homeowners

How Prepaid Items Can Make Your “Closing Costs” Look Inflated

December 14, 2008

When buying a home, you pay for more than just physical property at the closing table.  You also pay a series of charges.  Commonly, homebuyers lump all of these charges under the heading of “closing costs”. That’s a miscategorization. Many changes on a HUD-1 Settlement Statement are specifically not closing costs. They are more appropriately […]

Read the full article →

Simple Real Estate Definitions : Refinance

December 12, 2008

A mortgage is a contract between a bank and borrower, defining the terms by which a home loan must be repaid. The paperwork, signed by both parties, includes provisions for things like: The interest rate The length of the loan The amount of money to be borrowed But, like all loans, a mortgage loan can be paid off at any time.

Read the full article →

Get Extra Tax Deductions In 2008 — Pay Your Mortgage A Few Days Early

December 10, 2008

For most Americans, mortgage interest paid on a home loan is tax-deductible in the year in which it was paid. With advance planning, therefore, homeowners can increase their 2008 tax deductions and limit their tax liability on April 15

Read the full article →

What It Means When More Than Half Of The Delinquent Homeowners Go Delinquent Again

December 9, 2008

Earlier this year and under pressure from the government, mortgage lenders made more than 200,000 loan modifications to delinquent homeowners. The modifications came in one of three forms, or a combination: Interest rate reduction Loan term extension Principal forgiveness But despite the modifications, as of October 1, more than half of the homeowners that received assistance were already two months behind on their modified monthly payments.

Read the full article →

The Truth About Those "4.500 Percent Mortgage Rates" You Keep Hearing About

December 4, 2008

Business television is abuzz this morning with talk of “four-point-five percent mortgage rates”; the clip above ran on NBC Today. The news stems from a leaked story that the U.S. Treasury will intervene in the mortgage market, lowering rates a full percentage point below their current levels

Read the full article →

You Locked In A Low Mortgage Rate — Now You’ve Got To Close On It

December 3, 2008

Each Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association releases its Weekly Applications Survey, a detailed look at new mortgage applications submitted over the previous 7 days. This week’s report will reveal what most of us already know — plunging mortgage rates created a flood of mortgage activity. If you’re among the many Americans taking advantage of today’s […]

Read the full article →

Looking Back And Looking Ahead : December 1, 2008

December 1, 2008

Government action fueled a mortgage market rally last week, leading mortgage rates lower for the second consecutive week. Despite soft housing numbers and evidence of a slowing economy, mortgage rate shoppers found reason to celebrate: Citigroup was “rescued” Wall Street liked the new economic team The government pledged $600 billion to buy investment-grade mortgage bonds […]

Read the full article →

Should you Prepay your Mortgage?

November 16, 2008

To pre-pay or not to pre-pay that is the question! Whether ’tis nobler in the mind…okay, I am not a huge Shakespeare guru, but I do fancy myself a bit of a mortgage finance guru. For those of you who like to “really get in there” there was a study released by the Chicago Fed in […]

Read the full article →

How The New Good Faith Estimate Form Can Help You Save Money On Your Mortgage

November 15, 2008

To help demystify the mortgage process, the federal government is giving the much-maligned Good Faith Estimate document a makeover. Effective January 1, 2010, the current, 2-page form will be replaced by a new, easier-to-understand version, spanning 3 pages. The biggest strength of the new Good Faith Estimate is that it uses everyday English to explain […]

Read the full article →

4 States Account For 51 Percent Of The Nation’s October 2008 Foreclosures

November 15, 2008

Foreclosure is a hot topic among the press lately. It’s hard to turn on the television or open up a newspaper without seeing a story about it. But what’s most interesting about foreclosures is that they appear to be concentrated in certain areas of the country. According to the foreclosure-tracking service RealtyTrac, 4 states accounted […]

