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Mortgage rates are low because of 4 forces, each in place since 2009. Today, those forces fade into history. When they're gone, so will low mortgage rates. Read why mortgage rates are positioned to rise, and rise sharply.
These days, different lenders apply different underwriting standards. A home loan that's denied by one bank may be approved by another. Here's how to re-apply.
The Payroll Tax Extension raises mortgage costs. For conforming mortgages, it's +1/8% to rate. For FHA, PMI premiums are rising. Beat the "loan tax". Lock your rate ASAP.
On Nov 15, the government will release the details of its new HARP refinance program. By Dec. 1, lenders will be accepting applications. Early applicants are expected to get the lowest mortgage rates.
The original HARP program was expected to help 9 million U.S. households. Fewer than 900,000 executed. It's why the revamped HARP II incorporates major changes, including unlimited LTVs.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the numbers on a Good Faith Estimate. In fact, some lenders count on it. Here's how to beat the banks at their own game.
You can't tell your mortgage underwriter to "hurry up," but you can follow a few simple steps to ensure your loan closes faster.
As an active loan officer, let me be the first to say, it's not as hard or difficult to be approved for a mortgage as you may have heard.
Knowing how to separate "prepaid items" from "closing costs" can help you shop for lower mortgage rates. And who doesn't want to shop for lower mortgage rates?
Since the financial crisis of 2008, the average weekly 30-year fixed rate mortgage and the 10-year Treasury note moved in the same direction by the same amount once. Once.
After you've paid cash for a home, you *can* get your cash back. It's called the Delayed Financing Rule and it's new from Fannie Mae.
There are just some things you should never do while your home loan is "in-process." Here are the five most-common mistakes.
You can't control mortgage rates, but you can control your closing costs. Make the most of this Refi Boom -- go zero-cost refi. Here's how.
A lot of ARMs from 5 and 7 years ago are adjusting lower these days -- not higher. It's because ARM resets are math-based and the math is more favorable for borrowers than at any time in history.
Independent banks have stopped tightening the mortgage money spigot. The shift is good news for home buyers and anyone else who's watched underwriting standards get tough since last decade.
Temporary conforming loan limits in high-cost areas are expiring. After September 30, 2011, places like Loudoun County, Virginia; Potomac, Maryland; and Marin County, California will face new, lower conforming loan limit sizes.
Today's blog content is posted at Keith Gumbinger's HSH.com. HSH is a regular gig for me; an opportunity to write for a second, mortgage-hungry audience. This week's article is titled "Your mortgage rate is treated like auto insurance".
Today's blog content is posted at Keith Gumbinger's HSH.com. HSH is a regular gig for me; an opportunity to write for a second, mortgage-hungry audience. This week's article is titled "Mortgage rates matter more than home prices"
Today's blog content is posted at Keith Gumbinger's HSH.com. HSH is a regular gig for me; an opportunity to write for a second, mortgage-hungry audience. This week's article is titled "Why the Fed has little control over mortgage rates".
When people visit national mortgage sites for "rates", what they're looking is for something akin to a MSRP for Mortgages; a way to keep their lender honest about rate quotes and such. Sadly, markets don't work that way. You can't visit a national website for a single mortgage rate any more than that you could watch a national forecast for a single weather report.
