Make it a WE budget not a him or her budget - 03/26/11 02:50 PM
What happens when one spouse is left in charge of handling the budget?  From my experience, if both spouses do not understand the finances they usually are not able to get themselves in a position to buy a house, stay in their current house, or have their house paid off come retirement time.
What I have seen over the years when it is a his or her budget and not a WE budget
Constant fighting over spending Limited or no saving Run away credit card debt Bills paid late Many of you reading this will say those things happen when we … (3 comments)

Shopping for the lowest mortgage rate - 03/23/11 08:20 PM
I will start with advice I have always given for finding your mortgage loan officer and that is to work with a mortgage professional that you trust.  This does not change with the recent changes in the law but what does change is pricing flexibility for lenders.  Thus the traditional advice of always shopping around will more than likely only show you the differences in closing costs and the time of day you received your price quote. 
Rates can a do change daily and can even move during the day.  I talked with a guy 3 weeks ago and he called … (6 comments)

HARP extended and enhanced until June 2012 - 03/22/11 09:23 PM
HARP refinance deadline has been extended by one year.  The Obama Administration has extended and made some changes to the original stimulus package refinance program.  The program is intended to help qualified individuals and families whose homes have lost value.
Fannie Mae will change the eligibilty date to May 2009 and Freddie Mac has made HARP loans exempt from the recently announced price adjustments.  These are both changes that will either make more homeowners eligible or better pricing, respectively.
No other changes were announced.   For more information go to Making Home Affordable or contact your loan servicer.
… (0 comments)

When does it make sense to Refinance? - 03/12/11 03:57 PM
If it makes financial sense and cents to refinance then don't wait.  I just re-pulled credit for a loan applicant and his credit score went down by 50 points from 6 months ago.  Why?  Because they paid a department store credit card late in January.  Is this a drastic reduction in credit score?  Yes.  However, recent credit history is the most important when it comes to your credit score and the credit scoring scoring system decided to wave the red flag with this 30 day late payment.
Let's go back to September when the credit score was 694.  Why did this … (4 comments)

Buying a House without Your Current Home Sold - 03/09/11 10:51 PM
This Wisconsin buyer wanted to be pre approved without her current home sold.  Yes this is possible but certainly not as easy as it used to be.  Fortunately this buyer is anti debt so she was able to qualify with both payments.  This way she will not have a sale contingency on the offer she will be submitting for her new home.
Her down payment will come from a home equity line of credit on her current home so she can get to 20% down and avoid mortgage insurance on the new one.  When her current house sells (hopefully quickly) she … (8 comments)

Housing is Affordable Again - 03/07/11 10:04 PM
It appears that owning a home fits into the household budget again. Yeah!! According to the WSJ,  the cost of a house is the equivalent of about 19 months of total pay for an average family in the United States.  This is the lowest level in 35 years.  Home prices have dropped since 2006 and the drops vary by market but without a doubt owning a home today is not as expensive or as big of a chunk of your monthly income as it used to be.Will house prices go even lower?  I don’t know the answer to these question but … (6 comments)

Helpful Steps for First Time Home Buyers - 03/05/11 03:50 PM
This may seem logical but you first need to decide you really want to buy a home and this is a tougher when it is a joint decision.  Many times when I meet with first time buyers one of the two is very excited and committed.  The other not so much and because this is such a big and long term decision the pros and cons need to be weighed. Thus, the first step is we need to have everyone on board.
Second step is to make sure you are working with a knowledgeable mortgage lender and a Realtor.  These professionals … (0 comments)

 
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Mark Nehs

Pewaukee, WI

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Mortgage Loan Officer Waukesha Wisconsin

Address: 395 Pewaukee Road, Pewaukee, WI, 53072

Office Phone: (262) 691-5843

Cell Phone: (262) 613-2730

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Learn all about Mortgage lending from a 20 year veteran of the mortgage business in Wisconsin. FHA, VA, Rural development, conventional, 80/10, and more. All types of mortgage loans for Wisconsin consumers looking to purchase or refinance.
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