July 8, 2008
It’s a terrific time to buy a home, but not because homes happen to be affordable.
It’s a terrific time to buy because the variety of mortgage products available to home buyers looks poised to shrink.
Monday, Alt-A mortgage lender IndyMac Bank stopped accepting mortgage applications and it’s likely that other Alt-A lenders will [...]
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July 2, 2008
In the summer of 2005, sub-prime mortgage lending was at its peak. Rates were relatively low and lending guidelines were relatively loose.
At the time, the “standard” sub-prime mortgage product was the 3/27 ARM.
The 3/27 had a few basic traits:
A fixed, 3-year “starter rate”
Every six months thereafter, the mortgage rate changed
The formula by which it [...]
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