This week’s calendar is looking a little light as far as economic indicators that are scheduled to be released. Mortgage rates have been improving following Ben Bernanke’s dovish comments to Congress last week.
The Northwest Real Estate Summit and Mortgage Expo
July 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
I’m honored to have been invited to participate on the panel at the Northwest Real Estate Summit and Mortgage Expo. This event is scheduled to take place September 13, 2013 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. To rsvp or for more information, visit www.mywamp.org.
Eight Down Payment Assistance Programs for Washington Home Buyers
July 18, 2013 by 12 Comments
Did you know that the Washington State Housing Finance Commission offers 8 different down payment assistance programs for Washington state home buyers? It’s true! And some of them do not require you to be a first time home buyer. The WSHFC down payment assistance programs listed below can be used with a Home Advantage first mortgage:
Mortgage Interest Rate Locks 101: UPDATED
July 18, 2013 by 2 Comments
EDITORS NOTE: One of the joys of writing a mortgage blog is that guidelines and procedures change…and change often. This gives me a great opportunity to provide you with an updated post. With HUD’s creation of the 2010 Good Faith Estimate, a lot of the information in the original post is no longer relevant (relating to the GFE) from the original article I wrote on locking back in 2007. With that said, here’s my updated post…we’ll see if we need to revise this again once CFPB issues their version of the Good Faith Estimate!
I love it when I’m asked an excellent question from a potential client. This person is still shopping for his next home and who the lender will be to provide financing. At this point, I have provided several good faith estimates and a total costs analysis to compare possible scenarios side by side along with how the mortgages may be working for him in 5 and 10 years.
What May Impact Mortgage Rates this Week: July 15, 2013 [with mortgage rates]
July 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
This week, mortgage rates continue to be bumpy and with Ben Bernanke speaking tomorrow on Capital Hill, we may additional volatility. Here are some of the scheduled economic indicators to be released this week:
I Want to Buy a House
July 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Do you or someone you know want to buy a house?
Could you use some help with down payment?
How to prepare for a Home Buyer Education Class
July 11, 2013 by 3 Comments
I’m putting the final touches on the home buyers education seminar, sponsored by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, that I will be teaching this weekend. The criteria for the class is set by WSHFC and it’s a lot of information to review from different types of mortgages, qualifying and even how to select a real estate agent or lender. I thought I’d share a few tips for how someone may want to prepare for a home buyer’s class, like the one I’ll be teaching in Seattle.
FOMC Minutes to be released today
July 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In a few hours, we’ll be able to parse through the minutes from the last Fed meeting on June 19th, which launched mortgage rates (although still low) to the highest they’ve been in two years. Ben Bernanke is scheduled to hold a press conference this afternoon following the release of the minutes.
As I’m writing this post (8:40 am on July 10, 2013) the DOW is down about 19 bps at 15,281 and I’m quoting: 4.625% (apr 4.739%) priced with 0.471 points based on credit scores of 740 or higher with a sales price of $500,000 and 20% down payment for a purchase in greater Seattle closing by August 16, 2013. This is an improvement of about a half point in fee from what I quoted on Monday.
Stay tuned…we’ll see if and how the Fed’s minutes impact rates today.
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