When it comes to purchasing a home, buyers may find it difficult to find financing beyond the conforming loan limit. In this instance, you may need to apply for a jumbo loan. Whether your sights are set on a Ranch-style home in Tulsa or a new-construction in Yukon, let’s break down what a jumbo loan is in Oklahoma, the 2023 conforming loan limits, and what’s needed to qualify for this type of loan.
What is a jumbo loan?
So what are jumbo loans in Oklahoma? They are large loans that exceed the loan limits set by the FHFA for conforming loans. Jumbo loans allow borrowers to finance homes that exceed the conforming loan limit (CLL), making it possible to buy high-end properties that may not be otherwise affordable.
If the home you’re purchasing will require you to borrow more than the CLL, you’ll need to apply for a jumbo loan. Because of the larger loan amounts, jumbo loans typically carry stricter requirements and higher interest rates than conforming loans. Lenders may require a higher down payment, a lower debt-to-income ratio, and a stronger credit score to qualify for a jumbo loan in Oklahoma.
What is the jumbo loan limit in Oklahoma?
In Oklahoma, the conforming loan limit is $726,200 across all counties. For example, if you’re buying a home in Tulsa County, where the median sale price is $275,000, a loan limit exceeding $726,200 would be considered a jumbo mortgage.
Keep in mind that the loan amount is what determines whether or not you’ll need a jumbo loan, not the home price. So, if you were to put $50,000 down on a $750,000 home in Bixby, the mortgage would be $700,000, which is under the conforming loan limit for this area. In this case, your loan wouldn’t be considered a jumbo loan.
This FHFA map will give you more specific information related to the conforming loan limits in your county.
What are the requirements for a jumbo loan in Oklahoma?
As previously mentioned, the requirements for a jumbo loan are much more stringent than a conforming loan. The specific requirements may vary from lender to lender, but below are the typical requirements for borrowers seeking a jumbo loan.
Higher credit score: To qualify for a jumbo mortgage in Oklahoma, borrowers typically need to have a credit score of at least 720. However, some lenders may be willing to accept scores as low as 660, although less frequently. A higher credit score demonstrates a borrower’s ability to manage credit responsibly and is a crucial factor that lenders evaluate when reviewing jumbo loan applications.
Larger down payment: Jumbo loans typically require larger down payments than conventional loans. Generally, lenders require a down payment of at least 20% of the home’s purchase price to qualify for a jumbo loan. However, some lenders may require a higher percentage, depending on the borrower’s creditworthiness and overall financial situation. Don’t forget that larger down payments can help to reduce monthly mortgage payments, as well as overall interest costs over the life of the loan.
More assets: Jumbo loan lenders generally require borrowers to demonstrate a strong financial profile, including substantial liquid assets or savings. To qualify for a jumbo loan, borrowers must have enough reserves to cover at least one year of mortgage payments. This requirement ensures that borrowers have the financial flexibility to meet their loan obligations in the event of a financial hardship.
Lower debt-to-income ratio (DTI): A mortgage lender will look at a borrower’s DTI (debt-to-income ratio) to assess their creditworthiness and spending habits. For a conforming loan, a DTI as high as 50% may be acceptable to some lenders. However, jumbo loan borrowers are required to have a lower DTI, ideally under 43% and closer to 36%. This is because jumbo loans are riskier for lenders due to the larger loan amounts. Applicants with a higher DTI may still qualify for a jumbo loan, but it could result in a higher interest rate or a stricter approval process.
Additional home appraisals: When you buy a home in Oklahoma, mortgage lenders will require a home appraisal to confirm that the property’s value is equal to or higher than the loan amount. In some cases, a lender may require an additional appraisal for a jumbo loan. In places with very few comparable property sales, the cost of the appraisal may be higher than in neighborhoods with more frequent sales.
When it comes to purchasing a home, buyers may have difficulty finding financing beyond the conforming loan limit. In this instance, you may need to apply for a jumbo loan. Whether your sights are set on a new construction home in Boise or a cabin home in McCall, let’s break down what a jumbo loan is in Oklahoma, the 2023 conforming loan limits, and what’s needed to qualify for this type of loan.
What is a jumbo loan?
What exactly is a jumbo loan in Idaho? A jumbo loan is a specialized type of mortgage that comes into play when you’re seeking financing for a home that surpasses the conforming loan limits (CLL) established by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Typically, this type of loan is necessary for upscale, luxurious properties or those situated in pricey housing markets.
If you need to borrow more than the conforming loan limit, you’ll need a jumbo loan. Idaho jumbo loans allow you to borrow more money to buy a more expensive home, but they also come with higher interest rates and stricter requirements than conventional loans.
What is the jumbo loan limit in Idaho?
In 2023, the conforming loan limit for a single-family home in most U.S. markets is $726,200. However, this limit can be higher in areas where the median home price is significantly above the national average.
$726,200 is the conforming loan limit in most Idaho counties
$1,089,300 is the maximum limit in Idaho’s more expensive counties
Keep in mind that the amount being borrowed is what determines whether or not you’ll need a jumbo loan, not the price of the home. So, if you were to put $50,000 down on a $750,000 home in Boise County, the mortgage would be $700,000, which is under the conforming loan limit for this area. In this case, your loan wouldn’t be considered a jumbo loan.
The following counties in Idaho have a conforming loan limit beyond $726,200 for 2023:
County
Conforming Loan Limit
Blaine County
$740,600
Camas County
$740,600
Teton County
$1,089,300
To identify the conforming loan limits where you’re considering buying a home in Idaho, check out this FHFA map.
What are the requirements for a jumbo loan in Idaho?
As previously mentioned, the requirements for a jumbo loan are much more stringent than a conforming loan. The specific requirements can vary from lender to lender, but below are the typical requirements for borrowers seeking a jumbo loan in Idaho.
