33 New Loan Officers for Guaranteed Rate in 2012 and Counting… - 02/28/12 01:49 PM
33 New Loan Officers for Guaranteed Rate in 2012 and Counting… 2012 has been a busy year so far for Guaranteed Rate! From Massachusetts to Utah, we've already hired 33 new Loan Officers this year and aren't showing signs of stopping!
Welcome to the Guaranteed Rate Family!
Wayne FlowersSteven SimmonsMonica CamposPeter NaputiBonnie OliverAnthony AlivoKristine ZeiglerWilliam PrettnerSabrina YoungBrian WesterveltChuck CrowderMichael ReynoldsScott FeldmanHitesh PatelSmith JosephDouglas SchaumburgSusan AzzarelloKirsten OelrichJason OelrichGreg DousaKristi GravesBrian HawkinsWendy DuFourPaula De SantiRick BerardinoJames brownMichael BrownGardiner RonaldRussell OdowdLorraine PiechnikChristine NelsonKevin Sprincz
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The End of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? - 02/28/12 01:47 PM
The End of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? It's been announced that the Obama administration plans to shrink Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac gradually and reduce the government's role in the mortgage market, which has expanded dramatically since the financial crisis.
Fannie and Freddie almost single-handedly keep the housing finance market afloat, especially in recent years. Together, they both guarantee about $100 billion in mortgages per month. By eliminating the two housing-finance giants, a new market for the private sector would be created for mortgage-backed securities.
However, there have been no exact plans on how this gradual reduction will take place … (0 comments)

New Pilot Announced by FHFA for REO Property Sales in Hardest-Hit Areas - 02/28/12 01:46 PM
New Pilot Announced by FHFA for REO Property Sales in Hardest-Hit Areas The first pilot under Real Estate-Owned (REO) Initiative was announced Monday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that will allow more REO properties to be sold in the hardest-hit areas in the United States. These areas include: Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and part of Florida.
This initiative is designed to help lower taxpayer losses, stabilize neighborhoods and home values while also shifting to more private management of properties and reducing the supply of REO in the home market. In addition, the FHFA hopes this will … (0 comments)

Mortgage Market Update for Feb 27th - 02/27/12 01:32 PM
Mortgage Market Update for Feb 27th Good day for stocks and bonds, with mortgages dragging behind. Right now the Dow is trading a hair over 13,000 and cash 10yr notes are up 15+/32nds. Mortgages are putting in a less impressive session with Fannie 3.5s up just 5+ on the day. 10yr yields are at 1.92 and tracking pretty closely to the recent 10yr trading range. Light data today, but a few releases that affect our market. Pending Home Sales MoM, climbed to +2.0% after a holiday-season reading of -1.9% last month. Year-over-year, that number has climbed to 10.3% from 4.4%. Fannie … (1 comments)

New Mortgage Form Helps Homeowners Avoid Fees - 02/22/12 06:31 PM
New Mortgage Form Helps Homeowners Avoid Fees The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed a new outline for your monthly mortgage statements. With the hopes that it will help homeowners keep track of their payments, the proposed form will show borrowers where their monthly payment will go, between loan principle, interest and fees. While many servicers already do provide this to their borrowers, not everywhere does and there is no standard form that everyone uses.
The proposed form is aimed at making it easier for borrowers to understand their home loans and avoid additional fees. You can visit the bureau's website … (0 comments)

How To Take Advantage Of The Foreclosure Settlement - 02/22/12 06:30 PM
How To Take Advantage Of The Foreclosure Settlement Starting March 1st the $25 billion Robo-Signing (or Foreclosure) settlement will begin to go into effect. The settlement, put together between the US government and five major banks (Ally Financial Inc/GMAC Mortgage, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo), is designed to help relieve many borrowers who are either struggling to make payments, owe more than their home is worth or have already lost their home to foreclosure.
But how do you take advantage of this new settlement if you're not a borrower in the above situations? What if you're … (2 comments)

3 Ways To Decide If You Should Buy A Home (That Don't Involve Money) - 02/22/12 12:54 PM
3 Ways To Decide If You Should Buy A Home (That Don't Involve Money) While money can decide what you can afford when it comes to owning a home, there are many other motivators and drivers of a real estate decision. Here are the top 3.
1. FamilyWhen considering if you should buy a new home, family is usually the number one factor. Maybe you're just starting your family, or your family has grown and needs extra room. Owning a home can give your children stability, such as the same school, place and community. You may also consider passing the house … (0 comments)

Greece and Foreclosure Agreements Announced - 02/16/12 09:46 PM
Greece and Foreclosure Agreements Announced There were many deals being agreed upon this morning. Over in Greece, it has been reported that they have finally agreed on a debt swap deal, including new austerity measures, and avoiding a near-term, very disorderly market event. The European market soared today, hitting levels it hasn't seen since December 2011.
In closer news, an agreement has been finalized with five large banks, Ally Finance, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo, to settle alleged foreclosure abuses. This $26 billion deal is the largest government vs. business settlement since the tobacco lawsuits back … (0 comments)

20 Documents You Need for a Smooth Home Purchase - 02/16/12 09:44 PM
20 Documents You Need for a Smooth Home Purchase Buying a home involves a variety of parts; many people, documents and tasks are needed in order to make your purchase go smoothly. It's better to get organized as soon as possible, but what exactly do you need?
To start, you should get all the paperwork that will be required gathered and organized. Here's a list of the paperwork you'll need to buy a home, depending on what stage of the purchase process you're at:
If you're ahead of the game and still getting ready for your pre-approval or mortgage:1. Tax Returns … (0 comments)

More Borrowers Look to Shorten Their Loan Terms Last Quarter - 02/16/12 09:43 PM
More Borrowers Look to Shorten Their Loan Terms Last Quarter According to Freddie Mac Quarterly Product Transition Report, released yesterday, more than 95% of refinance loans were fixed-rate mortgages. It is clear that refinancing borrowers are clearly taking advantage of the record low interest rates, preferring fixed-rate loans regardless of whether their original loan was or not.
"Fixed mortgage rates averaged well below long-term averages. It's no wonder we continue to see strong refinance activity into fixed-rate loan," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's Vice President and Chief Economist stated. "For borrowers motivated to refinance by low fixed-rates, they could obtain even lower … (0 comments)

Are You Missing the Best Time to Buy a Home? - 02/16/12 04:36 PM
Are You Missing the Best Time to Buy a Home? For the sixth month in a row, homebuilder confidence rose, climbing four points in February and reaching the highest mark the index has seen since May 2007! And it's no wonder: with low rates, low down payment options and a recovering economy, there has been a lot of buyers looking at the market. It's reported that there are two times the amount of buyers touring homes now than there were in September of 2011.
Home affordability is certainly at its best right now, and home builders can see what's coming, which … (0 comments)

Obama Demands More HARP Changes - 02/08/12 12:45 PM
Obama Demands More HARP Changes After the original changes made to the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP 2.0, back in October, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) bragged about how it would allow different lenders to refinance borrowers who had loans controlled by another shop, thus increasing competition between lenders.
However, after evaluating the status of mortgages done due to the HARP 2.0 program, the Obama administration doesn’t think the FHFA went far enough. According to National Mortgage News, a new report from the Amherst Securities Group claims that “HARP 2.0 still provides ‘special benefits’ to the controlling servicer when … (1 comments)

Should You Refinance Now or Later? - 02/06/12 04:46 PM
Should You Refinance Now or Later? With mortgage rates hovering at record lows the past couple weeks, now is a fantastic time to refinance your home and save yourself money! However, because interest rates have been dropping so frequently, homeowners are holding out on refinancing, with hopes that rates will drop lower.
If you’re one of those homeowners not wanting to spend money on a refinance now in case rates end up falling later on, you’ll find yourself quickly disappointed. Economists have been discussing how it’s going to take “heroic” measures to lower interest rates any more. Mortgage rates already don’t … (2 comments)

Unemployment and Interest Rates Both Fall - 02/03/12 10:44 PM
Unemployment and Interest Rates Both Fall This morning it was announced that the US added 243,000 more jobs in January, the most jobs added since March and April of 2011. Unemployment followed suit and dropped to 8.5%; marking January as the fifth consecutive month unemployment has fallen. With these stats exceeding economists’ expectations, the market got off to a great start.
To add onto the good news, mortgage rates dropped to the lowest they’ve ever been in the entire 40 year history of the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, shortly after the president announced details about his proposal to enable … (3 comments)

Four Steps To A Stress-Free Refinance - 02/02/12 05:09 PM
Four Steps To A Stress-Free Refinance With all this news about FHA helping lenders like Guaranteed Rate qualify more borrowers for refinances and the government instituting new refinancing programs, you may be considering looking into refinancing your home to take advantage of today’s record low rates. However, make sure you’re aware of the top four refinancing mistakes so that you can avoid them!
1. Refinancing When You Shouldn’tMaybe your neighbor told you about the amazing low rate they refinanced with, or the news you’re seeing on our Facebook and Twitter is just making you anxious to join the party. Before you … (1 comments)

FHA Adjusts Neighborhood Watch For Obama’s Refinance Plan - 02/01/12 02:22 PM
FHA Adjusts Neighborhood Watch For Obama’s Refinance Plan The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that it will no longer rank mortgage lenders based on performance of “streamlined” loans in its Neighborhood Watch system, in an effort to open up the program for more families.
Currently, FHA borrowers are allowed to refinance under the existing streamline program without a new appraisal, credit report or documentation, which is customary for standard refinances. However, as Guaranteed Rate reported earlier, due to FHA’s Neighborhood Watch, lenders have been denying some of these borrowers because it could compromise their status as FHA-lenders. By removing these streamlined … (1 comments)

 
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Chad Ronning - FHA, VA, USDA, Home Path

Maple Grove, MN

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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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