Is there such a thing as a 1 percent down mortgage? In other words, can you really make a 1-percent down payment when you buy a home? Well, you may be able to if you have a modest income and a 620 credit score.
But such mortgages are in their infancy. And only three lenders currently offer them. However, if they prove a success, others will likely join in and some of those may have easier eligibility rules. Already, one innovator is offering such a loan free of mortgage insurance.
Verify your home buying eligibility. Start here
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What is a 1 percent down mortgage?
The clue’s in the name. With one of these, you really do have to make only a 1 percent down payment when you buy a home.
The first 1 percent down mortgage was introduced as recently as April 2023. So, you can expect them to evolve quite quickly.
Undoubtedly, many mortgage lenders are watching how this innovation works out for the pioneers and their borrowers. If they like what they see, 1 percent down mortgages could become widely available mortgage programs.
Check your home buying options. Start here
How does one of these mortgages work?
The mechanics couldn’t be more straightforward. As long as you’re eligible, you bring 1% of the home’s purchase price to the closing. And the lender brings the other 2% as a gift. That’s a no-strings grant, which never has to be repaid.
Check your home buying options. Start here
In fact, it’s even better than that. Because, if you have a 3% down payment, the lender may still give you the 2% grant, taking your down payment to 5%. Just note that 5% seems to be the maximum under these programs.
Another thing to bear in mind is that a lender might have a cap on the grant it will provide. For example, UWM says it won’t chip in more than $4,000 in total.
Finally, be sure to study your mortgage quote (loan estimate) carefully. Because 1 percent down mortgages are still so rare, we haven’t been able to assess how competitive their interest rates and closing costs are compared with other home loans. So, it’s down to you to make sure you get a great deal.
Qualifying for a 1 percent down mortgage
There are two main qualifying hurdles for you to clear in order to be eligible for one of these loans. The first is straightforward: You need a FICO credit score of 620 or higher.
The second is a bit more complicated. It concerns something we mentioned earlier: a modest income.
But what does that even mean? Well, luckily, there’s a definition for these loans. It states that your income must be at or below 80% of the area median income (AMI) where you’re planning to buy.
Still unclear? You’re not alone. You can use a lookup tool on Fannie Mae’s website to check that AMI for your area. Multiply that by 80% (or .8 on a calculator). If your income is the same or lower, you can go ahead and apply. But, if it’s higher, you’re out of luck. Check out the other low down payment mortgages we mention below.
Rocket Mortgage gives an example of AMI in action: “You can’t qualify if you make higher than 80% of the median income in the area in which you’re looking to buy. For example, if you live in Macomb County, Michigan, the area median income is $90,800. You can’t use [earn] more than $72,640 to qualify for this ($90,800 ×.8 = $72,640).
UWM says its other qualifying criteria are the same as those for Freddie Mac’s Home Possible® or Fannie Mae’s HomeReady® loans. And we shouldn’t be surprised if other lenders have the same requirements. You may also find lenders restricting these mortgages to single-unit family homes for owner occupation.
Pros and cons of a 1 percent down mortgage
The 1 percent down mortgages can offer an enticing path to homeownership with minimal upfront costs, but they also have their pros and cons to consider.
Check your home buying options. Start here
The pros of these mortgages are apparent:
The lender gifts you 2% of the purchase price
First-time homebuyers can achieve their homeownership dreams more quickly than if they had to save up a 3% or 3.5% down payment
Your savings can be used for what you want: closing costs, furniture, and other financial goals.
The cons are:
Not everyone is eligible for this loan product
You need to be sure you’re getting a competitive deal overall
Your risk of spending some time with your home “underwater” (when your home’s value is less than your mortgage balance) is higher
It’s worth expanding on that last point. Having an underwater mortgage loan can trap you in your home. You can’t easily sell or refinance because you can’t “redeem” (fully pay back) your existing mortgage loan.
This doesn’t usually matter if you want to stay put anyway. In the past, average home values have typically recovered (and then some) fairly quickly. But, if you absolutely need to move during that underwater time, you can feel trapped. One escape route may be to rent out the home.
Lenders that offer a 1 percent down mortgage
At the time of writing this article, only three lenders offered these mortgages. Those are:
Check your home buying options. Start here
Rocket Mortgage
The Rocket Mortgage 1 percent down product is called ONE+ loan. And it is the one that charges no mortgage insurance. On a $250,000 mortgage, Rocket reckons that could save you $245 every month for an average of seven years. That’s more than $20,000 in total.
Rocket doesn’t specify a cap on its down payment grant but quotes an example of $6,000. So it’s more generous than UWM’s $4,000 cap.
Rocket Mortgage used to be called Quicken Loans and says it is America’s largest mortgage lender. It came top in the 2022 J.D. Power U.S. Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.
United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM)
Like Rocket, UWM says it’s “the #1 overall mortgage lender and purchase lender in the nation.” While they can’t both be No. 1, there are probably different data sources and ways of interpreting the numbers.
Borrowers can’t approach UWM directly. It operates through its partners, which are mortgage brokers, correspondents and financial institutions. So, you should ask brokers whether they can help get you a UWM Conventional 1% Down loan.
Zillow
The latest lender to offer 1 percent down mortgages is Zillow Home Loans, which launched its program in August 2023. At that point, its offering was available only in Arizona. But it said it planned to expand to other states.
In its launch press release, it is light on the details of its eligibility criteria for these mortgage loans and we are assuming that its income and credit score requirements are the same as the others.
Zillow expands on one of the benefits of its new home loans: “… by reducing the down payment loan amount to 1% of the purchase price, a home buyer looking to purchase a $275,000 home in Phoenix, Arizona, who makes 80% of their area’s median income and saves 5% of their income would need only 11 months to save for the down payment. By comparison, the same buyer who needed to save 3% of the purchase price would require two and half years (31 months) to save that amount.”
With Zillow offering 1 percent down mortgages now, it will be interesting to see how other lenders respond.
Other low down payment mortgage options
A few lucky people can qualify for a 0% down mortgage. And they might not be inclined to make even a 1% down payment.
Verify your home buying eligibility. Start here
Those are the people who are eligible for:
VA loans — You must be a veteran or service member or someone in a tightly defined and closely associated group. Surviving spouses are one example
USDA loans — You must adhere to income limits and be buying in a place designated as rural by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
If you can’t get one of those, you may be able to get a loan with a 3% down payment. Choose between Freddie Mac’s Home Possible® or Fannie Mae’s HomeReady® loans. But you’ll need a 620 credit score to qualify.
If your score is between 580 and 619, you could apply for an FHA loan. These come with a 3.5% down payment. However, if you have time, there are mortgage insurance advantages if you drive your score up to 620 and go for a Fannie or Freddie loan.
The bottom line
A 1 percent down mortgage could provide an exciting opportunity for those on modest incomes who wish to become homeowners. Your lender gifts you 2% of the home’s purchase price so that your total down payment on closing is 3%.
Providing you qualify in other ways puts you in line for a conforming loan, which meets Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac’s rules. And that provides real advantages for your mortgage insurance costs over an FHA loan.
Indeed, Rocket Mortgage says it won’t charge any mortgage insurance on its 1 percent down mortgage, which might save you $20,000+ compared to a standard Fannie or Freddie loan.
So, for those who can get them, these new mortgages can be great. Just be sure to check that your overall deal is competitive.
Time to make a move? Let us find the right mortgage for you
1 percent down mortgage FAQ
Can you put down 1% on a house?
Yes, if your income, credit score, and other circumstances meet the qualifying criteria for a 1 percent down mortgage. You could also do so if you’re eligible for a 0% down loan and choose to make a down payment, which might earn you a lower mortgage rate.
How does a 1 percent down mortgage work?
You put down 1% and your lender gives you a 2% grant, making a 3% down payment. That’s the minimum for a conforming loan from Fannie or Freddie and those typically offer attractive deals.
How do you get a 1% down mortgage?
If you think you’re eligible, apply on Rocket’s website, contact Zillow (Arizona only at the time of writing), or ask mortgage brokers about UWM’s product. Other lenders may begin offering these products soon so watch out for those.
Phoenix, AZ, is known for its warm weather, vibrant art scene, and beautiful desert landscapes. The city is also home to numerous diverse neighborhoods, each with its own unique charm and appeal. Whether you’re looking for a charming community, a trendy urban enclave, or a peaceful suburban area, Phoenix offers something for everyone.
If you’re not sure where to start looking for a home to buy or an apartment for rent in Phoenix, look no further. At Redfin, we’ve compiled a list of 15 popular Phoenix neighborhoods to check out this year. Let’s jump in and see which neighborhood fits your lifestyle.
