consumer education: A Few Reasons Why Now May Be The Least Expensive And Easiest Time To "Go FHA" - 04/15/09 01:13 AM
Shopping for low mortgage rates is a game of luck.
Some days, mortgage rates are favorable. Other days, they're not. And while you can sometimes make an educated guess about where rates might be headed, you're not always going to guess right.
Even the experts get it wrong more often than … (1 comments)
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consumer education: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : April 13, 2009 - 04/13/09 03:52 PM
For the second week in a row, mortgage markets started the week strong and then ended with a fizzle. In the holiday-shortened week, rates were exactly flat overall.
There wasn't much economic data to move rates last week, incidentally. The market's up-and-down action was largely based on two events:
A reputable analyst said banking-sector … (0 comments)
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consumer education: How To Know If Your Adjustable Rate Mortgage Will Adjust Lower - 04/09/09 10:31 AM
When conforming mortgages adjust, they're often tied to an interest rate index called LIBOR.
LIBOR is an acronym for London Interbank Offered Rate. But what LIBOR stands for isn't as important as the role it plays.
LIBOR is an interest rate at which banks borrow money from each other. Therefore, … (0 comments)
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consumer education: April 15 Is 1 Week Away And 27 Million Taxpayers Have Yet To File. If You're One Of Them, Here Are Some Tax Tips - 04/08/09 09:43 AM
There are 138 million taxpayers in the United States and, according to the IRS, 20 percent of them file their taxes within 7 days of April 15. In a holiday-shortened week, that means that 27 million people had better get a move on.
And while a portion of this year's last-minute filers … (0 comments)
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consumer education: How To Know If You're Eligible For A Making Home Affordable Refinance - 04/07/09 07:55 PM
April 4, 2009, marked the official start of the Making Home Affordable refinance program.
Expected to help 5 million homeowners, the Making Home Affordable program "looks the other way" with respect to falling home values, approving mortgage applications based on borrower payment history and benefit to the homeowner.
Not every homeowner … (0 comments)
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consumer education: Can You Guess What Percentage Of Mortgages Are Still Paid On-Time? - 03/03/09 09:28 AM
Mortgage delinquencies are on the rise nationwide, but the news may not be as bad as it appears at first glance.
Using anonymous data from its national credit database, TransUnion reports that 4.58 percent of American homeowners were at least 60 days past due on mortgage payments last quarter.
Comparing the statistic to the … (1 comments)
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consumer education: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : March 2, 2009 - 03/02/09 01:50 PM
Mortgage markets worsened last week, taking interest rates with them.
A steady drip of sour economic news plus concerns about the banking system outmuscled Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional testimony in which he said the recession would likely end later this year.
Overall, mortgage rates have risen in 9 of the … (0 comments)
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consumer education: The Key Fact Missing From Today's Existing Home Sales Headlines - 02/26/09 10:57 AM
In reading the headlines this morning, you'd think that last month's Existing Home Sales figure signaled more trouble ahead for the housing market.
Quite the contrary.
Beyond the attention-grabbing headlines is the real story; the one that shows -- once again -- that housing market fundaments are coming back into balance.
As home … (1 comments)
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consumer education: The Relative Cost Of Owning Versus Renting Is Back At Historical Norms - 02/25/09 10:53 AM
One popular housing theory is that -- before a bona fide housing recovery can begin -- the cost of owning a home versus renting one must return to historical levels.
If that belief is a truth, a national return to rising home prices may be in store for 2009.
Falling home prices coupled … (0 comments)
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consumer education: County-By-County: The 2009 "High-Cost" Conforming Loan Limits - 02/24/09 03:07 PM
As part of the stimulus package passed last week, Congress authorized a temporary increase to conforming loan limits in certain high-cost parts of the country.
"High cost" is defined by a regions' median sales price.
With the temporary increase, a greater share of Americans can now qualify for Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed loans, … (0 comments)
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consumer education: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : February 23, 2009 - 02/23/09 01:15 PM
Traders brushed off Tuesday and Wednesday's passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the President's mortgage relief plan, respectively.
It showed how unsure markets remain about the stimulus package and its probable impact on the economy.
As a result, mortgage markets worsened last week, albeit slightly. It marked the 4th week … (0 comments)
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consumer education: What The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan Doesn't Mean To Homeowners - 02/20/09 12:40 PM
In Mesa, Arizona, Wednesday, the President presented the Homeowner Affordability and Stability plan, a multi-pronged effort to support the housing market.
The story made the front page of nearly every newspaper in the country.
The president's plan is sweeping:
Incent mortgage servicers to work with at-risk homeowners before delinquency starts
Let homeowners … (0 comments)
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consumer education: Mandatory FHA Loan Fees Increase for Some, Fall for Others - 07/21/08 10:03 AM
The FHA risk-based pricing matrix For the first time in its history, the FHA changed its funding fees and mortgage insurance structure this week. FHA-insured home loans are now subject to a risk-based pricing adjustment, as shown by the table above.
Because of risk-based pricing, FHA home loans are now … (0 comments)
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consumer education: You've Been Pre-Approved -- Now Get RE-Approved - 12/19/07 10:21 AM
Even if you've been recently pre-qualified (or pre-approved) for a mortgage, it may be prudent to get "re-approved". The mortgage industry is changing quickly; being prepared beats the alternative.
Recently, mortgage lenders have made adjustments in what they will lend, and to whom. This shrinks the pool of eligible mortgage borrowers.
… (3 comments)
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consumer education: How to Squeeze Extra Tax Deductions from Your Mortgage In 2007 - 12/18/07 04:55 PM
For most Americans (but not all), mortgage interest is tax-deductible in the year in which it was paid.
With some advance planning, therefore, a homeowner can increase his 2007 tax deductions by paying additional mortgage interest while the calendar still reads 2007.
The key is to make the mortgage … (1 comments)
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consumer education: Mortgage Rates are Going Up -- But Not for the Reason You'd Expect - 12/13/07 12:16 PM
Conforming mortgages are getting more expensive -- but not because of mortgage rates.
To protect against further weakness in the housing sector, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are instituting "delivery fees" on all conforming mortgages, effective March 2008.
Fannie Mae's Adverse Market Delivery Charge and Freddie Mac's Market Condition Delivery Fee will … (7 comments)
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consumer education: Why Credit Card Holders May Benefit from The Fed's Actions Today - 12/11/07 12:28 PM
The Federal Open Market Committee meets today and will release a public statement at 2:15 P.M. ET.
It is widely expected that the FOMC will lower the Fed Funds Rate by at least 0.250%.
When the FOMC lowers the Fed Funds Rate, it is trying to "loosen" credit for … (2 comments)
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consumer education: The Week in Review (December 10, 2007): What to Watch For - 12/10/07 02:13 PM
Among lingering doubts about housing and credit markets, and a general uncertainty about the U.S. economy, the mortgage bond market tanked towards the latter part of last week.
As investors moved away from mortgage bonds, mortgage rates forcefully bounced off their two-year lows.
A major factor behind last week's … (1 comments)
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consumer education: Appraisals are As Much Art as Science - 10/25/07 06:26 AM
The number of home valuation websites continues to grow. A simple Google search for "How much is my home worth?" shows 118,000 results and seems to get larger month after month.
For home sellers, these programs can give a false sense of security (or insecurity!) about at what price a home should … (7 comments)
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consumer education: How the Stock Market is Directing Traffic for Mortgage Rates - 10/24/07 02:22 AM
As we talked about Monday, the stock market appears to be directing traffic for the bond market.
Monday was a flat day for stocks, and it was a flat day for bonds, too. Mortgage rates idled.
Tuesday, with no economic data hitting the wires, market participants looked for direction … (1 comments)
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