Foreclosure: Kiss Your Next Mortgage Good-bye
Lenders consider bankruptcy a serious credit issue, but not as bad as home foreclosure. Just being late with mortgage payments is counted heavily against you, worse than having a collection account. Those who skip their mortgage payment to pay other bills are doing their credit serious harm. Continue reading ‘Why Bankruptcy Is Better than Foreclosure’
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Loading ...The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development agency is reducing its interest rates on direct home loans to 4.375 percent. The change is effective on February 1st.
USDA Rural Development is committed to increasing home ownership in rural areas and is reducing the interest rate on home loans. Click here for more information about how you can qualify for this ZERO-DOWN program. Continue reading ‘A 4.375% Mortgage Rate? With NO Down Payment?! You Bet!’
(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Before everyone reading this just says, “of course you need a job to get a mortgage, duh,” give me a couple of seconds. You need income to get a mortgage loan. It has to be verifiable. It needs to be reliable (expected to continue for at least three years). And it has to be sufficient. What it does NOT have to be is from a job. Continue reading ‘Can I Get a Mortgage with No Job?’
(7 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Okay, it’s time to join the kids and play “good news, bad news.” The good news is that you got a phone call from your great uncle’s attorney. You have an inheritance!
The bad news is that it’s a condo. In Florida. And he bought it in 2006. And it’s mortgaged to the hilt. Oh, yeah, with a sub-prime loan. Continue reading ‘Good News, Bad News: Inherited Property with Mortgage Baggage’
(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...A recent study by the Center for Responsible Lending found that taking a loan with a prepayment penalty can be hazardous to your fiscal health. In fact, subprime borrowers with prepayment penalties were up to 20% more likely to end up in foreclosure than those who didn’t opt for one. Continue reading ‘Think Carefully About Prepayment Penalties’
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5) Loading ...In the last decade, mortgage lenders increasingly relied on credit scoring by the three biggest reporting agencies–Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union–to determine who they would loan to. This policy made underwriting cheaper and faster. And software like Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter and Freddie Mac’s Loan Prospector pulled these scores from the bureaus, combined them with information about applicants’ income and assets, and spat out approvals or declinations in minutes. Underwriting no longer involved extensive research, such as verifying your check-writing history with your bank and your job performance with your boss.
Well, the recent rash of foreclosures has demonstrated to lenders that credit scoring isn’t the wonderful, money-saving, predictive process they thought it was. Continue reading ‘Lenders Looking at More than Just Your Credit Score’
(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...If you have never heard of the Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) programs, you’re not alone. Most loan officers haven’t either. Yet this deal has been made available to qualifying home buyers since the Tax Reform Act of 1984! Not only does this program put money in your pocket for the entire life of your loan, it makes qualifying for your home purchase easier. Here’s how. Continue reading ‘Mortgage Credit Certificate Programs: Free Money for First Time Home Buyers’
(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...2008 began with conforming rates at near 6% levels, prompting mortgage columnists to extol “nearly historical lows” and urge borrowers to fix their rates “now.” Continue reading ‘2008 and Mortgage Rates and Predictions–The Year of Living Dangerously’
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Gina Pogol writes for an online media company about mortgage and finance. In addition to a decade in mortgage lending, she formerly consulted for Experian and other credit bureaus, and worked as a tax accountant for Deloitte. She has a BS in Financial Management from the University of Nevada.
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