1. Ahwatukee Foothills
Ahwatukee Foothills is located in the southern part of Phoenix and offers a suburban feel with stunning mountain views. This neighborhood is known for its outdoor recreational activities, such as hiking and biking trails in South Mountain Park. Additionally, Ahwatukee Foothills is home to popular attractions like The Lost Ranch and Mountain Vista Park. The housing types in Ahwatukee Foothills range from single-family homes to townhouses, and the architectural styles include contemporary and Spanish influences.
Median Sale Price: $525,000
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,821 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,773
Homes for Sale in Ahwatukee Foothills | Apartments for Rent in Ahwatukee Foothills
2. Alhambra
Alhambra has a convenient location, just north of downtown. Major attractions in the neighborhood include the Grand Canyon University and Phoenix Winter Wonderland. There are also several parks in the area, such as Cielito Park and Washington Park. The housing types in Alhambra vary, with options ranging from single-family homes to apartments. Architectural styles in the neighborhood include ranch-style homes, bungalows, and mid-century modern designs.
Median Sale Price: $368,350
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,114 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,425
Homes for Sale in Alhambra | Apartments for Rent in Alhambra
3. Arcadia
Arcadia is a popular neighborhood for outdoor enthusiasts, with access to plenty of hiking trails, parks, and golf courses in the area. One of the historic places in Arcadia is Arizona Falls, a revitalized hydroelectric plant. Arcadia features a variety of housing types, including ranch-style homes and modern architecture. The homes often have a beautifully landscaped yards and lush greenery.
Median Sale Price: $1,350,000
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,259 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,975
Homes for Sale in Arcadia | Apartments for Rent in Arcadia
4. Biltmore
Biltmore is known for its shopping, dining, and entertainment options. The neighborhood is surrounded by beautiful parks, including the nearby Piestewa Peak Park and the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. Additionally, Biltmore is rich in historic places, such as the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired landmark. Residences in Biltmore range from luxurious single-family homes to condos and apartments.
Median Sale Price: $850,000
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $2,650 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $2,850
Homes for Sale in Biltmore | Apartments for Rent in Biltmore
5. Camelback East
Camelback East is located in the northeastern part of Phoenix, known for its beautiful views of Camelback Mountain. The neighborhood is home to several major attractions, including the iconic Biltmore Fashion Park and the Arizona Biltmore Resort. Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy the nearby Echo Canyon Recreation Area and Piestewa Peak Park. Camelback East also has a rich history, with notable historic places such as the Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights and the S’edav Va’aki Museum.
Camelback East offers a variety of housing types and architectural styles. You can find luxurious single-family homes, as well as stylish townhouses and condos. The neighborhood features a mix of modern and traditional architectural designs, ranging from contemporary condos to charming ranch-style houses.
Median Sale Price: $570,000
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,325 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,692
Homes for Sale in Camelback East | Apartments for Rent in Camelback East
6. Central City
Central City is known for its vibrant atmosphere, with an array of shops, restaurants, and entertainment options. The neighborhood is also home to several major attractions, including the Arizona Capitol Museum and the Arizona Science Center. Central City is surrounded by numerous parks, such as Barrios Unidos Park and Margaret T. Hance Park, providing residents with ample outdoor recreational opportunities. In terms of historic places, Central City boasts iconic sites like the Rosson House Museum and the Orpheum Theatre. Central City features a mix of housing types, including single-family homes, townhomes, and apartments.
Median Sale Price: $382,500
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,537 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $2,172
Homes for Sale in Central City | Apartments for Rent in Central City
7. Deer Valley
With gorgeous mountain views set against a desert landscape, Deer Valley has a great blend of residential spaces and natural areas. This neighborhood is home to several major attractions, including the Deer Valley Petroglyph Reserve, a popular destination for hiking and exploring ancient petroglyphs. Residents of Deer Valley also enjoy easy access to outdoor recreational opportunities at the nearby Thunderbird Conservation Park.
Deer Valley offers a variety of housing types, ranging from single-family homes to townhouses and condos. Architectural styles in this neighborhood vary, with a mix of modern designs and traditional Southwest influences.
Median Sale Price: $430,000
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,615 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,651
Homes for Sale in Deer Valley | Apartments for Rent in Deer Valley
8. Desert Ridge
Located in northwest Phoenix, Desert Ridge is a popular neighborhood for shopping, particularly along High Street. Major attractions include the Desert Ridge Marketplace, a sprawling outdoor mall with a wide range of shops, restaurants, and a movie theater. The neighborhood also has numerous parks and green spaces, including the scenic Cashman Park.
Desert Ridge offers a diverse range of housing types, from luxurious single-family homes to modern condos and townhouses. Architectural styles in the neighborhood vary, with options ranging from contemporary designs to Mediterranean-inspired villas.
Median Sale Price: $745,800
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,744 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $2,427
Homes for Sale in Desert Ridge | Apartments for Rent in Desert Ridge
9. Downtown
Downtown is located in the heart of the Central City, and has a vibrant atmosphere and bustling city life. Some major attractions in Downtown include Footprint Center, which hosts the Phoenix Suns and various concerts, Chase Field, home to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Crescent Ballroom. Residents can also enjoy various parks such as Margaret T. Hance Park and Civic Space Park. Additionally, Downtown is home to historic places like the Orpheum Theatre and the Rosson House Museum. The housing types in Downtown vary from modern high-rise condos to historic loft-style apartments.
Median Sale Price: $481,000
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,707 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $2,396
Homes for Sale in Downtown | Apartments for Rent in Downtown
10. Maryvale
Maryvale offers easy access to major attractions such as spring training sites like Camelback Ranch and American Family Fields of Phoenix. Residents can also enjoy spending time in the nearby Marivue Park and El Oso Park, which provide green spaces for recreational activities. Maryvale features a mix of housing types, including single-family homes and apartment complexes. Architectural styles in the neighborhood range from traditional ranch-style homes to modern designs.
Median Sale Price: $344,950
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,269 |Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,487
Homes for Sale in Maryvale | Apartments for Rent in Maryvale
11. Moon Valley
Moon Valley is known for its scenic mountain views and lush green golf courses. The neighborhood is home to Moon Valley Park, which offers playgrounds, picnic areas, and walking trails. Other attractions include the Moon Valley Country Club and the Moon Valley Nurseries. Moon Valley consists primarily of single-family homes with a mix of architectural styles including mid-century modern and ranch.
Median Sale Price: $740,000
Homes for Sale in Moon Valley | Apartments for Rent in Moon Valley
12. North Gateway
North Gateway is located at the northern end of Phoenix and is in close proximity to outdoor activities such as hiking and biking trails like the Desert Hills Trailhead. The neighborhood is also home to Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum. North Gateway offers a mix of housing types including single-family homes, townhouses, and apartments. The architectural styles in the neighborhood range from modern to traditional, providing a large selection for residents.
Median Sale Price: $637,500
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,572 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $2,161
Homes for Sale in North Gateway | Apartments for Rent in North Gateway
13. North Mountain
North Mountain is located in Phoenix and is known for its beautiful mountain views and outdoor recreation opportunities. The neighborhood is home to North Mountain Park, a popular destination for hiking and picnicking. Historic points of interest in the area include the Martin Auto Museum and Event Center. Housing in North Mountain consists of a mix of single-family homes and apartments – styles range from modern stucco houses to mid-century ranch homes.
Median Sale Price: $389,700
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,187 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,420
Homes for Sale in North Mountain | Apartments for Rent in North Mountain
14. Roosevelt Row Arts District (RoRo)
The Roosevelt Row Arts District, also known as RoRo, is located in the heart of downtown Phoenix. It’s known for its vibrant arts and culture scene, with numerous galleries, art studios, and street murals. The neighborhood is also home to First Friday, a popular monthly art walk, and hosts various festivals and events throughout the year. RoRo is surrounded by restaurants, bars, and shops, making it a lively and bustling area to live and visit.
The housing options in Roosevelt Row Arts District include a mix of historic bungalows, modern lofts, and contemporary condos. The architectural styles range from adobe-style homes to sleek, urban designs, reflecting the neighborhood’s eclectic atmosphere.
Median Sale Price: $600,000
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $997
Homes for Sale in Roosevelt Row Arts District | Apartments for Rent in Roosevelt Row Arts District
15. Sunnyslope
Sunnyslope is in northern Phoenix. The neighborhood is home to plenty of local restaurants, shops, and parks. It’s also close to Phoenix Mountains Preserve, where you’ll find lots of hiking trails and cacti. Sunnyslope offers a variety of housing options, including single-family homes and townhouses. Architectural styles in the neighborhood range from mid-century modern to ranch-style homes.
