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financing: The Government's Revamped HARP Program For Underwater Homeowners - 10/25/11 03:40 PM
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 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 … (4 comments)
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financing: What To Fix Before You List - 05/12/11 04:05 PM
With housing prices down across the country, there are a lot of homeowners barely breaking even on their respective home sales. Some are even losing money.
You may find yourself in that position, too; wanting to sell, but worried about bringing cash to your own closing.
It creates an interesting dilemma. You want your home to "show nicely" relative to comparable properties, but you don't want to invest big dollars that may never be recouped into upgrades or renovations. So what do you do?
The answer is simple. Do the bare minimum.
From an advice piece in the Wall Street Journal, we … (2 comments)
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financing: The Difference between pre-approval and pre-qualification. - 05/03/11 05:02 PM
For many new homebuyers, the terms pre-qualification and pre-approval seem interchangeable. But they are not — and the distinction is an important one. When you get pre-qualified, I perform a quick check to determine generally how large a home loan you can afford. Essentially, when a buyer is pre-qualified, the lender is saying it would most likely approve the buyer for “x” amount. In order to get pre-qualified, you’ll need to provide me with some basic information on gross monthly income, other reliable reoccurring income, the balances and payments on current debts, and how much money has been saved for a … (2 comments)
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financing: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : March 28, 2011 - 03/28/11 05:45 PM
Mortgage markets worsened last week as nuclear meltdown concerns eased across Japan, and the war within Libya moved closer to a potential finish.
Wall Street voted with its dollars, and a return to risk-taking emerged. "Safe haven" buying softened last week and, as a result, conforming mortgage rates made their biggest 1-week spike since late-January.
Mortgage rates remain historically low, but well above their November 2010 lows.
This week, rates could run higher again. Friday's jobs report is a major story and it will affect mortgage rates across the country. Jobs are a key component of the nation's economic recovery, and … (0 comments)
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financing: Home Builders Slowed By Economy, But Seeing More Foot Traffic - 01/19/11 06:07 PM
Homebuilder confidence held firm for the second straight month this month, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
The monthly Housing Market Index registered 16 out of a possible 100. January's reading is three points higher than the 2010 low-point, set in September, and in-line with last year's average reading.
According to the NAHB, the market for newly-built, single family homes remains relatively weak "following a below-expectations finish in 2010". Builders expect a better 2011.
The Housing Market Index dates to 1985. It's a composite of surveys which gauge the builders' perceptions of the new home-buying market.
There are 3 … (0 comments)
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financing: Comparing Mortgage Rates For Adjustable- And Fixed-Rate Mortgages - 01/12/11 04:48 PM
For some homeowners, electing to take an adjustable rate mortgage over a fixed rate one can be matter of budgeting. ARMs tend to carry lower mortgage rates and, therefore, lower monthly mortgage payment as compared to a comparable fixed rate loan.
Relative to fixed rate mortgages, current ARM pricing is excellent. Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey puts the 5-year ARM mortgage rate lower than the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate by 1.02 percent.
On a $250,000 home loan, a 1.02 differential yields a payment savings of $149 per month.
ARMs are not for everyone, of course. Over time … (0 comments)
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financing: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : November 8, 2010 - 11/09/10 03:00 PM
Mortgage markets took a roller coaster ride last week, powered by the dual-force of the Federal Open Market Committee, and the government's monthly Non-Farm Payrolls report.
As standalone events, both releases would have ranked among the top market movers of the year anyway, but throw in the rest of the week's data --including the release of key inflation figures and the midterm elections -- and it's no wonder the bond markets were so bumpy.
Huge gains and losses characterized day-to-day trading last week. Overall, however, conforming mortgage rates improved; fixed-rate mortgage rates fell slightly less than adjustable-rate ones.
Recapping last week's … (0 comments)
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financing: Mortgage Rate Lock Alert : Expect Rate Changes Wednesday Afternoon - 11/03/10 04:40 PM
The Federal Reserve ends a scheduled, 2-day meeting today. It's the seventh of 8 scheduled Fed meetings in 2010, and the eighth overall this year.
The Fed held an unscheduled meeting May 9, 2010.
When today's meeting adjourns, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke & Co. will publish a formal statement within which the Fed is expected to announce "no change" to the Fed Funds Rate. But that doesn't mean that mortgage rates won't change.
To the contrary, expect mortgage rates to move by a lot this afternoon. Here's why.
