The Mortgage Porter

What May Impact Mortgage Rates this Week: June 2, 2014

June 3, 2014 by Rhonda Porter Leave a Comment

I am writing this post from the 2014 Flat Coat Retriever Specialty competition in Albany Oregon. This photo is from this morning’s sweepstakes for 6-9 month old puppies and I”m pleased to share with you that Hitch and I took 4th place out of 16 puppies. Not too bad for our first show (both rookies). This has nothing to do with mortgages but I’m so proud of my puppy, that I just had to share this with you.

Okay…back to mortgages and what may impact the direction of rates this week. No economic indicators were released today. Here’s what the rest of the week looks like:

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Filed Under: Economy

NEWS FLASH: Home Advantage Rebound DPA is no longer available

May 30, 2014 by Rhonda Porter Leave a Comment

This morning I received an email from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission that one of the Home Advantage Rebound program has ran out of funds and is no longer available. If you were planning on using this for your down payment assistance, and you have a transaction in progress, check with your mortgage originator asap to see if the funds were reserved. If they were not reserved, then you’ll need to come up with a “plan b”, which may include using their stand-by program Home Advantage.

Just for Fun: Black Velvet Janet Yellen

May 30, 2014 by Rhonda Porter 2 Comments

You may or may not know that one of my hobbies is painting. I especially enjoy painting on black velvet and recently completed a painting of our Federal Reserve Board Chair, Janet Yellen.

Because it’s Friday… I thought I’d share it with you just for fun.

Ms. Yellen is now hanging in my office at Mortgage Master Service Corporation.

You can see more of my artwork at www.rhondaporterart.com

Filed Under: Just for Fun, The Fed - FOMC Tagged With: art, black velvet, janet yellen

What May Impact Mortgage Rates this Week: May 26, 2014 – Mortgage Rates trending lower

May 28, 2014 by Rhonda Porter 1 Comment

We begin this week with celebrating Memorial Day, to remember and thank our Veterans and their families for their sacrifices when serving our country.

Here are some of the economic indicators scheduled to be released this week:

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Filed Under: Economy

First Time Home Buyers Guide Book

May 24, 2014 by Rhonda Porter Leave a Comment

Check out the latest edition of Your First Home Mortgage Guide.

Although I wrote this book with first time home buyers in mind, a majority of the content is relevant to all home buyers.

How Much Income and Down Payment do You Really Need to Buy a Home in Seattle?

May 22, 2014 by Rhonda Porter 2 Comments

The local media is picking up on an article written by HSH.com that could depress Seattle area home buyers regarding how much income is needed to buy a home in various metropolitan cities. The report relies on data provided by NAR and… ready for this… claims that you need to have an income of $73,851.06 in order to buy a home in the Emerald City.

Mortgage Insurance loses tax deduction benefit in 2014

May 21, 2014 by Rhonda Porter 2 Comments

Over the past few years, home owners have enjoyed deducting private mortgage insurance (pmi) premiums from their income tax. This is also true for government forms of mortgage insurance (aka funding fee or guarantee fee) with FHA, VA and USDA mortgage loans. This benefit is coming to an end effective on 2014 tax returns.