Helping Washington State homeowners learn more about their mortgage options.
Later next month, Freddie Mac will be offering a new program for first time home buyers. This mortgage program offers low down payment options without the income limit or geographic restrictions that Home Possible has.
HomeOne will be available for both purchases and rate-term refinances on single family dwellings. At least one borrower on the application must be a first time home buyer when the transaction is a purchase and home buyer education is required. [Read more…]
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service issued a press release indicating that we are finally seeing an increase in new listings being added to the market. The 14,524 new listings that came on during May, in the 23 counties that the NWMLS serves, are the most listings added in one month in 10 years. In King County, there were almost 1000 homes added to the market creating just over one month of inventory – the first time since September of last year. Here’s a link to the NWMLS market snapshot for May 2018. [Read more…]
As expected, the Fed increased the Funds rate by 0.25% moments ago. The markets were anticipating this move by the Fed and, as I write this post, I’m not seeing any significant rate changes to mortgage interest rates. The rates were already “baked in the cake”. Had the Fed decided to increase rates beyond 0.25% or not to take action, we would potentially be being seeing a reaction with the bond market which would be reflected in mortgage interest rates. [Read more…]
I just received a newsletter from a local real estate agent which had an article about whether buyers should opt for a conventional or FHA loan. I’m pretty certain the real estate agent didn’t write the article, however the author, whoever they are, got a lot of things wrong regarding these two mortgage programs. Many of the items that were wrong are what I think are fairly common misconceptions with these two popular mortgage programs. So I thought this was a grand opportunity to write a post to correct them…I’ll skip the fine hairs 😉 [Read more…]
Freddie Mac’s Prime Mortgage Market Survey released today shows that mortgage rates improved based on average conforming rates last week.
Recently Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac updated their guidelines to treat alimony payments the same way that FHA has.
With conforming mortgages (Fannie/Freddie) where there is more than 10 months remaining for alimony payments, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow the alimony to be deducted from gross income instead of being treated as a monthly debt. This often dramatically improves debt-to-income ratios. [Read more…]
CNN recently published an article about a couple’s experience buying a home in Seattle. In a nutshell, their seventh offer was accepted with multiple offers well over the list price and they were able to close quickly without contingencies with a large earnest money deposit.
Home prices and lack of inventory (which I hope is starting to change) have created a highly competitive situation for those who want to buy a home in Seattle. Buying a home just about anywhere in the tri-county area these days is not for the feint of heart. [Read more…]
Want to build an ADU on your garage? Are you having a hard time finding a home that has your dream kitchen? Whether you are buying or refinancing a home, you may want to consider a “rehab” mortgage. At Mortgage Master Service Corporation, we currently have a couple options available. [Read more…]
Rhonda Porter is a Licensed Mortgage Originator MLO121324 living in the greater Seattle area. Rhonda began her career in 1986 in the title and escrow industry and began her mortgage career in 2000. She enjoys helping people understand the mortgage process and started writing The Mortgage Porter in late 2006. Read More…
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