Houston Real Estate Blogosphere
Houston Real Estate Blogosphere brings together all the blog posts of REALTORS from the Houston area in one place
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Mortgage & Finance
The most recently published posts in the Mortgage & Finance category
In recent months, real estate professionals have had to hold their breath as they waited for an appraisal on a property to come back. Would it be lower than the agreed-upon selling price -- and by how much? Many real estate professionals have blamed a high number of derailed transactions on low-ball appraisals. But now the industry is noticing a change in appraised values: Appraisals are getting ...
Read Post [Posted on 05/22/2013 By John Askins]
In any economy, one of the best investments
has always been real estate. You just can't beat the value of your own chunk of
land and a nice house to go on it. But for many potential buyers, the problem
is coming up with a downpayment to make this defining purchase. The fact is
that very few homebuyers have the cash available to buy a home outright. Most
of us will rely on a financial inst...
Read Post [Posted on 05/21/2013 By Diana Walton]
Owner financing can help sell a property even in this challenging market.Banks generally are willing to accept rent credits for an option to buy as an acceptable down payment, but both buyers and sellers must follow these guidelines for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to sanction the transaction.The rental amount must be determined by a property appraisal with the credit for the down payment clearly ca...
Read Post [Posted on 05/21/2013 By John Askins]
30 yr Conventional 3.5% - 0 Discount Points - 0 Origination
15 yr Conventional 2.75% - 0 Discount Points - 0 Origination
20 yr Conventional 3.5% - 0 Discount Points - 0 Origination
10 yr Conventional 2.875% - 0 Discount Points - 0 Origination
30 yr FHA 3.25% - 0 Discount Points - 0 Origination
15 yr FHA 2.75% - 0 Discount Points - 0 Origination
30 yr USDA 3.37...
Read Post [Posted on 05/20/2013 By Trisha Dear]
Low mortgage rates and stabilizing incomes are keeping home
affordability high and giving home buyers “ample buying power,”
according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
The Wall Street Journal highlights the following example on just how
affordable housing has become: “Assuming a 5 percent down payment, a 3.5
percent mortgage rate, and 25 percent of a gross income devoted to ...
Read Post [Posted on 05/20/2013 By John Askins]
The monthly cost of owning a home is more affordable now than in the past 15 years, and is less expensive than renting in numerous cities, according to a Wall Street Journal survey.
Low home prices mixed with low mortgage rates—hovering at 4 percent or even lower—are creating an appealing buyer’s market, analysts say. For example, buyers today have a 77 percent increase in their borrowing power c...
Read Post [Posted on 05/20/2013 By John Askins]
Borrowers seeking a mortgage or for those looking to refinance are increasingly turning to credit unions. These financial institutions are expected to surpass a record-breaking $100 billion in mortgage loan originations this year, The New York Times reports. The growth has mostly been attributed to a surge of refinancers and a growth from consumers’ “disillusionment with big banks,” The Times rep...
Read Post [Posted on 05/20/2013 By John Askins]
Hawai'i home owners tend to take on the most debt in their home purchases with an average home loan amount of $677,299, according to a recent study by LendingTree.com, which revealed the average loan amounts on residential real estate purchases last year. That means the average home owner in Hawai'i would have a monthly payment of about $3,234 for a 30-year mortgage, before taxes and insurance, ac...
Read Post [Posted on 05/19/2013 By John Askins]
Every single day, homeowners who are excited about lowering their rate have a
tendency to ignore the refinancing costs because they’re being rolled back into
the new mortgage. If the payment is lower than what they’re currently paying and
there’s no money out of pocket, it seems like a good deal.
Refinancing your home because a lower rate is available is one thing but the
closing costs as...
Read Post [Posted on 05/18/2013 By Valery Smith-Blank]
Americans still believe in home ownership, but they’re spooked about the mortgage process, a survey finds.
Two-thirds of renters -- across educational and demographic levels -- say they want to purchase a home in the future, according to a quarterly national housing survey of 3,000 Americans conducted by Fannie Mae.
"In spite of the impact of the housing crisis on home values and hom...
Read Post [Posted on 05/18/2013 By John Askins]
The National Association of Realtors forecasts existing home prices will rise an average of 8 percent nationwide this year and 5 percent next year. Some say that the market can continue the recovery with a modest increase in interest rates. Some question this. Will higher interest rates impact home sales? Will rising interest rates cause home prices to fall?The Washington Business Journal has the ...
Read Post [Posted on 05/17/2013 By Alex Handley]
Here are some good pointers for your clients and
perhaps even you as well in case you're in need of a brush up.
Conventional loans and loans obtained through the Federal Housing Administration
(FHA) both have their advantages and drawbacks. The major difference between
the two types of financing is that conventional loans do not carry the same
number of stipulations as loans secur...
Read Post [Posted on 05/17/2013 By Ronald Espinoza]
Though they probably didn’t realize it, Texans started paying more this month for title insurance, already one of the biggest costs associated with buying or refinancing a home.The price hike, quietly approved in March by the state insurance commissioner, is the first in 22 years. Aaron Day, a lobbyist for the Texas Land Title Association, said the 3.8 percent increase was justified by data submit...
Read Post [Posted on 05/16/2013 By John Askins]
Would-be borrowers who have credit scores below 620 are increasingly
being denied a mortgage, struggling to meet lenders’ more stringent
underwriting standards, Elizabeth Duke, member of the Board of Governors
for the Federal Reserve System, told attendees at the recent Housing
Policy Executive Council.
From 2007 to 2012, mortgage originations for borrowers who had a
credit score ...
Read Post [Posted on 05/16/2013 By John Askins]
Reports filed by banks flagging suspicious activity in mortgage loans
dropped for the first time in 16 years, falling nearly 30 percent last
year, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reports.
Beginning in 1996, mortgage loan fraud had been the only suspicious
activity report that saw rises each year. According to the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, nearly 46 percent of al...
Read Post [Posted on 05/16/2013 By John Askins]