Higher credit score: When it comes to applying for a jumbo loan, credit score requirements are typically more stringent than for conventional mortgages. While some lenders may be willing to accept a lower score, a credit score of at least 720 is generally required to qualify for a jumbo loan. It’s important to have a strong credit profile and a solid financial history to increase your chances of being approved for a jumbo loan.
Larger down payment: Buying a high-priced home usually requires a larger down payment from the buyer. Conventional loans may offer programs for down payments as low as 3%- 5%, but jumbo loans require a minimum down payment of 10%, with some lenders requiring up to 30%. If the homebuyer puts down less than 20%, they will likely need to pay for private mortgage insurance (PMI).
More assets: Idaho jumbo loan borrowers are typically required to have additional assets. In particular, lenders may require borrowers to demonstrate sufficient liquid assets or savings to cover one year’s worth of loan payments.
Lower debt-to-income ratio (DTI): Mortgage lenders consider a borrower’s debt-to-income ratio (DTI) when evaluating their eligibility for a jumbo loan. To qualify for a jumbo mortgage in Idaho, borrowers typically need a DTI below 43%, though closer to 36% is preferred. The DTI represents the borrower’s monthly debt payments divided by their gross monthly income.
Additional home appraisals: For a jumbo loan, mortgage lenders may require a second appraisal to ensure that the property’s value is accurate. This is particularly true in areas where there are few comparable home sales. The home appraisal acts as a second opinion and helps the mortgage lender to mitigate their risk. It’s important to note that the cost of a secondary appraisal may be higher than a typical home appraisal, particularly in areas with fewer sales.
If you live in Colorado or surrounding states, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Cherry Creek Mortgage Company.
The retail mortgage lender is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and does nearly half its total loan volume in the Centennial State.
They also have a sizable presence in California and Texas, along with Illinois, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.
In all, they’re licensed in 41 states nationwide, which helped them generate nearly $9 billion in home loan origination volume in 2021.
Let’s learn more about Cherry Creek Mortgage to determine if they’re the right fit for your home loan needs.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Fast Facts
Retail mortgage lender founded in 1987
Headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado
Offer home purchase, refinance, and reverse mortgages
Originated over $70 billion in home loans since inception
Closed nearly $9 billion in home loans during 2021
Licensed in 41 states nationwide and D.C.
Acquired by Guild Mortgage on March 13th, 2023
Cherry Creek Mortgage Company has a pretty deep pedigree for a mortgage company, having been founded all the way back in 1987.
During those 33 years in business, the company managed to fund $60 billion in home loans for some 260,000 families across the nation.
The company offers home purchase loans, refinance loans, and reverse mortgages via the retail channel.
As noted, they’re licensed in 41 states (and D.C.), including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Their mission is to deliver a digital mortgage experience with a human touch, with a commitment to honesty and integrity in all that they do.
And their ultimate goal is to provide a mortgage to one out of every 100 home buyers in America.
Other than the Cherry Creek brand, they run several DBAs, including Premier Mortgage Group, America’s Mortgage, Reverse Mortgage USA, Rocky Mountain Mortgage, Swanson Home Loans, and Blue Spot Home Loans.
Update: In March 2023, Guild Mortgage acquired Cherry Creek Mortgage, including 68 branches in 45 states in order to expand its retail network.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Loan Process
You can apply online, by phone, or in person at one of their branches
Use their online loan officer directory to find an originator near you
They offer a digital mortgage experience powered by FasTrac
Streamlined underwriting process aimed at getting you approved fast
To get started, you can visit their website and click on the “Get Started” button. From there, you need to register to begin filling out a loan application online.
Alternatively, you can simply call them up on the phone to get connected with a loan officer, or use the “Find a Loan Expert” tab to find someone specific and/or nearby.
Cherry Creek also has physical branches in many of the states where they do business, so it may be possible to visit one and speak to a loan officer in person if that’s your thing.
They rely on their own proprietary technology known as FasTrac, which “streamlines the documentation required for submitting a loan to underwriting.”
It’s unclear if this is similar to some other technologies that allow you to link bank accounts, import W-2s, and so on, but it sounds like it.
The company says it offers a digital mortgage experience, so I assume you can upload documents, get real-time status updates, and conduct most of the process remotely.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Loan Options
Home purchase loans and refinance loans
Conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Government-backed mortgages (FHA/USDA/VA)
Jumbo home loans
Renovation loans (Fannie Mae HomeStyle and FHA 203k)
Construction loans
HUD-Section 184 Loans for Native Americans
Physician mortgages
Reverse mortgages
Cherry Creek offers home purchase financing, mortgage refinancing, home renovation loans, and reverse mortgages for seniors.
A good chunk of their production consists of conventional loans backed by Fannie and Freddie, with FHA loans their second most common offering.
They also offer jumbo loans for those with large loan amounts, VA loans for veterans and active duty, and USDA loans for those in rural areas.
If refinancing an existing mortgage, you can get a rate and term refinance or a cash out refinance.
Those purchasing a home with limited down payment funds can take advantage of their knowledge of down payment assistance programs, grants, and interest-free second mortgages.
And those building a new home can take advantage of long rate lock periods with float-down options.
They also have a Union Advantage Program that offers benefits to union members and their immediate family, including a $500 gift card after closing on a new purchase loan or refinance.
And they offer HUD-Section 184 Loans for Native Americans interested in purchasing a home, along with physician mortgages specially tailored for doctors.
You can get a fixed-rate mortgage or an adjustable-rate mortgage, with all the common varieties available such as a 30-year fixed or 15-year fixed, or a 5/1 ARM, 7/1 ARM, and so on.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Rates
Like a lot of other mortgage lenders, they don’t openly advertise their mortgage rates on their website for one reason or another.
As such, it’s difficult to determine how competitive they are mortgage pricing wise. The same goes for lender fees.
It’s unclear what they charge in the way of fees, such as a loan origination fee, so you’ll need to inquire about it and/or review your Loan Estimate if you get pricing from them.
