Archive for the ‘Mortgages’ Category
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
 Despite an improving U.S. economy, the nation’s banks remain cautious about what they will lend, and to whom. Last quarter, by a margin of 3-to-2, more banks tightened residential mortgage lending standards for “prime borrowers” than did loosen them.
A “prime borrower” is defined as one with a well-documented credit history, high credit scores, and a low debt-to-income ratio. The insight comes from the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of its member banks.
Last quarter, of the 54 responding banks :
- 0 banks tightened mortgage guidelines considerably
- 3 banks tightened mortgage guidelines somewhat
- 49 banks left guidelines basically unchanged
- 2 banks eased mortgage guidelines somewhat
- 0 banks eased mortgage guidelines considerably
By contrast, in the quarter prior, not a single surveyed bank reported tighter residential mortgage guidelines. The period from January-March was a step backwards, therefore, for the fledgling U.S. housing market. Overall, getting approved for a mortgage is tougher than it used to be. Banks enforce higher minimum credit score standards; ask for larger downpayment/equity positions; and require higher monthly income relative to monthly debt obligations. It’s one reason why the homeownership rate is at its lowest point since 1997.
This is a preview of Mortgage Guidelines Resume Tightening Nationwide . Read the full post »
Tags: Federal Reserve, Homeownership Rates, Mortgage Approvals
Posted in Buying A Home, Mortgage Guidelines, Mortgage Rates, Mortgages | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
 The Federal Reserve has released the minutes from its last FOMC meeting, a 1-day affair held March 13, 2012. Mortgage rates in Colorado are rising on the news. For the un-indoctrinated, 3 weeks after it meets, the Federal Open Market Committee, the sub-group within the Federal Reserve that votes on U.S. monetary policy, publishes its meeting minutes.
Similar to the minutes from a corporate event, or condominium association meeting, the Fed Minutes recounts the conversations and debates that transpired throughout the meeting. The Fed Minutes is a lengthy publication, often filling 10 pages or more. By contrast, the more well-known publication from the FOMC — its post-meeting press release — tends to span 6 paragraphs or less.
The extra detail contained within the Fed Minutes is Wall Street fodder, especially given the current economic uncertainty. Investors look to the Federal Reserve for clues about what’s next for the U.S. economy. Lately, the minutes has made an out-sized impact on mortgage rates. The Fed’s words continue to swing the mortgage-backed bond market. Today is no different.
This is a preview of Fed Minutes Causes Mortgage Rates To Rise Suddenly . Read the full post »
Tags: Fed Minutes, FOMC, Mortgage Rates
Posted in Federal Reserve, Mortgages | No Comments »
Friday, March 30th, 2012
After a brief run-up two weeks ago, mortgage rates are back below 4 percent. It’s good news for home buyers and mortgage rate shoppers because, with lower mortgage rates, we can lower the amount of mortgage payments. According to Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the national average 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 3.99 percent this week from last week’s 4.08 percent.
Last week had marked the first time since December 2011 that the benchmark rate crossed north of 4 percent — a span of 16 weeks. And, it wasn’t just rates that got cheaper this week — closing costs dropped too. Freddie Mac’s survey showed that the average number of discount points to accompany a 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell one-tenth of a percent this week to 0.7, where one discount point is equal to one percent of your loan size.
This is a preview of Mortgage Rates Fall Back Below 4% . Read the full post »
Tags: 30 year fixed loan, Buy home, Discount Points, Freddie Mac, Home Affordability, home buyer
Posted in Buying A Home, Housing Analysis, Mortgage Rates, Mortgages, Residential Real Estate, Statistics | No Comments »
Friday, December 23rd, 2011
 Time is running out to boost to your 2011 federal tax refund. All you have to do is make your January 2012 mortgage payment while it’s still December.
It’s a simple tax strategy that works because of how mortgage interest is paid, and of how the U.S. tax code is written. Different from rent which is paid for the month ahead (i.e. “you’re paying January’s rent”), mortgage payments are made only after mortgage interest has accrued (i.e. “you’re paying for money you’ve already borrowed from the bank”). This is called “paying interest in arrears” and U.S. tax code states that the mortgage interest is tax-deductible in its year paid, subject to limitations.
By making the January 2012 mortgage payment in December 2011, homeowners who itemize their tax returns can apply their January mortgage payment’s interest portion to their 2011′s tax returns. The alternative is to pay the mortgage on schedule and wait for April 15, 2013 to claim the credit.
This is a preview of Pay Your Mortgage Early, Boost Your 2011 Federal Income Tax Deductions . Read the full post »
Tags: IRS, Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction, Tax Code
Posted in Mortgages, Taxes | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011
 The Federal Home Finance Agency announced big changes to its Home Affordable Refinance Program Monday. More commonly called HARP, the Home Affordable Refinance Program is meant to give “underwater homeowners” opportunity to refinance.
With average, 30-year fixed rate mortgages still hovering near 4.000 percent, there are more than a million homeowners in Colorado and nationwide who stand to benefit from the program overhaul.
To qualify for the re-released HARP program, you must meet 4 basic criteria :
- Your existing home loan must be guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
- Your home must be a 1- to 4-unit property
- You must have a perfect mortgage payment history going back 6 months
- You may not have had more than one 30-day late payment on your mortgage going back 12 months
This is a preview of The Government’s Revamped HARP Program For Underwater Homeowners . Read the full post »
Tags: foreclosure, HARP, Home Affordable Refinance Program, Making Home Affordable, mortgage broker, mortgages
Posted in Foreclosure, Mortgage Guidelines, Mortgages, Personal Finance | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
This Month I will highlight the second of the five most important loan programs about which consumers need to know.