Median Sale Price: $345,000
Average Rent 1-Bedroom Apartment: $1,225 | Average Rent 2-Bedroom Apartment: $1,315
Homes for Sale in Sunnyslope | Apartments for Rent in Sunnyslope
Methodology: All neighborhoods must be listed as a “neighborhood” on Redfin.com. Median home sale price data from the Redfin Data Center during September 2023. Average rental data from Rent.com during September 2023.
The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice. See Lexington Law’s editorial disclosure for more information.
Debt consolidation loans usually do not hurt your credit in the long term. Hard inquiries that occur when you apply for a loan can briefly affect your score. Conversely, making your loan payments on time can gradually improve your credit.
Debt consolidation loans usually do not hurt your credit in the long term. These loans can improve your credit by combining your debt into one account. But debt consolidation can initially knock your score down a bit, so it’s important to learn as much as possible about this strategy.
How does a debt consolidation loan work?
Debt consolidation combines multiple debts into a single loan. This reduces your overall interest and helps you organize your debt, making payments more manageable. Debt consolidation loans won’t hurt your credit in and of themselves.
However, hard inquiries that occur when you apply for a consolidation loan can temporarily lower your credit score. There are several ways to consolidate your accounts, and each method has advantages and drawbacks depending on your unique circumstances.
Personal loan
A personal line of credit, or personal loan, is available at any time and can be used to pay off debt quickly. Personal loans can improve your credit by diversifying your credit profile. Paying off debt with a loan rather than with a credit card can also reduce your credit utilization, which may improve your credit health.
Remember that this process involves taking out a loan that you must pay back on time. You may also want to reconsider this option if your current credit rating will limit you to high interest rates on personal loans.
Borrowing from a 401(k)
If you have a 401(k) retirement account, you can borrow up to half this balance as an interest-free option to pay off debt. Borrowing from a 401(k) doesn’t affect your credit, though you must repay the borrowed amount in five years to avoid penalties.
It’s important to remember what a 401(k) is for—retirement. Taking out funds for short-term debt payments can significantly detract from your retirement savings. You may also have to deal with tax repercussions when taking this action.
Home equity loan or line of credit
Home equity loans or lines of credit are perhaps the riskiest forms of debt consolidation, but they also offer some significant benefits. Lenders will offer you a loan and use your home as collateral. If you fail to pay off the loan within the amount of time agreed upon, you could lose your home.
You must have excellent credit to take out a home equity loan or line of credit. When you apply, lenders will hit you with a credit check, which could initially lower your score. The impact on your credit may not be severe, but these loans can also accumulate very high interest.
How does debt consolidation affect your credit?
Each debt consolidation method can affect your credit positively and negatively. Here are a few areas it may have a negative impact:
Credit applications: Applying for a personal loan or a balance transfer card prompts a hard inquiry to be performed on your credit. Hard inquiries can bump down your score by 5 to 10 points, and they can stay on your report for one to two years.
Average age of credit: The ages of your credit accounts matter—typically, the older, the better. Opening a new account lowers your average credit age, which may initially negatively impact your credit.
On the other hand, debt consolidation tends to positively impact the following categories:
Credit utilization: A new debt consolidation account will usually increase the amount of available credit you have. As long as you don’t begin spending significantly more after opening the new account, you’ll be using less of your available credit, which will benefit your credit.
Payment history: Consistently paying off your new loan on time will likely positively impact your credit.
Alternatives to debt consolidation
If debt consolidation doesn’t feel right for you, there are other debt relief options to help restore your peace of mind.
Balance transfer
A balance transfer lets you move debt onto a single credit card with a lower interest rate, allowing you to pay off your debts for less. Many balance transfer cards offer 0 percent APR during an introductory period, providing an interest-free window to pay off debt.
If you decide to pursue a balance transfer card to pay off debt, investigate the card’s APR following the introductory period. Your interest rate may take you by surprise and skyrocket if you don’t do your due diligence.
Debt management program
Debt management services can help by counseling you regarding your options when you’re struggling with debt. A debt management program will likely involve a counselor negotiating lower interest with creditors and potentially closing credit cards.
Visiting a debt management counselor won’t harm your credit at all. However, your credit report may reflect any debt management programs you enroll in until you no longer use them.
Debt settlement or bankruptcy
Debt settlement is negotiating with creditors to pay significantly less money than you owe to have your debt forgiven. Bankruptcy is a long-term legal process that helps people organize and sometimes eliminate their debt.
These two options should be a last resort when struggling to pay off debt, as they can have a significantly adverse effect on your credit. Both debt settlement and bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for seven to 10 years. However, if you need to take care of massive debt now and take wise financial steps in the future, these processes could ultimately be the right solution for you.
Should I consolidate my debt?
Before pursuing debt consolidation, it’s important to take a comprehensive look at the reasons you’re interested in consolidating debt and your plans for the foreseeable future.
Do you have a high interest rate?
If the interest on the debt you owe is 20 percent or more, you’ll likely save money by consolidating debt. However, certain balance transfer options charge exorbitantly high fees. Research beforehand to determine which option saves you more money.
Are you missing payments?
Keeping track of all of your accounts can be stressful. If remembering to pay your bills has been a struggle, and you’ve repeatedly missed payments, debt consolidation may help.
Consolidating your debt could simplify your financial life by allowing you to take care of all payments at once. This will also benefit your credit in the long run, since missed and late payments can harm your credit health.
Do you need excellent credit in the short term?
If you plan to take out a loan or a mortgage soon, you may need to safeguard your credit at all costs. Since many debt consolidation methods will put a temporary dent in your credit, it may be wise to hold off until after a lender has approved you.
Ultimately, whether you decide to pursue debt consolidation and which method you choose depends on the weight of your debts and what would benefit your credit most. If you’re still on the fence, it’s a good idea to consult a financial advisor before making decisions that could have long-lasting consequences.
Whatever decision you make, remember to keep your credit health at the forefront of your mind and take the steps to repair your credit to expand your financial opportunities.
Note: Articles have only been reviewed by the indicated attorney, not written by them. The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial, or credit advice; instead, it is for general informational purposes only. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between the reader, user or browser and website owner, authors, reviewers, contributors, contributing firms, or their respective agents or employers.
Reviewed By
Paola Bergauer
Associate Attorney
Paola Bergauer was born in San Jose, California then moved with her family to Hawaii and later Arizona.
In 2012 she earned a Bachelor’s degree in both Psychology and Political Science. In 2014 she graduated from Arizona Summit Law School earning her Juris Doctor. During law school, she had the opportunity to participate in externships where she was able to assist in the representation of clients who were pleading asylum in front of Immigration Court. Paola was also a senior staff editor in her law school’s Law Review. Prior to joining Lexington Law, Paola has worked in Immigration, Criminal Defense, and Personal Injury. Paola is licensed to practice in Arizona and is an Associate Attorney in the Phoenix office.
Mr. Cooper reported Thursday it had a cybersecurity incident earlier in the week, in which an unauthorized third party gained access to certain technology systems.
Though the lender did not expand upon the attack and its scope, which took place Oct. 31, it did note that for now, some of its systems are offline.
Customers have been alerted of this issue and those “who have tried or need to make payments will not incur fees, penalties or negative credit reporting as we work to resolve this issue, ” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The lender has “initiated response protocols, including deploying containment measures to protect systems and data.” The timeline for when some of its systems will be restored was not disclosed.
“We value our customers and take their data privacy very seriously, and we have launched an investigation with assistance from leading cybersecurity experts and notified law enforcement,” the spokesperson said.
The attack coincides with a number of other cybersecurity incidents hitting the mortgage industry of late.
Earlier this year, companies such as Planet Home Lending and Mutual of Omaha Mortgage disclosed both were impacted by attacks that compromised the personally identifiable information of consumers.
Additionally, home builder Lennar Corp. disclosed that the social security numbers of 7,448 consumers were exposed in a July hack, while Scottsdale, Arizona-based V.I.P. Mortgage was the victim of a malware attack in December 2022, according to a September notice.
Reporting these types of instances will become mandated for mortgage shops early next year as the Federal Trade Commission Friday voted unanimously in October to approve an amendment to its Safeguards Rule to include nonbank financial institutions.
The FTC’s rule requires nonbanks to notify the agency no later than 30 days after discovery of a breach involving the information of at least 500 consumers. Incidents are defined by the agency as events where unencrypted customer data has been acquired without authorization.
The notices must include information about the breach, such as the number of consumers either affected or potentially affected. The reporting requirement goes into effect April 27, 2024.
The thing that drew me to early retirement is freedom, and that’s still the best part of it.