The Fed's mission is to preserve stability within banking and the economy and, … (0 comments)
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financing: Case-Shiller Shows Slowing Growth In Home Prices... Two Months Ago - 09/30/10 11:49 AM
For the 17th straight month, the Case-Shiller Index reports that home values are rising across the United States. As compared to June, July's prices were up by 4 percent.
However, despite the improvement, July's Case-Shiller Index showed weaker as compared to prior months.
In June, just 3 cities posted year-to-year reductions in home value. In July, 10 of 20 did. In June, just 1 city posted a month-to-month reduction in home value. In July, 7 of 20 did. As a spokesperson for Case-Shiller said, values "crept forward" in July. But not that it matters -- the Case-Shiller Index is a … (0 comments)
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financing: Home Sales Are Back On The Rise After A 2-Month Pullback - 09/08/10 09:33 PM
Just one week after reports of Existing Home Sales and New Home Sales plunging, the housing market is signaling that auturm may fare better than did summer.
The number of homes under contract to sell rose 5 percent in July.
The data comes from the July Pending Home Sales Index, as published by the National Association of Realtors®. By definition, a "pending home sales" is a home that is sold, but not yet closed.
Historically, 80% of such homes close within 60 days which makes the Pending Home Sales Index an excellent, forward-looking indicator for the real estate market.
Indeed, the … (1 comments)
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financing: Shopping For Mortgage Rates Is Part Research Skills, Part Luck - 05/11/10 12:59 PM
Shopping multiple lenders for a "good mortgage rate" can sometimes save you 1/8 percent on your rate and/or a few hundred dollars in fees. However, when it comes to getting the best mortgage rate, you're going to more than good research skills.
You're going to need some luck.
Mortgage rates are unpredictable, ever-changing, and rarely change as expected.
For example, when the Federal Reserve left the mortgage market March 31, 2010, analysts said that mortgage rates would rise by a half-percent or more. It was practically stated as fact on TV. When April 1 came around, though, rates didn't rise.
Instead, … (0 comments)
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financing: What type of relationship should I have with my financial planner? - 04/29/10 01:48 PM
Finding the right financial advisor for you should be more of a gut feeling than a science. Trusting your financial future to someone you trust is important and you need to know that they truly have your best interest at heart. Does this mean you should golf with them monthly? If it helps you feel more comfortable, sure. But more important is to be comfortable with the plan they lay out for you, their approach in achieving it, and their knowledge of the financial marketplace. There are many different ways to reach the same end result when working on your financial … (0 comments)
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financing: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : April 19, 2010 - 04/19/10 12:22 PM
Mortgage markets improved last week for the second week in a row. And, also for the second week in a row, rates were down on "safe haven" buying -- just not for the same safe haven reasons as before.
If you'll remember, safe haven buying is when investors sense market risk, then move money toward less risky investments.
Well, because the U.S. government backs the bonds of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, mortgage bonds tend to fit the "less risky" description and as Iceland's volcanoes shut down air traffic in Europe, mortgage bonds benefited.
That was early in the week.
Then, … (0 comments)
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financing: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : April 5, 2010 - 04/05/10 11:28 AM
Mortgage markets performed terribly last week as losses piled up day by day. It marked the second straight week of sell-offs.
Pricing was influenced on several fronts including better-than-expected economic data, the end of the Federal Reserve's mortgage buyback program, and a short trading week.
Mortgage rates rose to their highest levels since late-December last week.
The data from most anticipated story from last week -- the jobs report -- included a few good-for-the-economy surprises.
Although payrolls fell 22,000 short of expectations in March, they were boosted by +62,000 in net revisions from January and February "Temporary Employment" -- a leading … (0 comments)
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financing: What's Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : March 29, 2010 - 03/29/10 12:54 PM
Mortgage markets tanked last week, raising rates to their highest levels in a month.
Most of the losses occurred Wednesday in what was the worst 1-day mortgage market performance in more than 6 months. Even Friday's rally could barely dent the losses. Most of the movement was tied to geopolitical concerns and worries of a ballooning federal debt load.
The best time to lock a conventional or FHA mortgage rate last week was Tuesday morning.
This week, markets should remain volatile. There's a large set of economic data due for release, plus trading volume will thin as the week goes on … (0 comments)
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Michael Haigh
Burlingame,
CA
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W J Bradley / The Michael Haigh Team
Address: 1860 El Camino Real , Suite 306, Burlingame, Ca, 94010
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