Mortgages

Wrapup of 2010 mortgage world

Mortgages

How to describe last year’s story? With one word.  Regulatory!! Consumers?  The Feds wish them oh so well! Yes- good intentions pave the road to hell. To punish the villains of our industry, They devised a plan of transparency. Brilliant idea!  HVCC, And a “comprehensible” GFE! That form is now so simplified, That everyone is [...]

2 January 2011 Read the full article →

Jumbo mortgages

In The News

A jumbo mortgage is a home loan that’s too big (in dollars) to be sold to government backed agencies (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac). The upper dollar limit for jumbos varies geographically but the general rule of thumb is a loan larger than $417,000 is a jumbo. It seems to me that people who have money [...]

17 November 2010 Read the full article →

FHA tightens credit score minimums

Mortgages

By and large, FHA borrowers must now have a minimum FICO credit score of 640.  There are exceptions, especially for borrowers already in escrow with an executed contract and a scheduled closing date… But the credit tightening that’s hampered the rest of the mortgage industry has now hit the FHA loan program too. source: Andrew [...]

16 November 2010 Read the full article →

Wells Fargo allows 1 shortsale extension

Mortgages

Wells Fargo is no longer granting more than one extension for homeowners to complete a short sale. “We do allow for one foreclosure postponement provided we have a short sale in hand that has been approved, the buyer has proof of funds of financing approved, and the short sale can close within 30 days of [...]

5 October 2010 Read the full article →

Robo-signing

Glossary Posts

(image credit, StockExchange user macaruba) We’ve all learned a new word recently: robo-signing. The Big 5 Banks* are holding off on foreclosure proceedings in lots of US states because the employees in charge of signing off on the foreclosure documents have admitted to robo-signing up to 8,000 documents per month without reading each. Robo-signing and [...]

2 October 2010 Read the full article →

Fannie and Freddie caused housing crash?

In The News

Did Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cause the housing debacle? Before we get to the answer, let’s all get on the same page about what Fannie, Freddie and FHA actually are. Neither Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA is a bank, they don’t lend money.  FHA insures loans and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are [...]

30 September 2010 Read the full article →

FHA loan costs going up Oct 4, 2010

Mortgages

(image credit, StockExchange user svilen001) There are  changes coming to the FHA’s upfront and annual mortgage insurance premiums which are effective on all case numbers obtained October 4, 2010 and later. The costs of the upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFPMI) and the annual mortgage insurance premium (PMI) are going up.  In plain English, it’ll be [...]

28 September 2010 Read the full article →

FHA Short Refinance program

In The News

The FHA has announced a new program in the ongoing battle to fix the foreclosure crisis.  See details on the FHA website for this FHA Short Finance program for underwater homes. The main points of the new program – Existing loan to be refinanced is not FHA insured; Must owe more on their mortgage than [...]

14 September 2010 Read the full article →

Lease Purchase, Rent to Own

Buyer Help

Rent to own and lease-purchase agreements are cropping up in the Greater Phoenix real estate world these days. They’re a natural result of the continuing tight credit market. Lease-purchase and rent to own are essentially the same things.  A lease with a purchase option is almost the same, just with more complicated legalese thrown in [...]

11 September 2010 Read the full article →

HOA tries to collect fees after man loses home

Foreclosures

The Arizona Republic ran a hot-button story today with a zinger of a headline: HOA still seeking fees despite man losing Chandler home. A former Chandler resident is learning the hard way that you can’t walk away from homeowners’ association assessments even if you’ve lost your home. In my opinion the paper does a lousy [...]

23 April 2010 Read the full article →

Owner Will Carry – a “sign” of the times

Mortgages

Saw this today while out & about.   A sign sellers are pulling out all the stops to get their best offer? A sign lenders’ underwriting guidelines have become too restrictive? Probably a bit of both… Your hoping the sellers have a good understanding of the risks involved Realtor, Chris Butterworth Chris Butterworth is: Realtor. [...]

22 April 2010 Read the full article →