kwimberl

If you are doing it as a business, it goes on Schedule C. If you are doing it as a hobby, it goes on line 21 of the 1040.

Check on the performance of the annuity. Most variable annuities have not been performing well of late. You might want to consider rolling it over into an indexed annuity. There are some indexed annuity products that have much lower fees and even have a substantial "bonus".

I think there are some other things to consider as well: 1) How are you looking in terms of insurance? Are you taken care of in terms of your health insurance? Disability? Life? Long term care? If you have a partner, then a whole new set of insurance issues comes into play as well. 2) Annuities can be great places to put some money right now too. There are products that allow you to take advantage of good times in the market without risking the bad times. I would not personally tie all of the money up in any single investment. As a previous poster alluded to, liquidity can be a key so make sure you consider that as you look into investments as well.

The best way to find an advisor is a solid referral. It doesn't matter if one is independent or captive, there are snakes in both categories (and good ones).

While it varies depending on the state (a few states are guaranteed issue), most carriers will want five plus years in remission depending on the type of cancer. I always recommend actually talking to an agent before you apply online. An agent can help make sure you do not apply for the wrong policy -- especially if you have pre-existing conditions. I do think doing the initial looking to get a feel for plans and pricing is appropriate online. Many do not know that there is a Medical Information Bureau (MIB) that is kind of like a credit report on your health that insurance companies can access. You really want to avoid getting a decline listed on there.

I agree with Cedric -- your LO probably just ran DU. I use both DU and LP (they each have types of loans they like more than others). Ask your LO to run it LP too. If your LO doesn't have access to LP, then find one that does. I am assuming that you have separate funds for the renovations and that you are not trying to finance that part too? If so, that changes things quite a bit.

On the surface, FHA is better. However, there are some things that we do not know. For example -- is your debt to income ratio high? If so, conforming may like the loan and FHA not. As has been suggested, ask your LO WHY he recommends the conforming loan. Would you be approved for both? Is he capable of writing both? If he is not capable of writing FHA, then that is your problem (and I would recommend finding an LO or broker who is)!

Well, my opinion won't likely be popular here. However, I do not see that a refi makes sense for you unless you are struggling on a monthly basis. I'd rather see you call the lender and tell them you think you have enough equity now to drop MI -- see if they will order an appraisal (you will probably have to pay for it). Assuming the equity is there, that will get rid of your MI and do it a WHOLE lot cheaper than all of the closing costs. For where rates are right now, I do not think the difference in rate justifies the closing costs (assuming you can get rid of the MI as described above). My opinion might change if you were doing this as part of overall financial strategy for establing some investments. I didn't hear that though...

It used to be very common to get "stated" income loans. These are MUCH more difficult to get now. You have to have money down and great credit for the most part. Think about it this way: If you lied to Uncle Sam about your income, what makes you think uncle sam is interested in guaranteeing a loan for you? (FHA is a government insured loan) So, the best advice is for your BIL to start being honest about his income on his tax returns. Then he is ethical and can qualify for a mortgage! (although uncle sam will take his share) As an aside, even a stated income loan is not supposed to be a license to lie -- the income is supposed to match up to taxes (you just don't have to produce the tax returns). I know in my case, I pull the tax return transcripts and make sure it's truthful anyway. There did used to be "no ratio" or "no doc" loans. I used to use no ratio all the time for this type of situation. Unfortunately, those loans really aren't available anymore.

These are questions you need to be asking your LO or broker. It is impossible for us to know exactly what is going on in your case. Some lenders have fast turn times -- others are slow.

I will echo the "get a new LO" sentiment. Since you don't have a property yet, just go with the preapproval from the CU and the GFE's they give you. If you like the rates and service there, close with them. You can always find a new broker too. Either way, you aren't happy with the service from your current LO -- why let him/her make any money on you???

If I knew you were doing this to me without having disclosed this upfront (in which case I would have passed on the deal), I would be more than ticked. You obviously have no idea about the time, energy, and resources (financial and otherwise) that go into getting your loan approved, funded, and sold to the investor. You should have chosen the LO with whom you felt most comfortable. If you didn't feel confident in them, you shouldn't have used them at all...

You are probably going to have to catch up those returns and present them for documentation. Hopefully there will be enough income there to qualify you (we can add back in some of the deductions for our calculations). I agree with Shane -- give the bank pres a chance. They can sometimes pull for higher debt ratios than your average joe. With that size loan, they may well portfolio it (not sell it).

LOL It is certainly true that we have some bad apples in our industry. In this particular borrower's case, I suspect he has been dealing with loan officers that simply do not know their stuff. As Shane pointed out above, we have some "dumb as a brick" brokers out there, but I can tell you that all of the regulars here are not in that category. I would trust any of these guys to handle my personal loan before I would roll my dice with an unknown pencil pusher at a local bank or an unknown broker. Having said that, I have some friends that work in local banks that are pretty darn good too. Perhaps a better way to say it is to pick who you work with carefully. As a realtor, this is particularly important.