Quick Tips On The Mortgage World

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Mortgage Rate News…

Note on mortgage rates…

The Fed has said that we should expect more rate hikes in 2016.

However, they have also said that a June rate hike could be constrained by the Brexit vote on June 23 (British vote on staying in EU). … And, the Fed also said they are unlikely to
have back to back rate hikes.

So, there are some mixed messages, but eventually they will go up. You can be assured!

If you were considering refinancing your home now is the time to do it. …(I can help you refinance by the way!)

That’s it for today!

Have a good day! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Monday, May 23, 2016

100% Financing Option For An FHA Loan…

There are actually three 100% financing options we have right now for a mortgage.

…VA, USDA, and we actually have a 100% option on FHA now.

FHA is a 3.5% down product, but we have a program that takes care of the 3.5% down payment for the borrower.

This is an unusual program for FHA.

If you ask me “what’s the catch”, here it is…

You will pay a higher rate of interest for this program, and you will need a healthy seller contribution towards the buyers closing costs to complete the transaction.

If you have the seller contribution it can be a viable option for a purchase loan.

That’s it for today!

Have a good day! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

How To Get A Loan After A Short Sale…

I had a question about Short Sales recently.

FHA is most friendly to Short Sales.

There are basically two kinds of Short Sales…

1) If more is owed on the home than the home is worth, and it’s impossible to sell the property without the seller bringing money to the table then the mortgage holder can grant a short sale so the property can be closed.

In this circumstance, as long as you are current at the time of the sale, and have had no lates in the previous 12 months, then you would qualify for another mortgage without waiting. (FHA guidelines)

2) If you have fallen behind on your current mortgage, and the mortgage holder is granting a short sale to prevent foreclosure – then you will have to wait 3 years before you can get another mortgage.

Hope this helps!

That’s it for today!

I hope you have a great day! Thanks for reading!

Brett

Monday, May 16, 2016

Here's How A Deed In Lieu Affects You...

Occasionally I get asked if a Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure will be treated the same as a foreclosure by a mortgage company.

From a mortgage underwriting perspective it’s similar.

A Deed In Lieu is where you beat the mortgage company to the punch… …and give the mortgage company back the house before they have a chance to foreclose.

People ask me how a Deed In Lieu would affect their credit.

I tell them that it would be treated the same way a full foreclosure would – from a mortgage perspective anyway.

…in fact, if you have a “Deed In Lieu” show up in the mortgage history on your credit report – it might as well say “Foreclosure”.

You will have to wait a period of time before you would be eligible for a new mortgage.

…here’s what you’re looking at for seasoning on a foreclosure:

Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac: 7 years. (Sometimes you can get automated approval after 4 years)

VA: 4 years.

FHA: 3 years.

That’s it for today!

I hope you have a great day! Thanks for reading!

Brett

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Five Options For Paying Closing Costs…

Generally when you buy a house you will have two sets of funds you will have to pay at closing.

Your down payment.

Your closing costs, and prepaid taxes and insurance.

Unless your getting a gift or grant you will have to pay your own down payment.

However, you don’t necessarily have to be the one to pay your closing costs and prepaid taxes and insurance.

In fact, there are five different ways these costs can be paid. I’ll go through each one here…

1) You. …You are the borrower, and you can pay these expenses yourself.

2) The seller. You can negotiate this into your offer with the seller.

3) Gift. You can get a gift from a family member to pay your closing costs. The guidelines are different with each program for gift giving – so check with me before you attempt to go this route to make sure it’s appropriate for your loan program.

4) Grant. If you have access to a state or government grant program you can use this to pay these costs.

5) Loan officer and/or realtor. You can get help with paying your closing costs and prepaid expenses from the loan officer, and the realtor can help to.

That’s it for today!

Have a good day! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Monday, May 9, 2016

Ten Bucks An Hour And Buy A House?

You don’t have to make a lot of money to buy a house!

In the mortgage industry we are concerned with your debt to income ratio. …So, if you don’t have alot of monthly debt you can buy a house without making alot of money.

Example: I recently closed a loan for a person that made $10.25 an hour – and she bought a $95,000 house.

She didn’t have much monthly debt, and the taxes were low on the house.

…but, this is a good example of how you can buy a nice home and not have to have a high wage or salary to buy it.

If you didn’t think you made enough money to buy a house – give me a call or shoot me an email.

…you never know. You just might be able to buy right now.

That’s it for today!

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

Brett

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

How To Rate Shop…

If you’re rate shopping for a mortgage – here are some guidelines for you to keep in mind…

1) Get a Loan Estimate (LE). There’s always a relationship between fees / points / and rate. …You won’t know what that relationship is unless you look at a LE. (A low rate is great, but if you are paying points to get it – it may not be so great after all.)

2) When looking at the LE – focus on the mortgage fees. These are the only fees the loan officer really knows at the time he/she is creating the LE. They will just be estimating the title fees, insurance, and taxes.

3) Pay attention to the date on the LE – or rate quote. The rate market changes daily. You have to compare apples to apples. …To compare two rates generated 1 week apart is a waste of time. The rate that appears higher may actually be priced more competitively than the lower rate – depending on when the quote was generated.

That’s it for today!

Have a good day! …and thanks for reading.

Brett

Monday, May 2, 2016

How Much Can The Seller Help You With Closing Costs? Here’s How Much…

Do you know the best way to get sellers to help pay your closing costs, prepaid taxes, insurance and reserves when you buy a home?

…You ask them!

You make it part of your offer to purchase.

Depending on the circumstances they may or may not say “yes” to your request, but you should at least know the limits they are allowed to help you based on the loan program you are using.

Here is a breakdown of the maximum seller help amounts by loan program…

Program: Conventional (fannie/freddie), owner occupied…

1) 25% or more down payment = 9% allowed seller contribution.

2) Less than 25% down and up to 10% down payment = 6% allowed seller contribution.

3) Less than 10% down payment = 3% allowed seller contribution.

4) Fannie Mae Homepath: less than 25% down = 6% allowed contributions; 25% down or more = 9% allowed contributions.

Program: FHA

1) 6% maximum seller contribution.

Program: VA

1) 4% closing cost contribution.

Program: USDA

1) No limit to how much sellers can contribute (is limited by actual closing costs/prepaids). When a home appraises higher than the sales price, closing costs can be financed with USDA rural loans up to the difference between the sales price and appraised value.

That’s it for today!

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

Brett