I know I sometimes harp on those good old days before the Great Recession came and crushed the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans, but when I read this news story in the Boston Herald, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Apparently, the difficult loan qualifications of years past are over and those of you… Continue Reading
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — buying a house isn’t easy, there’s a lot to know and you simply cannot go into it without some education. One of the more important forms in your buying process comes when you make loan application. At that time, you’ll get something called a Truth… Continue Reading
Once upon a time, there was a young couple who saved and saved for their first home. They struggled through years of horrible apartments and barely rolling cars in order to put together a fund to cover their five percent down payment and closing costs, plus a little extra for repairs (just in case). Unfortunately,… Continue Reading
When you finally decided it was time to buy a home of your own, you probably had visions of flower-filled window boxes, freshly mown grass, custom painted rooms and neat little touches that made it truly your own. You probably didn’t give a thought to things like interest rates and mortgage insurance premiums, but today’s… Continue Reading
You’ve endured weeks of house hunting, looking for just the right home in the right neighborhood for the right price, you went through the agony of anticipation with your home inspection and appraisal and you’re finally there — it’s time for closing. You can finally relax now, since all the hard work is done, right?… Continue Reading
There are four really important times of the year for everybody who is anybody in the financial, mortgage or related industries — they happen around the middle of April, July, October and January. These are the times when we get all sorts of quarterly reports in, and those numbers can tell us a lot about… Continue Reading
You’ve had your eye on a home of your own for months, or even years, but it never seems like the timing is right to buy. Rates are dropping, rates are rising, prices are a confusion — it’s hard to know when it’s the right time to finally take the plunge. Maybe you’re thinking about… Continue Reading
In 2013, we finally saw hard evidence that the real estate market is ready for some positive changes: home values have increased, bringing many underwater mortgages to value or better, foreclosures have slowed and everybody is generally in a pretty good mood. If you’ve been putting off buying a home, 2014 is your year. There… Continue Reading
2013 saw a lot of changes to the U.S. mortgage industry, from Fannie Mae’s elimination of 97 percent loans and the appointment of a new head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to nation-wide changes to provide more leniency through FHA programs for troubled borrowers. The Ability-to-Repay Rule and Qualified Mortgage Rule made headlines and… Continue Reading
Mortgage news of the early bust years was filled with drama, doom and gloom, but at last, in 2013, the news is getting better. Delinquencies are down, rates are up and guidelines are getting tighter again as lenders and government agencies struggle to find a balance between customer safety and profitability. There was a lot… Continue Reading