Josh Richardson

Tampa Bay mortgage broker | 140+ lenders | CFP® | 100+ 5-star reviews
Josh NMLS #2448184 · Go Rascal NMLS #2072896
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[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

One month of posting here. Thank you to everyone who's commented and asked questions.

What topic do you want me to break down next?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@CreateNotesOnRE Worth planning the balloon now. With his note recorded against your two land-home packages, any conventional refi on those has to pay him off or get a subordination. And that payoff is cash-out, not rate-term, since the lien didn't buy those homes. One note or two?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@Leonajardinho There's a middle path nobody mentions. Fannie allows a non-occupant co-borrower on a primary with 5% down. His income helps you qualify, his house stays untouched, no new lien. He signs the note, you make the payment. At 64 that's a very different risk. Would he consider it?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@madebyolah The $1,700 was principal and interest only - at $285k with 5% down that's almost exactly right. Taxes, insurance and PMI add about $535, so the real payment was $2,200 against $1,950 rent. And year one escrows off the seller's old tax bill. Did it jump at the first analysis?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@jonbrooks One catch from the lending side: a price cut and the same money as incentives aren't equal. Interested-party contributions cap at 6% of price on conventional with 10% down, 4% on VA, and anything over the cap comes off the appraised value. Which are builders actually giving?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@heIpfullandlord That's the offer-letter path, and almost nobody knows it exists. Fannie allows it when the start date is inside 90 days of the note and you hold reserves to cover the payment until the first check lands. It's B3-3.1-09 if a lender doubts you. Did yours offer it, or did you push?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@AbdulBless56439 Yours is separate - VA entitlement isn't transferable, so his use doesn't touch yours. And that $1,500 is earnest money, not escrow. On VA the amendatory clause makes it refundable if the appraisal lands under contract. Do you plan to live in it after, or rent day one?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

If you buy a second home or a rental in Pinellas or Hillsborough, your escrow is probably set too low, and you won't find out for about twenty months. The first tax bill you get will look fine. That's the trap.

Florida assesses as of January 1. If the seller held a homesteaded house that January 1, their Save Our Homes cap and exemptions stay on the roll all year, so the November bill that arrives after you close is still their bill, not yours.

Both come off at the end of the calendar year of the sale. The next January 1 your assessed value resets to full just value, and that bill lands the following November, nearly two years after closing.

Illustrative, Pinellas, roughly 20 mills:

Seller bought in 2006. Capped assessed value $215,000, less $50,000 in exemptions. Their bill, about $3,300, so your escrow is $275 a month.

You paid $525,000. Reset to just value, no homestead: about $10,500, or $875 a month.

Then the second hit. Your servicer collected $3,300 and paid out $10,500, so the escrow analysis finds a $7,200 shortage, which Reg X lets them spread over 12 months. You pay the new escrow and the catch-up at once: about $1,200 a month more for a year, then settling near $600 more.

Fannie Mae's own guideline, B3-6-03, says that where a sale typically triggers a reassessment the lender must use a reasonable estimate of future taxes, not the current assessment. Plenty of files get quoted off the seller's bill anyway. As a broker I see one file priced by a dozen lenders, and the tax line is where they quietly disagree.

Ask your lender which number they used: the seller's bill, or your purchase price at full millage. If it's the first, have them re-run the payment the other way.

Anyone been through this reset? How big was your jump, and did your lender warn you?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

Self-employed? The write-offs that lower your taxes can also lower your mortgage approval.

Lenders often qualify you on income after deductions, not before.

Talk to a lender before you file, not after.

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

A client just called working with our team "a God send."

I don't take that lightly.

Responsiveness and care aren't extras in this business. They're the job.

Thank you, Melinda.

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@madebyolah In Florida the roof is an insurance problem before it's a cash problem. Carriers routinely non-renew once shingle is past about 15 years, so he was likely losing coverage either way. A new roof also re-prices the wind portion on the mitigation form. Did he end up doing it?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@taylorgangis Worth watching the CDD on that one. Metro's lagoon communities carry the amenity cost as a bond assessment on the tax bill, so it lands in escrow and in your debt-to-income. Builders quote the payment without it constantly. Do the Sunrise Hills filings break the CDD out yet?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@dissectmarkets At 3.21% the math flips. A guaranteed 3.21% is only worth taking if nothing safe pays more, and short T-bills have been above that. You'd be locking cash into an illiquid 3.21%. Does carrying it bug you, or is it purely a math call for you?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@heIpfullandlord SFH with roommates is the under-used one. You were owner-occupied, so 20% was never required, it just killed the PMI. And HomeReady lets boarder rent count toward qualifying income with 12 months of shared-residency proof. Did you use the roommate rent, or just your W2?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@indexnforgetit Then the thing to protect is that 3% first. If you ever need the equity, a second behind it beats a cash-out refi, which retires the 3% for good. Plenty of lenders go to 70-75% CLTV on a non-owner second. Is the plan to live on the cash flow, or sell a few off later?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@AbdulBless56439 Storey Lake is short-term-rental zoned, and lenders usually treat those as condotel, so VA and standard conventional won't go. Separate issue: VA makes you certify you'll occupy within 60 days, which is hard from Jordan. Is the VA entitlement yours, or your coworker's?

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

Getting a gift for your down payment?

You'll usually need a signed gift letter, and your lender may want to see the money leave their account and land in yours.

Do it early, not the week of closing.

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

Would you buy a home with a friend or sibling?

🅰️ Yes, already have
🅱️ Yes, would consider it
🅲 Only with a legal agreement
🅳 Never

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

@DialecticWin @Cernovich Lord help us! haha

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

5/ Not a good reason: "rates dropped a little" with no break-even math.

Want your break-even? Reply "refi" and I'll help you figure it out.

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

When does refinancing actually make sense? A quick checklist 🧵

[Josh Richardson @joshmortgages]

4/ You want to consolidate high-interest debt. Be careful: you're turning short-term debt into 30-year debt.