It has been a very busy time for us at Mortgage Trust. Rates are super low and holding steady, and the window for that $8,000.00 tax credit is fast closing. Affordability is rising across the board, and the annual end-of-summer real estate frenzy/climax is upon us.

I wanted to take a moment to highlight a couple of my Portland mortgage clients of whom I am particularly proud. To share how powerful their real estate mortgage management is and will be for their lives, one purchase, and one refinance story.

First the purchase: I have a great client who is a nurse with a local Portland hospital. She is a first-time buyer and qualifies for a VA mortgage. She was nervous about the jump from her low rent payment to the higher mortgage payment, so she decided to buy a duplex to have some rental income to offset that payment.

She was able to find a super clean duplex close to her work for $271,000, and finance it with no money down. Her total payment will be about $1650 per month, and the rental income from her non-occupied unit will be close to $1,000. She also qualifies for the $8,000.00 first-time buyer tax credit! If she applies that credit to her payments she will literally live COMPLETELY PAYMENT FREE for her first year, followed by a tax-adjusted monthly payment of around $300 per month!! Unbelievable!!!

My second success story is about a guy who has been in his Beaverton area home for about 7 years. He was in a first and second mortgage with an average/blended rate of around 6.9%. We were able to get him qualified for a cash-out refinance, pay off both mortgages, and roll in about $35,000.00 of additional consumer debt that reduces his total monthly obligations by over $900 per month.

He is in his late 50s and also starting to think about retirement. If he applies this additional $900 to his principal balance he will be COMPLETELY DEBT FREE in less than 13 years.