Do mortgage articles make you scream?
By: Freeman Liz
February 07, 2011
Studies have found that 39% of mortgage borrowers don't shop around for their mortgage even though they know that interest rates vary significantly between mortgage lenders. A New York Times article says that mortgage companies are pretty good at putting a lot of mortgage information online, but that it is actually overwhelming to borrowers. "TMI!" they cry. Too much information unless you have nothing to do for a couple opf weeks but read mortgage articles.
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Mortgage rates are not the same in every state
By: Freeman Liz
November 19, 2010
Mortgage interest rates are not the same from state to state in this country. What you pay depends on several factors, like homestead exemptions and title fees in your location. HUD estimates that those buying homes or refinancing mortgages???? in non-recourse states (those that don't allow lenders to sue borrowers when???? property nets less in a foreclosure sale than the balance of the mortgag...
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Cheaper to buy than rent in at least 18 cities!
By: Freeman Liz
November 02, 2010
Trulia.com recently analyzed its sales listings and the average price of renting in 50 metropolitan areas and concluded that in at least 18 of them it is cheaper to buy than rent. How did they do this? They compared the average rent of two-bedroom apartments, condos, town-homes and co-ops listed on their site with their list prices. I'm including the calculations because you may want to perform them using data for your own town.
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Alt-A Loans May Come Back But Could Be More Expensive
By: Freeman Liz
July 19, 2010
Remember stated income loans? In their more responsible guises, they required a substantial down payment of between 20% and 30%, stellar credit scores, reasonable liquid assets (at least six months of the stated income in general, so if you claimed to earn $10,000 a month, you should have had at least $60,000 in a bank somewhere).?? Mortgage interest rates for these things ran only slightly higher...
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The Trade-off Between Mortgage Rates and Credit Scores
By: Freeman Liz
July 06, 2010
If you want the best mortgage rates, you already know that it takes a high credit score. But what if your credit is only kind of sort of good? How much extra will you pay for today's record-breaking low interest rate? Assuming that you have 20% home equity or down payment, it takes a 720 credit score to get the best possible rate on a Fannie Mae mortgage. If your score is 699, your fees increase by at least 1.0% of your mortgage amount, and perhaps more if you're financing a condo (add .75%) or manufactured home (add .5%), taking a cash-out refinance (add 1.375%), or opting for interest-only payments (add .75% and close before August 1, 2010). On a $400,000 loan, that extra 1% adds $4,000 to your other mortgage closing costs!
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Consider the Cash In Refinance
By: Freeman Liz
July 03, 2010
If the daily updates touting the Lowest mortgage rates in our lifetime" are driving you crazy, chances are you'd love to refinance but don;t have the equity or credit rating to do so. And you're probably sick of every mortgage article basically telling you how stupid you are for not refinancing when current 5/1 hybrid rates are as low as 3.5%. If you're planning on keeping your home for a while look into a cash-in refinance.
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When a Mortgage Approval Is Not a Mortgage Approval
By: Freeman Liz
June 22, 2010
You compared lenders, shopped for the best mortgage rate, applied for your new home loan, and finally got your approval. So now you can go shopping for furniture, maybe get a new car to go in your new garage, and plan your housewarming party, right? Not so fast. Because it's not over until the fat lady hands you the keys to your new home.
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Fed Chairman Bernanke Expects Mortgage Rates to Rise Before Employment Recovers
By: Freeman Liz
June 08, 2010
At a dinner hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Fed Chair reportedly told journalist Sam Donaldson that he believes that the economic recover underway will continue slowly (no "double dip recession) but that rates will rise before the country achieves full employment. Full employment is defined as the state in which those who desire work at the going rate for their skills are able to find it.
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Are Stated Income Mortgages Gone for Good? Probably Not
By: Freeman Liz
May 21, 2010
Legislation passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate goes a lot further in some ways than had been anticipated. And one of the changes that Congress wants is the abolition of certain mortgage products. Lenders will be prohibited from making mortgages that don't require the borrower to prove he or she can repay the loans. But in most cases, mainstream lenders did in fact make Alt-A loans (not to be confused with sub-prime mortgages to borrowers with bad credit) to borrowers who were capable of repaying the mortgages at the time the loans funded. They just had to determine borrowers' income using alternative methods. These methods could be used to "prove" borrowers' income once again and still satisfy Congress.
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Getting an ARM? Sooner Is Better than Later
By: Freeman Liz
May 13, 2010
Fannie Mae changed its guidelines (again) and as usual the changes do not favor borrowers. Its guidelines will be updated over the next twelve weeks to reflect the following: * Adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) qualifying will be more difficult. * Interest-only loans will be almost impossible to obtain. * Perennially-popular 7/23 mortgage products will be discontinued. Qualifying changes will primar...
