The entire real estate industry is inundated from the historically low mortgage rates that have caused a refi boom during a pandemic, no less! When you buy or refinance a home, documents are recorded in that specific county to give “public notice” of the transaction. Once your transaction is “recorded” it is typically considered “closed”. [Read more…]
Appraisal Waivers on Conforming Mortgages
September 25, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Some conforming mortgages for refinances or home purchases may not require an appraisal. It all boils down to what the response is from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac’s automated underwriting systems on whether or not an appraisal is required. You may have perfect credit and tons of equity in your home, yet no appraisal waiver if Fannie or Freddie’s underwriting systems determine it’s not eligible.
Your next conforming mortgage might be eligible to not have an appraisal if it meets the following criteria: [Read more…]
Mortgage Rates Still at Extreme Lows
September 18, 2020 by 2 Comments
Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates show that interest rates are still at extremely low levels although I have noticed rates bouncing around a bit more this past week.
FHFA delays Refi Tax until December 1, 2020
August 25, 2020 by Leave a Comment
The Federal Housing Finance Agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (conventional lenders), has announced they are delaying the “adverse market fee” until December 1, 2020.
There was significant balking across the mortgage industry when the FHFA announced the fee back on the evening of August 12th which effectively went into effect immediately on new refi’s (since it’s based on when loans are delivered to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac). This was essentially a 0.5% tax on mortgage lenders existing pipelines – some loans in the pipeline were not able to have the 0.5% hit factored into the pricing of the interest rate. [Read more…]
Extremely Low Mortgage Rates trending higher
August 20, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Freddie Mac released their PMMS (Prime Mortgage Market Survey) this morning stating “Mortgage Rates Inch Up“. Even if mortgage rates have bounced slightly higher, they are still ridiculously low. PLEASE REMEMBER: the PMMS data shown in the picture is old news! This is from an average of rates from last week. If you would like current rates for your scenario on your home located in Washington, click here.
Federal Housing Finance Agency issues half-point fee on conventional refinances
August 12, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (regulated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency) announced they are adding an “Adverse Market Refinance Fee” of 50 basis points that is effective on refinance mortgages delivered to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac starting September 1, 2020. This is a huge hit to mortgage lenders across the country. [Read more…]
Surprise! It’s a strong Jobs Report
June 5, 2020 by Leave a Comment
May’s Jobs Report came in much better than expected this morning with 2.51 million jobs ADDED vs the anticipated the 8.5 million jobs lost. Personally, this sounds too good to be true to me and I’m thinking that we’ll see corrections in the months to come…of course, I hope I’m wrong and that an economic (and health) recovery is here. [Read more…]
Forbearance Guidelines Updated for Conventional Financing
May 23, 2020 by Leave a Comment
This week Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac updated guidelines for how soon home owners can obtain a new mortgage if they have entered into a forbearance agreement with their current lender. Most of the focus with this program is that it’s not suppose to impact their credit score. Although the credit score may not be impacted, the credit report reflects that payments were not made on the mortgage. It seems that many home owners are not aware that taking advantage of not having to make mortgage payments will impact their ability to get a new mortgage for refinancing or buying a new home [Read more…]
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