Realty411 Magazine The Future of Real Estate is Here | Page 22

But With A Few New Tricks
S
By Robb Magley
teve Bighaus has
been in the mortgage
industry long enough
to see a lot that looks familiar
about today’s market.
“I tell people, as far as qualifying,
we’re back to lending as it was 20
years ago,” said Bighaus, senior loan
officer for SecurityNational Mortgage
Company. “I mean obviously we have
a few tools we didn’t have back then —
credit reports are instantaneous, we’ve
got the automated underwriting system,
and so on. But as far as documentation
type, we’re back to that full-doc loan.”
After last July’s bump in interest
rates, things are settling back into a
more comfortable area that Bighaus says a lot of his
investors still find attractive. “I still see a lot of people
who want to get into investment properties obtaining
financing, because it’s a great time right now to do it,”
said Bighaus. “Terms are still great, you know — 30-
year money, getting high 4’s and low 5’s, that’s still
pretty cheap money when you’re looking at investment
properties.”
As more people enter the market, Bighaus said
he’s seeing investors follow the lenders’ lead as far as
trending toward more traditional investment models —
20-25% down payments, for example, and buy-and-hold
investments outnumbering fix-and-flip plans.
“I’ve only seen a handful of people in the last couple
of years who have bought their properties and turned
around and sold them right away,” said Bighaus.
“Everything I see with my clients right now is portfolio
building, because they’re all thinking about retirement.”
One of the results of that is the increased popularity
among investors of 15-year mortgages, especially
for loan amounts associated with smaller properties;
Bighaus said savvy borrowers are looking at the small
difference in payments and seeing big advantages to
Realty411Guide.com

strategy
Mortgage Industry
Goes Back To Basics–
shorter terms.
“Where I really see it is in those loan amounts below
$50,000,” said Bighaus. “When you look at the difference
between 30-year and 15-year terms on a loan of that size,
for $50 or $100 difference in the payment every month,
you’ve got a better rate, you’ve got more money being
applied to principal every month, and you’ve cut your
term in half. They’re thinking long term; if they can get it
paid off in 15 years, then they’re that much farther ahead
of the game.”
And the game is growing; Bighaus’ company continues
to expand its footprint, operating today in a dozen states
with more being added by the end of this year and still
more planned for 2015. That can mean a lot of traveling,
but Bighaus sees it as part of what differentiates his
service from the competition. “Wherever investors
are buying property, that’s where we’re focusing our
business,” he said. “I like to visit the markets that I loan
in, because I like to actually see the inventory and meet
the people.”
Bighaus is seeing a lot of his customers come back with
PAGE 22 • 2014
Continued on pg. 85

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