Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Mortgage lenders and cohousing

[Holly McNutt (holly.mcnutt]

Ann - Precisely! - Holly

On Aug 27, 2012, at 1:59 PM, Ann Zabaldo wrote:

> 
> O this drives me crazy.  You have pending buyers for your cohousing community 
> and Chase is worried about "marketability?"   Really?  Am I confused?  Isn't 
> the definition of marketability people wanting a loan to buy a particular 
> home in a particular community -- it sort of strongly infers marketability of 
> the home and the community?  Isn't that what we call "demand?"
> 
> This is one of those "Ate My Brain" situations.  I can't wrap my head around 
> it ...
> 
> Anyway, Patti, sounds as if you are doing the right thing getting more 
> information.  Then you can see if you can mitigate the issues. Probably take 
> some time and some patience.   Someone lent you the money in the first place!!
> 
> Best --
> 
> Ann Zabaldo
> Takoma Village Cohousing
> Washington, DC
> Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
> Falls Church VA
> 703-688-2646
> 
> On Aug 27, 2012, at 2:01 PM, Lautner, Patricia wrote:
> 
>> 
>> It's not time to panic about Chase nationwide until we know more.  Hopefully 
>> they only have a problem with our condo docs and this is not a bigger 
>> problem.
>> 
>> To clarify, I learned from a local Broker in Boston that Chase is no longer 
>> giving loans to cohousing because of 'marketability' reasons.  I asked her 
>> to find out more information specifically what marketability problems meant. 
>>  Since this particular Broker sells mostly to Chase, she has stopped 
>> accepting applications from our community.  I asked her if this was a Chase 
>> policy just for JPCohousing or is Chase blocking cohousing nationwide?  
>> She's not sure and is helping me to answer that question.  
>> 
>> Patti
>> JPCohousing - Boston
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Holly McNutt [mailto:holly.mcnutt [at] gmail.com] 
>> Sent: Monday, August 27, 2012 1:47 PM
>> To: Cohousing-L
>> Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Mortgage lenders and cohousing
>> 
>> 
>> Hey Coho-land,
>> 
>> Being in real estate and knowing a little about lending, I want to chime in 
>> with my wee bit of experience here.  When we bought in 4.5 years ago, 
>> lending guidelines were much more lenient, and even then my mortgage broker 
>> cautioned us that it might be trickier to get a loan. He had worked on loans 
>> here at Nyland before, so I knew to trust him on this.  He advised leaving 
>> the word "cohousing" out of the paperwork as much as possible because 
>> LENDERS DO NOT LIKE TO FUND ANYTHING DIFFERENT.  Our appraiser used the word 
>> "community" which is pretty generic.  He did NOT expound on everything that 
>> is special and wonderful about this place and this experience, just wrote it 
>> up like it was any other HOA. And it worked!   
>> 
>> That being said, it's sooo much harder to get a loan now and the level of 
>> scrutiny is very high.  There is no way an underwriter isn't going to notice 
>> something like that.  And I"m not saying someone applying for a loan should 
>> try to hide the fact that we're coho.  I'm just saying that even 5 years 
>> ago, it could raise an eyebrow and probably it raises more now.
>> 
>> I am VERY interested to know if that is accurate about Chase's policy.  We 
>> ALL know that cohousing loans are probably MORE secure than the average, 
>> borrows are much less likly to walk away from a home in a coho community, 
>> but don't expect an underwriter sitting in an office to get that at all.
>> 
>> I like Sharon's idea.
>> 
>> My two cents!
>> 
>> - Holly at Nyland
>> 
>> 
>> On Aug 27, 2012, at 11:32 AM, Sharon Villines wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Aug 27, 2012, at 11:00 AM, Lyle Scheer <wonko [at] monkeyhouse.org> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I did some investigation and the lawyer who helped us remove the 
>>>> clause told me that recently a bunch of "reforms" were put in place 
>>>> for the mortgage industry in order to prevent a duplicate of the 
>>>> crisis that were very poorly thought out.
>>> 
>>> I just did a quick search online. Articles in the NYTimes and the 
>>> Washington Post, and blogs on housing are all reporting serious reforms in 
>>> requirements for _banks_. They detail what banks have to do to prove they 
>>> aren't deceiving borrowers or giving mortgages that can't possibly be 
>>> repaid. 
>>> 
>>> I didn't see anything that would affect cohousing or condominiums as such 
>>> but it sounds like banks are wary of any loans that anyone would say they 
>>> shouldn't have made, and thus get fines or the mortgages cancelled without 
>>> payment because they were unfairly awarded.
>>> 
>>> I think it may be time for the national organization to get legal counsel 
>>> to sort this out. Or a task force of lawyers living in cohousing.
>>> 
>>> The seriousness in some areas and lack of problems in others indicates that 
>>> the problem is not federal regulations but local interpretations of them. 
>>> The task may not be to go after them for discrimination but provide 
>>> information that assures them that they would be acting in accordance with 
>>> federal regulations when they loan to cohousing groups that are legally 
>>> constituted as required by law in their jurisdictions. 
>>> 
>>> No one even has a litmus test for cohousing. And Chase thinks it knows what 
>>> it is? They should tell us their definition so we know who we are.
>>> 
>>> Sharon
>>> ----
>>> Sharon Villines
>>> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC http://www.takomavillage.org
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _________________________________________________________________
>>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
>>> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
>> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>> 
>> 
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
>> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
>> 
>> 
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/
> 
>