Appraisal Waivers on Conforming Mortgages

September 25, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Some conforming mortgages for refinances or home purchases may not require an appraisal. It all boils down to what the response is from Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac’s automated underwriting systems on whether or not an appraisal is required. You may have perfect credit and tons of equity in your home, yet no appraisal waiver if Fannie or Freddie’s underwriting systems determine it’s not eligible.

Your next conforming mortgage might be eligible to not have an appraisal if it meets the following criteria: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Appraisals, Fannie, Freddie and FHFA Tagged With: ,

Mortgage Rates Still at Extreme Lows

September 18, 2020 by 2 Comments

Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of mortgage rates show that interest rates are still at extremely low levels although I have noticed rates bouncing around a bit more this past week.

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Filed Under: Interest Rates Tagged With: ,

FHFA delays Refi Tax until December 1, 2020

August 25, 2020 by Leave a Comment

The Federal Housing Finance Agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (conventional lenders), has announced they are delaying the “adverse market fee” until December 1, 2020.

There was significant balking across the mortgage industry when the FHFA announced the fee back on the evening of August 12th which effectively went into effect immediately on new refi’s (since it’s based on when loans are delivered to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac). This was essentially a 0.5% tax on mortgage lenders existing pipelines – some loans in the pipeline were not able to have the 0.5% hit factored into the pricing of the interest rate. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Fannie, Freddie and FHFA, Refinance

Extremely Low Mortgage Rates trending higher

August 20, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Freddie Mac released their PMMS (Prime Mortgage Market Survey) this morning stating “Mortgage Rates Inch Up“.  Even if mortgage rates have bounced slightly higher, they are still ridiculously low. PLEASE REMEMBER: the PMMS data shown in the picture is old news! This is from an average of rates from last week. If you would like current rates for your scenario on your home located in Washington, click here.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Interest Rates

Federal Housing Finance Agency issues half-point fee on conventional refinances

August 12, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (regulated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency) announced they are adding an “Adverse Market Refinance Fee” of 50 basis points that is effective on refinance mortgages delivered to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac starting September 1, 2020.  This is a huge hit to mortgage lenders across the country. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Fannie, Freddie and FHFA

Surprise! It’s a strong Jobs Report

June 5, 2020 by Leave a Comment

May’s Jobs Report came in much better than expected this morning with 2.51 million jobs ADDED vs the anticipated the 8.5 million jobs lost. Personally, this sounds too good to be true to me and I’m thinking that we’ll see corrections in the months to come…of course, I hope I’m wrong and that an economic (and health) recovery is here. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economy, Interest Rates Tagged With: , ,

Forbearance Guidelines Updated for Conventional Financing

May 23, 2020 by Leave a Comment

This week Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac updated guidelines for how soon home owners can obtain a new mortgage if they have entered into a forbearance agreement with their current lender. Most of the focus with this program is that it’s not suppose to impact their credit score. Although the credit score may not be impacted, the credit report reflects that payments were not made on the mortgage. It seems that many home owners are not aware that taking advantage of not having to make mortgage payments will impact their ability to get a new mortgage for refinancing or buying a new home [Read more…]

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Fannie, Freddie and FHFA Tagged With:

Mortgage Rates at an All Time Low

April 30, 2020 by Leave a Comment

Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey, Prime Mortgage Market Survey (aka PMMS) revealed the lowest mortgage rates since Freddie Mac started tracking interest rates in 1971.

“The size and depth of the secondary mortgage market is helping to keep rates at record lows. These low rates are driving higher refinance activity and have modestly helped improve purchase demand from their extremely low levels in mid-April,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.

Remember, Freddie Mac’s PMMS report is based on mortgage rates from last week. Last week’s rates are old news and no longer available…although with that said, mortgage rates are still extremely low right now

We are open for business and here to help you with your refinance or home buying needs for homes located in Washington state. Please contact me if I can help you! Click here for a no-hassle mortgage rate quote or here to start a loan application.

Filed Under: Interest Rates Tagged With: ,
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