I’m honored to have been quoted in the Seattle Time‘s yesterday in Katherine Khashimova Long’s article “Autumn of heartbreak for home shoppers as Seattle-area prices hit new record highs”. My quote wound up being a tid-bit in the article and I thought it would be interesting to share some of the points that we discussed during the interview. [Read more…]
Recent Interview in the Seattle Times about Seattle Homebuyers
October 8, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Potential Recording Delays for Properties in King County
September 29, 2020 by Leave a Comment
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…]
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