President Obama to announce drop in FHA Mortgage Insurance Premiums

January 7, 2015 by 1 Comment

2013-08-06_0653Tomorrow 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.

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Filed Under: FHA, Politics Tagged With: , , ,

What May Impact Mortgage Rates this Week: September 30, 2013: Mortgage Rates Trending Lower

September 30, 2013 by 1 Comment

mortgageporter-economyThe debt ceiling is influencing the markets today with the potential threat of the government shutting down at midnight tonight. Did you know that Congress is exempt from furloughs and will still be paid if the government shuts down?

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

Mortgage Insurance Tax Deduction extended through 2013

January 3, 2013 by 23 Comments

With the recent passage of the American Tax Payer Relief Act of 2012, Congress extended the ability to deduct mortgage insurance the same as qualified residence mortgage interest. This applies to homes with private mortgage insurance, FHA mortgage insurance (upfront and monthly) as well as VA and USDA funding fees.

A qualified home, as described by the IRS, is your primary residence or your second home. You cannot collect rent on your second home or it’s…. (are you ready for this?) an investment property and not eligible for this deduction. 

This benefit is phased out for adjusted gross incomes over $100,000. Here is a chart compliments of MGIC regarding how much one may be able to deduct based on AGI:

MI Tax Deductible

The amount of mortgage insurance paid is disclosed on the Form 1098, along with the mortgage interest that was paid during that year.

For more information, please contact your personal CPA or tax professional. I am not a CPA, I am a Licensed Mortgage Originator for homes located in Washington state.  If I can help you with your mortgage needs for your home located in anywhere in Washington, including Seattle, Sequim or Snoqualime, please contact me.

Filed Under: Mortgage Insurance Tagged With: , , ,

Mortgage Rate Update for the week of December 3, 2012

December 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

mortgageporter-economyNot everything that impacts mortgage rates are scheduled economic indicators, like what I’m sharing with you below in this post. Sometimes Congress tacks on fees that are priced into interest interest rates too. For example, the House of Representatives just passed a new “G-Fee” to help fund an Immigration Bill, HR 1629. This “G-Fee” will impact new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages. Why new home buyers and people refinancing have to pay for this bill which does not relate to mortgages during a time housing is trying to recover puzzles me. Click here to see how your House Rep voted on this bill.

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

Mortgage Rate Update for the week of November 26, 2012

November 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Happy Cyber Monday! I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend with family and friends. 

Here are some of the scheduled economic indicators that may impact mortgage rates for this week:

Tuesday, Nov. 27: Durable Goods Orders; Auto Sales; Consumer Confidence

Wednesday, Nov. 28: New Home Sales; the Fed’s Beige Book

Thursday, Nov. 29: Initial Jobless Claims; Gross Domestic Product (GDP); GDP Chain Deflator; Pending Home Sales

Friday, Nov. 30: Personal Consumption Expenditures and Core PCE; Personal Income; Personal Spending; Chicago PMI

It’s hard to believe that next week is December. As usual, the first Friday of the month will bring us the Jobs Report.

Remember, mortgage rates are based on mortgage backed securities (bonds). Investors will seek the safety of bonds when the stock market is not providing desired returns. Currently, the DOW is down 72 as I write this post (9:56 am). Concerns about Greece and the “Fiscal Cliff” seem to be helping all ready low mortgage rates remain at very low levels.

If you are interested in a mortgage rate quote for your home in Bellevue, Bellingham, Bainbridge Island or anywhere in Washington State, I’m happy to help you: click here.

You can see my live mortgage rate quote and other mortgage tidbits by following me on Twitter @mortgageporter or on Facebook.

Filed Under: Economy Tagged With: , , , ,

Back to School!

September 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Today I’m doing something that mortgage originators who work for banks and credit unions don’t have to do: continuing education with an NMLS certified instructor. 

As a Licensed Mortgage Originator, every year I’m required to take 8 hours of continuing education – non-licensed (aka registered) mortgage originators are currently not required to. I hope this changes and I expect it will.  

Why there are different standards for mortgage originators who take residential loan applications is due to the SAFE Act. My suspicion is that powerful banks and credit unions lobbied their Congressmen to have softer rules for their mortgage originators…which they have. (Whenever a mortgage originator at a bank tries to say they are already regulated, I like to point to Washington Mutual). My personal opinion is that banks want to hire less experienced mortgage originators so they can pay them less since they are “bank fed” leads.

Any how, I always look forward to my “class” as my instructor is Jillayne Schlicke and her classes are always informative and very interesting.

I will be back to work tomorrow, Thursday, September 21, 2012.

Filed Under: Current Affairs Tagged With: , , ,