Will the recent FHA Mortgage Insurance Reduction be Trumped?

HUD Secretary Castro proudly announced the reduction of FHA’s annual mortgage insurance premium just a week ago as his parting gift of tenure before having to leave his position. There has been a lot of discussion on if this will be an action that Trump’s new administration will roll back. [Read more…]

HUD’s reducing Mortgage Insurance on FHA Mortgages

iStock-000018668640XSmallUPDATE January 20, 2016: HUD has suspended the reduction to FHA mortgage insurance effective immediately.

HUD has announced today that mortgage insurance will be reduced on most FHA mortgages. FHA mortgages have two types of “mortgage insurance” the borrowers pay regardless of loan to value. There is the upfront mortgage insurance (currently 1.75% of the loan amount) that is typically added to the base loan amount and financed over the life of the loan and there is the annual mortgage insurance that is actually paid as part of the monthly mortgage payment. This reduction of 25 basis points is on the annual mortgage insurance premium.

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Mortgage rates lower in 2017…so far…

I was going to do a cheesy post on New Years exclaiming that mortgage rates are the lowest in 2017…although technically speaking, you could also say they are the highest of 2017! Obviously I opted to not do that post and to instead, share Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey which shows that rates have improved a bit.

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DIY Penny Floor Update…it’s been a while!

It’s been a while since I’ve published anything about our penny floor project in our basement…quite simply, that’s because it’s been a while since we’ve worked on it! We got diverted with other projects, including an investment home that we purchased (that we installed a small penny floor in) …and my husband wound up crewing a sailboat down under for about a month…I can come up with more excuses reasons why the floor has not progressed…you get the idea. [Read more…]

Big Day with the Fed! [LIVE POST]

20140504_210758It’s been a while since I’ve done a live post. I think today calls for a live post since the FOMC is meeting and it’s highly anticipated they will decide to increase rates. Mortgage rates have been steadily climbing since mid-November following the elections. There are several factors that are influencing the upward move in rates, including what appears to be a better economy along with signs of inflation. [Read more…]

Mortgage rates at 2 year highs

Mortgage rates continue to trend higher as confirmed by Freddie Mac’s weekly Prime Mortgage Market Survey released this morning.

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Appraisals waived for some refinances!

mortgageporterhomeFannie Mae will begin offering appraisal waivers on some refinance transactions. This is great news as it will help transactions that qualify have a quicker closing and help reduce the work load for appraisers which will hopefully help expedite current appraisal turn-times. This will also help home owners save money on their transaction by not having to pay an appraisal fee, which have gone up dramatically over the last few months. [Read more…]

2017 VA Loan Limits for Washington State

MortgageLoan limits for VA mortgages have been announced and, like last year, will follow the conforming loan limits.

Technically, VA loans do not have limits like conforming and FHA mortgages. The “loan limit” that is referred to with a VA loan is highest loan amount a Veteran can borrower without making a down payment. It’s really a great benefit to those who have served our county. VA Jumbo loans (loan amounts over the VA limit) allow veterans to buy higher priced home with a greatly reduced down payment. [Read more…]