mortgage: Is Your Credit Report Accurate? - 04/06/23 04:16 PM
Mistakes happen occasionally. But when they appear on your credit report and hurt your credit score, a mistake could make it harder to borrow money for a house, a car, or other purchases, as well as the overall cost of your home. 
Credit reports are also used to decide whether you can rent an apartment; or determine the cost of auto and homeowners’ insurance. Lenders, landlords, insurance companies, and some employers rely on credit reports for background research. 
So, what should you know about checking your credit report?
Three Major Credit Bureaus 
In the U.S., there are three nationwide credit reporting companies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each … (1 comments)

mortgage: Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC): A Way to Help You Afford Your Mortgage Payments - 04/04/23 03:10 PM
Buying your first home comes with costs and possibly stress, but there’s at least one potential silver lining. If you’re within income limits, you might be able to qualify for a mortgage credit certificate, also called a mortgage interest credit certificate or MCC.
What is a mortgage credit certificate? It could save you money when you file your taxes and make it easier to pay your mortgage each month. Learn more about this mortgage certificate, who is eligible, how to apply, how to claim the tax credit and what happens if you refinance.
What is a mortgage credit certificate?
A mortgage credit certificate allows … (1 comments)

mortgage: Is a Mortgage Pre-Approval Letter Necessary to Make an Offer on a House? - 04/25/22 01:01 PM
Do you need a mortgage pre-approval letter to make an offer on a house? You know you need to get your ducks in a row before looking at homes, but does that include securing a pre-approval letter from the bank?
The truth is, getting pre-approved can actually improve your chances of falling into the sellers’ good graces, so you want to get it done as soon as possible in the home-buying process.
So how organized do your financials need to be before you start looking? Let’s take a look, starting with clarifying what a pre-approval letter actually is.
What is a pre-approval letter?
Mortgage pre-approval is assurance from a lender to provide … (4 comments)

mortgage: Real Estate Closing Costs: What Are They and How Much Do They Cost? - 04/24/22 11:23 AM
Closing costs are the fees you pay when finalizing a real estate transaction, whether you’re refinancing a mortgage or buying a new home. These costs can amount to 2 to 5 percent of the mortgage balance so it’s important to be financially prepared for this expense.
What are closing costs?
Closing costs include a range of charges for services related to applying for a mortgage. Some of the costs are related to the property — appraising it to verify its value and searching property records to ensure a clear title — and others are related to the paperwork involved, including attorney fees and the … (4 comments)

mortgage: Housing Affordability Is Stressing Out Buyers - 04/23/22 12:18 PM
High home prices and mortgage rates are serving as a wake-up call to potential home buyers this spring that their budgets just aren’t going to go as far as they would have a year ago. In the first quarter of this year, 81% percent of consumers said they could afford less than half the homes for-sale in their markets. That marks the highest share since before the pandemic, the National Association of Home Builders reports.
Mortgage rates that have risen above 5% alone are pressing on more budgets. Since the beginning of the year, mortgage rates have jumped by 1.8 percentage points, … (3 comments)

mortgage: Your Stress-Free Guide to Shopping for Home Loans - 04/21/22 11:38 AM
With this super-simple breakdown of loan types, you won’t get overwhelmed — you’ll find the right mortgage.
When it comes to buying a house, most people know what they prefer: a bungalow or a condo, a hot neighborhood or a sleepy street.
Mortgages, too, come in many styles — and recognizing which type you should choose is just slightly more involved than, say, knowing that you prefer hardwood floors over wall-to-wall carpeting.
First things first: To pick the best loan for your situation, you need to know what your situation is exactly. Will you be staying in this home for years? Decades? Are you … (1 comments)

mortgage: Homeowners May Be Reluctant to Give Up Low Mortgage Rate - 04/20/22 11:52 AM
About half of homeowners with a mortgage have a rate under 4%. That is significantly below today’s rate of 5%.
Such enticing rates could incentivize homeowners to stay put in their homes longer. They may not want to give up an ultra-low rate—many of whom may have snatched up a rate over recent years that was below 3%.
A recent analysis by Redfin calls out this “lock-in effect” as one factor that may contribute to a decline in home listings moving forward.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5% last week, the highest rate in more than a decade, according to Freddie Mac. Since the … (2 comments)