The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority or CHFA was created in 1973 by the Colorado Legislature to address the shortage of affordable housing in the state. Since then, CHFA has established itself as the front-runner in the affordable housing industry by financing single family mortgages for qualifying homebuyers and supporting developments of apartments for low and moderate income residents. In 1982, whenColorado had economic difficulties, CHFA began making loans to small- and medium-sized businesses. CHFA is a responsible advocate of affordable housing and small business issues for theColorado community.
Since 1973, CHFA’s financing has served every county inColoradoby:
- Financing more than 69,000 mortgages to homebuyers
- Helping sustain and support more than 35,000 jobs
- Financing more than 54,000 residential rental units
- Allocating tax credits for 37,000 residential rental units
This is a preview of CHFA – The Second of the Five Most Important Loan Programs . Read the full post »
Tags: 30 year fixed loan, Buy home, buyer, Christian Durland, credit score, Down Payment, Getting a Mortgage don'ts, home buyer, mortgage broker, mortgages
Posted in Buying A Home, Buying in a Recession, Mortgages, Residential Real Estate | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
In these difficult economic times, I am commonly asked whether it would be better to have a short sale or a foreclosure on ones credit report. The answer is complicated and has lot of moving parts. A short sale shows up on your credit report as a “derogatory report”; however, it will usually show up on your report as “short sale” or “settled for less then the full balance”. Of course, this will reflect negatively on your credit report. If you have not had any late pays prior to the short sale, your score will likely drop somewhere between 75 and 120 points. Each person’s credit score will vary depending on several factors, such as how much credit you have, how much of your credit facility you are currently using, and how long you have had certain types of credit. You will unlikely be able to obtain a home loan for a couple years. As a general rule, if one has a foreclosure on a credit report, then the waiting period is up to 7 years. The period may be reduced to 3 years if you fit into one of the extenuating circumstances. You should speak with a mortgage broker to see which of the extenuating circumstances may help you reduce the hold period to 3 years. In fact, my best is advice is to speak with more than one mortgage lender so that you may educate yourself about various lender requirements. Please know that different lenders may vary their interpretation of the underwriting requirements, and private lenders may adopt their own underwriting requirements.
This is a preview of Foreclosure versus Short Sale . Read the full post »
Tags: A+ Credit Consulting, Buy home, buyer, Colorado Real Estate, credit counseling, credit score, Down Payment, foreclosure, Getting a Mortgage don'ts, green real estate, home buyer, mortgage broker, mortgages, Sarah Kahley-Rufo, short sale
Posted in Buying A Home, Buying in a Recession, Credit, Foreclosure, Mortgages, Residential Real Estate, Short Sale | No Comments »
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
Pay your bills on time- Pay your bills on time, every time! One way to make sure your payments are on time is to set up automatic payments on the creditor’s website or from your banking institution. Make sure that you have enough funds to clear the account, otherwise the account will show late. Also, don’t just pay the minimum balance if you can afford to pay more. This helps you to pay off the balance sooner, and help you credit rating along the way.
Don’t get close to your credit limit- Credit scoring models look at how close you are to being “maxed out”, because the formulas predict that people using too much of their available credit may have future troubles repaying their debt. If you use too much of your available credit, you could hurt your scores. Always make sure to have your credit cards paid down under 30% of the available credit.
This is a preview of Steps To Get and Keep a Good Credit Score . Read the full post »
Tags: A+ Credit Consulting, Buy home, credit, credit score, mortgages, Sarah Kahley-Rufo
Posted in Buying A Home, Buying in a Recession, Credit, Mortgages | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
Here are powerful tips to raise your credit score
We recently read an article on MSN.com that outlined tips to increase your credit score. As you all know, we believe that knowledge is power, and that is why we live by our motto: “Knowledge is Key.”
In the article, “Credit score tips that don’t make sense,” http://money.msn.com/credit-rating/article.aspx?post=f6a9da26-d789-40a5-b178-e16ce186ac82, we noticed that Stacy Johnson commented on an article by Jason Steele. In summary, Jason said the following:
- Your scores improve when you have lots of loans;
- More credit cards can mean better scores;
- You need to pay your credit card balance every day;
- Don’t cancel your credit cards; and,
- Shop fast when it comes to mortgage loans.
We decided to run this article by our resident credit expert, Sarah Kahley-Rufo with A+ Credit Consulting. We have found Sarah to have an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge. Here is what Sarah had to say about the article:
This is a preview of Surprising tips to raise your credit score . Read the full post »
Tags: A+ Credit Consulting, credit, credit score, Getting a Mortgage don'ts, mortgages, Sarah Kahley-Rufo
Posted in Credit, Mortgages | No Comments »
Friday, September 9th, 2011
What are some of the best loan programs available today?
Remember that Knowledge is Key – and we want you to know about all the various loan programs available to you. We want you to choose the loan program that will best serve your long-term needs.
Over the next few weeks, we will publish guest blogs written by Christian Durland on:
1. Reverse Mortgages
2. Colorado Housing and Finance Authority or “CHFA” loans
3. FHA 203k Loans
4. USDA Rural Development Loans, and
5. VA Loans
In the first of the series, we will discuss reverse mortgages because we want you to make the most of the equity you have in your home. Today, there are more options for retired individuals and couples than ever. Whether you are looking to pay off bills, would just like additional income to enjoy retirement, or even purchase a new home, a reverse mortgage could be the answer.
This is a preview of Reverse Mortgages – The First of the Five Most Important Loan Program . Read the full post »
Posted in Credit, Mortgages, Residential Real Estate | No Comments »
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