The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on February 27 that mortgage insurance premiums on FHA loans are set to rise starting April 1, increasing the cost of these mortgages to all new purchase and refinance borrowers.
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To help make appraisals more consistent and accurate, and prevent discretionary situations in the future, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD). The UAD will (1) define what fields [...]
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Know what you can afford.
Review your monthly spending plan to estimate what you can afford to pay for a home, including the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and monthly maintenance and utilities. Make sure you save for emergencies. Plan ahead [...]
10 Questions to Ask a Home Inspector
1. What does your inspection cover?
The inspector should ensure that their inspection and inspection report will meet all applicable requirements in your state if applicable and will comply with a well-recognized standard [...]
Continue Reading... →Trypically, every Thursday, Freddie Mac releases their weekly survey stating the national average of mortgage rates with their Primary Mortgage Market Survey (“PMMS”) press release.
Most of the news media forget to mention 3 important points:
First, that the average [...]
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An explanation of the “3-day Hold Period” on Refinance mortgages
On refinance mortgages, different than purchase transactions, there is a 3 day “hold” period known as “Right of Rescission”. This is not a new legislation, but rather was introduced many years ago when “home improvement” loans were rampant, [...]
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Part of the published series entitled: “A Closer Look at Residential Real Estate Appraisals” by Shmuel Shayowitz
Residential Real Estate Appraisals in the current housing environment
Another common appraisal issue is where a borrower comes with their own appraisal [...]
Continue Reading... →Part of the published series entitled: “A Closer Look at Residential Real Estate Appraisals” by Shmuel Shayowitz
Appraisals for Home Buyers
In reality a home is worth what a typical buyer is willing to pay for it assuming it is an arms-length transaction. [...]
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Borrowers face new set of credit checkups
Initiative targets last-minute changes in finances
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae rolled out its Loan Quality Initiative (LQI) June 1, thereby forcing homebuyers to obtain mortgages based on “refreshed” credit reports [...]
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Rules for Dropping Mortgage Insurance
What do the PMI termination rules really mean to the average person?
Dropping Conventional Mortgage Insurance Rules
Automatic Termination
Fixed Rate & Adjustable – Removed when reduced [...]
Update: The Home Buyer Tax Credit Has NOT Been Extended… as of yet
The June 30 closing deadline has not been extended…but it was accepted as an amendment to the Tax Extenders [...]
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The new 2010 Good Faith Estimate. This brief video does a great job highlighting the issues and frustrations new borrowers are seeing with the new “GFE”.
Continue Reading... →My clients do the packing, but I do all the heavy lifting!
Continue Reading... →What to look for in a Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC)
By: Shmuel Shayowitz, President, Approved Funding
Here is a quick list so that you can better “shop” and compare different Home Equity offers.
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Continue Reading... →Mortgages take priority by the order in which they are recorded in the county records. This priority is basically the order in which they would be repaid in case of a problem – ie: in the case of a foreclosure, collection, judgments, etc.
When you refinance and [...]
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It has yet to be determined if in fact banks are lending, and for those that are, is it truly “business as usual”?? One thing is for certain, and that is rates are dropping fast and potential mortgage applicants are flooding the phone lines searching for the best loan in history.
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Many sellers think that the price of their home is determined solely by what they are willing to accept and what the buyer is willing to pay. However, there is one more variable that can affect the market value of a home assuming that a bank loan is involved [...]
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New Home Affordable Refinance Program Lending Guidelines 
Wells Fargo (Wachovia) to pay out $67 million in NJ Settlement 
First-Time Homebuyer Education 
Bank of America Suspends New Cash-out Refinance Applications 
White House Cuts FHA Streamlined Refinancing Fees 
CME increases margin requirements on US Treasury futures - How to Calculate Total Monthly Mortgage Payments
