Yes, rates are low. And if you are paying over 6% on your mortgage, you should probably look into refinancing and saving some money. However, not everyone who could benefit from refinancing will be able to do so. Here are three reasons you may not be able to refinance–and what you can do about them. Continue reading ‘3 Reasons You May Not Be Able to Refinance Now–And What You Should Do’
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Loading ...If you have bad credit, just hope you don’t live in California, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, or Nevada. Major lenders are piling on the poor people who own homes in these states, requiring higher credit scores and charging more to lend in these designated “distressed” areas. On Monday, one of the largest American banks is joining in the beatdown of distressed states. Continue reading ‘Lenders Making the Crisis Worse?’
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5) Loading ...On October 1st, new rules for sub-prime mortgages and bad credit home loans finally took effect–only about fifteen years overdue, but better late than never, right? Continue reading ‘Sub-prime or Bad Credit Mortgages Have New Consumer Protection Rules’
(4 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5) Loading ...This may have happened to you–you shopped for your mortgage and found a good deal. You intelligently got an estimate of costs for your mortgage, but when you closed on your loan, the actual costs of your mortgage were MUCH higher. Of course you were angry, and you might have had to scramble to come up with extra money to buy or refinance your property. Well, the good news is that there will no longer be nasty surprises at closing. Starting January 1, 2010, if your actual costs aren’t very close to what the lender disclosed to you, you aren’t responsible for paying them–the LENDER HAS TO PAY THE EXTRA CHARGES. Continue reading ‘No Nasty Surprises at Closing: New Regulations for Good Faith Estimates’
(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Experts say that rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages have gotten as low as they will go and have begun rising. In fact, the spread between the 10-year treasury rate and the 30-year mortgage, which is typically 1.7% if you don’t pay any points, has increased to about 2%. But 15 year mortgage rates continue to drop–Today, 15-year mortgage rates are running about 1.3% above treasuries, close to .7 percent lower than 30-year fixed rates! Why is this happening? Continue reading ‘Why 15 Year Mortgage Rates Are so Much Lower’
(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5) Loading ...With all the fanfare surrounding the Making Home Affordable program, it’s easy to forget that one of the largest causes of foreclosure remains unaddressed–most lenders refuse to modify or refinance home loans for the unemployed, even when simply refinancing to today’s lower rates would make the loan safer. Generally, there are guidelines that require the borrower to have sufficient income to refinance or make a modified payment before being granted a loan modification. So if you lose your job you are probably out of luck–in six months when you get a new one, you may have already lost your home to foreclosure. Well, Congress is trying to help you now. Continue reading ‘Joining the Party: Mortgage Loans for the Unemployed’
(7 votes, average: 4.86 out of 5) Loading ...No, that’s not a misprint. It’s a HUD program called Good Neighbor Next Door and it’s designed to get valuable public servants into homes in their communities. If you buy a house under this program, you must commit to living in it for at least three years. Continue reading ‘Teachers, Firefighters, Police, and EMTs Can Get 50% Off Their Home Prices’
(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...On January 1, 2010, would-be borrowers will get a rude awakening from FHA. The agency’s streamline refinance will no longer be the easy transaction it is today. Today, the biggest advantage of FHA streamline refinances is that they don’t require an appraisal or credit qualifying. So even if your home’s value has tanked and you have bad credit, you have been able to refinance easily into a better FHA loan. That opportunity is about to go away. Continue reading ‘FHA Toughening Guidelines in January: Better Refinance Now’
(5 votes, average: 4.8 out of 5) Loading ...Okay, you know you’re in trouble–too much personal debt and a mortgage you can’t handle. But there’s a tightrope you need to walk in order to score a mortgage modification. You have to have enough income to qualify for a modification–that is, you need to prove that you can successfully make the new payment–but you need to show that you can afford ALL your payments. And if you got too silly with your credit card debt it could cost you your modification approval. Continue reading ‘Credit Card Debt Help: Get it Before You Try for a Mortgage Modification’
(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5) Loading ...If rates have dropped since you received your original FHA mortgage and you can lower your monthly payment with a new loan, well guess what? You can do it with a streamline loan. The best part is that even if your home is worth half of its old value, as long as the new loan balance don’t exceed the lesser of old loan balance or your current balance, an appraisal won’t be required. Even investment properties qualify under some circumstances. Per HUD, Continue reading ‘Home Underwater? Credit in the Toilet? You May Still Refinance an FHA Mortgage’
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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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