Agoura Hills, Los Angeles, California

OPPORTUNITY: A Bay Area family was re-locating and had to sell their home in San Carlos, California to complete the purchase of their dream home in Agoura Hills, a Los Angeles suburb.

SOLUTION: Through concerted teamwork with real estate agents and the right lender, we were able to place this loan in time to satisfy all parties to the transaction. We locked the borrowers loan during a brief dip in mortgage interest rates, allowing a savings of over $18,000 in the next five years.

Sacramento, California

OPPORTUNITY: Our borrower, a professional civil service employee, was increasingly uncomfortable with her monthly housing payments and upcoming ARM rate change. Her existing loan amount exceeded the conforming loan limit by over $125,000, forcing rate and pricing into the Jumbo loan range.

SOLUTION: We took her loan application in advance, knowing that we needed to wait for an opportunity to lock a rate that would cost justify the loan. We sourced secondary financing sufficient to achieve a conforming first loan ($417,000) at an interest rate of 5.25% and with the completed loan application and appraisal in hand, we scouted all lending sources for the best pricing. We locked a new first loan at the bottom of a brief dip in the mortgage market on a Friday afternoon in late May -- volatility in the market can work to your favor if you are poised and ready to capitalize. We ended up reducing our clients mortgage rate from 6.125% to 5.25% in a period when rates are technically higher than 3 yrs ago. Our client will realize more than $14,000 in savings over and above recuperated financing expense during the next 5 years.

Sacramento, California

OPPORTUNITY: Our client found their dream home but had limited access to cash.

SOLUTION: With our knowledge of lending guidelines, we chose a lender whose programs best fit our borrower. A declining market restricted the borrowers access to equity and liquid assets were very limited. We designed a collection of limited contributions from the seller as well as from the borrowers family members, to help with down payment and closing expenses.

Livermore, California

OPPORTUNITY: Our borrower’s ARM home loan was about to reset. The borrower needed stable financing in view of upcoming expenditures.

SOLUTION: We executed a loan application and collected documents in advance. Being poised to move quickly, we locked 5.375% 5 year financing during a brief drop in mortgage rates.

San Francisco, California

OPPORTUNITY: A Bay Area real estate investor came to us for help in the purchase of a second home, in Phoenix Arizona. The property had been denied financing as an ‘unseasoned’ condominium project.

SOLUTION: We were able to overcome the objections to the condominium project and obtain a loan at favorable terms for a second home. In an expression of continuing confidence the same borrower closed two additional loans with us in the same year.

Laguna Beach, California

OPPORTUNITY: A long time client asked us for help in obtaining a condominium home she planned to buy. We closed the loan in 21 days. The borrower was self employed and the purchase was to be a 2nd home for vacationing.

SOLUTION: $2.23m purchase price, $1.5m loan, 68% loan to value, with a 5 year fixed interest rate of 6.25%, interest only payments.

Burlingame, California

OPPORTUNITY:Steelhead's expertise was required to assist a borrower who had made an offer to purchase without having secured their down payment. We refinanced the existing residence during the negotiation period of the subsequent purchase to obtain the down payment.

SOLUTION: The seller of the new property required a 12 day close of escrow. Steelhead choreographed a lock step plan with the borrower to close the purchase in 12 days time.

A Double Play

-- $1.0m cash out refinance, 7 yr IO, 5.875% (to access some trapped equity for down payment)

-- $1.5m purchase, $1.1m loan amount. 7 years fixed interest, interest only payment, 6.00%.

Kona, Hawaii

OPPORTUNITY: Loan sizes greater than $3.5m are not seen on a regular basis. With some of our clientele, it is not uncommon to work on multi million dollar loans. The market for $3.5m + home loans is a small field and one where you better know what you are doing. At this level, your communication, delivery, and how you serve up the loan, is essential for minimizing “exception” pricing.

SOLUTION: Within a 15 day period, from contract to funding, Steelhead Residential delivered a $7m loan at 5.375% on 10/1 Interest Only (please keep in mind borrower bought down his interest rate to achieve this rate). How satisfied was our client? His other local source was providing him an equivalent program at 6.125%. This .625% of a difference allowed him to save $43,750 a year in interest.

