Mortgage News
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The USDA mortgage loan is the only mortgage left that offers home buyers a mortgage with 100% financing. The USDA mortgage loan program requires the borrower to meet income limits and the property has to be in a designated rural area. The borrower can also use a seller concession towards closing costs up to 6% of the purchase price. Read the rest of this entry »»»
Mortgage interest rates continue to be at all-time lows. If you have not refinanced yet now is the time to do it. Mortgage rates are not going to stay this low forever. They really have no where to go but up. That’s not to say that rates are going up any time soon, as their is still a lot of uncertainty in the economy. Read the rest of this entry »»»
The Section 203(k) program is the Department’s (HUD) primary program for the rehabilitation and repair of single family properties.
The borrower can get just one mortgage loan, at a long-term fixed (or adjustable) rate, to finance both the acquisition and the rehabilitation of the property. To provide funds for the rehabilitation, the mortgage amount is based on the projected value of the property with the work completed, taking into account the cost of the work. Rehabilitation/repairs are completed after closing. Read the rest of this entry »»»
It’s important to understand the difference between a mortgage pre-qualification from a mortgage pre-approval. Most people use the term pre-approval without really understanding what it means. People are simply more familiar with the term pre-approval versus the term pre-qualification. There is a big difference between the two terms. Read the rest of this entry »»»
Some people think that the rule of thumb is if you can lower your interest rate by at least 1% then it’s worth refinancing. Well, it’s not that simple. It depends on more than just interest rates. There are several factors that go into it and we’ll discuss them. Read the rest of this entry »»»
The days of being able to put your house on the market, receive multiple offers, get more than the listing price, and accept an offer in a matter of just a few days or a week are over. We have been in a buyers market now for the last couple of years and it looks like it’s here to stay for a while longer, at least until the economy picks up and the real estate inventory finds balance.
Because interest rates are so low and there is such a huge amount of homes on the market, buyers can be very picky with what they are willing to purchase. Therefore a seller has to do everything they can to set their house apart from the rest.
Here are some helpful tips if you decide to sell your house: Read the rest of this entry »»»
Your credit score, commonly referred to as FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) score, has become more and more important over the years. It can determine whether or not you qualify for a mortgage, and it’s now being used by insurance companies, employers, and landlords. You actually have more than one credit score. Each credit bureau has it’s own name for their scoring. Read the rest of this entry »»»
One of the first things a loan officer should go over with their borrowers is the mortgage process. It’s important for the borrower to know what to expect during the mortgage process. So we’re going to go over how the loan process works.
Once a customer has a fully executed sales contract—a contract that is signed by both the buyers and sellers—and they get through the attorney approval clause and home inspection, the next step is to order the appraisal. Generally, you don’t want to order the appraisal until the attorney approval and home inspection is taken care of just in case there are any issues with either. There’s no sense in a borrower paying for an appraisal (normal cost $400) if there are any issues with the contract and/or property. During this time Read the rest of this entry »»»
A lot of home buyers don’t realize that the multiple listing system (MLS) allows a real estate agent to show customers any house they’re interested in, so long as it’s listed on the MLS. The only houses that wouldn’t be listed on the MLS would be houses listed with independent real estate brokers that are not a part of the MLS or houses that are for sale by owner. And some independent real estate brokers will co-broker with other real estate brokers. The vast majority of houses today are listed on the MLS, which means that the home buyer only really needs to work with one real estate agent. The benefits of Read the rest of this entry »»»
The million dollar question every customer asks: “When should I lock in my interest rate?”. And the fact of the matter on this one is there is no crystal ball that can predict the absolute correct time to lock in. Because interest rates can change at a moments notice based on several unpredictable variables, there is no way for any loan officer, accountant, stock broker, financial planner, to predict with absolute certainty the best time to lock an interest rate in. They can all give you their opinion based on articles they’ve read or what they’ve observed in the financial markets, but there is no way for anyone to predict whether interest rates are going up or down with any kind of absolute certainty. But here are some tips Read the rest of this entry »»»