mortgages

The Domino Effect of Sub-Prime Lending on Move-Up Home Buyers

April 4, 2007

Wondering how the dramatic change in sub-prime mortgage lending will impact you? Try this stat on for size: Since 1998, 1.4 million families have used sub-prime mortgages to buy their first home. As sub-prime lending guidelines get tighter, there will be fewer first-time home buyers and that impacts every homeowner in the country. The reason […]

Read the full article →

Would You Have Answered The Mortgage Type Quiz Correctly?

March 27, 2007

The pie chart at right comes from a Bankrate.com survey, sampling 1,000 adults about their current housing situation. The question asked: What type of mortgage do you currently have? While the 34% “Don’t Know” figure is troubling, even more frightening is the 6% “ARM” figure. The sample size was small, but far more than 6% […]

Read the full article →

Conforming ARMs Are Going Delinquent More Rapidly Than Sub-Prime ARMs

March 14, 2007

The Mortgage Bankers Association released a report yesterday detailing how mortgage-holding homeowners are meeting their obligations. The statistics were a major factor in the Wall Street sell-off yesterday as investors increasingly grow nervous that sub-prime mortgage defaults will spill over into other credit markets and take the economy with it. The report stated that fourth […]

Read the full article →

Like Me And You, Sub-Prime Lenders Have Credit Limits

March 7, 2007

Turbulence in the sub-prime lending market forced several big name lenders to shut their doors to business in recent weeks. In a healthy sub-prime environment, institutional investors buy mortgages in large bundles called “pools” from sub-prime lenders. The current environment is not healthy, however.  Loans are defaulting more quickly than in the past and investors are […]

Read the full article →

The Two Methods To Generate Home Equity Are Not Equal

February 6, 2007

Home equity is created in one of two ways (assuming increasing home value and a non-negatively amortizing first mortgage). In the first method of creating equity, the homeowner pays down the principal balance on the mortgage.  This increases the difference between what is owed on the home and what the home is worth. In the […]

Read the full article →

The Week In Review (January 22, 2007) : What To Watch For

January 22, 2007

Last week, economic data showed that the economy continues to grow at a healthy pace and that last year’s fears of an economic recession may have been overblown; wholesale and consumer prices were up 1.1% and 2.5% annually, respectively. With no clear recessionary indicators present in the market, long-term mortgages such as the 30-year fixed […]

Read the full article →

Sub-Prime Lenders Eliminate Loans To Riskiest Borrowers

January 3, 2007

Washington Mutual-owned Long Beach Mortgage announced yesterday that its underwriting guidelines are changing, effective Monday, January 8. Following the lead of a host of other sub-prime lenders including large-players Fremont and New Century, Long Beach is hoping to avoid the fate of sub-prime lenders Ownit, Sebring Capital, and Mortgage Lenders Network. All three closed their […]

Read the full article →

Principal Payback On Long-Term Loans

December 27, 2006

Did you know: After 30 years, a 30-year mortgage term is paid in full. After 30 years, a 40-year mortgage term has 57% of the original borrowed amount remaining. After 30 years, a 50-year mortgage term has 81% of the original borrowed amount remaining. Of course, it’s not all bad for the holders of longer-term […]

Read the full article →

Next Entries →