Read the full article →

As LIBOR Falls, Homeowners With Adjusting ARMs Get Lower Rates

November 15, 2008

The interest rate against which adjustable-rate mortgages change is falling — evidence that the global banking system is starting to stabilize. On any adjustable-rate mortgage, the initial “starter rate” remains fixed for some period of time, and then adjusts according to some pre-determined rules. For a conforming mortgage, an ARM will typically adjust once per […]

Read the full article →

How Terrible Housing Data Can Actually Help Push Home Values Higher

October 18, 2008

Once again, the headlines may be misleading you.  It’s a good thing that Housing Starts dropped last month — despite what the papers say. A “housing start” is a new residence on which construction has started.  Yesterday, the government released September 2007’s Housing Starts data for the country. There was a 10.2% drop in Housing […]

Read the full article →

The Rising Cost Of A Small Downpayment

October 17, 2008

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is a mortgage lender’s insurance policy against highly-leveraged homeowners.  It’s typically required when homeowner equity is less than 20 percent at the time of closing. With PMI defaults up 40 percent over last year, though, private mortgage insurers are taking big losses. They’re also taking outsized steps to prevent additional claims going forward […]

Read the full article →

Why Homeowners With Adjusting Adjustable Rate Mortgages May Be In For A Surprise

October 15, 2008

For homeowners with soon-to-adjust adjustable rate mortgages, the recent banking turmoil worldwide may lead to budgetary pain. This is because most conforming ARMs made since 2003 are based on a borrowing cost called LIBOR and LIBOR is up an uncharacteristic 2 percent since September. LIBOR stands for London Interbank Offered Rate and is the rate at which […]

Read the full article →

If My Mortgage Lender Fails, Are My Payments Still Due?

September 26, 2008

Thursday, federal regulators seized mortgage lender Washington Mutual.   The Seattle-based thrift became the third “big name” lender to close its doors since July, joining IndyMac and Lehman Brothers. In 2007, these 3 lenders represented about 10 percent of the mortgage market and their subsequent failures are confusing American homeowners. The most prevalent question: If my mortgage […]

Read the full article →

FHA Makes Homeownership More Affordable — But Not Until October 1, 2008

September 24, 2008

Earlier this year — and for the first time in its history — the FHA changed its funding fees and mortgage insurance structure. Effective October 1, 2008, it’s repealing those changes. Partly to keep FHA home loans affordable, and partly to comply with new laws, the FHA is rolling back its up-front fees and ongoing mortgage […]

Read the full article →

The 2 Groups Of People That Benefited From Wall Street’s 6th Largest Point Loss Ever

September 16, 2008

Yesterday, the stock market suffered its largest one-day point loss since September 17, 2001, and its sixth-largest point loss in history. Not everyone got punished, however.  Two groups of people, in particular, welcomed yesterday’s losses: Home buyers out shopping for a mortgage Homeowners that snoozed through last week’s mortgage rate drop See, as the stock […]

Read the full article →

Comparing Payback Periods On 15-Year, 20-Year and 30-Year Mortgages

September 12, 2008

On all principal + interest home loans, the first few years of payments include a lot more money going to interest than to principal. This is because mortgage repayment schedules are front-loaded with interest, meaning large-volume principal reduction won’t occur until late in the mortgage’s lifecycle. Comparing products at a 6% mortgage rate, did you know […]

Read the full article →

Conforming Loan Limits Set To Decrease In Certain High-Cost Areas

September 11, 2008

Conforming mortgages are limited by loan size, based on “typical” housing costs around the country.  Since 1980, as home prices have increased, so have conforming loan limits. The current conforming limit on a single-unit property is $417,000. Earlier this year, as part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, Congress authorized conforming loan limits increase in […]

Read the full article →

Looking Back And Looking Ahead : September 8, 2008

September 8, 2008

Mortgage markets improved last week on Hurricane Gustav’s less-than-expected damages and a strengthening U.S. dollar. Even factoring in Friday’s 0.125 percent run-up on most mortgage products, rates improved overall. It’s the second straight week in which mortgage rates improved. But for all the news that we could dissect from last week, it should be the news […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries