The last week of 2014 is here. It’s another short week with the New Year holiday and so we may be dealing with traders on vacations, which can translate to lighter volumes and/or more volatility. Markets and financial offices (including ours) will be closed on Thursday, January 1, 2015 to celebrate the New Year.
What May Impact Mortgage Rates this Week: December 29, 2014
December 29, 2014 by 1 Comment
eBook: Financing Your First Investment Property
December 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment
This is the second edition of my slide-book, Financing Your First Investment Property.
In this edition, loan limits and mortgage programs have been updated.
If I can help you with the financing of your first (second or third) investment property located in Washington state, please contact me!
Mortgage Insurance Deductible through 2014
December 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment
You may have heard that last week, Congress passed and President Obama signed the 2014 Tax Increase Prevention Act. It has some good news for home owners who currently pay various forms of mortgage insurance. If you pay mortgage insurance, including private mortgage insurance (pmi), or VA, FHA or USDA forms of mortgage insurance during 2014, you may be able to deduct that on your 2014 income taxes.
Before you get too excited, this act does not extend the mortgage insurance deduction past 2014.
So if you are paying any form of mortgage insurance, especially if it’s private mortgage insurance or FHA mortgage insurance, it still makes sense to see if you can eliminate or reduce your payment with a refinance as you will not be able to deduct your mortgage insurance during 2015 (as things currently stand).
If I can help you with your refi or home purchase on property located anywhere in Washington state, please contact me!
What May Impact Mortgage Rates this Week: December 22, 2014
December 22, 2014 by 1 Comment
The last two weeks of this year are short ones due to the holidays. Many traders may be on vacation so you can anticipate the volatility to continue with stock and bond markets, which means we may see mortgage rates bump around a bit as well.
Bond markets will be closing early on Wednesday and will be closed on Thursday, as will Mortgage Master Service Corporation. Friday will be “back to normal” as far as work hours are concerned. 🙂 Next week will also be a shorter week with the New Year holiday.
FHA’s HAWK Program Delayed
December 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment
FHA’s HAWK (Homeowners Armed with Knowledge) program, which was designed to help home buyers receive reduced mortgage insurance premiums, has been delayed for at least one year as the program was excluded from the 2015 budget.
Tips on how to save up for a down payment
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Get Rich Slowly recently posted How to Save Up for a Down Payment Fast. I’d like to respond to some of the ideas offered in GRS’s post from a Mortgage Professional’s viewpoint and offer my advice.
Here are some of the suggestions on How to Save Up for Down Payment Fast along with my 2 cents (in italics).
Freddie Mac report reveals lowest mortgage rates of 2014
December 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Every week, Freddie Mac releases their Prime Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) based on a survey a mix of 125 lenders on what committed mortgage rates and points were during the previous week. Based on Freddie Mac’s report, the average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.80 percent with an average 0.6 points. This is down from last week when it averaged 3.93 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year averaged 4.47 percent.
Last FOMC Meeting of 2014 and how it impacts mortgage rates [LIVE POST]
December 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Today the Fed will wrap up their 2 day meeting around 11:00 am PST. All ears will be anxiously awaiting any clues as to what their policy will be in 2015.
It’s interesting to see how the markets react to “Fed Day” so I thought I’d do a “live post” today, updating this throughout the day with current mortgage rates.
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