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5 Steps to Improving Your Credit Score - 11/30/11 08:13 PM
5 Steps to Improving Your Credit Score There are no quick fixes when it comes to your credit. However, if you're willing to take the time, you will eventually be able to raise it through careful budgeting and management. With these five steps, you may be able to considerably improve your credit score: Check for InaccuraciesFirst and foremost, you must ensure that your credit report does not contain any real discrepancies. Mistakes can happen, so if you do notice that something seems incorrect, contact the credit bureau directly. Pay Your Bills on TimeNearly 35% of your credit score is comprised of
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How Low Can Home Prices Go? - 11/29/11 01:50 PM
How Low Can Home Prices Go? Home prices have been at all time lows, having dropped 6% over the past four quarters (which ended June 30). But according to analysts at Fiserv, they might have not hit bottom yet. They believe we could see an additional 3.6% fall by the second quarter next year. They do see the housing market soon stabilizing in 2012, predicting that a 2.4% increase in home prices could be seen by the end of the second quarter in 2013. However, large inventories of foreclosed properties need to be absorbed before we can see the housing market
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November Economic Reports: Which Reports Will Affect Mortgage Rates - 11/28/11 09:31 PM
November Economic Reports: Which Reports Will Affect Mortgage Rates With Thanksgiving over and everyone’s pants a little tighter, we begin our descent into the end of 2011. This week brings us many economic reports as we round out the month of November, especially come Friday. Reports for November’s hourly earnings, average work week, non-farm payrolls and unemployment rate are all due to be released Friday morning and their results will have a major impact on the direction of rates. All of Friday’s reports are estimated to stay the same from October’s numbers, except Non-farm Payrolls which is expected to rise to
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Three Answers for More Clients and Houses Sold - 11/26/11 08:52 PM
Three Answers for More Clients and Houses Sold Potential Homeowner: Will Home Prices Continue to Fall?The falling home prices are due to the hesitancy of qualified homebuyers to reenter the market. However with mortgage rates at historic lows on top of extremely low home prices, buyers will begin to take advantage of this perfect time to purchase a home. As more buyers decide to take advantage of this perfect home buying situation, home prices will begin to rise shortly after. Potential Homeowner: Should I Wait?No. Like above, home prices are likely to begin to rise due to buyers realizing the market
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HARP’s Refinance Changes taking affect Dec 1st - 11/24/11 09:44 AM
HARP’s New Changes Yesterday, changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program or HARP were announced in the hopes of attracting eligible borrowers towards refinancing. While specific guidelines won’t be released until November 15th, we’re here to break down what these changes are and how it affects your client’s loans. • Certain risk-based fees will be eliminated for borrowers who refinance into shorter-term mortgages, lowering fees for your borrowers.• The current 125 percent LTV ceiling for fixed-rate mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will also be removed.• Certain representations and warranties that lenders commit to in making loans owned or
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How Do I Avoid a Documentation Nightmare? - 11/23/11 09:13 PM
Q: A client’s friend recently bought a home and told my client the mortgage process was a nightmare in terms of documentation. Specifically, she said that the loan officer kept asking her for documentation on deposits into her accounts. How do I avoid this with my client? A: If you were to talk to anyone who closed a mortgage loan recently, this would likely be a common complaint. Over the past three years, underwriting guidelines have become more and more stringent in regards to documenting assets on both purchase and refinance transactions. When underwriters see a large deposit into an asset
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You’re Purchasing a Home, Not a House - 11/23/11 01:06 PM
You’re Purchasing a Home, Not a House At Guaranteed Rate, we write a lot of content how statistically, it’s a perfect time to purchase a house right now with low prices and even lower rates. However, there are many more benefits to purchasing a house than getting a good deal. You’re buying a home and with that there’s a huge sentimental attachment to consider. Owning your own home lets you have a place to let your family grow. A home can be your family’s essential “roots”. Most purchase a home when they are beginning to start a family or when their
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VA Loan Funding Fees Increase After They Decreased For 3 Days - 11/22/11 09:19 PM
VA Loan Funding Fees Increase Yesterday, the President signed HR 647, which resulted in the VA funding fee to rise to pre-November 18th, 2011 levels. These higher fees will remain in effect for any VA mortgage loans until September 30, 2016. If your VA loan closes today through and including September 30th, 2016, your mortgage will be subjected to these higher fees. Please contact your loan officer for more information regarding these higher fees.
