pmi: How a First Time Homebuyer Can Buy a Home with No Money Down
- 09/12/23 06:01 PM
How a First Time Homebuyer Can Buy a Home with No Money Down
-Some don't need the ocean view.
-Some don't need the 4-car finished garage.
-Some don't need the extra bedroom/home office.
-Some don't need the picket fence or landscaped lawn.
-Some do need their first home and don't have a down payment.
-Some do need a lender credit to help with closing costs.
-Some do live, or will live, in eligible census tracts.
-Some do believe in the American Dream.
If you've been conditioned to think that only eligible veterans can finance a home without a down payment, or if you've been told that in order to purchase … (8 comments)
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pmi: How to Get Rid of PMI on Your Mortgage
- 01/03/23 05:20 PM
How to Get Rid of PMI on Your Mortgage
Want to drop your private mortgage insurance (PMI) payments like a pair of cheap sunglasses? Don't know where to start?
Look, when interest rates were moving lower and property values were moving higher, the headache of canceling PMI took a back seat. And why not? In that climate, homeowners typically just refinanced and both dropped PMI and got a lower rate.
But when interest rates move higher and home values flatten or even go lower, many owners strive to preserve their great mortgage rates and focus on getting rid of that extra monthly insurance payment … (2 comments)
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pmi: How to Rock a Low House Appraisal Value!!!
- 10/24/22 09:07 PM
How to Rock a Low House Appraisal Value!!!
You found the perfect home...
And the seller accepted your offer...
And your mortgage application is underway...
Until your appraisal comes in low. What now???
Never mind all the bad advice that swirls around this dilemma. There are a handful of effective ways to deal with an appraisal value that comes in under your offer price, so if you find yourself in this stressful situation today, get in touch. Or perhaps you're a Realtor or buyer looking to better understand all of the tactics and tips that you can use to negotiate a low appraisal in today's challenging … (9 comments)
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pmi: How to Rock an FHA Home Loan!!!
- 10/06/22 08:16 AM
How to Rock an FHA Home Loan!!!
Are FHA loans just for first time home buyers?
Is an FHA mortgage the best choice if you have bad credit?
What if you have a low down payment, or even no down payment from your own savings?
If you're ready to quit renting right here and right now, let's learn how to rock an FHA home loan:
Watching the world wake up,
Rob Spinosa
SVP of Mortgage Lending
Guaranteed Rate
NMLS: 22343
Cell/Text: 415-367-5959
rob.spinosa@rate.com
Marin Office: 324 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA 94960
*The views and opinions expressed on this site about work-related matters are my own, have not been reviewed or approved … (9 comments)
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pmi: How to Rock a 10% Down Payment!!!
- 07/14/22 12:17 PM
How to Rock a 10% Down Payment!!!
Why go home to your grungy apartment when you can buy your first home instead? Oh, what's that? Haven't saved the full 20% down payment? Live in a part of the country where home prices and loan sizes easily outpace the capacity of conforming, FHA and even VA loans?
Let's learn how to rock the best of the 10% down jumbo mortgage options, some without PMI, and jam on why with a changing real estate market, you may be in luck with half the down payment you thought it might otherwise take.
Jeremy's spoken,
Rob Spinosa
SVP of Mortgage … (3 comments)
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pmi: What Kind of Insurance Do You Need When You Buy a House?
- 01/07/20 07:48 AM
What Kind of Insurance Do You Need When You Buy a House?
Let me start by saying that I'm not in the insurance business, but that the insurance business is in mine. And my business is helping home buyers and homeowners get a great mortgage. So just what are the insurance requirements when you buy a home or go to refinance a mortgage on residential real estate you own in California? Why does your lender care about the insurance coverage you keep?
