When should you refi a low FHA mortgage rate?

Beautiful luxury home exterior at twilightMany homeowners are hanging onto very low mortgage rates when they should perhaps consider refinancing the mortgage for a higher rate. What??? [Read more…]

Changes to Limited-Cash Out Refinances

A limited-cash out refinance is a refinance where typically, the home owner receives little to no-cash back at closing. It’s also referred to as a “rate-term” refinance. A limited cash-out or rate-term refinance offers better interest rates and/or pricing for interest rates than a true “cash out” refinance. [Read more…]

2019 Conforming Loan Limits for Washington

Conforming loan limits are increasing again this year with the “base” loan limit for a single family home raised to $484,350.

Conforming high balance areas for King, Snohomish and Pierce counties have have higher limits for 2019 as well.  San Juan County will no longer has a high balance limit effective 2019.

King County, Snohomish County and Pierce County: [Read more…]

BREAKING NEWS: Conforming Loan Limits are HIGHER for 2019

Conforming loan limits effective 2019 will be increased from $453,100 to $484,350 for a single family dwelling. Homes located in “high balance areas” such as King County, Pierce County or Snohomish County, will have a conforming high balance loan limit of $726,525 from $667,000.

Stay tuned for a complete list of the 2019 conforming loan limits for homes located in Washington state.

PS: If you are considering refinancing or buying a home and want the higher loan limits with today’s interest rates, you may not have to wait! Contact me for more information if your home is located any where in Washington state, where I’m licensed.

Common Misconceptions about FHA and Conventional Mortgages

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…]

Qualifying for a mortgage when you pay alimony

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…]

2018 Conforming Loan Limits for Washington State

MortgageConforming loan limits are increasing again this year with the “base” loan limit for a single family home raised to $453,100.

Conforming high balance areas for King, Snohomish and Pierce counties have have higher limits for 2018 as well.

San Juan County’s high balance loan limits are unchanged from 2017. [Read more…]

BREAKING NEWS: 2018 Conforming Loan Limits INCREASED including Greater Seattle – King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties

Conforming loan limits for 2018 have been announced.  From FHFA’s News Release:

Earlier today, FHFA published its third quarter 2017 House Price Index (HPI) report, which includes estimates for the increase in the average U.S. home value over the last four quarters.  According to FHFA’s seasonally adjusted, expanded-data HPI, house prices increased 6.8 percent, on average, between the third quarters of 2016 and 2017.  Therefore, the baseline maximum conforming loan limit in 2018 will increase by the same percentage.  [Read more…]