California Mortgage Blog

Making the Youtube Leap in 2022!  A few days ago, out of the blue, I got a call from Lynn Friedman, with whom I had last spoken years ago.  We were initially connected on Active Rain, and to the uninitiated, this is one of the true joys of the platform --- the ability to make a connection across ...

The Four Horsemen of Deals Dead  My wife likes to joke that all I do for my job is talk to people.  "I hear you in there yucking it up all day..." So maybe there is always an element of the truth in jest, but an aspect of these conversations that she does not take into consideration is the near-c...

Refinancing a Jumbo Mortgage After a COVID Forbearance  Despite some recent setbacks that see COVID cases increasing, many of us are optimistic that vaccination rates will continue to go up and all of America will eventually commit to getting the worst of the virus behind us once and for all. The...

Median Home Price, Meet Median Buyer  A very long time ago I saw an email address that read 'averageandhappy@...' and I thought, "Wow, here I've been my whole life trying not to be mediocre and then someone just goes and finds happiness in all of it." I wasn't sure if I should be resentful or rel...

Divorce Buyout Mortgages  I don't think it would have surprised many married couples to learn, as they worked from home in a room that may have doubled and tripled as a dining room, nursery and rec center, that divorce filings were up 34% over the first half of 2020 and as pandemic despondency se...

Can I Get a Jumbo Mortgage with an H-1B Visa? Right now, immigration is a hot topic in the United States.  Also right now, real estate is a hot market in the United States.  And also right now, at the intersection of these two, I field a lot of questions from those with H-1B visas who are looking...

Buying a Home All Cash, Then Getting a Mortgage  Back in a real estate market a long time ago and in a mortgage galaxy far, far away --- otherwise known as 2009/2010 --- some buyers needed to purchase a home with cash, then hope to refinance after they had the keys in hand.  The reason for this? ...

Asian American Support Goes Viral Often, getting the first words down are the hardest. "Writer's block."  But not this time.  So let me start by condemning the recent incident of gun violence against Asian Americans in Atlanta.  Let me take the opportunity to communicate to all Americans of all r...

It's Cool to Conform in 2021 If you know me, you know that I don't like to stick to convention.  I was the teenager who skipped college, moved to Hollywood and played rock guitar.  In my 20's, I saved up vacation time not for sandy white beaches but instead for expeditions to the harsh mountain e...

Marin County Vote by Mail Ballot Drop-Off Locations  This election cycle, there has been much disinformation propagated about voting by mail, and in an effort to help fellow community members arrive at the truth, I am providing below the drop-off locations as an additional way to submit your ball...