mortgage: How Much Home Equity Do I Need For a Mortgage Refinance? - 04/16/22 12:59 PM
With mortgage rates on the rise, the opportunity to save money with a refinance is shrinking, but it can still make sense for some homeowners. When it comes to refinancing a mortgage, though, home equity matters.
How much home equity do I need to refinance my mortgage?
Home equity is the cash value in your home. For instance, if your home is valued at $300,000 and you owe $200,000, your home would have $100,000 of cash value, or equity. If you don’t have enough home equity, private mortgage insurance, or PMI, may be required. This is a type of insurance borrowers pay to protect the … (2 comments)

mortgage: Property Taxes on Single-Family Homes Rise Across U.S. in 2021, to $328 Billion - 04/15/22 06:00 PM
IRVINE, Calif. – April 14, 2022 — ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, today released its 2021 property tax analysis for almost 87 million U.S. single family homes, which shows that $328 billion in property taxes were levied on single-family homes in 2021, up just 1.6 percent from $323 billion in 2020. That was well down from the 5.4 percent increase seen from 2019 to 2020 and marked the second smallest rise over the past five years.
Meanwhile, the average tax on single-family homes in the U.S. in 2021 increased at the smallest pace in the five … (1 comments)

mortgage: Historical Mortgage Rate Trends: 1970s to 2022 - 04/14/22 12:33 PM
While the mortgage rate you’ll get is determined by specific factors like your credit score, historical mortgage rate trends can give you a sense of how economic conditions influence the rates available on the market today. From the 1970s to present, mortgage rates have risen and fallen, with the current 30-year fixed rate still low, but on the rise.
“After spiking to near 20 percent levels in the early 1980s, mortgage rates — as with interest rates in general — were largely in decline for the better part of the next 40 years as inflation declined and became a non-factor,” says Greg McBride, CFA, … (1 comments)

mortgage: More Sellers Are Lowering Asking Prices - 04/12/22 07:54 PM
With mortgage rates now nearing 5%, many aspiring home buyers may have reached the top of what they can afford, especially as 40-year-high inflation affects the threshold for them.
As a result, the number of sellers dropping their asking price is growing at a faster clip than in the recent past. About 12% of homes for sale had a price drop during the four weeks ending April 3, according to Redfin. That marks a jump from 9% a year ago.
“Price drops are still rare, but the fact that they are becoming more frequent is one clear sign that the housing market is … (0 comments)

mortgage: Home Prices Are Rising Faster Than Wages - 04/09/22 02:44 PM
The income required to meet a common standard for home affordability are growing at the fastest pace in more than 15 years, according to ATTOM Data Solution’s first quarter 2022 U.S. Home Affordability Report. Housing affordability has fallen in nearly 80% of the markets tracked as median home prices continue to increase—and now mortgage rates are too.
Home prices continue to rise faster than wages in most of the country. Researchers determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet major monthly homeownership expenses, including the mortgage, property taxes, and insurance, on a median-priced single-family home.
“It’s … (1 comments)

mortgage: Home Features That May Boost Sales Price - 04/06/22 11:43 AM
Some unusual or uncommon home features are not only attracting buyers but also encouraging them to pay more for those features. In a study for Angi, formerly Angie’s List, researchers combed through sold listings to identify common or trending home features and determine whether a price premium could be attached to some amenities.
In the kitchen, buyers may appreciate a pot filler faucet over the cooktop. Angi researchers said that feature alone could lead to a 3.2% price premium.
Other home features that could make a big difference: pendant lighting (2.66% price premium); under-cabinet lighting (2.48%); double-sink vanity (2.35%); barn door (2.32%); butcher … (1 comments)

