By George Pressley, Senior Mortgage Loan Consultant, Integrity First Mutual Mortgage

Mortgage lending has become a very complicated and confusing process, especially over the last several years. A good loan officer will make every attempt to ensure that their customer, the borrower, understands the details of the transaction. But does this always happen? Do they always tell the full truth, the whole truth?

Even a loan officer with the best of intentions may withhold a complete explanation, possibly due to ignorance, inexperience, or impatience. That is why it’s best to arm yourself with some details to ask your loan officer. Here are a few areas that may not be on the top of a loan officer’s list of information to divulge to every customer:

Analyzing an Interest Rate Buy Down

Getting a below-market rate through a buy down, a mortgage subsidy that lowers interest rates in the early years of the loan, may sound attractive, but what is the real cost? To determine if a buy down is financially feasible, first figure out the principal and interest payment without the buy down fee (par price). Then determine the principal and interest with the buy down fee and subtract it from the former to arrive at your potential monthly savings. Lastly, the buy down fee is divided by the monthly savings to estimate how many months you will need to retain ownership just to recoup the cost of the discount. If you plan to retain ownership, at least past the break even point, then the better choice is to buy the interest rate down.

Lender Overrides

Presently, most loans are underwritten with computerized software. Some lenders will accept the underwriting results regardless of shortcomings, such as low credit scores or high debt ratios, but almost all lenders have qualifying criteria that supersede or supplement the computerized results. Although you may not be aware of overrides, be persistent in questioning your loan officer if you believe you may have high debt ratios or low credit scores.

Influence on the Decision

The outcome of your loan decision may be directly dependent on the advocacy capacities of your loan officer. Often an organized, thoughtful, and persuasive discussion by your loan officer will change a loan rejection into a loan approval. Generally speaking, loan officers who are employed by banks and credit unions tend to have less influence. Similarly, lenders with an in-house underwriter may have a challenge opposing unfavorable credit decisions. Independent mortgage brokers most often have more flexibility because they are considered to be a customer of the lender. They also have the option, if the results they are after cannot be achieved at a given lender, of moving the loan package to one that may provide a better outcome.

Hopefully this overview will be helpful when you apply for your next mortgage loan.

George Pressley has more than three decades of experience, consisting of 15 years as a real estate agent and 22 years as a loan officer. His specialties are low- and zero-down payment conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans for first-time homebuyers and the self-employed—even for those with low credit scores and high debt ratios. Pressley is a senior mortgage loan consultant at Integrity First Mutual Mortgage in Everett and a contributing writer to HomeMatters, a consumer publication of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties.

By Everett Herald

Brief: The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties was honored by the National Association of Home Builders Remodelers program with an award for Demonstrating Remodeling Excellence in the Public Relations and Promotion category.

By Sadie Normoyle, Built Green™ Coordinator

Built Green relies on the exceptional builders and people who support the program to be where it is today. At the 2016 Built Green Conference, in order to recognize the hard work of Built Green members, we announced the winners of the Built Green Hammer Awards and of the Built Green Pioneer Award.

The Built Green Hammer Awards recognize Built Green members for their outstanding projects and participation over the previous year. The Built Green Pioneer Award recognizes people who have played an integral role in developing and maintaining the Built Green program. Without the time, energy, and support of these Pioneers, Built Green would not be what it is today.

Built Green Hammer Award Winners

Large Production Builder Award Recipient: Isola Homes

Isola Homes is a locally rooted, family-owned company with a passion for building exceptional homes. They collaborate and strive to bring the very best in sophisticated design, modern livability, and unmatched quality in Seattle’s most desirable locations. Their ultimate goal is to create a place that inspires you to live with the same passion that they had for building your home. Over the past year, they have certified 114 homes with Built Green: seventeen at the 3-Star level, 92 at 4-Star, and five at 5-Star.

Small Production Builder Award Recipient: DEP Homes

DEP Homes strives to provide the Seattle housing market with quality homes that are technologically advanced and environmentally responsible. Their homes are strategically located in desirable neighborhoods in order to promote sustainable living through convenient access to shopping, public transportation, and major employers. In the last year, they have realized their vision for elegant sustainability through major projects like “DEP City 15” and “DEP Columbia.” Over the past year, they have certified 39 homes as 4-Star Built Green.

