Ride the mortgage rate roller coaster. Literally.

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.

It doesn't take an elephant's memory to remember that Prime Rate was 8 percent-plus just 2 years ago. A few years before that, Prime Rate neared 10 percent. These are the facts that the banks aren't selling. Instead, banks and credit unions are dangling low "start rates" as bait and looking for homeowners to bite.

Mortgage approvals are getting more difficult. Again. After reviewing recent unemployment data and market fluctuations, plus patterns of mortgage fraud, Fannie Mae is making major mortgage guideline changes for the first time in more than 6 months. The changes are broad, impacting 15 separate areas of the mortgage approval process. The most impactful change may be Fannie Mae's new restrictions on mortgages for 2-unit properties.

The settlement statement Prepaid Items section confuses people. A "prepaid item" is exactly what its name implies -- a payment related to the mortgage, collected before the payment's actual due date.

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".

When foreign national buyers consider investing in U.S. real estate, they often focus on projects set to deliver 2-4 years out as opposed to projects that are ready to deliver today. Considering the path of the world's economy , this long-term investment strategy may be a bit short-sighted. For non-U.S....

Four times annually, the Federal Reserve surveys 84 banks around the country about general lending standards and banking conditions. One of the survey questions asks about current mortgage lending standards and whether it's getting harder, or easier, to get approved for a home loan. Modified from the report, we see...

As the dollar slides against the world's currencies, foreign national buyers are flocking to U.S. housing market for second homes and investment properties. Looking at the graph, it's not hard to see why. Since September 2007, a European's cost to buy a $300,000 property in the United States has fallen...

During the first few years with an amortizing home loan (i.e. principal + interest), homeowners often feel like their entire monthly payment is going towards interest. Well, not all of it goes towards interest, the graph tells us. Just most of it. If you're in the early years of mortgage,...

When mortgage rates fell in early-January, it breathed life into a huge swath of loan officers that were getting ready to leave the business. It's a terrible turn of events for homeowners and homebuyers. With everyone focused on rate, rate, rate, the lowest-of-the-low loan officers are in their natural habitat....

When buyers and sellers look for common negotiating grounds, it's common for the buyer to request home improvements to be made prior to the sale. The request may be phrased in any number of ways: "The hardwood floors are warped and we think the seller should pay for it." "There...

A favorite mortgage myth of mine is some variation of: You can't buy a home without a 20 percent downpayment. Let's address why this is false, using history as a guide. It all started 50 years ago when real estate information didn't move as freely as it does today. There...

MSN Money recently ran an article stating that interest only loans are bad choices for most borrowers. The headline ran as "Interest-only loans: not magic, usually not smart". Then, the next line: The last interest-only mortgage craze ended with a wave of foreclosures in the Great Depression. Today's interest-only ARMs...