If you live in King, Pierce, Snohomish or many other Washington state counties, you have some sticker shock when you see your 2018 property taxes. King County is reporting that the average home will see their taxes increase by 17%. The City of Sumner in Pierce County may see a whopping 22% jump to their property tax. [Read more…]
Higher Property Taxes Impacts Everyone
February 23, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Dr. Carson sworn in as new HUD Secretary
March 3, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, Dr. Ben Carson was formally sworn in as the Secretary of HUD. Secretary Carson, from HUD’s press release, stated:
“”I am immensely grateful and deeply humbled to take on such an important role in service to the American people,” said Secretary Carson. “Working directly with patients and their families for many years taught me that there is a deep relationship between health and housing. I learned that it’s difficult for a child to realize their dreams if he or she doesn’t have a proper place to live, and I’ve seen firsthand how poor housing conditions can rob a person of their potential. I am excited to roll up my sleeves and to get to work.” [Read more…]
Will the recent FHA Mortgage Insurance Reduction be Trumped?
January 18, 2017 by Leave a Comment
HUD Secretary Castro proudly announced the reduction of FHA’s annual mortgage insurance premium just a week ago as his parting gift of tenure before having to leave his position. There has been a lot of discussion on if this will be an action that Trump’s new administration will roll back. [Read more…]
President Obama to announce drop in FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums
January 7, 2015 by 1 Comment
Tomorrow President Obama is expected to announce a reduction in the mortgage insurance premiums for new FHA mortgage loans.
From Bloomberg News:
As part of an effort to expand homeownership among entry-level buyers, President Barack Obama will announce a cut in Federal Housing Administration mortgage-insurance premiums during a speech in Phoenix tomorrow, according to three people with direct knowledge of his plans.
The annual fees the agency charges to guarantee mortgages will be cut by 0.5 percentage points, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the White House hasn’t yet made the announcement.
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.
What May Impact Mortgage Interest Rates this Week: October 7, 2013
October 7, 2013 by 1 Comment
As the government shut down continues, Congress has the debt ceiling the contend with by October 17, 2013, or our country will lose the ability to borrow. It almost seems “subprime” to me that our country has to continue to increase the amount of funds we borrow because our country went out to dinner and two glasses of wine (as President Obama explained it in a speech last week). Mortgage rates continue to be at lower levels. Once the government is back to work and the debt ceiling issue is resolved, in my opinion, we may see mortgage rates pop up.
Bad News equals Lower Mortgage Rates
October 4, 2013 by 1 Comment
If there can be one positive tidbit from the government shutdown, it just may be lower mortgage rates. And by the way, we are still originating and closing mortgages during the government shut down. USDA has been reduced to essential functions only and therefore, loans that have not yet been approved USDA may not be closing during this time. However, conventional, FHA and VA loans are available. Not all lenders are able to operate during the shutdown because of not being able to obtain tax transcripts from the IRS, so please do confirm with your lender whether or not this is an issue for your mortgage scenario. Self employed borrowers may find it more challenging during these times.
Getting a Mortgage during the Government Shutdown
October 3, 2013 by 11 Comments
How much this government shut down impacts mortgage loans depends on several factors, including what stage your mortgage is in processing, what type of mortgage it is and who the investor is. It’s possible that it may not impact your transaction at all. The more time our government is shut down, it may become more difficult or require more time to process a mortgage loan. The shutdown in 1995 lasted for a very long 21 days – let’s hope our representatives can get this resolved soon!
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