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Rate Watch: Reports to Observe Before Thanksgiving - 11/21/11 04:03 PM
Rate Watch: Reports to Observe Before Thanksgiving Earlier today, we found out that Existing Home Sales rose in October. But that’s not the only report to keep your eye on this week. Tuesday, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is set to be released from quarter three. It’s expected to increase 2.5% from last month’s prelim report. Wednesday, be aware of loads of data before heading off for the long weekend. Personal Incomes and Spending will be released at 8:30am (ET) along with the weekly Initial Jobless Claims. It is predicted that jobless claims will rise to 391K, with income and spending
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FHA Loan Limits Are Raised - 11/18/11 11:11 PM
FHA Loan Limits Are Raised The Transportation and Housing Appropriations Bill is raising the max loan limit for Federal Housing Administration-backed loans to $729,750 for two years. This should entice more FHA approved originators to enter the market. In addition, the House and Senate have also restored the FHA loan limit for many counties by raising the benchmark from 115% to 125%. However, conventional loans from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac are still maxed at $625,500 which used to be maxed at $725,750 in September.
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24 Easy Ways to a Smooth Loan Approval - 11/16/11 03:06 PM
24 Easy Ways to a Smooth Loan Approval For an effortless loan process, here are 24 dos and don’ts to prevent you any delays with your loan approval. Some of them may surprise you! DO continue to live at your current residence.DON’T start any home improvement projects.DO continue to make your mortgage or rent payments.DON’T buy any furniture. DO continue to use your credit as normal.DON’T apply for new credit (even if you seem pre-approved)DON’T close any credit card accounts.DON’T consolidate your debt onto one or two credit cards.DON’T max out or over charge on your credit card.DON’T open a new
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Where’s Operation Twist? - 11/15/11 02:56 PM
Where’s Operation Twist? With Operation Twist having gone into effect on September 21st, many have remarked on how there has not been an immediate impact on the mortgage industry thus far. However, experts comment that we shouldn’t be looking at Operation Twist as an immediate solution, but a long term one. Since Operation Twist’s aim is to keep interest rates low, it will have a long-term effect on originations, which is currently sustaining the mortgage market through an increase of refinance activity. Due to this activity, earlier consensus projections for this year have gone up from $1 trillion to $1.2 trillion.
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This Week’s Market Expectations - 11/14/11 03:45 PM
This Week’s Market Expectations With everyone stocking up on turkey and stuffing for Thanksgiving, investors are stocking up before next week’s short financial week arrives. Here are the many things you should keep your eye on this week. As usual, Europe dominates our market as they continue to try and step up to help their troubled economic status. New Italian leader Monti is currently working on a plan to stop the country from defaulting and is already meeting with leaders to get things moving. However, as Italy moves forward, investors show their skepticism in Italy’s success, as Italian bonds fell for
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Housing Affordability Reaches New Highs - 11/13/11 08:58 PM
Housing Affordability Reaches New Highs Conforming mortgage rates are in the low five percent range and may move lower in the coming months. The desire of policy makers to stimulate the housing market will likely ensure that the Federal Reserve will continue to buy FNMA, FHLMC, and GNMA mortgage backed securities in the open market. The Fed’s objective of driving mortgage rates lower is to stimulate both purchase and refinance activity and help the overall economy. Low rates combined with a 30+% decrease in home prices over the last two years has put housing affordability at a decade high. The U.S.
