Finding a home loan is more than clicking around the internet. There are important decisions and careful analysis involved in making an educated choice for your future.

Every Village Home Loan client is connected directly to his or her own personal customer service representative. No phone trees, no passwords and no loan numbers; we know our clients by name.

We pride ourselves on great rates and personal service. That's why most of our business comes to us by referrals from our clients. Call us today with your financing needs. We look forward to working with you.

— Matt Peterson, President, Village Home Loan

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING

It has been said that, "opportunity often comes disguised as hard work." Several years ago, real estate prices were at all time highs and buyers were climbing over each other to buy every bit of real estate available. Investors would need to put a 50% down payment or more just to break even on an investment. Today, home prices are approaching 10 year lows in many areas. The rent many properties demand covers not only the mortgage payment, property taxes and fire insurance, but creates cash flow for the investor with 20% down. In some instances this cash flow can be 7 to 13% of the down payment per year. So where are the buyers clamoring for these deals? Are we just sheep following the crowd just waiting to be sheared again?

So how do we know what a property is truly worth? Appraisers have several ways of determining what a property is worth. The one most people are familiar with is the "market" approach. This method looks at the other properties that have sold recently and compares them to the subject property. The value is based on what someone else would be willing to pay at that time in the market. As an investor, this is more along the lines of gambling. Putting money down on the hope that the property will be worth more later.

A second approach is the "income" approach. This method looks at the cash flow a property creates for an investor. While this approach does consider what other investors would accept as a reasonable cash flow for the property, it is a more reasoned approach to a property's value. It looks to the inherent value that the property has as a means of shelter and how much someone would pay in rent for that shelter. While this approach does take more effort, work and calculation, it results more reliably in opportunity for the investor.