Definitely take the time to shop around if getting a quote from Cherry Creek Mortgage to see low they stack up against other lenders.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Reviews
On Zillow, there are nearly 900 Cherry Creek Mortgage reviews at the moment and the company has a 4.97-star rating out of 5.
Many of the recent reviews indicated the interest rate was lower than expected, and others mentioned that fees/closing costs were also lower than expected.
If you want to see a specific Cherry Creek Mortgage loan officer’s reviews, look for their name on Zillow to fine-tune your results.
It’s difficult to find other companywide reviews, so you might be better served searching for reviews of local branches located near you.
The company is also Better Business Bureau accredited at both its headquarters and all its company-owned locations.
It enjoys an A+ rating from the BBB and had just a handful of customer complaints and reviews at last glance.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Pros and Cons
The Good Stuff
Offer all types of loans including reverse mortgages
Excellent reviews from past customers
Free mortgage calculators and eGuides on site
Offer a digital mortgage experience
Can apply directly on the website or visit a branch
If you live in Colorado or surrounding states, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Cherry Creek Mortgage Company.
The retail mortgage lender is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and does nearly half its total loan volume in the Centennial State.
They also have a sizable presence in California and Texas, along with Illinois, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.
In all, they’re licensed in 41 states nationwide, which helped them generate nearly $9 billion in home loan origination volume in 2021.
Let’s learn more about Cherry Creek Mortgage to determine if they’re the right fit for your home loan needs.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Fast Facts
Retail mortgage lender founded in 1987
Headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado
Offer home purchase, refinance, and reverse mortgages
Originated over $70 billion in home loans since inception
Closed nearly $9 billion in home loans during 2021
Licensed in 41 states nationwide and D.C.
Acquired by Guild Mortgage on March 13th, 2023
Cherry Creek Mortgage Company has a pretty deep pedigree for a mortgage company, having been founded all the way back in 1987.
During those 33 years in business, the company managed to fund $60 billion in home loans for some 260,000 families across the nation.
The company offers home purchase loans, refinance loans, and reverse mortgages via the retail channel.
As noted, they’re licensed in 41 states (and D.C.), including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Their mission is to deliver a digital mortgage experience with a human touch, with a commitment to honesty and integrity in all that they do.
And their ultimate goal is to provide a mortgage to one out of every 100 home buyers in America.
Other than the Cherry Creek brand, they run several DBAs, including Premier Mortgage Group, America’s Mortgage, Reverse Mortgage USA, Rocky Mountain Mortgage, Swanson Home Loans, and Blue Spot Home Loans.
Update: In March 2023, Guild Mortgage acquired Cherry Creek Mortgage, including 68 branches in 45 states in order to expand its retail network.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Loan Process
You can apply online, by phone, or in person at one of their branches
Use their online loan officer directory to find an originator near you
They offer a digital mortgage experience powered by FasTrac
Streamlined underwriting process aimed at getting you approved fast
To get started, you can visit their website and click on the “Get Started” button. From there, you need to register to begin filling out a loan application online.
Alternatively, you can simply call them up on the phone to get connected with a loan officer, or use the “Find a Loan Expert” tab to find someone specific and/or nearby.
Cherry Creek also has physical branches in many of the states where they do business, so it may be possible to visit one and speak to a loan officer in person if that’s your thing.
They rely on their own proprietary technology known as FasTrac, which “streamlines the documentation required for submitting a loan to underwriting.”
It’s unclear if this is similar to some other technologies that allow you to link bank accounts, import W-2s, and so on, but it sounds like it.
The company says it offers a digital mortgage experience, so I assume you can upload documents, get real-time status updates, and conduct most of the process remotely.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Loan Options
Home purchase loans and refinance loans
Conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Government-backed mortgages (FHA/USDA/VA)
Jumbo home loans
Renovation loans (Fannie Mae HomeStyle and FHA 203k)
Construction loans
HUD-Section 184 Loans for Native Americans
Physician mortgages
Reverse mortgages
Cherry Creek offers home purchase financing, mortgage refinancing, home renovation loans, and reverse mortgages for seniors.
A good chunk of their production consists of conventional loans backed by Fannie and Freddie, with FHA loans their second most common offering.
They also offer jumbo loans for those with large loan amounts, VA loans for veterans and active duty, and USDA loans for those in rural areas.
If refinancing an existing mortgage, you can get a rate and term refinance or a cash out refinance.
Those purchasing a home with limited down payment funds can take advantage of their knowledge of down payment assistance programs, grants, and interest-free second mortgages.
And those building a new home can take advantage of long rate lock periods with float-down options.
They also have a Union Advantage Program that offers benefits to union members and their immediate family, including a $500 gift card after closing on a new purchase loan or refinance.
And they offer HUD-Section 184 Loans for Native Americans interested in purchasing a home, along with physician mortgages specially tailored for doctors.
You can get a fixed-rate mortgage or an adjustable-rate mortgage, with all the common varieties available such as a 30-year fixed or 15-year fixed, or a 5/1 ARM, 7/1 ARM, and so on.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Rates
Like a lot of other mortgage lenders, they don’t openly advertise their mortgage rates on their website for one reason or another.
As such, it’s difficult to determine how competitive they are mortgage pricing wise. The same goes for lender fees.
It’s unclear what they charge in the way of fees, such as a loan origination fee, so you’ll need to inquire about it and/or review your Loan Estimate if you get pricing from them.
Definitely take the time to shop around if getting a quote from Cherry Creek Mortgage to see low they stack up against other lenders.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Reviews
On Zillow, there are nearly 900 Cherry Creek Mortgage reviews at the moment and the company has a 4.97-star rating out of 5.
Many of the recent reviews indicated the interest rate was lower than expected, and others mentioned that fees/closing costs were also lower than expected.
