As we close out the third quarter of 2022, mortgage rates have hit a 20-year high. The 30-year rate on fixed-rate mortgages sits at just over 7% now. If you need to buy a home or refinance your current mortgage, what can you do to save on your mortgage right now? Let’s explore some money-saving… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate in the United States again today in an attempt to quell rising inflation. While the Fed does not have direct control over mortgage rates, they often rise when the federal funds rate also heads north. As of the time of this writing, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate… Continue Reading
If you have been shopping for a loan in June 2022, you may have noticed rates have risen. In fact, the average 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans has just about doubled since the lows of January 2021. According to this chart from FHLMC, the 2nd largest purchaser of agency mortgages, rates went from 2.74% … Continue Reading
Let’s say you’re buying a house and you have calculated your front ratio or the comparison of your proposed housing debt to your usable income. You know your lender allows a 43% total DTI ratio, and your front ratio is an enviable 36%. But your loan officer informs you that your total or “back” DTI… Continue Reading
If you’re in the market to buy a home, or are considering refinance options for a home you already own, you’re likely to be presented with a range of mortgage products to choose from. Making an informed decision between a fixed rate mortgage and an adjustable rate mortgage comes down to your future plans for… Continue Reading
As you go about your mortgage shopping, checking out deals and offers here and there, you may notice a peculiarity of the people you deal with. Some of them are bankers, others are brokers. Maybe they’ve even got some other invented title, but they do seem to offer some very different kinds of products. If… 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
Even though the housing market seems to be rebounding, we are still living in uncertain times and people are increasingly conscious of how much money they’re spending on necessities. If you’re like most people, you’ve managed to slim your grocery budget, reduced your heating costs and eliminated those subscriptions you barely use so you can… 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
Mortgage points is a unique American approach to home financing. A mortgage point is an amount equivalent to 1% of the mortgage loan amount. For example, if you take a loan of $300,000, one point would be $3000. There are two kinds of mortgage points: Origination points and Discount points. Origination Points Origination fee is… Continue Reading