Home Inspections

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage A home inspection is critical for the whole process, whether it be for a police home loan or the purchase of practically any property. Home inspections matter regardless of how you plan to buy. You can buy a house as is. You can have a home inspection […]
Mortgages and Your Credit Score

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage The Chicago Patrolman Credit Union philosophy has long since focused on encouraging wise money management and that, of course, includes the understanding of credit scores. I think if you’re buying a home just to make your credit better that that’s the wrong reason. However, if a first responder […]
Condominiums, Right of First Refusal, Transfer Taxes, and More

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage There are a number of aspects to home buying that not everyone understands when they walk into a patrolman credit union location. Condominium units are one example. With condominiums you have what’s called the right of first refusal. This is something that’s unique to a condominium association. FHA […]
Insurance Considerations

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage There are several types of insurance to consider when buying a home. The first that we commonly talk about is homeowners insurance. That can take on different forms. For instance, if you’re buying a condominium unit your homeowners insurance is usually included in your association dues. That covers […]
VA Loans

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage I can talk about VA loans all day. The main reason is that I have so much respect for our veterans and our active military who are defending our freedom across the world. I come from a military family. My father served in the Navy during the Korean […]
Where First Responders Should Buy

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage One of the first considerations when a first responder is looking for a new neighborhood to buy a home is the commute. I mean, in Chicago, where Police Mortgage is headquartered, that’s the biggest thorn in everyone’s side. It’s the same in practically any big city. You need […]
Talk to the Loan Officer First

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage The most important tip I can give anyone is to always get a hold of your loan officer before you go under contract. It sounds obvious, but it’s not obvious, right? Sometimes people do that, but I see so many people looking for a police home loan that […]
Tapping Into Your Equity

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage We know the police in particular love their toys, and some of those toys are Harley-Davidsons, RVs, and boats. And hey, God bless them, because you know what? If anyone deserves it, it’s first responders to help them enjoy their lives. I’ll speak to the credit part first. […]
The Down Payment

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage Back in the day, I’m talking like 1990s, early 2000s, 20% down was the standard. You wanted to avoid private mortgage insurance as a result. So that was always the thing growing up. When I bought my first house, my old man told me, “Hey, make sure you […]
Investment Properties

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage If somebody walks into a Chicago police credit union, and we all know that almost certainly is going to be us, and wants to buy investment property we want to know if it will be a secondary residence or something like a rental or VRBO. An example of […]