Back in 2005, the primary reason for this freedom-seeking was being able to devote my best hours to being a Dad – I had a feeling my career in tech would be too demanding to sustain once the full-time job of raising children kicked in.
Eighteen years later, wow has that guess ever turned out to be right. Early retirement has proved to be the most amazing, worthwhile adventure and it’s still just getting started. It was an astonishing thirteen years ago that I wrote to you about Little MM starting kindergarten, and now he’s done with high school.
It has given me the space to enjoy so many new experiences, working hard and playing hard sometimes, but also slowing things way down when necessary, to deal with and grow through some real hardships.
But now, with that child-raising phase finally almost done, I’m cashing in a few of those Freedom Chips for a particularly big change: moving to a warm sunny place for the winter to try out a new life in the walkable, bikeable, car-free community you’ve probably heard me raving about in the past: Culdesac Tempe.
So on the first of December I’ll be packing up the essential clothes, tools and gadgets, and throwing my very best mountain bike onto the Model Y to make the epic road trip across the mountains. Just in time to escape the incoming Colorado winter. And my son will be joining me for the trip!
We’ve booked ourselves a spacious two bedroom apartment there, for four full months. Little MM will be roughly alternating his months between Arizona and Colorado so he can still have time with both parents, while I’ll be there the whole time.
A big part of the fun is that this will force me to invent a whole new life for myself, away from the easy comforts of the big community and plentiful construction sites that keep me so busy here. It will be both a big change and a significant challenge, which is exactly what all of us need on a regular basis to keep life full of meaning and joy.
So What Are You Going to Do in Arizona?
The exact details are still in the works, and I’d love to hear your ideas and feedback (see the “get in touch” note below. But here’s what I’ve got so far:
Meet as many new people as possible, and answer the burning question we all have: what kind of people choose to move to a car-free neighborhood in the center of a super-car-based metropolis?
And of course hang out with existing friends who live in the area – did you know our own Coverage Critic (aka Chris Smith) already lives in Culdesac?
Share some of the experiences, whether good or bad, here on MMM and on places like Twitter and Instagram so you can live vicariously through this experience.
Use my newly liberated extra free time to visit their kickass on-site gym to get in extra good shape.
Use more of that free time to write more blog posts and sweep some of the cobwebs off of this neglected online persona of mine.
Look at the weather app on my phone periodically to cackle at the blizzards I’m missing in Colorado and celebrate my good fortune in comparison (the typical “winter” day in Tempe is typically in the mid-70s which means sandals and palm trees and outdoor dining the whole time)
Host a few meetups in Culdesac’s outdoor plazas like we did last March
Start a quirky free handyman business where I help new residents set up their IKEA furniture and move heavy stuff and hang paintings, as a combo of meeting people and being useful and exercising my compulsion to build stuff.
Ride bikes! A lot. Explore the distant corners of the Phoenix metro area and the surrounding desert valley and mountain trails on mountain bikes, regular bikes, and the e-bike that comes included with the first 200 Culdesac apartments.
And perhaps most importantly, help my almost-adult son get all sorts of new experiences during his visits, by living in a brand new city for the first time since he was born waaaay back in the same era as my own early retirement.
Is There a Bigger Picture To All This?
Okay, you’re onto me. If I’m going to go to the trouble of typing shit into the computer and sharing it with you, there’s usually a purpose behind it other than just journaling my own personal life, and this another one of those cases.
First of all, there are the first-layer selfish goals: I want to have the best winter ever, meet a bunch of smart new people, and I also want Culdesac to be a huge success so they will build more neighborhoods like this around the country and set an example that permanently improves the way US cities build and expand themselves in the future.
But even if you don’t care about all that, I also want to use this as a little statement about trying deliberate life changes.
By throwing myself into a new community which aligns so nicely with my own values, I hope to serve as a reminder that maybe you might want to try the same thing. Or just try anything new.
In a comfortable, prosperous country like ours, some of the built in tendencies of Human nature tend to work against us, saying,
“Hey – I’ve noticed we have plenty of food and reasonable shelter and that’s good enough. So let’s just double down on the Netflix, comfort foods, and occasional luxury purchases and that will keep us safe.”
Instead, I want you to set your life treadmill to just a bit of a steeper, healthier incline setting.
That means questioning the status quo and doing your best to keep at least one little experiment on the go in the background. Maybe that means forcing yourself to move to a better place, or taking steps towards getting a new job that gives you a better work-life balance.
The biggest move I ever made was leaving family and friends and my old job behind to move to the US, alone, at age 24. Looking back, I’m shocked I had the courage (and the organizational skills) to pull that off back then. I’ve become older and a bit slower, and so comfortable that it’s hard to imagine doing something so bold now.
But even today 24 years later, I thank my past self every single day for doing it. My present life is an incredibly different and better thing because of that past bit of courage.
The spirit of positive experimentation might also mean starting to challenge your body more regularly – giving it harder work and exposing it to a wider swath of temperatures and movements. Or joining new Meetup groups to expand your circle of friends and experiences.
It doesn’t really matter exactly what you do, as long as you point your feet in what feels like a good direction and just start moving. Create some purposeful change, which will surely feel a bit difficult, simply because change is hard. And hard things are good.
Future Arizona Neighbors: I’ll see you in four weeks!
Further reading:I’ve been reading books, doing life experiments, and writing about the value of strategic hardship for a while now. But the latest is a book called Dopamine Nation by the talented psychiatrist/author named Dr. Anna Lembke.
To summarize: your brain creates a baseline for happiness based on the HARDEST thing you do, and then compares everything else to that. So if you do hard things, life in general seems fantastic because of this perspective. If you eliminate all hardship, suddenly even the pleasures of life seem bland, and you live a spoiled and unmotivated life.
To get in touch: send me a DM on Instagram or use the email address “newsletter” at the domain of this website. (Newsletter subscribers can also just reply to this post if you received it via email.)
Interested in stopping by for your own Mini Culdesac Experiment? They have a few short-term rentals available at rather reasonable rates (less than nearby hotels) – check em out at book.culdesac.com
What will you do with your car?
I’m bringing the car just as a convenient electric moving truck to carry two people and four months of living supplies. Once I get there, I’ll find a safe place to store it offsite* and live the full car-free lifestyle of Culdesac, much like I do when I’m here at home. I typically only use cars to carry really heavy stuff or for trips to other cities and states, but it’s even easier to accomplish this in Tempe with its location right on the light rail and with their onsite bike, scooter and even car sharing lots.
What about your house?
My place in Colorado is currently set up as a two bedroom house on the main floor, plus an apartment with a separate entrance on the walkout lower level. When I’m at home, I use the whole thing as one home – the apartment just makes a great place to host a fairly constant stream of visiting friends. But for the winter I’m hoping to rent out one of these spaces to a friend or trusted acquaintance who will take good care of everything, while I leave the other section free for the occasional visits I’ll be paying to this area over the winter. Aside from keeping an eye on the place, it will be a great way to practice the age-old Mustachian technique of making money while taking vacations!
What Happens at the End of March?
As it stands, I have no plans beyond this point. I’ll head back to Colorado for my home base, but with this being a new phase of life I’ll be layering on new adventures. Aside from the two mountain properties that I’ve been helping to build out, I just teamed up with a friend to help him create an intentional (and somewhat experimental!) living community in Denver called Wild Life Ranch.
We’ll have to cover more of that in a future article, but the basic idea is that he is converting a 13-acre former horse ranch in a relatively prime part of the Denver area, into a future village of higher-end tiny houses and other dwellings. These will be arranged around nice common amenities with a big emphasis on people actually enjoying the process of living together, as opposed to just living separately side-by-side as we tend to do in normal neighborhoods.
*Got any suggestions or want to rent or barter me a nearby driveway space at your place? Please get in touch!
If you’ve got your eye on a Taylor Morrison home, you may have come across their affiliated lender “Taylor Morrison Home Funding.”
As with many other home builders, they’ve got their own in-house mortgage lender to streamline the home buying process.
This affords them better control, ideally boosting customer service, and gives them the ability to offer special pricing incentives.
With fewer parties involved, they should be able to get you from application to closing quicker than the other guys.
And if they can throw in a big mortgage rate buydown as well, it might be a win-win. Read on to learn more about the company.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding Fast Facts
Affiliated lender for home builder Taylor Morrison
Offers home purchase financing to new home buyers
Founded in 1982, headquartered in Maitland, Florida
Has 84 licensed mortgage loan officers
Parent company is publicly traded (NYSE: TMHC)
Licensed to lend in 11 states nationwide
Funded over $3 billion in home loans in 2022
Most active in Texas, Florida, Arizona, and California
Taylor Morrison is one the largest home builders in the United States, serving home buyers and renters in 19 markets across 11 states.