Multi-family Builder over 150 Units Award Recipient: Heartland Construction for their Discovery West Project

DevCo, Inc. is a privately held real estate investment company, and Heartland Construction is their construction affiliate that is responsible for building all of their projects. With more than 20 years of experience, together they professionally develop, build, and own multi-family apartment communities. Some unique aspects of the Discovery West project were the use of a common domestic hot water system, high energy efficient HVAC system for the common areas in the buildings, and use of low- or no VOC and eco-friendly finish materials throughout the interiors of the buildings. Heartland Construction has done an excellent job incorporating Built Green Standards seamlessly into the project. Their experience on the first two developments helped them to understand the process so the certification process on this project was completed rapidly. Their most recent certification was for 209 4-Star units.

Multi-family Builder of 50-100 Units Award Recipient: Aegis Living

Aegis Living was chosen for this award for their brand new, 129-unit Aegis of Queen Anne at Rodgers Park assisted living community development. The Aegis of Queen Anne at Rodgers Park project met and surpassed Built Green 4-Star requirements. The development collects and retains 80% of storm water and building water discharge; used only low-VOC and low-toxic interior paints and finishes for all surface areas (including doors, windows, and trim); controlled building moisture; used effective air distribution and filtration systems; sent at least 85% of jobsite waste to a local recycling center; and maximized efforts to install locally-produced materials (local windows, cement, and wood).

Multi-family Builder up to 50 Units Award Recipient: Sola 24 LLC

Sola 24 LLC achieved Built Green 4-Star certification for a 23-unit project in Seattle this past year. Their premise was simple - super tight buildings consume less energy for heating and cooling. In order to achieve this, they used spray foam insulation to achieve a virtually airtight building shell. In addition, all penetrations, such as lights, switches, and outlets were sealed with caulking or gaskets and large, high-tech Andersen E-Series windows that provide natural daylight for both light and warmth. This combination of efficiency and natural light makes the spaces inviting and relaxed.

Small Speculative or Custom Builder Award Recipient: Fairwinds Development LLC

Fairwinds Development is a family-owned, father-and-son-operated developer of single-family and low density multi-family homes in North Seattle neighborhoods. The Eltovar rowhouse project that they have been working on this past year is an example of a certified 4-Star Built Green project. Over the past year, they have achieved certification for nine 4-Star projects.

Builder Remodeler Award Recipient: Malboeuf Bowie Architecture

This past year Malboeuf Bowie Architecture certified a 5-star remodeled home in the Wedgewood Neighborhood– the only 5-Star remodel so far in 2016. They kept the foundation (minimizing ground disturbance) and installed a new concrete slab floor with hydronic radiant heating. With a 6.4 kW solar PV system, the home is modeled to perform 45% better than new homes built to code.

Judge’s Choice Award Recipient: Model Remodel for their 4-Star Built Green Certified DADU

Model Remodel’s backyard cottage in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood received Built Green 4-Star certification for its calculated design and mindful construction. Durability, energy efficiency, and overall user-healthiness come together in this comfy second story studio dwelling atop a two-car garage. The trees around the unit offer privacy and the feeling of a tree house while the windows on the north and south open to carry the cool, aromatic, Lake Washington breeze through during the summer heat.

Project of the Year Award Recipient: TC Legend Homes, for their two Built Green 5-Star net zero energy homes in Victory Heights

The two units by TC Legend Homes are stunning examples of healthy, sustainable, and energy efficient single-family homes. Located on two peaceful wooded lots in the Victory Heights neighborhood of Seattle, the outward appearance of these 5-Star dwellings belie their advanced construction and ultra-high performance. The homes are constructed using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) which is one of the trademarks of builder Ted Clifton, a leading figure in the net-zero energy building community. TC Legend Homes also included many advanced energy efficiency measures in addition to the 9.5 kW solar arrays on each roof. They also meet 100% rainwater infiltration on site, have continuous exhaust ventilation, and used salvaged materials from the previous home.

Built Green Pioneer Award

David Barnes

Sam Lai

Aaron Fairchild

The Built Green Pioneer Award this year was award to David Barnes, Sam Lai, and Aaron Fairchild. David Barnes pioneered the green building priority permit review in the City of Kirkland as well as makes a big effort to reach out and loop builders into the Built Green program.

Sam Lai and Aaron Fairchild, both of Green Canopy, have worked tirelessly to support Built Green and have come up with idea after idea to better the program. They played a huge role in the conference this year and in the past. Sam Lai sits on the Built Green Marketing Subcommittee and Aaron Fairchild was on the Built Green Executive Committee and now is an MBA Board Member.

While it was difficult to select the nominees and award recipients from such a talented, hard working group of Built Green members, we wish to thank everyone who has been involved with and helped Built Green over the course of this year. We are already looking forward to next year’s Built Green Conference and sincerely hope you will join us!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Sharon Couts
Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties
425.499.1723

REX/T-REX Awards of the Master Builders Association Wins National Award

Bellevue, Wash., October 25, 2016—The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) was recently honored with a national Council Award for Demonstrating Remodeling Excellence (CADRE) award, Public Relations and Promotion category, in recognition of their Remodeling Excellence (REX) and Trade Remodeling Excellence (T-REX) awards program. The CADREs are presented each year by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodelers program.

The awards were announced October 6 during the annual NAHB Remodelers awards presentation at the 2016 Remodeling Show in Baltimore.

The MBA took home the honors in the public relations category of the CADREs for their work on their 30th anniversary Remodeling Excellence (REX) Awards event. Their efforts to improve the event resulted in an attendance increase of more than 100%, an 18% increase in award entry submissions, and triple the number of sponsorships from 2015.

The CADRE is the NAHB Remodelers' highest national award for work at the local level. To learn more about the REX/T-REX program, visit mbaks.com/rc

About the MBA

Founded in 1909, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) has grown to become the largest residential home builders association in the United States. With 2,800 member companies, the MBA is dedicated to membership value, government advocacy, financial stewardship, and promoting the residential building industry in the Puget Sound Region. The Association and its members address many of the concerns and issues affecting the residential housing industry. If you are looking to buy, build, remodel, or maintain your home, trust the MBA for industry professional referrals and practical information to get the job done. mbaks.com

ABOUT NAHB

The National Association of Home Builders, or NAHB, is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 140,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB builder members will construct about 80% of the new housing units projected in 2016.

###

By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

Your association has created a new report called Builder's Bulletin that aggregates key housing statistics of interest to our industry, such as home price and permit data and supply of housing inventory. This report will be updated monthly and made available to members. The Builder's Bulletin is intended to provide a convenient way to track housing in our market and includes information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, U.S. Census Bureau, Office of Financial Management and the Washington State Employment Security Department.

Download this month's report:

By Economic Development Council

The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) is the nation's oldest and largest local homebuilders association. The MBA serves every area of the residential homebuilding industry and the EDC was able to get the inside scoop from Shannon Affholter, Executive Director on the organization's services and long-term goals.

Read article

By the Everett Herald

Members of Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, Professional Women in Building Council, and AAA KARTAK on Sept. 30 volunteered to rake, measure, dig, and plant around the future homes of low-income families at Housing Hope’s Main Street project in Monroe.

By MBAKS Senior Policy Analyst Allison Butcher

On Sept. 15, the third annual Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties Housing Summit drew a large crowd as we addressed our region's housing affordability crisis.

Governor Jay Inslee offered the keynote speech highlighting the need to produce more housing units and find greater efficiencies in our permit and regulatory processes. Other speakers included Windermere economist Matthew Gardner; Solid Ground President and CEO Gordon McHenry Jr.; John DesCamp of Washington Trust Bank; and Peter Orser, the director of the University of Washington's Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.

An exclusive video detailing the struggles families face buying a home in today's market was produced for the Summit. You can also view photos from the event.

Next Steps

The Housing Summit helps launch and build momentum for your association's legislative priorities in Olympia. Housing affordability will be the focal point of those efforts in 2017 and beyond. The MBA has identified a number of areas where we plan to focus our advocacy efforts with the hope of improving housing affordability for all of our region's residents.

Specifically, the MBA will continue working to focus policy action on our region's buildable land supply; restore and protect vested development rights; address condo construction defect liability; ensure funding for housing and homeless programs occurs parallel with increased housing supply; and incentivize affordable housing. We have shared these priorities with Governor Inslee's Affordable Housing Advisory Board (AHAB) and are making sure our voice is heard in Olympia.

The MBA also surveyed Housing Summit attendees to get their thoughts on how we can address the housing affordability crisis and we are taking this feedback into consideration. Ideas include such things as increased densities in single family neighborhoods, more focus on multifamily housing, reforming the Growth Management Act, concentrating resources on infrastructure, addressing the skilled labor shortage in the construction industry, and taking further steps to address the homeless crisis.

For more on the specific ideas discussed at the Housing Summit, the Seattle King County REALTORS® wrote this re-cap of the event and the Lens featured it here.

