Eric Patterson's Q&A

I stopped using them months ago because of their incredibly slow Underwriting turn times. Condolences to all of their employees and families not to mention everyone waiting to get a loan financed.

According to their website they are based in Highlands Ranch.Here's a link with contact information; http://www.bancgroup.com/contact_us.htm#Highlands Ranch, CO Office

Could you please elaborate on your question. Are you asking about price, square footage, or location?

zakeller,You would have to prove the broker acted on bad faith but if their company policy does in fact limit the Lock-in rate to the property you will probably have no recourse. Unless you are an attorney with plenty of time on your hands I would advise to move on to another lender.Most of the banks I broker for (Wells Fargo, M&T Bank, Chase) allow the borrower to change properties and loan amounts as long as the ratios are within the same guidelines as the original property on the Rate Lock.

The Lock-in is based on the borrowers qualifications to repay the loan and not on the property being purchased.As long as the new loan amount does not affect your Debit to Income ratios you should be able to retain the original Lock.

Generally asking prices increase during the spring, summer, and fall since that is the time most people are looking to buy a home. If you look at this link it will show the asking prices for the Denver/Boulder metro area have risen quickly since April. http://housing-watch.com/regionview.aspx?city=Denver&pct=50&g=mIf you are not in a hurry to buy I would recommend waiting till the winter holidays since that is the time sellers drop asking prices and are more willing to make a deal in Boulder.Good luck with your search! 

You can check to see if your loan is with Fannie Mae at this site. Currently Freddie Mac loans are not covered by the HARP program but hopefully this will change in the near future. http://loanlookup.fanniem ... anlookup/You will have to subordiante the second loan since the HARP program only covers first liens. 

jkonstant,"Good news for a buyer means they got a deal that might sustain as values decline. A $200K property today might be worth $180K in six months or a year from now. A 10% decline is more likely than a 5% increase."The Denver market has already sustained a 10 to 35% decline in property values in the last 3 years. Forecasts for 2009 housing prices predict a loss of 5% in the Denver area, 11% in Aurora, and 12% in Boulder, most of these properties were bought at the height of the market or are in heavily foreclosed neighborhoods. Despite those forecasts a 2 to 5 % increase in prices has been consistent in the more desirable neighborhoods for the past 2 years. While maybe "good news" wasn't the correct term since we do not know the neighborhood in question I think it applies for buying any home for the long term in the Colorado market considering the metro area is expected to increase in population by over 25% in the next 15 years as well as other factors to numerous to list here.Good luck Gingeran, I hope your deal goes through!

It's good news for the buyer if the appraised value is lower than the purchase price because this will give you leverage over the seller to amend the contract to the appraised value.The lender will use the appraised value instead of the purchase price on the contract to underwrite the loan. Generally a $5,000 difference should not kill the deal unless the lower value is because of the homes poor condition which is a red flag to underwriting.

Joe makes a good point, winter time is a great time to buy.Here's a chart from Housing Watch with more information showing San Francisco's inventory and recent asking prices.http://www.housing-watch.com/regionview.aspx?city=San-Francisco&pct=75&g=m