Only a handful of builders are larger, including D.R. Horton, Lennar, Pulte, NVR, and Toll Brothers.
The company was formed in 2007 after Taylor Woodrow Inc. and Morrison Homes Inc. merged. Dispute this recent development, their building operations date back to the early 1900s.
They are now headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and build new homes in 11 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington.
These are also the states where they are licensed to lend, as their primary focus is extending financing to the buyers of their new homes.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding is most active in the state of Texas, which accounts for about 25% of total loan production.
At last glance, there were 84 licensed mortgage loan officers working for the company throughout the country, per the NMLS.
They also own Inspired Title Services, which is a full-service title insurance and real estate settlement provider operating in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and Texas.
How to Apply
To get started, you can either visit a new home sales office and get connected to a sales rep, or simply navigate to their website.
If you go online, they have the option to pre-apply via “Dorothy,” which is their “state-of-the-art mortgage technology that can take you home with just a few clicks.”
A play on the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy works alongside a human Taylor Morrison Home Funding team to get you to the finish line quicker and easier.
The process includes a digital loan application with automated verifications to reduce the need for paperwork and documentation, powered by fintech company Blend.
Applicants can eSign disclosures and take advantage of secure document uploading to ease the burden.
Once complete, you will be presented with tailored mortgage solutions based on the information you provide.
And a licensed loan officer will then provide solutions and “market-competitive rates” with your goals and budget in mind.
Those who prefer more guidance can simply click on “Contact a Loan Consultant,” where they’ll find contact information for loan officers near their market.
After your loan is submitted, you’ll be able to check loan status via the online portal, satisfy outstanding conditions, and get in touch with your lending team if and when you have questions.
Able Ready Own (ARO)
Those who need help qualifying for a home purchase can take advantage of their complimentary program called Able Ready Own (ARO).
In a nutshell, ARO Consultants work with prospective home buyers to strengthen their credit profiles and boost their chances of getting approved for a home loan.
The goal is to educate consumers about the home buying and mortgage process, and create tailored plans that produce better qualified home buying candidates.
If successful, they might be able to boost your credit scores and fine tune other areas that are key for mortgage qualification.
In the end, these changes could put you in a stronger position when it comes to buying and financing a home.
If they’re able to increase your credit scores, you may also qualify for a lower mortgage rate.
Available Loan Programs
Home purchase loans
Conforming loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Jumbo loans
FHA loans
VA loans
Fixed-rate and adjustable-rate options
Temporary buydowns including 3-2-1
Permanent buydowns for life of loan
Taylor Morrison Home Funding has a limited menu of loan programs, but still all the main stuff to satisfy the needs of most home buyers.
They are fully focused on providing home purchase loans to their customers, meaning no mortgage refinances here.
In terms of loan choice, you can get a conforming loan backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or a jumbo loan if purchasing an expensive new home.
Government-backed loans are also available, including FHA loans and VA loans.
They don’t appear to offer USDA loans or second mortgages, including any sort of home equity loans or lines.
However, you can get both a fixed-rate mortgage, such as a 30-year fixed or 15-year fixed, or an adjustable-rate mortgage, such as a 5/6 ARM or 7/6 ARM.
Additionally, buydowns might be offered, including temporary and permanent buydowns, to help reduce payments for the first couple years or for the life of the loan.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding Rates and Fees
While they don’t have a page dedicated to their mortgage rates and lender fees, my guess is they provide special financing if you use them to buy a Taylor Morrison home.
This is a common setup for home builders with their own financing departments. They’re able to structure deals that include big mortgage rate buydowns.
Not only does this help the home buyer qualify, it also allows them to avoid price reductions if affordability is strained.
If you visit the Taylor Morrison Homes website, you’ll be able to see special offers by clicking on a particular market they serve.
I came across some pretty spectacular deals, including a combination of a temporary and permanent buydown where the interest rate started as low as 2.75%.
Just pay attention to closing costs and the mortgage APR, which factors in the lender fees and the interest rate.
And always take the time to gather outside mortgage rate quotes so you can negotiate with the builder’s lender.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding Reviews
There don’t seem to be a ton of reviews online for Taylor Morrison Home Funding, though I was able to track down a handful.
Their Irvine, CA location currently has a poor 1.0/5-star rating on Yelp from 32 reviews. Poor communication seems to be the main gripe.
You might also be able to find individual loan officer reviews on Zillow and other websites.
Or you can search their many home builder locations and check out their Google reviews. Granted, those might combine the home builder and lender experience.
Over at the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website, the company has an ‘A-‘ rating based on customer complaint history. There don’t appear to be any complaints on file at the moment.
Their parent company has an ‘A+’ BBB rating, but over 200 complaints filed over the last three years. And over 100 in the past 12 months.
But the high letter grade should indicate that they handle those complaints in a timely and professional manner.
At the same time, the customer reviews for the parent company on the BBB website aren’t great, with a 1.15/5 rating at last glance.
So be sure to take a gander to determine what customers are complaining about, and how you can avoid those same issues.
To sum things up, Taylor Morrison Home Funding could be a good option if you’re buying a Taylor Morrison property.
The biggest incentive being the special mortgage rate offers that are hard to beat, especially from an outside lender.
However, you should still take the time to comparison shop as you would any other lender.
While they might make things easier, and have better communication between builder and lender, their mixed reviews indicate some hiccups too.
Taylor Morrison Home Funding Pros and Cons
The Good Stuff
Can apply online via a digital mortgage application
Mostly paperless process with the latest technology
Plenty of loan programs to choose from including ARMs
Offer temporary and permanent buydowns
Can get a long mortgage rate lock
Big mortgage rate incentives on Taylor Morrison properties
Complimentary ARO service
Free mortgage calculator and mortgage glossary online
The Perhaps Not
Only offers home purchase loans
No refinance loans, USDA loans, or second mortgages
Architect Louis Naidorf had a disastrous 80th birthday cake. In 2008, Naidorf, who designed the Capitol Records building in Hollywood, was presented with a celebration cake that had been custom-baked in the shape of his iconic cylindrical building. But the pastry soon reflected the rather substantial difference between concrete and flour.
“When the cake was brought out, it gently collapsed, and everyone applauded,” Naidorf says, laughing over the phone from his home in Santa Rosa. “It was like in one of the movies where the Capitol Records building was destroyed.” Thankfully the cake for his 95th birthday, which he celebrated last month, was more structurally sound.
Designated a historic-cultural monument in 2006, the building has long been a favorite Los Angeles landmark to demolish on film — especially for filmmaker Roland Emmerich, who blew it up with an alien spaceship in “Independence Day” and slammed it with twisters in “The Day After Tomorrow.” Yet no movie can ever write the building out of a central place in popular music history. The tower is synonymous with the illustrious Capitol Records, home of Nat King Coleand Frank Sinatra, and the American record label of Pink Floyd and the Beatles, with the latter’s stars lining the Hollywood Walk of Fame right in front of the building.
Over the last several years, the building has been illuminated in support of various sociopolitical causes. In 2020, it was lighted red to support independent music venues. Last year, during their performance in Hollywood, Duran Duran lighted the Capitol Records building blue and yellow in solidarity with Ukraine. “I think that’s excellent,” Naidorf says. “Anything that vigorously engages the public on the right side of good causes transcends other issues. I’m flattered they use the Capitol Records building. It means it has enough cachet to merit being chosen to do that.”
Like the famous landmark he designed, Louis Naidorf has of late been experiencing his own brush with stardom, with postcards from autograph seekers arriving at his door. He is flattered but doesn’t take the attention too seriously.
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“It’s obvious that if someone asks me for four signatures I’m part of trading baseball cards or something,” he says. “They are going to trade four Lou Naidorfs for one Joe Smith.”
Still, he’s surprised and somewhat baffled by the sudden burst of recognition after all these years. “I guess my name ended up on a list or something,” he shrugs.
Naidorf was just 24 years old when he designed the Capitol Records building, in 1953. It was the world’s first circular office building.
Though it was 70 years ago, he vividly recalls how he felt when he received the assignment for his first solo project. “At one level, I felt enormous anxiety that if I didn’t get a solution, very, very quickly, something terrible would happen,” he says. “On the other hand, I felt a total confidence that I could do it. So it was a crazy contradiction.”
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Naidorf notes the building’s porcelain enamel sunshades with carefully spaced gaps to play with light and shadow. These cause spiral lines to appear on the building, drawing the eye into a rhythm rather than straight up and down. “You can see Capitol Records from quite a distance and you get a first impression of its basic form and character. You have a reading of it as complete,” he says. “But the building is designed so that the closer you get to the building, you discover more details.”