If you want to see a specific Cherry Creek Mortgage loan officer’s reviews, look for their name on Zillow to fine-tune your results.
It’s difficult to find other companywide reviews, so you might be better served searching for reviews of local branches located near you.
The company is also Better Business Bureau accredited at both its headquarters and all its company-owned locations.
It enjoys an A+ rating from the BBB and had just a handful of customer complaints and reviews at last glance.
Cherry Creek Mortgage Pros and Cons
The Good Stuff
Offer all types of loans including reverse mortgages
Excellent reviews from past customers
Free mortgage calculators and eGuides on site
Offer a digital mortgage experience
Can apply directly on the website or visit a branch
“I am truly excited that Angel Ortiz has joined our team here at Service First Mortgage,” Donnelly said in the company’s release. “His energy and passion for delivering amazing service to his customers and his partners are infectious, and I am looking forward to working with him to expand in the San Antonio area.” “San … [Read more…]
Las Vegas is the most popular U.S. destination for non-local home shoppers, Minneapolitans don’t want to move out of the area – and hardly anybody else wants to move in – and Texans seem to mostly love living in Texas. These are just a few of the takeaways from a new Zillow analysis of search data in the largest U.S. markets that provides a glimpse of where Americans aspire to find their next home.
Las
Vegas gets the biggest share of Zillow traffic from outside of its
metro area of any of the 50 largest U.S. metros, due mainly to heavy
interest from Los Angeles. Nearly 61% of page views of Las Vegas
homes come from non-local searchers, with 17.9% coming from Los
Angeles/Orange County – the highest share from a non-neighboring
metro anywhere in the country. When you also account for the 2.8% of
views coming from Riverside, that’s more than a fifth of all Las
Vegas home searches coming from the broader Los Angeles area.
The
other large metros with a majority of searches coming from outside
are Jacksonville, San Antonio, Riverside, Raleigh and New Orleans.
As
an affordability ceiling has been reached in the most expensive areas
of the country, search habits seem to suggest locals in these areas
are at least considering a move to less-expensive pastures. In
addition to Las Vegas, a relatively high share of searches by Los
Angeles residents were on homes in Phoenix (2.6%) and San Diego
(2.5%). Meanwhile, Sacramento is being looked at by residents of the
Bay Area, taking up 6.5% of searches from San Francisco and 5.1% from
San Jose. New Yorkers are viewing places up and down the Eastern
Seaboard from Philadelphia (2.3% of New York searches), all the way
down to Miami (2%).
“Americans
tend to be mobile, regularly seeking out new homes in an effort to
balance career opportunities, family needs and the kinds of
lifestyles available in our diverse country,” said Zillow
Economist Jeff Tucker. “The homes people view on Zillow paint a
real-time picture of Americans’ changing aspirations and preferences,
sometimes years before they show up in public survey data. Search
trends from 2019 reveal the ongoing movement of people out of the
Northeast, as New Yorkers especially drift southward into the Sun
Belt, and a few Midwestern cities where households are likely to stay
put – St. Louis, Detroit and Cleveland. And in another way, they
demonstrate our curious nature. Whether they’re considering a job
they don’t end up taking, checking out a place a friend just moved
into or simply daydreaming about what life might be like in another
part of the country, vastly more people view listings in another city
than actually move out of town in any given year.”
When
looking at places where the largest share of searches come from
locals, it makes sense that the biggest metros top the list – they by
definition have more potential searchers. However, the
Minneapolis-St. Paul metro beats the odds to rank third in the
country despite having the 16th-biggest population. Just 24.1% of
searches on Twin Cities homes come from outside of the area,
indicating that residents want to stick around and few others want to
join them.
On
the other side of the coin are metros where locals are looking at
homes anywhere but in their hometown. Topping that list with just
30.1% of residents’ searches being done on local homes, perhaps
surprisingly, is Nashville, one of the fastest-growing cities of the
past few years. This could show that residents are looking elsewhere
after the rapid price increases during the population boom, or simply
mean that Nashvillians are more curious about out-of-town real estate
than the average American. The other metros with the lowest shares of
local searches are Salt Lake City (31.1%), San Jose (35.3%), Orlando
(37.2%) and Charlotte (39%).
Texans
may disagree on sports allegiances and where you can find the best
barbecue, but it appears they typically agree that if they do move,
they want it to be elsewhere in the state. Outside searches from
three of the four largest metros in Texas – Houston, San Antonio and
Austin – are most often on homes in other Texas metros. But residents
in Dallas-Fort Worth may be yearning to make their way out of the
Lone Star State – their most popular destinations are Oklahoma City
and Tulsa.
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
Today we’ll check out SWBC Mortgage, short for Southwest Business Corporation.
They’re a Texas-based direct-to-consumer mortgage lender, which is part of a larger diversified financial services company called, you guessed it, SWBC.
Their claim to fame is being a top company to work for, and they boast that many of their loan officers have made the list of top 1% of mortgage originators in America.
They currently offer home loans in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Let’s learn more about them.
SWBC Mortgage Quick Facts
Direct-to-consumer retail mortgage lender founded in 1988
Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas
Funded nearly $4 billion in home loans during 2019
More than a quarter of total loan volume came from home state of Texas
Have branch locations in many states across the country
Licensed in 40 states and D.C.
All loan processing, underwriting, and closing is done in-house
Last year, SWBC Mortgage originated roughly $4 billion home loans via the retail channel.
They allow prospective home buyers and existing homeowners to apply via their website or a brick-and-mortar branch.
A good chunk of their total loan volume comes from their home state of Texas, and they also do quite a bit of lending in Colorado, Tennessee, and many Southern states.
About two-thirds of total production came from home purchase lending, with about a quarter refinance business and the remainder powered by home equity lending (HELOCs).
At the moment, they don’t appear to provide mortgage lending services in the states of Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, or Wyoming.
