of the word “negotiate”? There are lots possible reactions to this word. Many people get nervous, other people feel a sense of pride in their ability to crush the competition. Negotiating is really about two things. The first is to...