What about the long-standing myth that its round shape was designed to look like a stack of records with a rooftop antenna resembling a phonograph needle? As hard as it might be to believe, the legendary story about the building is just a coincidence — an urban legend that Naidorf has tried to debunk for decades.
In fact, when his boss, Welton Becket, tasked him with the assignment, the building was simply referred to as Project X. Shrouded in secrecy, Naidorf was given little guidance for the project other than being asked to design a 13-story building on a sloped side street in Hollywood that had to be kept as cool as possible and had smaller than usual floor space. He also didn’t know for whom he was designing it. Naidorf says it was common for clients’ identities to be kept confidential during the initial planning stages of a project.
However, Naidorf relished the creative latitude. The absence of information left him unburdened by preconceived ideas. “I knew the door was open for something special. It urged me so strongly,” he says earnestly. “I felt, and I think all architects feel this way … there’s a drive to translate the mundane bare requirements that clients come in with into something that has some poetic qualities about it.”
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Naidorf then had an epiphany: The project’s requirements were “eerily resonant” with a series of circular buildings he had designed for his master’s thesis in college. “The round shape is a very efficient enclosure of space,” he says. “You get more bang for your buck.”
Not everyone agreed with his approach. Naidorf says that Capitol Records co-founder and President Glenn Wallichs became irate when Naidorf presented him with a model and drawings of a round building, and “violently rejected” the design. “He thought it was a cheap stunt designed by a young guy to make the building look like a stack of records,” Naidorf says, laughing.
Wallichs insisted that Naidorf replace the round design with plans for a rectangular building. But when both rectangular and circular designs were presented to the insurance company financing the land, Naidorf says that Wallichs was urged to proceed with the round design.
Soon after, when talk of the building housing a radio station (that never came to fruition) was raised, Naidorf fretted when he was asked to design an antenna. He was worried that it would look like a phonograph needle and cement the idea that the building was designed to look like a stack of records.
Owing to his nagging concern, Naidorf positioned the rooftop spire asymmetrically, poised to appear as if it touches the roof delicately, like “a ballerina en pointe.” He calls it the building’s “grace note.” Still, the stack-of-vinyl myth persists. Laughing, Naidorf says, “It’s the most enduring myth of all.”
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Despite his good humor, it leaves him conflicted. “The building was not designed as a cartoon or a giggle. To have it trivialized with the stack-of-records myth is annoying and dismaying,” he says. “There’s not a thing on the building that doesn’t have a solid purpose to it.”
Naidorf’s ingenuity has been especially impressive to Los Angeles-based architect Lorcan O’Herlihy, who says he has “often responded strongly to the fact and admired that here was this interesting architect [Naidorf] who was combining science and art, or artistry and technology. Welton Becket [& Associates], very much to their credit, were at a period where modernism was at its heyday and they had to come up with ideas that were new and fresh and they did it, and Lou was certainly instrumental in that. His work is extraordinary.”
Naidorf was born in Los Angeles in 1928. His father owned a shop where he made and sold women’s clothing, with Naidorf’s mother lining the garments. Owing to his father’s lack of accounting skills and business acumen, however, the business often collapsed, forcing his parents to work at a garment factory until debts could be paid off to reopen the store.
Throughout his childhood, Naidorf’s family struggled financially as they moved around, living mostly in Silver Lake and Los Feliz. With only enough money to rent studio apartments, Naidorf’s parents slept on a Murphy bed while Naidorf spent his nights on a mattress on the floor.
As a little boy, Naidorf felt drawn to buildings. When his third-grade teacher decorated the classroom with a Hawaiian vacation theme, his fascination morphed into a calling. “I asked my teacher who made the drawings and she said, ‘Naval architects.’ And then I asked her who draws the plans for houses and she said, ‘Architects.’ She told me to ask my mother to show me the floor plans that were published in the real estate section of the Sunday edition of the newspaper.
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“When I saw them, I was a goner,” he swoons. “I now knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be an architect.”
Naidorf remembers, at age 8, designing a three-bedroom house, using a card table as a makeshift drafting table. Soon after, he began designing small towns. “It wasn’t anything brilliant, but I was learning to draw, learning to scale and learning to think in spatial terms,” he says. When he was 12 years old, Naidorf got a part-time job at a bookstore, where he spent his first two paychecks on architecture books, absorbing them until they were threadbare.
Beyond literature, Naidorf amassed a growing collection of architectural materials (T-square, rectangles, instruments for ink drawings), thanks to his bar mitzvah presents, and decided he was ready to get to work. Sanford Kent, a young architect who had just graduated from USC, hired a tenacious 13-year-old Naidorf, paying him out of his own pocket.
Naidorf says tackling the abstract problems Kent gave him at once stimulated his mind and were instrumental in forming his long-standing ethos. “It got me thinking about architecture in terms of its effect on human emotions. The key issue is, ‘How do people respond to your work, whether from a distance or by living it?’” he says.
He continued to soak up whatever he could about architecture, gearing his junior and high school classes toward studying architecture in university. He attended UC Berkeley instead of the privately funded USC, not only to leave home and expand his horizons but also because of its affordability.
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Even still, Naidorf couldn’t afford all of the program’s required materials. He borrowed airbrushes from his fellow students, who would also give him their pencil stubs instead of tossing them out. Naidorf submitted his assignments on pebble board, which was not only cheaper than illustration board but allowed him to draw on one side, flip it over and draw on the other.
In 1950, Naidorf graduated at the top of his class and got his master of architecture degree a year early. He skipped his graduation ceremony because he had a job interview the next day at Welton Becket & Associates, where he was promptly hired. Among his earliest design assignments: a tray slide for a hospital cafeteria, a clothes closet and a “Please Wait to Be Seated” sign for a restaurant.
Three years into his employment, he began working on the Capitol Records building. Naidorf says he would design it the exact same way if he were given the assignment today.
Andrew Slater, former Capitol Records president and chief executive (2001-07), attests to the building’s distinctive charm. “When you go to work every day in that building it’s like you’re going into a piece of art, and it informs your attitude … to do something with that mindset, which is great,” he says. “Even though working in the music industry is, in a sense, an industrial endeavor, you never felt like you were doing anything industrial when you walked into that building.”
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Still, Naidorf fears being perceived as a “Johnny One Note,” as he puts it. Noting the plaque bearing his name outside the building’s main entrance, he expresses gratitude but wariness “that this one modest project has to carry my whole reputation on it.”
It’s a fair point, given the magnitude of Naidorf’s notable oeuvre. It’s earned him 17 regional honor and merit awards and AIA California’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2009). His work also has been featured at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
“I know Capitol Records is always the first one people talk about and it’s a splendid, iconic building that fuses artistry and functionalism, but he’s also produced other projects over the years,” says fellow architect O’Herlihy. “The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is brilliant.”
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Naidorf designed the 3,000-seat capacity Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on the heels of the Capitol Records building, in the late 1950s. Essentially two buildings in one, it was a challenge to design a locale that functioned at once as a performance space with a sloped floor and an exhibit hall with a flat floor for sports events, banquets and trade shows.
He transformed the floor from flat to tilted using a hydraulic system that was hailed for its innovation. “I don’t think you’ll find any place that has a symphony on a Friday night and a gem show, or some kind of hobby show, on Saturday,” he says.
Formerly home to the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestrabut currently sitting vacant, the Civic Auditorium opened its doors to the public in 1958. From 1961 to 1968, it hosted the Academy Awards. It also was the site of live recordings including George Carlin’s comedy record “Class Clown” and the Eagles’ “Eagles Live,” a double LP recorded during their three-night run at the venue. It also hosted “The T.A.M.I. Show” in 1964.
In the meantime, while the Civic was still under construction, Naidorf designed the 15,000-seat capacity Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, the biggest arena in Los Angeles when it opened in 1959. (The arena was demolished in 2016 to make way for the Banc of California Stadium, now called BMO Stadium.)
Naidorf says the Sports Arena, home to various Los Angeles sports teams including the NBA’s Lakers (1960-67) and Clippers (1984-1999) and the NHL’s Kings (1967-68), was built to attract sports teams to Los Angeles, but uncertainty about whether they’d catch on meant the facility had to be viable for other purposes.
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In 1960, a year after it opened its doors, the Sports Arena hosted the first Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where John F. Kennedy became the presidential nominee. Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) won a boxing match there in 1962. It also hosted rallies by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Dalai Lama, and saw concerts by legendary rock acts including the Grateful Dead.
Bruce Springsteen played the venue’s final concerts before the building was demolished, a three-night stint during which he dedicated his song “Wrecking Ball” to the building lovingly nicknamed “The Dump That Still Jumps.” “Well, it was pretty dumpy by the end,” Naidorf says, laughing. “Not all architecture is permanent,” he continues. “I’d rather it was demolished and some useful purpose made of the site than having it sit there old, shabby and neglected as it was.”
