Helping Washington State homeowners learn more about their mortgage options.
It’s fun to visit open houses on the weekends. You may be picturing yourself living in the home, enjoying the backyard or perhaps making a few home improvements to really make it “yours”.
If you’re even thinking about buying a home, I strongly encourage you to get fully preapproved before you find yourself at an open house wanting to present an offer.
Here are some steps I recommend for anyone considering buying a home. [Read more…]
Bridge loans allow people who want to buy their next home to access a portion of their home equity to use as down payment and/or closing cost. They have been around for quite a while and has been a great tool to help accommodate home purchases. When I was at Mortgage Master, we offered bridge loans to qualified borrowers. [Read more…]
If you’re a homeowner wanting to buy your next home, you might be feeling reluctance to trade your existing interest rate for a current mortgage rate. It’s easy to understand when mortgage rates are double from what they were a few years ago. Historically speaking, mortgage rates are actually closer to what would be considered more of an average range than the Fed manipulated rates of years past.
I may have some good news for you. No, it’s not a trick…this can actually be a treat! [Read more…]
Seattle area Real Estate Broker, Kim Mulligan, posted this on Facebook a couple of days ago regarding a recent listing:
“For those of you that were clamoring to be my neighbor, I have bad news. A pricing war ensued and an offer was chosen last night. Ends up we had well over 80 parties tour the home in two days, several offers came forth, and a lucky buyer will get to share a fenceline with me. Why do I mention this? Many people think that there isn’t a market right now because of interest rates. Yes, buyers are careful and shy. The truth is some people have to move in any market. Sellers don’t need to be afraid to list their homes. Yes, buyers are choosey, but priced and presented well, and with the right lender where you can change your interest rate when it drops down again, your home could sell within 3 days as well!” [Read more…]
Many Americans took advantage of the extra low rates that were available during the pandemic years. Some may be feeling trapped at having a rate in the 3% range since we’ve returned to a more historically “normal” range. [Read more…]
UPDATE 5/26/2023: It’s no surprise to me…this home went immediately pending. If you are considering buying a home, it is so important to be fully approved and perhaps better yet, consider using a program that allows you to present an extra competitive cash offer. PS: I can help you with that!
Many Veterans who have served our country have earned the right to have a VA mortgage loan. It’s unfortunate that some sellers as well as real estate agents have a bad image of VA loans and often discourage them. Many years ago, VA loans were sometimes more challenging than conventional financing – this is rarely the case anymore. Some people may falsely assume that if a Veteran is using a VA loan, they must have poor credit or not enough funds for a down payment. A majority of the Veteran’s I have provided mortgages for have excellent credit and plenty of funds for down payment, they opt for the VA loan because they either don’t want to use all of their funds for down payment, or the VA mortgage loan could be providing a lower interest rate than what they would receive with conventional financing. Bottom line, it’s their entitlement that they sacrificed and worked hard to earn. [Read more…]
If you have been thinking about buying a home this spring, you’re not alone. Experts predict there is quite a bit of pent-up demand following the recent sellers’ market and higher interest rates. Many homebuyers have been waiting patiently for a cooler market with lower interest rates…the key word here is MANY. It’s not anticipated that we will see a flood of new listings as homeowners who currently have extremely low mortgage interest rates seem to be less likely to want to sell and lose the rate. As people start to list their homes in the new year, and more buyers get off the fence, we could see housing prices push higher or at the very least, stay the same as the demand for homes is still strong. [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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