Homeowner's Insurance
Also known as "hazard insurance," or "fire insurance," this is the key policy you will be required to carry if … (23 comments)
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pmi: OK Boomer, You Don't Need 20% Down
- 11/09/19 08:23 PM
OK Boomer, You Don't Need 20% Down
Bound to happen from time to time in the digital age, a saying goes viral --- in this case, "OK, boomer," --- which is meant to expose a close-minded or out-of-touch opinion, thought or mindset of one generation by another (I'll let you figure out the age demographics here). Hopefully, the topic of this blog will transcend generational differences and address the assumptions about the down payment one needs to make when purchasing a home, versus the reality of what we see every day with those who are actually buying homes. I think you'll be … (38 comments)
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pmi: What Happens When My Appraisal Comes in Low (or High!)?
- 10/02/19 07:03 AM
What Happens When My Appraisal Comes in Low (or High!)?
You’re in the process of buying a home, and so far things have been going pretty smoothly. Your lender has pre-approved you, your Realtor has found you the perfect home, and with a bit of luck, the seller accepted your offer and now you’re in contract. It’s very likely that early on in your loan process --- usually within the first few days of having your offer accepted --- your lender ordered an appraisal. From there, a licensed appraiser went out to the property and then turned in a completed appraisal report … (17 comments)
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pmi: What is APR on a Mortgage?
- 07/22/19 07:36 AM
What is APR on a Mortgage?
"Can you tell me what your APR is?"
"Sure. Can you tell me what APR is?"
"Uhhhh..."
So this really happened. Many times, in fact. This is your garden variety, otherwise-intelligent consumer trying to shop for a mortgage. This is someone earnestly trying to figure out the best deal on a home loan. And yet, most often, they have absolutely no idea what they are doing when it comes to the annual percentage rate, or APR, on a mortgage. But I don't blame them. The point of this blog is not to make anyone look or feel stupid. In fact, it's … (5 comments)
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pmi: What's a Piggyback Mortgage?
- 06/23/19 07:47 AM
What's a Piggyback Mortgage?
As if! As if mortgages weren't complex enough, now you're going to tell me there's such a thing as TWO mortgages stacked on top of each other --- just to buy the same home you could otherwise get with one mortgage? Are you a glutton for punishment?
OK, calm down. You're correct about the part that adding a second, or "piggyback," mortgage might add complexity, but you're not quite right about the fact that our buyer could have just as easily killed the proverbial financing bird with one stone/loan. Often, when we suggest borrower consider secondary financing, aka a piggyback loan, … (15 comments)
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pmi: Jumbo Mortgage with 5% Down Payment
- 06/17/19 07:36 AM
Jumbo Mortgage with 5% Down Payment
You never hear anyone say "Give it 95%!," do you? And, curiously, when it comes to getting a jumbo mortgage, that still holds true --- the vast majority of homebuyers still think it takes a 20% down payment to enter the market. As of 2019, there are 34 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in California that have a maximum conforming loan limit of $484,350. Another handful of counties can only get to a jumbo-conforming limit of around $550,000. So what do these homebuyers do if they have a maximum of a 5% down payment yet need to exceed … (1 comments)
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pmi: FHA FAQ
- 05/07/19 07:17 AM
FHA FAQ
Maybe you just got the news from your loan officer that you need an FHA loan in order to qualify for your home purchase. "Oh brother," you say, another acronym, additional lending jargon and still more ways to be confused about the whole mortgage process. Or not? What are the differences between an FHA loan and a "regular" or conventional mortgage? Let's take a look at some of the most frequently asked questions that swirl around FHA loans and cut right to the chase of what you need to know in order to determine if an FHA loan is a … (11 comments)
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pmi: How to Get Rid of PMI on Your Mortgage
- 12/09/18 08:24 PM
How to Get Rid of PMI on Your Mortgage
Nearly every home buyer initially hates the "P" word --- PMI, or private mortgage insurance. Years and years of conditioning have taught generations upon generations of first-time buyers that PMI is something to be avoided at all costs, and even though I daily go to great lengths to demonstrate this is patently untrue, even those that come to see the light about PMI and find themselves with a form of private mortgage insurance will soon arrive at their next concern: "When can I remove the PMI from my payment?"
