Washington State Mortgages, Made Clear. Buying or Refinancing? Let's find the right loan together.
Please visit our updated Refinance Guide for Homes in Washington.
In order to be eligible for to have an appraisal waived, Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting system, Desktop Underwriter (specifically version DU 10) must determine the property qualifies. This process takes place once the lender has an application and has ran it through Desktop Underwriter.
Refinance transactions that are eligible to have an appraisal waived include: [Read more…]
Fannie Mae is introducing a new format for credit reports called “trending credit data”. Typically a credit report shows more of a snapshot of what someone’s credit looks like today with late payments as a summary, more or less. Fannie Mae’s “trending” report will actually show a detailed 24 month history of each payment and the balance of that account for every month for the last 24 months. [Read more…]
This week, Fannie Mae issued new underwriting guidelines for conforming loans approved through DU (Fannie Mae’s automated underwriting system). One of the new guidelines that is catching a lot of attention is that Fannie Mae will no longer require that revolving debts that are paid off in order to reduce a borrowers debt to income ratios and help them qualify, to also be closed. The new guidelines will allow a revolving debts that are paid down to zero balance to no longer be factored for qualifying purposes.
If I can help you with your purchase or refi mortgage needs for your home located anywhere in Washington state, please contact me.
⚠ Program Ended October 2014
The Fannie Mae HomePath closing cost incentive for first-time buyers described in this post is no longer available — the HomePath Mortgage program was retired in October 2014. Washington State still has excellent options for first-time buyers today, including down payment assistance grants and 3% down conventional programs. See first-time homebuyer programs in Washington State → | See the updated HomePath guide →
Fannie Mae is offering first time home buyers up to 3% towards closing cost when they purchase a Fannie Mae HomePath property. On a $300,000 home, 3% would be up to $9,000 towards allowable closing cost! A Fannie Mae HomePath property is a home that Fannie Mae has foreclosed on and now owns.
I’m receiving notices from a couple of the lenders we work with that they are temporarily increasing rate lock extension fees due to Fannie Mae’s increased guarantee fees (LLPA) that will hit us in 2014. An extension fee is an additional cost that may be charged in order to keep a rate locked when the rate lock is expiring.