Getting a Home Loan with SWBC Mortgage
You can apply directly from their website in minutes
Digital mortgage application known as TurnKey powered by Blend
Can link financial accounts and/or scan and upload documents securely
They say they’re generally able to close loans in less than 3 weeks
When it comes time to apply for a mortgage, you can do so directly from the SWBC website. They have a digital mortgage application called “TurnKey” powered by fintech company Blend.
As the name suggests, you can quickly get through the application thanks to technology like income and asset validation, which lets you link financial accounts instead of inputting that information manually.
At the same time, you can expect one-on-one customer service from a dedicated loan officer if you need any help along the way.
To that end, you can choose a loan officer to work with before you apply by using the directory on the SWBC Mortgage website.
Simply click on “Find a Pro,” then search by city, state or zip code, or by loan officer name. Once you find a branch, you can see who works in that office.
And once you’ve got your loan officer picked out, you can contact them directly or apply from their own dedicated webpage.
All in all, SWBC Mortgage makes it super easy to apply for a home loan without needless steps and wasted time. But you also get the human touch if and when you want/need it.
Loan Types Offered by SWBC Mortgage
Home purchase and refinance loans
Conforming mortgages backed by Fannie/Freddie
Government-backed loans: FHA, USDA, and VA
Jumbo loans up to $3 million loan amounts
Home renovation loans: Fannie Mae HomeStyle and FHA 203k (Standard and Limited)
Texas Vet Mortgage Loans
SWBC Mortgage offers both home purchase financing and refinance loans, including rate and term and cash out refinances, along with home renovation loans.
You can finance a primary residence, second home, or multi-unit investment property.
They’ve got all the typical loan types, such as conforming loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as government loans like FHA loans, USDA loans, and VA loans, the latter two allowing zero down financing.
They also offer home equity loans by way of HELOCs, so if you want to tap your home equity while leaving your first mortgage intact, you can do so.
It may also be possible to take out a piggyback second mortgage if you want to extend your home purchase financing while avoiding PMI.
If you have a particularly expensive property, they offer jumbo home loan financing as high as $3 million, with some of their jumbos coming with down payment options of just 10%.
They also have options for self-employed borrowers, and low down payment options (3% down) for those with little set aside in the way of assets.
Lastly, because SWBC Mortgage participates in the Veterans Housing Assistance Program (VHAP), they’re able to offer Texas Vet mortgage loans that come with special interest rate discounts.
In terms of loan program, you can get a fixed-rate mortgage, such as a 30-year or 15-year fixed, or an adjustable-rate mortgage, like a 5/1 ARM or 7/1 ARM.
SWBC Mortgage Rates
SBMC does not advertise or disclose its mortgage rates online or elsewhere to my knowledge. If you want to get pricing, you’ll need to apply and/or speak with a loan officer.
As such, it’s unclear how competitive they are relative to other mortgage lenders. The same goes for lender fees, which don’t appear to be posted on their website.
This isn’t necessarily a bad sign, it just means you’ll need to speak to someone to find those things out.
Once you have that important pricing information, you can compare their interest rates and closing costs to other lenders while comparison shopping.
Yes, you should take the time to gather more than one mortgage quote, otherwise you’re doing yourself a disservice.
SWBC Mortgage Reviews
SWBC says it has over 1,000 Google reviews, with an average customer rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. Those reviews may be spread across their many branch locations, so be sure to filter by location.
Some of their locations are very highly-rated, such as the Oklahoma City branch, which has a 5-star rating out of 5 on Birdeye based on nearly 250 reviews.
You can also see individual SWBC Mortgage loan officers’ reviews on Zillow – some have more than others, but this is perhaps the best way to drill down and see how one person performs as opposed to just looking at the entire company.
Since they’re large and located across the United States, it may be best to look at individual reviews for an indication of future performance.
SWBC Mortgage is an accredited company with the Better Business Bureau, and currently enjoys an A+ rating.
SWBC Mortgage Pros and Cons
The Good
Can apply for a home loan directly from their website in minutes
Offer a digital mortgage application powered by Blend
Plenty of loan options to choose from including home equity products
It’s been a particularly bad twister season this year—and not just for those living in “Tornado Alley.”
The preliminary count of twisters between January and March, when tornado season began ramping up, means 2023 will be one of the most active first quarters on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And it could end up being the worst ever seen.
This all has us wondering about tornado risks for homeowners across the country and how much climate change is affecting the frequency, severity, and locations of these unstoppable storms that remind us of how small we are. So we analyzed climate risk data from CoreLogic, a real estate data supplier, to figure out how much tornado damages are likely to cost homeowners each year, depending on where they live—and what sort of bills they could be facing in the future as tornadoes become more dangerous.
While tornadoes mostly affect the Eastern swath of the country, this year places not normally associated with tornado risk have been touched by them. A 140-mph tornado struck Delaware (measured as the widest on record for the state) on April 1, the same day an “outbreak” of tornadoes touched down in New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. That followed a tornado that hit Los Angeles on March 22 and where a set of “twin tornadoes” hit again on May 4.
For a homeowner living in an area where tornadoes are a possibility, this is a reminder that although the chance a tornado affects you is small, it can still happen. But the science on how a changing climate affects tornadoes is far from settled.
“There’s no agreement, and there’s good reason for that,” says Howard Bluestein, a professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.
Bluestein says there are far too many factors to predict with accuracy the changes in tornado frequency or intensity, from wind shears to soil moisture.
“We don’t understand why some supercell storms produce tornadoes and others don’t,” he adds.
CoreLogic’s predictions, which rely on widely used greenhouse gas modeling, show that damage costs resulting from severe convective storms—the kind that causes tornadoes and also other damaging wind, rain, and hail—could rise by more than 10% by 2040 and more than 25% by 2050, depending on the location, and that’s without adjusting for whatever future inflation occurs.