Naidorf’s credits also include the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the Beverly Center and the Reagan State Office Building downtown. Outside of Los Angeles, Naidorf helmed the restoration of the California State Capitol Building in Sacramento, a six-year undertaking and then the largest-ever restoration undertaken in the U.S., and he designed President Gerald Ford’s house in Rancho Mirage.
The tallest building in Arizona, the Valley National Bank building (now Chase Tower) in Phoenix, also was designed by Naidorf, as well as the Hyatt Regency Dallas and adjacent Reunion Tower, the most recognizable landmark of the city’s skyline.
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He details these and his other high-profile projects in his 2018 book “More Humane: An Architectural Memoir”, filled with photos, backstories and personal anecdotes. Flipping through its pages, one learns that Naidorf not only took risks designing his projects but even risked his job on occasion.
He writes in his memoir that in 1958, when he was designing the Humble Oil (now Exxon) headquarters in Houston, he refused to design separate locker rooms and drinking fountains for Black and white people, as the company asked him to. When he went home on that Friday night, he describes not knowing if he’d have a job the following Monday. Not only did Naidorf not lose his job, he says, but the company ceased segregating its locker rooms and drinking fountains after that.
“I realized architects have access to some of the most powerful people in the world and it is our job to bring up issues that represent social issues rather than just architectural design,” he says. “The only thing for evil to triumph is for good people to remain silent. Architects should not remain silent.”
Naidorf also understood that sometimes he was designing projects where people don’t want to be, like the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, which opened in 1988. “I felt that there were two emotions we had to contend with,” he says. “One was to lay the sense that this would be welcoming and have a more personal quality. But if you go to a hospital you want a quite contradictory thing. You want to have a sense that it’s state-of-the-art, that whatever powerful forces can cure you, they’re there.”
Instead of one medical building, which he felt would seem ominous, he designed several structures and a series of outdoor walkways to make the facility feel warm and comforting. The treatment and diagnostic part of the facility was bold, with an abundance of steel and glass. Walkways were lined with floor-to-ceiling glass to allow patients to see the outdoor courtyard, grass, trees, sky and distant views of a golf course “based on the primitive feeling you have in the hospital, which is to get out of the damn place,” he says.
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When he was out shopping a few months ago, Naidorf met a woman who mentioned that she had been in the Navy, forcing her to move around a lot when her son was battling childhood leukemia. Without knowing she was talking to the Naval Medical Center’s designer himself, she told Naidorf that it was the only hospital that didn’t scare her ill 6-year-old son, who has since made a full recovery.
“What kind of an architect…,” Naidorf says, overcome with emotion and his voice breaking, “do you have to be not to hold that as better than any design award?”
Though Naidorf had risen through Welton Becket & Associates’ ranks to become vice president, director of research and director of design, he grew increasingly unhappy after the firm’s merger with Ellerbe Associates (it was renamed Ellerbe Becket). He moved into academia full-time in 1990, spending just one day a week at the firm.
Naidorf became dean of the School of Architecture and Design at Woodbury University, earning numerous distinctions, including teacher, faculty member and administrator of the year. He was also a guest professor at UCLA, USC, Cal Poly Pomona and SCI-Arc. At his retirement ceremony in 2000, he was awarded an honorary doctorate, marking not only the end of his academic career but also his time in Los Angeles.
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Charmed by the beauty of Northern California, Naidorf moved up the coast to Santa Rosa. For the next 15 years, he continued working with Woodbury University as campus architect, designing and remodeling some of its buildings, and was invited to be a board member.
When he parted ways with Woodbury at 87 years old, it was not with the goal of taking it easy. Naidorf had other pursuits in mind, including his work with City Vision Santa Rosa revitalizing the city’s downtown area.
He also helped his close friend, Mike Harkins (who edited Naidorf’s memoir), design his new house free of charge after the 2017 Tubbs Fire burned Harkins’ home to the ground and he and his wife lost 99% of their belongings.
“Lou offered without solicitation: ‘I’d like to design your house,’” Harkins says. “To me or anyone else who knows him, it was a heartfelt offer that of course he would make, and yet so much more. One analogy might be if Eric Clapton said, ‘I’d like to play at your wedding.’ The knowledge and sensibility that comes along with a Naidorf design offering is huge, just like his heart.”
Most recently, Naidorf has been experimenting with plans for a project to help people who are unhoused.
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Naidorf has made the most of his architecture license over the last 71 years. His voice fills with pride when he reveals that he holds the earliest issued active architecture license in the state of California, obtained in 1952.
“It’s something I wanted to be since I was a little kid. My architecture license was so hard to come by. I don’t want to give it up,” he says with palpable emotion. “I don’t want to be retired. I want to be an architect until I fall over. I plan to be buried as a licensed architect.”
Of recently turning 95, he jokes that he feels like a bad vaudeville performer who soon will be pulled offstage by a hook. But Naidorf remains in remarkably good health after surviving both prostate and esophageal cancer in his 80s.
To keep his brain sharp, he does exercises including counting backward from 100 by sevens and taking IQ tests online.
As a nonagenarian, he says there is no key to living a long life. He suggests, though, that it helps to try to use it well. “It’s not how big the steak is but how tasty it is,” he says. “I think you have to seek a calling, listen for it and search for it. Find something in your life that is really yours. … Get engaged with something that’s going to scare you, something where the problems are hard. And take risks. There is no failure.”
He also notes the importance of adaptability. “I have had four marriages. I’d better be resilient,” he quips. Twice divorced and twice widowed, Naidorf has a daughter from his first marriage, four stepchildren (who call him “Dad”) from his fourth marriage, 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. An intensely private man, he’s reticent to speak publicly about his relationships and family, preferring to focus on his work.
“I remain so fascinated with architecture,” he says. “I cannot even walk past a store where somebody is putting in an electrical outlet without stopping to look in and watch it.”
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The chatty Naidorf turns summarily succinct, saying, “I certainly have had a good run.”
Foreclosure activity increased 23 percent in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter and was up 112 percent from a year ago, RealtyTrac said today.
Foreclosure filings were reported on 649,917 properties, or one in every 194 U.S. households, during the quarter.
RealtyTrac chief James J. Saccacio said foreclosure activity increased in 46 out of the 50 states and in 90 of the 100 largest metro in the nation areas during the first quarter.
Although he did note that some areas saw a decease in foreclosure activity due to non-market factors, such as the city of Philadelphia, because of their temporary foreclosure moratorium on owner-occupied properties.
However, he was quick to point out that the action to freeze foreclosures would likely just delay the inevitable and lengthen the time until recovery.
Nevada, California, and Arizona posted the highest foreclosure rates, while California led the nation in the total number of filings with 169,831.
Foreclosure activity in the Golden State was up 32 percent from the fourth quarter and nearly 213 percent from a year ago.
California and Florida metro areas accounted for 13 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates, with Stockton and Riverside-San Bernardino taking the top two spots.
Philadelphia’s foreclosure rate ranked 82nd, thanks in part to a 30 percent annual decline in foreclosure activity.
Home Prices Continue Slide
Meanwhile, the February S&P/Case Shiller 20-city home price index fell 12.7 percent from a year ago, and was off 2.6 percent from January.
The 10-city composite index posted a record-low annual decline of 13.6 percent and a month-to-month drop of 2.8 percent.
“There is no sign of a bottom in the numbers,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “Prices of single family homes continue to drop across the nation. All 20 metro areas were in the red for the February-over-January reading. In addition, 19 of the 20 MSAs are still reporting negative annual returns.”
“The monthly data show that every one of the MSAs has now declined every month since September 2007, marking six consecutive months. On top of that, the declines have remained steep with eight of the 20 MSAs and both composites reporting their single largest monthly decline in February.”
Arizona’s largest airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, is located about four miles from downtown Phoenix. A focus city for both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, Phoenix Airport is the 10th busiest airport in the United States by aircraft movements.
If you have a trip to or from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in the near future, this guide, which includes information on how to get to the airport by public transport, terminal details and what lounges are available, is for you.
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport quick facts
Airport code: PHX.
Address: 3400 E. Sky Harbor Blvd.
Number of runways: Three.
Number of terminals: Two — Terminal 3 and Terminal 4.
Transport between terminals: PHX Sky Train.
Daily flights served: 1,200.
Daily passenger count: 125,000.
Phoenix Airport map
For PHX Sky Harbor terminals and an interactive map, visit this page.
