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A big question facing new homebuyers is "what can I qualify for?" When lenders are looking to approve a loan they're looking to see how much debt your income will carry, this is referred to as your debt to income ratio, or DTI. Ideally, lenders want to see your debt ratio at 45% or less. This means, your total montly payments on debt (car payments, credit cards, loans, and mortgage) must be 45% or less of your gross montly income. There is is a little leeway if you have high credit scores, or... Read Full Post

Mortgage rates have been very up and down lately which makes prediciting what rates will do even harder than it was before. A prepared borrower wil have a goal in mind going into their refinance. It may be wanting a certian rate, or maybe saving a certain amount of money every month. If your goal is to save $150.00 a month, and thats attainable today, grab it. If your goal is getting a rate of 5% with no points, if its there take it and run. Maybe your goal is to pull a certain amount of cash... Read Full Post

With the new HERA laws now in place, you can expect home purchases to take 45-60 days. Realtors should know this by now, and put contracts in accordingly. Why are they taking longer. Now there is a mandatory 5 day waiting period to order an appraisal after your intial loan application. That sets everything back a minimum of 1 full work week. Add to that the extended appraisal turn aroudn times, and your looking at 3-4 weeks before you even have an appraisal in hand. On top of that, you still ... Read Full Post

There are even more changes coming soon to the mortgage industry. Begining July 30th, there will be stricter regulations on how accurate a good faith estimate must be. Now, your final APR must be within 1/8 of a percent as the proposed APR when your loan is orginated. If anything changes to throw off the APR from orgination to closing, you must wait 3 days for the changes to be made and fixed. What does that mean to borrowers? If you get your HUD to preview a day before settlement, and someth... Read Full Post

Mortgage rates are down again and for those who missed the low rates the first time around, now's the time to jump on great rates. With rates hovering right around 5% you dont want to miss out again. Remember in this market rates are as volitile as they've ever been. If the rate makes sense, jump on it immeaditly. If you decide now's the time to refinance, there are a few things you should make sure you get from your loan officer. First, make sure you get a copy of your rate lock. This will s... Read Full Post

If your a self employeed borrower finding a loan, either a refinance or purchase loan, is pretty tough these days. So what should you expect through the loan process? First be prepared to show a lot of income documentation. At a minimum, you'll need 2 years of personal and business tax returns. If you pay your self a salary, you'll also need to show 2 years of W-2's, and your 2 most recent paystubs. What are underwriters looking for with all that documentation? They want to see a consistant f... Read Full Post

For those of you who are currently owe more than your house is worth, or are having trouble qualifying for a refinance loan there might be a way out. There is a new loan out there that called the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac refi plus. If Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac currently owns your loan they will lend up to 105% of the current value of your home, WITHOUT mortgage insurance. You still need to document income, assets and credit qualify, but for those who otherwise couldn’t refinance, you now hav... Read Full Post

Over the past few weeks we have noticed an increased underwriting times on both purchase and refinance loans. What has caused the extended underwriting times? First is the new H.V.C.C code of conduct. This is the new regulation that requires lenders to order appraisals through an appraisal management company instead of the mortgage broker ordering one through a local appraiser. These H.V.C.C appraisals are taking up to 3 weeks to be done, where as before this regulation, the were taking a few... Read Full Post

Starting the 1st of May there are big changes in appraisals. Starting the 1st, lenders will be directly ordering appraisals, eliminating the consumer and broker from ordering the appraisal. What does this mean for the consumer? A few things. First, it means that the appraisal process could take longer, which would cause the whole loan process to take longer. The consumer won't have the option of using an appraiser who can come to the house and do the appraisal in a timely manor, now they have... Read Full Post

When is the right time to refinance? Should I wait and see what rates will do? Those questions are asked everyday and it’s a simple answer. If you’re happy with the rate and payment based on today’s rates, take it and run. Mortgage rates are as volatile as they have ever been, with rate changes happening multiple times a day. A rate that is quoted in the morning may not be there the same afternoon. My suggestion is to be prepared to lock your rate if you are happy with the results your ... Read Full Post