One caveat: The possibility exists of observation bias, where the count of tornadoes might have increased in part because the tools we use to observe these storms have gotten better. In addition, as more homes go up and areas become more populated, damages are likely to become more widespread. That’s not because there are more tornadoes, necessarily, only that there are more homes in their way.
According to CoreLogic’s data, in a place like Tarrant County, TX, severe convective storms currently cause around $411 million in residential damage in any given year. That translates into a risk of about $690 per homeowner each year. That, in turn, is worked into insurance premiums.
But by 2040, CoreLogic expects those costs to rise by 10%, to about $436 million across the county, or about $729 per homeowner, using the most extreme model (RCP85, which is based on increasing fossil fuel use). By 2050, those costs could rise by almost 20%, to about $522 million, or about $872 per homeowner—and that’s before accounting for inflation or the effects of population growth.
That’s where the science hits homeowners’ wallets. As the risks increase, homeowners are likely to spend more on their insurance premiums.
We plotted CoreLogic’s data on a map, to show where in the country tornado damage costs are expected to increase, and by how much.
For each of the 2,610 counties where there’s enough past tornado data to make predictions about the future (about three-quarters of all counties), CoreLogic’s data shows the current estimated average annual cost to a homeowner from severe convective storms, as well as the amount that figure is expected to rise under the RCP85 scenario. You can explore the data using the map below.
Though predictions about the effects of climate change are still not an exact science, says Harold Brooks, a senior research scientist at the NOAA’s severe storms laboratory, improvements in home construction techniques can be used to help mitigate these risks.
“The bottom line is we aren’t completely sure what climate change will do,” he says. “But we know enough to know the bounds of what climate change might do.”
And that’s enough to prompt him to take measures in his own home, where Brooks recently had an in-residence tornado bunker installed.
“It’s a walk-in closet, with 6-inch concrete walls and a steel-reinforced door. FEMA has plans online for these,” he says. “The guy who poured the concrete said it was relatively simple, and when he was done, he asked if he could come over if there’s a bad storm.”
The tornado fortification doesn’t stop there, though.
“Historically, roofs have been nailed on, but really held in place by gravity,” Brooks says. “What happens in most home failures in a tornado is the roof gets lifted off. You have pressure on the walls, there’s no place for it to go, you get upward pressure, and the roof goes.”
But builders are now using hurricane clips to protect against severe weather events that threaten to tear roofs from buildings. These clips secure roof rafters to the walls with inexpensive metal fittings.
“The buzzword in the community is ‘continuous load path,’” Brooks says. “These can add an order of magnitude to the pressure the roof can take.”
Bolts that more securely hold walls to a structure’s foundation are another of the “relatively inexpensive things that can reduce the risk for this kind of damage,” Brooks adds.
The pandemic took a toll on the U.S. employment market, with unemployment hitting a record high of 14.7% in April 2020.
For those still relying on unemployment, there’s another news item taking shape. A growing number of states have decided to end the extra $300 a week in unemployment assistance that was part of the American Rescue Plan. Here’s what you need to know if you’re affected by this change.
What’s Ahead:
Which states are affected?
For more than a year, if you were unemployed, you were able to apply to receive an extra $300 a week in unemployment compensation. This was part of the American Rescue Plan, which was designed to help Americans through the worst pandemic in a century.
But as more consumers are vaccinated, local governments are taking another look at the need for those extra payments. Some states have opted to end them altogether. In those states, eligible unemployed residents will go back to receiving the standard weekly unemployment payment.
Your first question is probably whether your state is affected. The problem is, the list is still growing. But as of today (June 3, 2021), 24 states are ending unemployment benefits. They are, in alphabetical order:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
West Virginia
Wyoming
If you’re receiving extra unemployment or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which is designated for freelancers and contract workers, it’s important to check into your state’s status. In most of the above states, both the $300 extra unemployment and PUA are ending early.
The $300 in extra weekly aid wasn’t going to last forever. It was set with a 2020 expiration date, which was extended to 2021. The original aid expired in December, but that expiration date was pushed back to September 6, 2021. If the remaining states don’t opt-out of the extra unemployment, those who qualify will continue to receive the boost in unemployment until September.
Each state that has chosen to opt-out has set its own deadline for ending unemployment. Below is a list of the end dates for each state:
June 12: Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri.
June 19: Alabama, Idaho, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming.
June 26: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah.
June 27: Montana.
June 30: South Carolina.
July 3: Tennessee.
July 10: Arizona.
July 19: Indiana.
States offering incentives
If your state is on the above list, there might be some good news. In some states, governments are offering extra money for those who accept employment. Those states include:
Arizona: employees can qualify for a Return to Work Bonus of $2,000 for full-time work or $1,000 for part-time work after eight consecutive weeks of employment. You’ll need to begin this work between May 13 and Sept. 6.
Montana: eligible employees can qualify for a one-time, $1,200 Return to Work Bonus after completing four full weeks of paid work.
New Hampshire: through June 19, currently unemployed workers can qualify for a bonus of $500 for part-time employment and $1,000 for full-time employment.
Oklahoma: the Return to Work incentive offers eligible workers $1,200 after six weeks of full-time work.
Unemployment benefits cutoff
There’s another cutoff that applies to pandemic-era unemployment recipients. Each state has specific timeframes for collecting unemployment. In many states, six months is the limit. But during the pandemic, this cutoff was extended, with some states allowing people to claim unemployment for a full year or longer.
The pandemic has now passed the one-year mark, though, which means that the deadline might be approaching for many unemployed individuals. Whether you’re in a state that’s cutting off extended benefits or not, it’s important to pay close attention to your benefits’ end date. You may be able to apply for an extension, but there’s no guarantee your state unemployment office will grant it.
Getting back to work
Unfortunately, for many workers, heading back into the workforce isn’t as simple as landing a job. Daycares and schools face the same staffing shortages as many businesses, which means that parents have nowhere to send their children when they go back to work.