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How to Buy Your Dream Home and Save Money - 11/11/11 01:31 PM
How to Buy Your Dream Home and Save Money When choosing a home to purchase, you have three options: a regular sale, short sale and foreclosure. Due to the economic market, there are many foreclosures on the market that will offer you a cheap housing option with possibly less work than you might expect. Find a home and do an inspection: As with any house, you have to decide on location, size, type, etc. When deciding what neighborhood to live in, factor in your lifestyle, the schools in the neighborhood and the overall safety. Keep in mind when looking at foreclosed
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4 Issues You Should Know About This Week - 11/10/11 05:35 PM
4 Issues You Should Know About This Week With the bond market closing for Veteran’s Day tomorrow, here’s a look back at what has been happening this week and their effects. 1. Italy is the new Greece when it comes to Europe’s economic problems. However, after a few uncertain moves, it seems Italy is stepping up their game to solve their issues. Berlusconi seems to be actually stepping down, and the country is establishing a new government around Mario Monti, a former European Union Competition Commissioner. In addition, Italy has pushed up their austerity vote to tomorrow, when originally it was
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Do You Know The 6 Reasons Why Mortgage Applications Are Rejected? - 11/08/11 09:39 PM
Do You Know The 6 Reasons Why Mortgage Applications Are Rejected? Applying for a mortgage can be a stressful time, especially if you don’t know what can mess up your application. Half of refinances and 30% of purchases are rejected, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. Those are some scary stats. But you can avoid application rejection by avoiding these six mortgage application issues. Income IssuesThe quickest way to get your mortgage rejected is to have an income that’s too low for the mortgage amount you’re seeking. This is why lenders and realtors stress
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Housing Market on the Mend in MN - 11/07/11 07:56 PM
Housing Market on the Mend in MN With home sales beginning to perk up and the economy slowly growing, signs seem to be pointing towards a healing housing market. Existing home sales are stable and due to the low amount of homes previously being purchased, home prices have bottomed. Since rental prices have significantly increased, people are beginning to consider these low priced homes and amazingly low rates to purchase the house of their dreams. Housing Market on the Mend in MN With a low supply of homes currently on the market, even a modest increase in the pace of house
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Getting the lowest interest rate in Plymouth, MN - 11/04/11 12:42 PM
inShare <!-- end #blog_social_links_2193679 --> Tips on getting the lowest interest rate in Plymouth, MN (edit/delete) Tips on getting the lowest interest rate in Plymouth, MN It seems as though the banks have created an interest rate price adjustment for everything from low credit scores, medium credit scores, loan to value, property type, cash out, condo levels, blood type! So how do you get the absolute lowest interest rate? Here are some Tips on getting the lowest interest rate in Plymouth, MN : Credit scores above 740 will guarantee you the lowest rate possible The more equity you have the
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Should I Refinance? - 11/04/11 11:56 AM
Should I Refinance? With the current market, rates are dropping quickly to all-time lows, and there’s a boom in refinances. You may be wondering if you should jump on the refinance bandwagon. If you are, there are a few reasons why you may want to refinance. The number one reason why most people refinance is to secure a low interest rate. Most say that you should only refinance if the interest rate can be reduced at least 2%, although some also argue 1% is enough in today’s economy. Securing a low interest rate can increase your rate at building equity
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Cable Alternatives - 11/03/11 05:06 PM
Cable Alternatives At Guaranteed Rate, we want to provide you with unique ways to save. One of the most common solutions is cutting out unnecessary purchases that add up, such as a daily coffee. However, what about your cable? Thanks to the internet and streaming devices, cable and satellite are becoming unnecessary purchases. Here are a few alternatives to a costly cable bill. 87% of US households now subscribe to a “multi-channel video service” usually through cable or satellite. However, via the internet, viewers can still watch a majority of the same shows for free or for a fraction of your
