Hello, my name is Wayne Whitfield; I have been in the mortgage banking business for a little over 40 years. I began my career back in 1971. I’ve been with AB&T National Bank since March of 2010. During my career, I’ve experienced a lot of things. I wanted to talk with you a minute today about mortgage lending, home ownership and what we see as a tremendous opportunity for potential home buyers today.

When I began my career at AB&T, it was a challenge of starting a mortgage department from the ground up. And of course, we all know, the key to building a successful business are people. And the people that you can count on to do a job and to do a job in a manner that exemplify the goals and the gold standard that we’re looking for at AB&T National Bank. IN that vein, we’ve gathered a number of professionals within the mortgage business, collectively; our mortgage department probably has almost 100 years of experience. So we think that that experience lends itself as an opportunity to work with individuals as they try to obtain their dream of home ownership.

There’s no question about the fact that the lending environment has changed today. The landscape has changed tremendously as a result of the collapse in the real estate market that we saw in early 2006, 2007. This collapse in the real estate market, we feel we can now look and see it was brought on by some lending practices that may be been less than prudent lending.

And so since 2006, we’ve seen a correction and we’ve seen a swing toward more prudent underwriting practices. So what do we mean by prudent underwriting practices? Prudent underwriting I think it means that, number one, the borrower has the willingness to pay, now how’s that willingness to pay demonstrated? It’s demonstrated through satisfactory credit levels, credit scores. You’ve all heard about credit scores and the importance of credit scores today. And it’s certainly true as it relates to mortgage lending.

Generally, minimum credit scores that we’re looking for in the range of 640 or higher. So not only are credit scores important, but also the borrower’s character. And character is displayed in their willingness, not only willingness, but their ability to repay the debt. How do we measure that? How do we measure willingness and ability to repay debt? Employment history, adequate income, those are certainly key factors along with credit as we make mortgage decisions.

The third item that comes into play there would be the collateral that’s being offered and the cash investment that the borrower is making in the property. These three items together are key in the mortgage decision process. So we are looking in returning to more prudent underwriting practices today.

Now, what does all this mean to you as a homebuyer? It means that you need someone to guide you through this ever-changing landscape that we’ve seen in the mortgage industry. We’ve got the professionals at AB&T to do that. So we would invite you to give us a call and let us be your guide to a gold standard mortgage load process. Now is the time. Now is the kind of the perfect storm as it relates to home buying or home building. Interest rates are at an all-time low. Home prices, construction prices are lower today than they’ve been in recent years. So again, it’s a perfect opportunity to purchase or refinance or build a home of your dreams.

We look forward to working with you in the future. Please give us a call.