There’s also the issue of the lingering pandemic. Even in areas where vaccines are readily available, some employees are still concerned for their personal safety. For some, permanent remote work may be the only option. But when that isn’t available, workers face the tough choice of health versus paying the bills.
For those who are in the states that haven’t yet cut off unemployment benefits, there’s still a little time to sort things out. But if you’re in one of the states ending extra payments, it’s important to know what your options are.
What to do next
If your state is on the above list, you’re probably wondering what options you have. Here are a few things to do if you’ll soon be without that extra $300 a week.
Check with your unemployment office
Just because you’re reading online that your extra unemployment benefits are ending, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other options. Unemployment compensation is decided on a case-by-case basis, using laws set at the local level. Contact your local unemployment office and find out if there are options available to you.
Consider remote work
This obviously won’t be an option for everyone. But the good news is, the pandemic has made employers more open to remote work than ever. You can often search local job sites and find plenty of opportunities where you can work from home most of the time. There are also plenty of work-from-home opportunities in this list, but you can also search online for “remote work” or “work-from-home jobs” and find some options.
Look for a bridge job
If you’re able to work at least part-time, consider a bridge job. These jobs are designed solely to get you through until things return to normal. At that point, you’ll (hopefully) be able to land your dream job. In addition to letting you pay your bills, a bridge job also helps reduce those gaps in your resume that can be concerning to future employers.
Consider summer childcare options
Parents do have one thing working in their favor: it’s summertime. The need for remote learning is put on hold for now, and there are childcare opportunities that don’t exist in the fall and winter months. If your local daycares are understaffed, consider enrolling your children in a summer camp. Local organizations like the YMCA and Boy Scouts often have summer camp opportunities, for example.
Summary
In most states, the $300 in extra weekly compensation will continue for now. But it’s important to prepare for it to possibly end soon. Stay in touch with your local unemployment office and make sure you’re aware of all your options. Even if the extra $300 cuts off, you’ll likely still be eligible for a weekly unemployment check while you continue to look for work.
Temperatures are currently soaring across the U.S. South, with little expected relief ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
Texas alone has seen record-high forecasts of temperatures around 110 degrees. The heat wave has come hot on the heels of several destructive storms that put severe pressure on the region’s energy grid and left thousands without power.
Weather experts expect the heat wave to expand further north into Missouri, the Mississippi Valley, Oklahoma, the western Florida Panhandle and western Alabama. As of last Saturday, more than 40 million people in the U.S. have been placed under a heat alert.
And the heat, combined with typical summer storms, is already affecting travelers. For example, when traveling recently on an Embraer 175, TPG’s Summer Hull and her two kids volunteered to receive $1,000 in future travel credits each as the plane was overweight for its trip from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) due to weather-related weight and balance issues.
Make no bones about it, this year’s Fourth of July celebrations are going to be hot, with an increased likelihood of more storms and heat-related travel disruptions.
For those without air conditioning, these temperatures can be extremely difficult to live with. The commute to work becomes more stressful, and it might be nearly impossible to sleep at night. All in all, it’s not a pleasant experience.
Not only do hot days affect how we work and sleep, but they also affect the aircraft that we fly on.
Air density
We’ve all heard the phrase “hot air rises,” but what does this actually mean and how does it affect your flight?
The air around us is composed of various particles, and, for the most part, it consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% various other gasses (such as carbon dioxide and water vapor). These molecules of air bounce around the place like balls in a lottery machine, taking up as much space as is available to them. This is known as the atmosphere.
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As the temperature increases, the atoms within these molecules get excited and start to move around more. The hotter they get, the more they move and the farther apart from each other they become — making the air less dense. Conversely, the colder the air becomes, the less excited the atoms are and the denser the air becomes, which makes it sink lower.
On a typical day, as the sun heats the ground and the air above it, the temperature of that air mass increases. This causes the air molecules to increase their movements and rise into the sky, reducing the air pressure as the density reduces. The hot air becomes “thinner” and therefore rises.
As the hottest part of the day passes and the air begins to cool, the molecules become less excited and sink back down toward the earth, increasing the density and, consequently, the air pressure. The same mass of air is now much heavier than it was during the hottest part of the day.
How aircraft fly — a quick refresher
So why does the air density matter for aircraft? Well, contrary to common belief, aircraft fly not because of their engines but because of their wings.
As air flows over the wings, it creates a difference in pressure between the lower and upper surfaces. (There is lower pressure on top and higher pressure underneath.) It’s this difference in pressure that causes lift. When the lift generated by the wings becomes greater than the weight of the aircraft, the aircraft can leave the ground and fly.
For the math-minded among you, the formula for lift is …
Therefore, the amount of lift produced depends on the speed of the air over the wing, the density of the air and the wing area.
The engines are there to provide the forward movement the aircraft needs to drive the air over the wings. During the takeoff run, the engines accelerate the aircraft forward, forcing air over the wings. Because the amount of lift generated is partly determined by how fast air flows over the wings, once the aircraft reaches a certain speed, there will be enough lift to become airborne.
It’s for this reason that aircraft won’t simply fall out of the sky even if both engines fail. If that incredibly rare event were to happen, the pilots would simply lower the nose slightly and use gravity to keep the air flowing over the wings, creating lift. This will give a glide ratio of roughly 3 miles for every 1,000 feet above the ground; this means an aircraft at 43,000 feet can glide for around 130 miles.
How air density affects aircraft
So now that we know a little about how aircraft fly, we can begin to understand how the air temperature affects them.
As I mentioned, the amount of lift generated depends on a number of factors in the lift equation, including the speed of the air over the wing and the density of that air.
Related: The challenges for pilots when landing at hot and high airports
We’ve already agreed that on a cold day, the air is more dense, and the molecules fall lower and pack in tight together. As this air flows over the wing, there are many air molecules passing over the surface, creating the perfect conditions for lift.