This purchase in early 2007 allowed us to demonstrate to the buyer and seller of this development, that Steelhead Residential had the discipline and know how to package a very complex loan while meeting the basic underwriting criteria to satisfy the secondary market.

Concord California

OPPORTUNITY: In this particular transaction, the borrower wanted 100% leverage (LTV) to preserve her “non liquid” assets and not have to sell these assets for her down payment. Like all loans, it’s all about positioning the loan package and how you demonstrate to the lender that this borrower has the financial wherewithal to carry and support this loan for the long term.

The borrower was a self employed massage therapist, who had recently moved to the Bay Area, but still maintained her rental properties in Sacramento for her retirement.

SOLUTION: By taking out a HELOC on a single family residence in Sacramento, we were able to achieve the post closing reserve requirements for the purchase of her new house in the Bay Area. Knowing that “trapped” equity would not fulfill our 9 mo’s of PITI reserve requirements, we put a low leverage HELOC (6.75%) on the property and deposited the proceeds into her savings accounts to accommodate the lender.

After covering the lending market, I was able to identify a niche lender who provided us 7/1 Interest Only for 6.25%, plus a 2nd loan at 8.75% for a total loan amount of $585,000.

Great loan for this borrower.

Menlo Park, California

OPPORTUNITY: Very sophisticated borrower wanted to free up cash to re-invest in higher yield investments.

SOLUTION: Strength of borrower coupled with niche lender who compensates for strong assets and FICO scores, allowed us to acquire a 5/1 Interest Only loan for 5.5%.

Kona, Hawaii

OPPORTUNITY: This loan was for the purchase of a single family residence in one of the premiere vacation developments in all of the islands. This very high profile development required Steelhead Residential to work with not only the in house sales team, but many other groups who had a vested interest in a successful closing.

SOLUTION: In working with the borrower, we were able to secure a $3m loan at 5.25% for a 5/1 Interest Only (borrower elected to buy down the interest rate.)

Burlingame, California

OPPORTUNITY: Young Bay Area family was excited to identify a property that was liveable yet allowed them to improve over 40% of the property through renovations. We structured the loan in a way that allowed them to lock in for a fixed 7yr period on the 1st loan, while structuring a 2nd loan for the remaining 15%. Once improvements have been completed, we will keep the 1st loan in place (6.125%) while restructuring the current HELOC to a fully amortized/fixed 2nd.

SOLUTION: Borrowers overall profile allowed us to get Full Doc pricing while not having to show or verify income. The policy of the lender on this home rewarded borrowers with FICO scores of over 780. At no additional cost to the borrower, their loan was priced as a Full Doc loan but required only minimal documentation.

*** To preserve cash at closing, seller paid for $25k of the closing costs – Steelhead Residential recommended this approach after sitting down with our client and the agent representing our borrower – it was a win/win for both side of the transaction.

Encino, California

OPPORTUNITY: Due to the larger loan size, and some other nuances that needed to be considered and addressed with this file, the lender and loan program were identified after reviewing 4-5 different lending sources and illustrating the strengths and weaknesses of each lender. After an extended escrow of 60 days, we closed on a 7/1 Interest Only at 6.375% in an upward moving interest rate environment.

SOLUTION: Lenders typically require assets in bank to be sourced and/or seasoned for 60 days – in this transaction, borrowers employer was putting up 10% of the down payment which caused us to work within the strict guidelines of down payments coming from an outside source.

San Francisco, Ca.

OPPORTUNITY: A San Francisco family was anticipating declining income and rising interest rates on an adjustable rate mortgage. The property to be financed was a three unit wood frame built in 1911.

SOLUTION: Covering the lending market, we identified a lender who provided us 7/1 Interest Only for 6.125%.

San Francisco, California

OPPORTUNITY: A Bay Area real estate investor came to us for help in the purchase of a second home, in Phoenix Arizona. The property had been denied financing as an ‘unseasoned’ condominium project.

SOLUTION: We were able to overcome the objections to the condominium project and obtain a loan at favorable terms for a second home. In an expression of continuing confidence the same borrower closed two additional loans with us in the same year.