A LEGACY OF BUILDING IN THE PUGET SOUND

Bellevue-based BDR Companies provides investment, development, and home construction in the Puget Sound area. With highly respected backgrounds in the residential development community, BDR executives have been recognized with major industry awards, including national Gold Nugget Awards for building excellence, Builder of the Year (twice), more than 100 industry-wide MAME Awards, and numerous Built Green recognitions.

Todd Bennett is the founder and president of BDR Companies. Prior to that, he was a principal in Bennett Homes for 30 years. In his current role, Todd puts together developer partnerships for BDR’s residential building projects. “Our partnerships mostly build homes. We have two groups: BDR Homes for homes priced under two million and BDR Fine Homes for homes priced over two million.”

MORE THAN 20 YEARS IN THE MBA HEALTH TRUST

Between Bennett Homes and BDR, Todd has been a member of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA) for 34 years (once serving as President) and the MBA Health Trust for 21 years. “MBA’s health insurance is a big benefit for us,” says Todd. “We’ve used the Trust from the beginning. All of our employees are on our plan now. We’ve always been able to provide good coverage for them. And it’s affordable for us.”

SIGNIFICANT COST SAVINGS

The MBA Health Trust has provided Todd and his companies with consistently lower premiums. “We’ve looked at other health insurance providers, but we’ve never been able to get the same combination of cost savings plus benefits,” he says. “The MBA plan has consistently been 10-15 percent less cost, even with the big increases in health insurance premiums since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”

REGENCE BLUESHIELD “KEEPS IT SIMPLE”

Regence BlueShield is the MBA Health Trust’s insurance partner, and Todd has had good experiences with them over the years. “The Regence plan is flexible. So far, we haven’t had a hitch at all on who we can use and what’s covered—even with large medical issues. Regence has covered most everything so far and kept it simple.”

MBA MEMBER BENEFITS ALSO INCLUDE BUILDER ADVOCACY

In addition to the MBA Health Trust, Todd’s long membership in the MBA has helped his business in other ways. Todd says the MBA has a very strong government relations group. “A great benefit to MBA membership is the advocacy role the MBA plays,” he says. “We get a common voice in the industry. Local municipalities listen to the MBA. That’s a primary benefit from a builder standpoint. The MBA gives the builders more of a collective voice. It’s very powerful. The MBA has helped get code changes that benefit the home building industry adopted, for example.”

CITIES LISTEN, PROCESSES ARE EXPEDITED

Todd cites challenges with some cities and how the MBA interceded. “We were having slowdowns with building permits and the MBA got involved and arranged a meeting with city officials. This got the process moving forward quicker.”

It’s Hot in Seattle

No question about it: Seattle’s housing market is “hot” - and the media is paying lots of attention. A recent article in The Seattle Times questioned whether Seattle is becoming the next San Francisco, which is known for its multimillion-dollar homes and sky-high monthly rents. Seattleites can’t stop talking about the “out-of-control affordability crisis,” according to an article on The Stranger’s website.

Even national news agencies are cringing at Seattle’s housing market. In fact, Money Magazine selected Seattle as one of the “Hottest Housing Markets of 2016.” Seattle has seen its median home prices rise to the highest point ever at $594,600, according to Zillow in October 2016.

All Bad?

But this “hot” housing market isn’t all bad. For Built Green, it has had some positive aspects. The Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections has a program called Priority Green Expedited that shortens the time it takes for builders to get a new construction permit if they’re building green. To be eligible, the project must be enrolled with specific green building organizations, including Built Green, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and Living Building Challenge. Plus, builders must achieve a basic set of Priority Green requirements for energy and water conservation, waste reduction, stormwater management, and indoor air quality.

In return, builders get priority in scheduling intake appointments, faster initial review of their plans, faster routing of their plans, and faster processing of their permit. All of this saves them time and money while delivering customer satisfaction and encouraging Seattle’s goal to make green building standard practice. It also helps Seattle meet its climate action goals to reduce building-related carbon emissions.

“The ‘hot housing market’ has helped to increase the total number of applicants who use Priority Green Expedited to get their permits faster,” said Jess Harris, the Priority Green Program Manager. “Over the last several years, SDCI has seen about 20% of the eligible project applications use Priority Green Expedited and a huge majority of those are choosing Built Green to reach their sustainability goals. This equates to about 200 projects a year reaching at least Built Green 4-Star.” In this hot housing market, green builders have even more of a leg up on the competition as they take advantage of these incentives.

Save time, save money, and help Seattle meet its climate action goals: register a project with Built Green today!