Helping Washington State homeowners learn more about their mortgage options.
UPDATE: Be sure to check out our up-to-date guide on Renovation Mortgages for your next home remodel!
Fannie Mae’s HomeStyle Renovation Mortgage allows for higher loan to value (low down payment). Loan amounts over 80% loan-to-value will have private mortgage insurance that will eventually drop off the mortgage. [Read more…]
This weekend while driving around my neighborhood in Seattle, I noticed more “for sale” and “open house” signs on homes. It’s a welcome sight after how long we’ve been in this tight market with very little housing inventory. [Read more…]
Freddie Mac’s weekly report (PMMS) on conforming mortgage interest rates from last week shows that rates remained “level” with the 30 year fixed at 4.55% priced with points.
I read an interesting article about planning for retirement. This is a topic that I find very important. I’m not a financial planner, however as a Mortgage Professional I see a financial snapshot of what people have when applying for a mortgage. I concur with this article from CNBC, most people do not have enough money saved up for their golden years. [Read more…]
My how time goes by when you’re having fun!
Thirty-two years ago, I began my career in real estate. My first job was being a “doc-puller” at Safeco Title in Seattle. I really enjoyed being the receptionist for Safeco since I believed that I had more job security…back in those days, employees were quickly hired and laid off depending on what was going on in the real estate industry. This was before title companies used “temps” to fill those types of positions. Eventually I was promoted to work in a title unit. I “retired” from Washington Title Company as a Branch Manager of the Federal Way office in 2000. [Read more…]
This week is packed with economic indicators that may impact the direction of mortgage interest rates, which have been nudging higher. Mortgage rates are based on bonds (mortgage backed securities or “MBS”). When the stock market is doing well, it’s not unusual to see mortgage rates trend higher as investors will trade the safety of bonds for the potentially higher return found with stocks. The reverse tends to also hold true – if stocks are tumbling, mortgage rates often improve as investments are moved to bonds. Signs of inflation will also deteriorate bond pricing and cause mortgage rates to move higher. [Read more…]
I’ve been meaning to share this post… it’s a little painful. Hopefully it will help others who are considering doing a penny floor. As you can see from these photos, we’ve had some issues with moisture. Hubby thinks it’s probably because we took too long to finish the job. I’m no pro, however (that doesn’t stop me from having my opinion that) I think it’s mostly because we did this on a basement floor. And living in Seattle, our basements can get damp. In reality, we’re probably both right… you can see the pennies starting to discolor in my last post. [Read more…]
This post is the last in my series showing different options for buying a home using mortgages with low down payment options. The series started from a posting I saw on Facebook where one of my West Seattle neighbors is trying to find a place to rent that accepts pets. This is my handsome pup, Hitch, who might not be allowed in most apartments since he’s over 65 pounds…even though he’s just a big puppy. 🙂
My previous posts compared using Fannie Mae’s Home Ready program and an FHA mortgage with the goal of keeping the total mortgage payment around $2200.
This post will be using a program from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission which offers down payment assistance. The down payment assistance is actually a second mortgage at zero percent interest that is tacked on to the end of the first mortgage. There are no payments due for 30 years (or when the first mortgage is paid off). Although the down payment assistance interest rate is zero, the interest rates for the first mortgages with this program tend to be higher (as you’ll see with my quote). [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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