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USDA announces new monthly mortgage insurance premium that started Oct1st - 11/03/11 02:20 PM
USDA has implemented a new monthly fee starting October 1, 2011.Most people in the mortgage industry will consider this a mortgage insurance premium (MIP).Up until now one of the unique features of a USDA home loan is it had no MIP.This addition of MIP will mean a higher mortgage payment. Fortunately the rate is not as high as FHA’s MIP.It is one third the amount of FH’s.A $100,000 USDA mortgage will have an addition MIP payment of $29.17.For comparison purposes an FHA loan of $100,000 would have a monthly MIP payment of $95.83.As long as this is not a start
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Fed Meeting Keeps Rates Low, But Expectations Lower - 11/02/11 05:26 PM
Fed Meeting Keeps Rates Low, But Expectations Lower The Fed came out of their two day meeting with – not much. After rumors of the Fed purchasing some of the national mortgage debt, the Fed came out of their monthly meeting without any new policies, but noting that they are “keeping their options open,” as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke put it this afternoon. The Fed also left rates unchanged again, keeping them near zero, which should keep rates at record lows to help entice new borrowers. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke also announced that the US Economy strengthened in the third quarter,
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“Bear”-ing the Market - 11/02/11 01:17 PM
“Bear”-ing the Market As stocks continue to decline and push markets down 20% from the past spring, we find ourselves in a bear market. But how did we get here and how do we put this bear back into hibernation? Well, like the ones before, we’ve entered this bear market because our fears have dominated the fundamentals. Yes, your fears have overshadowed the hard facts of what’s really happening. The two major concerns affecting the market: high government debt (especially in Europe) and a slow economic growth, leading into a possible recession. But let’s look at the facts. Greece, the center
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Homebuyer Opportunity? - A look at Demand, Rates, and Prices - 11/02/11 10:50 AM
Homebuyer Opportunity? - A look at Demand, Rates, and Prices Dear Chad Ronning;After a slight weakening earlier last week, mortgage rates have improved the last two days straight. The cause, once again, appears to be largely international. Concern lingers around how European leaders will raise the capital for the new EU bailout fund, which tapered some of the gains made in global equities last week. We also see Japan’s Central Bank selling Yen into the foreign exchange market. Domestically, Personal Income levels in September were reported to rise only 0.1% vs the 0.3% expected, and some are predicting Friday’s October Employment
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Could This Month’s Fed Meeting Reveal a Third Round of Purchases? - 11/01/11 09:21 PM
Could This Month’s Fed Meeting Reveal a Third Round of Purchases? As the Fed continues their meeting tomorrow, many speculate if the Fed may announce a third round of purchases geared towards helping Obama’s new refinance efforts. Earlier in October, Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen mentioned that a third round of large-scale asset purchases “might become appropriate if the evolving economic conditions called for significantly greater monetary accommodation”. And with better-than-expected economic reports leading up to this month’s meeting, the Fed may look into options to further develop monetary ease. Not wanting to see mortgage interest rates rise too much, the
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Employment and Economic Data: What You Should Anticipate This Week - 11/01/11 08:40 AM
Employment and Economic Data: What You Should Anticipate This Week As we round out October and move into November, investors will begin to focus on economic data, looking for any signs of growth and other additional economic easing. The Fed will be meeting on Wednesday and have hinted that they could purchase additional MBS to help stimulate the economy. ISM Manufacturing and Construction Spending reports will be released tomorrow, with ISM Services, Factory Orders and Productivity reports following on Thursday. However, the most important report to keep your eye on will be the always highly anticipated Employment Data Report on Friday.
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Chad Ronning - FHA, VA, USDA, Home Path
Maple Grove,
MN
More about me
Nationstar Mortgage
Address: 6445 Sycamore Ct , Suite 103, Maple Grove, MN, 55369
Cell Phone: (612) 250-1544
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My goal is to articulate my opinions on mortgage and real estate related news and reports.
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