Airlines with service to Phoenix airport
Nearly two dozen airlines, both U.S.-based and international, operate flights to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Depending on the carrier you’re flying, you’ll be departing from one of the terminals below.
Terminal 3 airlines
Advanced Air.
Air Canada.
Alaska Airlines.
Allegiant Air.
Breeze Airways.
Contour Airlines.
Delta Air Lines.
Denver Air Connection.
Frontier Airlines.
Hawaiian Airlines.
JetBlue Airways.
Southern Airways Express.
Spirit Airlines.
Sun Country Airlines.
United Airlines.
Terminal 4 airlines
American Airlines.
British Airways.
Condor Airlines.
Southwest Airlines.
TSA PreCheck lines at Phoenix airport
Both terminals have TSA PreCheck lines, so if you’re a member of the Trusted Traveler Programs, you can use the following checkpoints to breeze through security:
Terminal 3
North checkpoint.
Terminal 4
Checkpoint A.
Checkpoint B.
Checkpoint C.
Checkpoint D.
Getting to and from Phoenix airport
Bus
Two bus lines serve Phoenix Airport: Route 13 and Route 44. Route 13 stops near the airport’s operations building, west of Terminal 3, and at 24th Street PHX Sky Train Station. Route 44 stops at the 44th Street PHX Sky Train Station.
Train
Take the free Sky Train to the 44th Street PHX Sky Train Station and head to the Valley Metro Rail platform. You can use the light rail to reach Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa.
Ride-hailing apps
Both Lyft and Uber operate in the Phoenix metro area, meaning you can request a ride to and from the airport.
Rental car companies at Phoenix airport
If you need to rent or drop off a vehicle, you can take the PHX Sky Train between the rental car center and the terminals.
The following car rental companies have offices at the car rental center at Phoenix Airport:
Phoenix airport car rental options
Enterprise.
NÜ Car Rentals.
Phoenix airport lounges
Terminal 3
Location: Near Gate F8.
Hours: 4:45 a.m. to 12 a.m.
Location: At the intersection of E and F gates, mezzanine level, next to Passage by Hudson.
Hours: 4:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Location: Near Gate E3.
Hours: 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Terminal 4
Location: Above Gates A7 and A9.
Hours: 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Location: Between Gates A19 and A21.
Hours: 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Admirals Club, Concourse B
Location: Above Gates B5 and B7.
Hours: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Escape Lounge – The Centurion® Studio Partner
Location: Across from Gate B22.
Hours: 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Location: Across from Gate B22, on the upper level.
Hours: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
USO Lounge
Location: Level 2, East End, near B and C elevators (pre-security).
Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Restaurants at Phoenix airport
If you don’t have lounge access, you can grab a bite at many restaurants available at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The eateries include national chains as well as some local establishments.
Terminal 3 restaurants
Ajo Al’s Mexican Cafe.
Giant Coffee.
Humble Torta & Taco.
Panera Bread.
Peet’s Coffee.
PHX Beer Co.
SanTan Brewing Company.
Shake Shack.
Starbucks.
The Roadie.
The Tavern.
Terminal 4 restaurants
Barrio Cafe.
Blanco Tacos & Tequila.
Cartel Roasting Co.
Chelsea’s Kitchen.
Cheuvront Restaurant & Wine Bar.
Cowboy Ciao.
Deluxburger Express.
Dilly’s Deli.
Dunkin’.
Fazoli’s.
Focaccia Fiorentina.
Four Peaks Brewing Company.
Humble Pie.
La Grande Orange.
La Madeleine.
Los Taquitos.
Matt’s Big Breakfast.
McDonald’s.
O.H.S.O. Brewery.
Olive & Ivy.
Panda Express.
Peet’s Coffee.
Pei Wei Asian Kitchen.
Sir Veza’s Taco Garage.
Starbucks.
Sweet Republic.
Tammie Coe To Go.
Wendy’s.
Wildflower Bread Company.
Zinburger.
Zinc Brasserie.
Shops at Phoenix Airport
A slew of retail shops is available for passengers looking for last-minute items in between flights. Among the traditional travel swag, you’ll also find some merchandise showcasing the spirit of the American Southwest.
Terminal 3 shops
Best Of The Valley Market.
Discover Arizona.
Indigenous Mosaic.
InMotion Entertainment.
Ironwood by Hudson.
Johnston & Murphy.
Passage by Hudson.
Phoenix Public Market.
Stellar News + Market.
Tech On The Go.
Travel Outfitters.
Terminal 4 shops
Arizona Highways.
AZCentral.com.
Brooks Brothers.
Bunky Boutique.
Cactus Candy.
CASA Airport.
CNBC 12 News.
Connections.
Earth Spirit.
Hudson News.
Indigenous.
InMotion Entertainment.
Johnston & Murphy.
Lucky Break.
Phoenix Duty Free
Roosevelt Row.
Sonora Southwest Living.
Sunglass Hut.
TripAdvisor.
Uno de 50.
Uptown Phoenix.
Frequently asked questions
Does Phoenix Airport have Clear lanes?
Yes, Terminal 3 and Terminal 4 both have Clear lanes for Clear Plus members and enrollment options for passengers interested in joining the program. North checkpoint as well as Checkpoints A, B, C and D all have Clear lanes.
What terminal is Southwest at PHX?
Southwest Airlines is located in Terminal 4 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
Where is the Delta terminal at Sky Harbor Airport?
Delta flights depart from Terminal 3 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
What terminal is United at Phoenix Airport?
The Sky Harbor United terminal is Terminal 3.
What airlines are based at Phoenix Airport?
American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have operational hubs at Phoenix Airport.
How do I reserve parking at PHX Sky Harbor?
It’s possible to reserve a long-term parking spot at Phoenix Airport. To make a reservation, select the date and time of your entry and exit from the lot, select the preferred parking facility, fill out your information and provide payment details.
You can make a parking reservation as early as six months and as late as two hours before departure. The maximum number of days available for parking pre-booking is 60.
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2023, including those best for:
About a week ago, Bank of America released details of its so-called “Mortgage to Lease” program, which as the name implies, allows homeowners to lease the homes they previously mortgaged.
So let’s take a closer look to see just what Bank of America is doing here.
First things first, this is a very limited pilot program, so don’t assume you can head down to Bank of America, fill out some paperwork, and then ditch your pesky mortgage but not your beloved house.
In fact, fewer than 1,000 customers will be “invited” to participate in the Mortgage to Lease program, meaning your chances of being selected are only slightly better than winning the Mega Millions jackpot.
Additionally, only homeowners in Arizona, Nevada, and New York are part of the pilot, so if that’s not you, you’re out of luck, at least for the moment.
Requirements for the Mortgage to Lease Program:
[checklist]
Mortgage is owned by Bank of America
Mortgage is 60 days + delinquent
All other loan modification solutions have been exhausted or ignored
Face high risk of foreclosure
Have no second mortgages
Still occupy the home
Have enough income to make affordable rent payments
[/checklist]
So while this looks like a lengthy list, it’s probably not all that uncommon. Well, the lack of second mortgages probably is, as most homeowners who are currently in trouble went with 100% financing. And most used second mortgages to get there.
But for those with one loan who still managed to find themselves underwater, or at least behind on mortgage payments, and couldn’t manage a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, this program may be a winner.
That is, if you actually want to stay in the home that gave you so much heartache.
How the Mortgage to Lease Program Will Operate
Assuming you do, participants in the program will agree to transfer title of their home to Bank of America, and their outstanding principal will be forgiven. In other words, you won’t owe the bank anything for owing more than the mortgage is worth.
In exchange, you’ll have the opportunity to rent the house you currently reside in for up to three years, with rental payments set at or below the current market rental rate.
The rental payment will be less than the old mortgage payment, and the homeowner will be relieved of normal homeowner costs, such as homeowners insurance and property taxes.
Bank of America will have a property management company oversee the rental properties, and eventually the inventory of homes will be transitioned to investor ownership.
However, if all goes well, the investors can keep the tenants in the homes for as long as they see fit. And possibly even sell them back to the homeowners.
Will it Work?
Bank of America’s Mortgage to Lease program isn’t at all groundbreaking. In fact, Fannie Mae’s very similar Deed for Lease program has been around for more than two years.
Regardless, it seems like Bank of America’s new initiative is very limited in scope, and only targets customers who have made no effort to change their unfortunate situation.
If anything, it seems like a last gasp opportunity to avoid a foreclosure for BofA (and the losses that come with it), while the homeowner in question is probably just seeing how long they can hang on without making a payment (free rent).
My guess is a homeowner that hasn’t shown any interest in a loan mod or any other foreclosure alternative probably won’t be all that interested in this program, given the only upside is staying in a house they can’t afford, or aren’t willing to fight for.