mortgage: Borrowing Costs Jump as Rates Continue to Increase - 04/03/22 05:55 PM
For the fourth consecutive week, mortgage rates surged, up more than 90 basis points in one month.
Rates have jumped from 3.76% to 4.67% in just March alone, significantly increasing the borrowing costs for buyers, Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of forecasting at the National Association of REALTORS®, wrote for the association’s blog.
The monthly payment for a median-priced home with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose more than $170 in March due to higher rates, Evangelou notes.
In the past three months, that amount has been increasing even more. For example, LendingTree offers the following example: A 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage loan worth $300,000 … (0 comments)

mortgage: Some Owners Turn to Cash-Out Refinances - 03/31/22 02:58 PM
Some homeowners are turning to the equity in their current home to fund their next real estate transaction. But the move isn’t without risks.
Most homeowners who bought a home before 2020 have seen rapid appreciation and rising equity in their homes. A cash-out refinance is allowing them to use that equity to help fund their next purchase. They can take out a new mortgage loan for more than what they owe, and then use the cash to buy another property or to make a down payment on a new one.
Cash-out refinances have traditionally been used to pay off debt or fund home … (1 comments)

mortgage: How Much Does it Cost to Refinance Your House? - 03/29/22 08:03 PM
Refinancing your mortgage can lower your interest rate, help shorten your loan term or convert equity into funds you need — but it comes with a price tag. Just like your first mortgage, you’ll need to consider the closing costs.
Why refinance your mortgage?
Simply put, spending some money now can save you more money in the long run — or help you access cash you need for a project right now. Here’s a rundown of some of the main reasons you might want to consider refinancing your mortgage:
You can lower your monthly payment – If you have a fixed-rate mortgage with a rate that’s higher … (1 comments)

mortgage: Who Really, Really Approves Your Loan? - 03/25/22 04:39 PM
‘Approval’ in the mortgage and real estate industries is a term thrown around sometimes a bit too regularly. It’s the stage of a loan application where the terms of the application and submitted documentation meet the requirements to take the loan to its final state, referred to as ‘funding.’
It’s the stage where every loan applicant wants to get to because it one step closer to moving into their new home. There’s a preapproval and then there’s a final approval. The preapproval is a stage where the homebuyers have submitted and application, provided some documentation and have given the lender authorization to … (0 comments)

mortgage: Here's What Does (and Doesn't) Drive Mortgage Rates - 03/22/22 08:06 PM
Mortgage rates moved dramatically throughout the pandemic. In the early phase of the health crisis, mortgage rates plunged to record lows. During the recovery stage, they hit pre-pandemic levels, then kept rising.
But why have rates moved so dramatically? And what drives mortgage rate movements? The answers are complex, but the moves make more sense when you learn which factors drive mortgage rates — and which don’t. Here’s a quick crash course that could save you money on a new mortgage or a refinance.
 1. It (sort of) begins with the Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve doesn’t set mortgage rates, but the central bank’s decisions definitely … (1 comments)

mortgage: Top 9 Reasons First-Time Buyers Are Stressed - 03/18/22 12:09 PM
First-time home buyers are likely to be feeling the stress of a highly competitive market—even before they start house hunting.
A new Rocket Mortgage survey of more than 800 prospective home buyers revealed the items during the purchasing process that stress out first-time buyers the most. The biggest stressor is saving for a down payment, with 72% of prospective and recent home buyers saying they received help from family members. Prospective buyers ages 30 and under also appear to be more debt averse than older buyers. Debt is another top stressor, with 47% of millennials listing “wanting to avoid debt” as a reason for … (0 comments)

mortgage: What is a Cash-in Refinance? - 03/13/22 11:21 AM
A cash-in refinance lets you refinance your mortgage into a new loan with a lower principal balance.
When interest rates are low, you may be thinking about refinancing your home mortgage. Refinancing can lower your monthly payments or help you save on interest over the life of the loan.
But lenders typically will only allow borrowers to refinance with a certain amount of home equity. You may not have enough equity if you put down a small down payment or haven’t had your mortgage for long. 
A cash-in refinance can allow you to qualify for refinancing, help you put more money into your home, … (0 comments)