However, on a hot day, the air is much less dense. As a result, when that hot air passes over the wing, there are far fewer air molecules near the surface, which reduces the amount of lift created.
This difference is why pilots prefer to fly on cold (dense air) days rather than hot (less dense air) days. Not only do the wings generate more lift at a given speed, but the aircraft “bites” the air much better and is more responsive to control inputs.
What if it gets too hot?
We’ve seen that on a hot day it’s more difficult for wings to generate lift than on a cold day. When temperatures reach 86 degrees and above, this has a noticeable effect on aircraft performance.
So what can we do if the air density decreases, but we want to keep the lift generated the same? One option is to delay the flight until the air temperature decreases. It’s for this reason that many ultra-long-haul flights depart late at night when the air is the coolest.
However, delaying a flight due to high temperature isn’t ideal. With that in mind, there are two other variables in the formula — the area of the wing and the speed of the air over the wing.
Make the wing bigger
The first option is to make the wing bigger. Even though this may seem like an unrealistic idea (how can you just make it larger?), it’s not as unrealistic as you may first think.
When you first board an aircraft and can see the wing, it looks pretty smooth and sleek. However, just after the engines start, a loud whirring noise comes from under your feet and the surfaces on the leading edge and trailing edge of the wing move outward.
By extending the slats (leading edge) and flaps (trailing edge), we can increase the aerodynamic surface area of the wing, giving us a higher value for our lift formula. For takeoff, most commercial aircraft set the flaps to around a 5-degree extension.
They can go up to around 30 degrees — a measurement used for landing. Since increasing the wing area will create more lift, one option is to use a greater flap setting and increase the area of the wing.
While this is a solution, it’s important to note the more flap you use, the more another factor comes into play — drag.
Drag is the aerodynamic force that slows an object down. The more an object is “hanging out” into the oncoming wind, the more drag it has. This is why sports cars and fighter jets have low, sleek profiles.
Related: No, your flight didn’t go supersonic. That was just really fast wind
If we use more flap to increase the surface area of the wing, there’s a point where the drag generated becomes a bigger problem. The more drag there is, the faster the plane has to fly to overcome the extra force, reducing the lift generated.
Go faster
Using extra force to generate more lift works but is hugely inefficient. The other option is to simply increase the speed of the air over the wing. There are two ways to accomplish this.
The first is to take off into a strong head wind. If an aircraft needs an airspeed of 100 mph over the wings and you angle it into a 100 mph wind, the aircraft will become airborne even if it is stationary compared to the ground.
In the video below, the small aircraft needs very little air over its wings to become airborne. So little, in fact, that during a storm, bad weather can generate winds strong enough to meet these criteria. The result? Any aircraft that isn’t tied down can very quickly relocate to another area.
However, because most commercial airliners need airspeeds of around 180 mph to become airborne, and the lift generated by wind alone will only make up maybe 30 mph, the other 150 mph must be generated by the engines.
Another little-known fact is that we rarely take off with our engines at full power. This is because it uses a lot of fuel, increases the amount of maintenance needed, and is noisy for those living and working around the airport. As a result, we try to get airborne using as little engine power as safely possible.
To do this, we calculate just how much engine power we need before each departure by considering all the variables — air temperature, air pressure, wind speed and weight of the aircraft. By adding in the runway length available to us, we can then calculate just how much engine power we will need to reach our takeoff speed with the runway length available.
If we need to increase the speed because we can’t increase the wing area anymore and the air density is too low because the length of the runway is fixed, the only way we can do this is to increase our engine power. However, there may come a point where we are using full power but the runway isn’t long enough to reach our takeoff speed before the end.
This is why airports in hot places such as Dubai and Singapore have exceptionally long runways. When airports with shorter runways, sufficient for normal weather, go through periods of extremely high temperatures, the runway length can suddenly become a limiting factor.
When there’s not enough runway
When we’ve reached this stage, things really get challenging. We can’t increase the wing area anymore due to excessive drag, and we can’t go any faster because the runway isn’t long enough. It seems that we would be stuck as these are the only variables in our lift formula. However, there is one more element that we can change: the amount of lift required to get airborne.
We’ve already mentioned that an aircraft flies when the lift generated by the wings is greater than the weight of the aircraft. So, if we are unable to generate any more lift, the only way to still get airborne is to reduce the weight of the aircraft to a value that allows us to get safely airborne.
When loading an aircraft, the one thing we can’t change is how heavy the aircraft is when empty. What we have to do once again is look for the variables. These come in four areas: the amount of fuel we load, the number of passengers we carry, the number of bags we load and the amount of cargo we carry.
The first of these to go will be the cargo, as this can be loaded onto a later flight without much inconvenience to the customer. The next element we’ll try to change is the fuel figure; however, understandably, there is a limit to how much we can reduce this.
We may look at how much fuel we will use to taxi to the runway or how much contingency fuel we carry in case of unexpected routings or altitudes. However, realistically we only save a few hundred kilograms in weight by doing this, even on a long-haul flight.
The final variable is when airlines become really unpopular with customers — offloading them or leaving their bags behind.
Related: Runway approaching: How pilots find their way safely to the ground in all elements
Let’s be clear on this: No airline wants to leave passengers or bags behind. However, there is absolutely no way the pilots will risk taking off knowing that the aircraft is too heavy for the environmental conditions.
As a result, the only option is to either cancel the flight or offload some passengers and/or bags and send them on another flight.
Bottom line
Not only do high temperatures affect how we work and sleep, but they also have an effect on how aircraft fly. As the mercury rises, the air density changes, which reduces the performance of the lift-generating wings. Pilots have ways around this — but only up to a certain point.
Should the temperature become so hot that the pilots can’t make any further changes to their takeoff performance, the only way to get safely airborne is to either offload passengers and bags or cancel the flight altogether.
This is far from ideal, but it’s our job to keep all those on board our aircraft safe. Every so often this involves taking extreme steps.