Good Housekeeping
In the spirit of … (5 comments)
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pmi: For Those About to Buy a Home
- 11/06/18 07:07 AM
For Those About to Buy a Home
I started to get curious about Fannie Mae's HomeReady mortgage program when pricing out loan scenarios that could lean towards either conforming or FHA. I needed to get a sense of which would provide the better fit for the client. In so doing, this HomeReady program, about which I knew relatively little, kept splitting the difference. The age-old question loomed: Is the scenario a better fit for FHA with its lower interest rates, but higher and permanent mortgage insurance premiums, or is it a better match for conforming, with its higher rates but lower PMI … (6 comments)
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pmi: Poor Richard, the First Time Home Buyer
- 08/15/18 07:27 AM
Poor Richard, the First Time Home Buyer
If I've learned anything in the current political environment it's that you can't make people see things they choose not to look for. But what about the opposite? What happens when the truth is hard to find? Or, better still, what if the question at hand involves a bit of both? That is, what if people don't have the inclination to look for something that is a bit difficult to locate? With the help of one of our Founding Fathers, we're going to dispense some wisdom and address this dilemma in the context of a first time … (3 comments)
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pmi: VA Jumbo Mortgages in California
- 06/05/18 07:51 AM
VA Jumbo Mortgages in California
I marked this year's Memorial Day with a weekend full of kids' activities --- my son's t-ball season wrapped up and then there were about a half-dozen birthday parties that followed. Fairly typical, I am told, for parents these days. But quick on the heels of the three-day weekend, I realized the anniversary of D-Day was coming up and that just a couple of years ago I had the good fortune to visit the beaches of Normandy, France. The two occasions together got me thinking about our nation's veterans and how our industry helps them use one of … (0 comments)
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pmi: 10% Down Jumbo Mortgage with No PMI
- 05/27/18 08:28 PM
10% Down Jumbo Mortgage with No PMI
With the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee poised in June of 2018 to increase in the rates that impact home equity lines of credit ("HELOCs"), home buyers who have traditionally used "piggyback" or "80-10-10" solutions to purchase a home with less than a 20% down payment may have second thoughts. Not about buying the house, per se, but about a HELOC rate that could approach 7% --- with future adjustments possible as well. When Prime Rate was in the mid-3% range, most 80/10/10 loans had very palatable start rates but after a decade of seeing … (1 comments)
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pmi: Lions and Tigers and PMI, Oh My!
- 05/09/18 07:06 AM
Lions and Tigers and PMI, Oh My!
There are a number of things you should legitimately be afraid of in this life --- great white sharks, cigarette smoke, Scott Pruitt's EPA --- but private mortgage insurance (also known as "PMI") is not one of them. We're going to cover the basics here and I'm going to work to dispel a lot of the misconceptions about PMI. Most importantly, we're going to discuss why PMI on your next mortgage might be an entirely viable solution when you're seeking to purchase a home with less than a 20% down payment.
What is PMI?
Private mortgage insurance, … (9 comments)
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pmi: How High Can You Get with 10% Down?
- 03/06/18 08:56 PM
How High Can You Get with 10% Down?
First and foremost, let me declare emphatically that I would pass any drug test at any time. You show up at Casa Spinosa at 4am in the morning, drag me out into your unmarked van, make me tinkle in a cup and take a lock of my graying hair, and you're still not going to find a trace of anything illegal. Nothing. Nada. But I don't know why I have to defend myself when that's not even close to what this post is about...
No, instead, I want to tell you about our 10% down … (3 comments)
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pmi: 80 10 10 Loan in California
- 06/22/17 07:12 AM
80 10 10 Loan in California
It has been said that the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most photographed tourist attractions in the world. But before you get out your selfie stick and entertain visions of relocating to California, especially to the San Francisco Bay Area, know that the median home prices here in the middle of 201 tend to hover over one million dollars --- sometime by more than just a little.
It stands to reason that not all otherwise eligible buyers will have a full 20% down payment saved when they attempt to buy a home here in our … (2 comments)
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How a First Time Homebuyer Can Buy a Home with No Money Down
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