Helping Washington State homeowners learn more about their mortgage options.
The FHFA announced expanded guidelines for appraisal waiver increasing the maximum loan to value (LTV) from 80% to 90% on purchase transactions. An appraisal waiver is not guaranteed on all conforming mortgages. Loans are submitted to the automated underwriting systems for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which determine whether or not a transaction will receive an appraisal waiver.
Possible eligible transactions include: [Read more…]
The Existing Home Sales was released yesterday which reports on the closings of existing single-unit homes.
Would you be surprised to know that last month, 31% of all sales were first-time homebuyers? [Read more…]
Washington is in the top 3 states for leading the country with the addition to accessory dwelling units! This type of housing makes it possible for providing housing to aging parents, adult children who are priced out of the market, a workspace or to provide income as a rental property.
If you have been contemplating adding an ADU to your home or finding a home with (or that could have) an ADU, I encourage you to check out my latest resource guide: Accessory Dwelling Units.
If you’re interested in learning more about financing options, I am happy to help you!
If you have been finding the current lack of inventory a challenge, you may want to consider a renovation mortgage. A renovation mortgage (or rehab loan) allows you to finance improvements to the property beyond the sales price of the home. The renovations begin after closing and there are no restrictions on the types of improvements. You can even use this on your existing home as a refinance if you love your location and neighbors and just want to make changes to your home. [Read more…]
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…]
If you are looking at adding to your real estate investment portfolio, I may have some good news for you! We have a new program that allows investors to qualify for a mortgage based on the property’s cash flow. [Read more…]
3-2-1 and 2-1 seller buydowns allow homebuyers to have below market interest rates. The seller is essentially prepaying a portion of the buyers mortgage payment to effectively “buy down” the payment for a specific period of time. [Read more…]
The FHFA announced today that the pricing of mortgage interest rates for second homes or high balance mortgages will be more expensive. This impacts conventional mortgages (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and is effective for loans that are delivered on or after April 1, 2022 – i.e. I expect to see the price increases to start happening soon. [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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