Good Morning!
I wanted to let you know that for 2021 the Conforming Loan limits are going up.
Max Conforming Loan limit in Texas is currently $510,400, and beginning in 2021 the limit will go up to $548,250.
The advantage of using a Conforming Loan over a Jumbo loan is that the rates are lower, and you don't have to put down as much money on a Conforming Loan.
This is good for all of us.
That's it for today!
Have a great week!
Brett
Good Morning!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Here's five things you may not have known about thanksgiving...
1) Historians have no record of turkey being eaten at the first Thanksgiving.
2) Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey as the national bird.
3) Snoopy has made the most appearances in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
4) The first professional Thanksgiving Day football game was played 1920.
5) Each year, about 46 million turkeys are cooked.
That's it for today!
Thanks for reading!
Brett
Good Morning!
If you’re rate shopping for a mortgage – here are some guidelines for you to keep in mind…
1) Ask the loan officer for 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, and compare the mortgage fees.
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
Good Morning!
Have you ever wondered how much extra you would have to pay on your mortgage each month to shave off five years, or ten years, or more?
It's easy to see on the calculator on our website.
Click on it, and check it out... https://www.berkshirelending.
Hope you are having a great week!
Brett
Good Morning!
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of the USDA loan program...
Advantages of USDA: USDA loans are 100% loans. No down payment is required! Low monthly mortgage insurance. At the time of this writing the monthly MI is .35 x the loan amount divided by 12.
Flexible credit guidelines. USDA loans allow the seller to pay the borrower's closing costs and pre paid expenses (taxes and insurance) at closing up to 6% of the sales price.Disadvantages of USDA: There are income and geographic restrictions on USDA loans. Generally USDA loans are not available in large to medium sized cities. You can contact our office to see if your area is in an eligible area.
That's it for today!
Thanks for reading!
Brett
`Good Morning!
Happy Veterans Day!
Here's something you may not have known about Veterans Day...
Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans—living or dead—but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime.
That's it for today!
Have a great rest of your week!
Brett
Good Morning!
I had this situation come up again last week…
Advice: If you enter into a lease option agreement don’t give cash for the option money.
The reason is when you try to buy the house down the road you will have to prove you gave the option money to get credit for it. …it’s hard to prove cash.
You can do a personal check, cashiers check, or money order. …but, don’t give cash.
That’s it for today!
Hope you had a good weekend!
Have a good day today! …and thanks for reading.
Brett
Good Morning!
I wanted to highlight an underused program in the mortgage market. …It’s Freddie Mac’s Home Possible.
Here are some highlights of this great program…
– 97% financing!
– Only .25% mortgage insurance rate! …compare to .85% for FHA and over 1% for 95% Conventional.
– No reserves required.
– Allows 3% seller contribution.
– There are income limits unless you purchase a property in an “underserved area”.
If you want a low down and very low mortgage insurance program this is a great one! Give me a call or shoot me an email to see if you qualify.
That’s it for today!
Have a good day today! …and thanks for reading.
Brett
Good Morning!
Tomorrow is election day.
Do you recall what happened with mortgage rates after the 2016 election?
Mortgage rates rose rather dramatically in a short period of time.
Hopefully we won't see a repeat of this. The one wild card is the persistence of Covid-19. It continues to subdue economic growth expectations, and I personally see that tempering any dramatic swing in rates.
...I could be wrong however.
One way or the other - we are about to find out.
Happy November!
Thanks for reading!
Brett
