No Cost Loans
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
In today's ever changing environment, noone seems to be talking much about the "No Cost" loan options available to us. With interest rates as low as they are AND property values declining, this is the perfect time to have loans with no costs as to not increase the balance any higher than necessary.....

Government Intervention Needs to Cease
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
It is time to start dialing down the role of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration while allowing market forces to work in the housing and mortgage industries to heal the economy from the subprime mortgage crisis.All of the government's initiatives to keep mortgages out of...

11 Percent of American Homes are Vacant
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Homeownership is falling at an alarming pace, despite the fact that home prices have fallen. Affordability is very at the best it has been in almost 13 years and inventories of new and existing homes are still running quite high. There are definitely great deals to be had for the buyer that is willing to commit.. The...

New Legislation to Reduce Refinance Barriers
Updated Oct. 24, 2014
The Helping Responsible Homeowners Act of 2011 has been introduced. It would remove barriers that are preventing non-delinquent borrowers from refinancing their mortgages and taking advantage of historically low interest rates. The legislation aims to help borrowers who continue to make their mortgage...

Divorcees May Benefit From Looser Waiting Period Guidelines
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
DIVORCEES MAY BE GRANTED AN EXCEPTION IF EX DEFAULTS ON HOME LOAN. The information is located at 4155.1 4.C.2.f at http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/handbooks/hsgh/4155.1/41551HSGH.pdf on page 168. "The lender may grant an exception to the three-year requirement if the foreclosure was the result of...

FHA's HECM Saver Loan
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Only a few months after the release of the HECM Saver in October 2010, the new product is gaining traction with some lenders, while others are just starting to turn their attention to the low cost reverse mortgage product.Different than the Federal Housing Administration's HECM Standard, the Saver...

FHA Streamline Refinance
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
FHA streamline refi's were put into place to assist homeowners that have a FHA mortgage and would like to take advantage of obtaining a lower rate and payment. There are only a few benefits left to this streamlined process. There is still the option of not having to have an appraisal and using the appraised...

Online Mortgage Shopping Lacks Good Information to Consumers
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
"CONSUMERS who have practically made a national sport out of hunting down the best price for everything from lipstick to laptops online, often fail to comparison-shop for mortgages, finding the Web sites unhelpful or difficult to navigate.". Some of the nation's leading mortgage sites have responded by...

Equity Accelerator Programs
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Lately we have seen the emergence of the Home Ownership Accelerator programs again. They are touting that you can drastically reduce the amount of time it takes you to pay off your loan with the same budget you have today. What they are not telling you is that this program only works if the homeowner is responsible...

Survey Finds 78 Percent of Homeowners Feel Home Purchase is Their Top Investment
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Trulia.com has released the results of its biannual American Dream Survey, which has tracked American attitudes towards homeownership since 2009. Harris Interactive conducted this online survey on Trulia's behalf in January 2011 among 2,079 U.S. adults aged 18 and over. Although foreclosures and...

Option ARMs in Jeopardy of Bringing Down the Housing Market? Not Necessarily
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
This was the year thousands of U.S. homeowners with option adjustable-rate mortgages were supposed to default as their payments spiked. Low interest rates and a surge of early delinquencies mean the numbers probably won't be as bad as forecast, softening the blow to a housing market where prices have...

FHA Refi Short Program in Jeopardy?
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
At least 20 lenders are participating in FHA's principal reduction program to refinance underwater borrowers with two major lender/servicers launching pilot programs of their own, according to Federal Housing Commissioner David Stevens.. The FHA chief told a congressional panel that Wells Fargo and...

FHA Makes Homeowners Pay After Loan is Paid Off!
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Could the federal government's booming FHA mortgage program be forcing homeowners to pay tens of millions of dollars of extra interest charges when they sell their houses or refinance loans?Critics say yes. The government says the critics aren't providing the full picture.Those critics include...

Is the Mortgage Tax Deduction Going Away?
Updated Oct. 24, 2014
With proposals from both President Obama and Republican leaders to broaden the tax base, it seems likely that some cherished income tax deductions may be reduced or even eliminated, and one leading candidate for the chopping block is the deduction for mortgage interest.Though many economists argue the...

Is Increased FHA Insurance Making Conventional Loans Attractive Again?
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
WASHINGTON -- Is the Federal Housing Administration losing some of its post-boom, post-bust oomph? Is the Obama administration's plan to gradually throttle back FHA's home mortgage insurance volume already having effects -- and if so, what might this mean to you as a buyer? There are definitely...

Road to Housing Recovered Not Well-Paved
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Like an increasing number of well-heeled Americans, the Hodgsons decided it was time to buy a new home, even if most of the U.S. housing market remains in the dumps.After years in an apartment building, "we were just tired of sharing space with other people," says Cari Hodgson, 32. "It was time to have space of our own...

Rent or Buy?
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies released a survey showing one in four renters, low and middle income, are spending more than half their income on rent and utilities. That's about 10 million households. As rental demand surges, and supply dwindles, rents are going up, and wages are not...

Fed to Kep Rates Low for a While
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
The Federal Reserve has boosted its outlook for U.S. economic growth this year and is slightly more optimistic about the unemployment rate, reflecting improvements in recent months.. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at a news conference Wednesday...

It's Happening All Over the World...
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
It's happening -- all over the U.S. and Europe! . Just this past Friday, Washington's jobless report was a shocker, driving Wall Street into a sudden tailspin. And just yesterday ...* The government of French president Nicolas Sarkozy -- a central pivot of the entire euro zone -- was washed away in a rising...