Tag Archive for: Mortgage Loans

How to Get Pre-Approved for Your Home Loan Fast

If you’re thinking about buying your next home then you’ve probably heard about getting pre-qualified or pre-approved for your home loan. Whether this is your first home or you haven’t purchased a new home for a while, the home-buying process can still feel overwhelming. Let’s face it, going to open houses is a lot more […]

How Lenders Calculate Weekly or Bi-Weekly Income When Qualifying

  There is an ‘Ability to Repay’ or ‘ART’ rule that lenders follow when approving a traditional mortgage. When lenders calculate income, they are required to both determine and document that determination of whether or not someone can safely afford a new home loan. This is a result of the vast mortgage guideline changes implemented […]

What’s the Reason for a Vacancy Factor?

If you’re new to the world of investing in real estate, one term you may run into is the vacancy factor. As part of the approval process to buy a rental property, one of the early qualifying factors will be income. Rental income from the property might be able to be used to qualify for […]

Overlays Explained

What are Overlays? An Overlay is a mortgage industry term. In simple terms, overlays are additional qualifying requirements on top of the guidelines set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as FHA, VA and USDA. These guidelines are set forth for several reasons but one is to provide lenders with mortgage program stability. […]

Why Financing a Second Rental is So Much Easier

Financing a second rental property can be much easier the second time around. For those thinking about dipping into the investment real estate world, there are some important things to know. At its most basic level, financing a rental property is not much different as it relates to income, assets and credit. First time buyers […]

Still Renting? You’re Paying a Mortgage, Just Someone Else’s

If you’re still renting, you might think that you’re not paying a mortgage. Technically that may be correct but in the end, you’re paying the property owners mortgage.  When real estate investors evaluate a potential purchase, one of the first things they’ll be looking for is whether or not the unit generates cash flow. Investors […]

Refinancing? Better to Close Sooner vs. Later

To understand how refinancing works when the loan closes, it’s important to understand how a purchase loan closes first. By comparing the two different processes, Home Purchase: How it Works on Closing Day The final settlement date for a purchase is listed directly on the sales contract. Once the contract is executed by both parties, […]

Tip Income: How to use it for Qualifying Income

For those in the service industry, getting tips certainly helps the overall pay. Most people who do earn tips work in a restaurant, hotel or similar industries. But can tip income be counted when helping to qualify for a new mortgage? We recently spoke about various types of income but getting tips is a bit […]

Qualifying Income You May Not Know About

When people start thinking about different types of qualifying income, most simply come to the conclusion that income is defined by their regular paycheck on the 1st and 15th. And that’s true, most people do get their income from their employer. It’s the most common form. Mortgage lenders use this income when qualifying someone for […]

5 Things You Should Know About VA Loans (they’re all good)

The Department of Veteran’s Affairs provides benefits for those who qualify for the program and one of the more popular is the VA mortgage loan. VA loans are the ideal option for those wanting to come to the closing table with as little cash as possible. The most obvious benefit is the lack of a […]