The Federal Housing Administration’s housing finance programs, most commonly referred to as FHA home loans, provides lenders guidance regarding how to evaluate and approve an FHA loan application. FHA loans are one of three government-backed programs that carry some degree of lender compensation should a guaranteed loan ever go into default. With FHA programs, the […]
The time-tested mantra of “real estate is local” simply means that while homes are bought and sold every day, one market may be seeing higher valuations while in other areas, home values might be doing the opposite, for the very same type of properties. A four-bedroom 2 ½ bath in one neighborhood might be going […]
To refinance a mortgage simply means replacing an existing mortgage with a new one. Why would someone do that? For a variety of reasons. Perhaps the common reason is to reduce the interest rate on an existing loan. When someone originally finances a home at one rate and later rates fall, it might make sense […]
The New Year is upon us and if you’re going to start the New Year off jumping into the homebuying market. 2019 is just now appearing in our rearview mirror. There were several changes made which will all take effect on January 1, 2020. Many of the changes are more like “tweaks” to existing regulations […]
Credit scores for mortgage loan approvals were first introduced years ago, then refined by a company now know simply as The FICO Company. FICO is the acronym for the Fair, Isaac Corporation which developed the algorithm used by credit scoring engines today. For those who are constantly in the mode of increasing their scores to […]
Surely the ideal loan program for those looking to come to their closing with as little cash as possible is the VA loan. There are only a couple of government-backed mortgages that do not require a down payment and the VA program is one of them. The other is the USDA mortgage but that is […]
It can be somewhat surprising, especially for those who have just purchased their very first home, to discover the mortgage they recently got has been sold by their lender to someone else. The mortgage industry refers to this as a “goodbye letter” which, required by regulation, informs the borrowers their loan was sold and when […]
Mortgage loan limits for conforming loans will take effect on January 1 of next year. For 2020, the conforming loan limit for a single family home will be $510,400, up from $484,350 in 2019. Higher limits will also apply to a duplex, triplex and fourplex. What, exactly is a conforming loan? Conforming Loan Explained A […]
Understand how your credit score is determined can be somewhat of a mystery to the everyday consumer. Borrowers typically have a pretty good handle on the status of their credit. Bills come in every month and they’re paid on or around the due date. Sometimes though those accounts aren’t paid when due and if a […]
Borrowers don’t really get the opportunity to pull back the curtains and speak directly with various departments and individuals within a mortgage operation. Certainly a borrower will speak with the loan officer and the loan processor but beyond that, most others are off-limits. Everyone within a mortgage company plays an important and needed role. Some […]
