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Most people know that low FICO scores influence the mortgage rates for which they're eligible. For the past 3 years, though, they've raised closing costs, too.
The loan-level pricing adjustment (LLPA) system contains more than a dozen "risk characteristics". Here's how they work, complete with an online LLPA calculator.
The FHA insures 25% of the mortgage purchase market these days, up from 5 percent in 2006. Is it because FHA mortgages are cheaper than conforming ones?
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".
Loan-level pricing adjustments are government-mandated closing costs. And they're rising April 1, 2011. See how LLPAs work and run your loan scenario against this online calculator. Maybe *your* loan will trigger new fees, too.
The Holiday Shopping Season is upon us and shoppers should think twice about the popular "Open A Charge Card, Save 20%" promotion. The short-term savings may be tempting, but the long-term costs to a budget may be huge.
For the second time in 10 weeks, Fannie Mae is toughening its mortgage guidelines again. Again. According to an internal Fannie Mae document, a review of the group's current "risk appetite, eligibility requirements, mortgage insurance options, and pricing" spawned changes spanning credit scoring, income requirements, loan-level pricing adjustments.
The Federal Reserve does not set mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are based on the raw price of mortgage-backed securities plus applicable loan-level pricing adjustments. Or, with respect to jumbo mortgages, rates get set by individual banks. The Fed does, however, influence rates.
In April, the number of MLS-listed homes that went under contract rose by an astounding 7 percent. It's the biggest one month jump in Pending Home Sales since October 2001, not coincidentally, the second-to-last month of the Early 2000s Recession.
Each quarter, in a survey of its member banks, the Federal Reserve asks senior loan officers whether their respective prime residential mortgage guidelines have tightened over the 3 months prior. May's survey showed that half of all banks had tightened.
The FHA is discontinuing its 95% cash-out refinance program effective April 1, 2009. For all case assigmements made on or after April 1, 2009, cash-out refinances are limited to 85%. "Case assignment" is FHA-speak for "registered loans".
According to RealtyTrac.com, California, Florida and Arizona -- home to just 19.99 percent of the country's populace -- accounted for half of the nation's foreclosure actions in February 2009.
If you're shopping for a conforming mortgage right now, let me be crystal clear -- there's a near 100% probability that your mortgage rate and/or closing costs will be higher come this Monday. Fannie Mae's new fee structure is about to work its way through the system.
