Quick Tips On The Mortgage World

Monday, January 26, 2015

Removing Disputes Just Got A Little Harder…

It’s not unusual at all for an underwriter to request that disputes be removed from a disputed account.

In the past we have used a simple letter from the consumer to have these disputes removed.

I wanted to let you know that as of January 19th, 2015 Experian will now require a letter from the reporting creditor stating that the dispute comment should be removed. (The other two bureaus will still accept a letter)

This letter can be a little more difficult to get – particularly if the creditor is out of business or otherwise hard to reach.

You could also try calling Experian yourself as a consumer to request the dispute be removed.

Bottom line is if you are getting a mortgage don’t dispute a bunch of accounts prior to your application. You will just have to remove the comments that remain. …and, it can be tricky to get them off sometimes.

That’s it for today!

Have a good day today! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Monday, January 19, 2015

Best Loan Programs To Use For Rural Purchases…

I’ve written about this before, but I think it’s a good idea to touch on it again…

If you need financing to purchase a home in the country I would use either USDA, FHA, or VA.

The reason I didn’t mention conventional is that a conventional loan generally will have more restrictions on the comparable sales used in the appraisal.

Specifically conventional loans have a conservative limit on how far they will allow the comparable sales used in the appraisal to be away from the subject property.

For this reason you often run into a Catch-22 using conventional loans in a rural environment.

…Yes you can use a conventional loan, but the comps are too far away from the subject property so you can’t use a conventional loan, etc…

Generally speaking FHA, USDA, and VA will accept comparable sales that are “common for the area”. …So, in other words if the comparable sales are all 5 miles away and that’s what is common for the area – then generally they will accept this.

If you are unsure what type of financing is best to use for your next purchase – shoot me an email or give me a call and tell me about your situation.

That’s it for today!

Have a good day today! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

You Should Consider Refinancing Your FHA Loan If…

I wanted to follow up on the FHA news about lowering their monthly mortgage insurance…

The recent history of FHA MI rates on 30 yr mortgages are as follows…

In April of 2011 FHA’s MI rate went from .55% to 1.15%.

In April of 2012 the MI rate went from 1.15% to 1.25%.

In April of 2013 the MI rate went from 1.25% to 1.35%.

Now it’s dropping back down to .85% on a 30 year mortgage.

So, if you got your FHA mortgage on or after April of 2011 you should consider refinancing.

If you would like me to run some numbers for you I’ll be happy to do that.

That’s it for today!

Thanks for reading.

Brett

Monday, January 12, 2015

New FHA MI Rule To Take Effect 1-26-15…

I mentioned this might happen earlier, and now it’s going to happen on the 26th of January 2015.

FHA is reducing their monthly mortgage insurance premium on a 30 year mortgage from 1.35bps to .85bps.

The result of this is that it puts it back squarely in competition with Conventional Mortgages. …and, ultimately there will be more FHA mortgages originated.

This has needed to happen. FHA MI was too high for a long time.

That’s it for today!

Thanks for reading.

Brett

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Some Hope For Lower FHA MI Rates…

There is a push in congress to lower FHA MI rates.

A group of 18 U.S. Senators and the Mortgage Bankers Association both sent letters to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, stating that the time has come for the Federal Housing Administration to lower its mortgage insurance premiums.

In two separate letters both addressed to HUD Secretary Juliàn Castro, the group of senators and the MBA both cited the improved financial health of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund as the main reason why the FHA should reexamine its insurance fees immediately.

FHA MI is very high right now, and it would be great for borrowers if they could lower it.

I’ll let you know if it happens!

That’s it for today!

Thanks for reading.

Brett

Monday, January 5, 2015

News On FHA’s HAWK Program…

I hope you had a safe New Years!

I think we’ll all have a great year this year.

Mortgage News…

One of the programs we were looking forward to this year was FHA’s HAWK program.

Now it looks like HAWK isn’t going to happen – at least for another year. This is due to congressional budget restrictions. The program simply wasn’t allotted funding for 2015.

Under the four-year HAWK pilot program, home buyers who committed to housing counseling would qualify for tangible savings on their FHA-insured loans.

That’s it for today!

Thanks for reading.

Brett