Out: Exotic Loans, 100% financing; In: FHA, VHDA!
April 28, 2008 by Katie Wethman · Leave a Comment
FHA is back with a vengeance. It’s a key tool in the current lending environment for getting buyers qualified with only a 3% down payment (with gifts permitted in certain circumstances.) There are a few extra hoops to jump through, but I find more and more buyers are utilizing FHA now that the [...]
FAQ: Mortgage Loans – Conforming, Jumbos, FHA, Jumbo Lights
March 28, 2008 by Katie Wethman · 1 Comment
Although I’m not a mortgage broker or lender, I get a lot of questions from my clients and in my first time homebuyer classes about interest rates, points, and fees. There’s a lot of confusion out there right now about what the conforming limits are, how FHA works, and what the stimulus package impact [...]
Fed Rate Cut – Why Didn’t Mortgage Rates Fall Much?
January 23, 2008 by Katie Wethman · 2 Comments
The Fed’s emergency three-quarters of a point rate cut didn’t have much impact on mortgage rates…or did it? Well, it did and it didn’t (don’t you love answers like that)? The bottom line is that the Fed Funds rate certainly impacts mortgage rates, but sometimes indirectly, and surprisingly, sometimes they can move in [...]
First Time Buyer Assistance Programs
October 21, 2007 by Katie Wethman · Leave a Comment
Believe it or not, this is a perfect time to start planning for a home purchase in the spring, especially if you’re a first time buyer. The reason I say that is that I find it takes most of my first time buyer clients at least 3 months from the time they first speak [...]
FAQ: Earnest Money Deposits
August 5, 2007 by Katie Wethman · Leave a Comment
I love the Post’s Saturday Real Estate Mailbag. There’s always something interesting in there. (Though if you read it long enough, you do start to see the same questions over and over.) Here’s a good tried-but-true one that I often get from clients — how much should you put as earnest money? What IS “earnest [...]
"Junk Fees"
June 26, 2007 by Katie Wethman · 2 Comments
The Washington Post had a good, though short, Q&A on “Junk Fees” from mortgage lenders. Many people know BoA has a big promotion running right now for their “no fee mortgage plus” which advertises $0 closing fees and $0 application fees, with no PMI. (Update July 2007: See the article about whether BoA’s [...]
The Best "Rent vs. Buy" Calculator
April 15, 2007 by Katie Wethman · 4 Comments
Thanks, Mary Ellen, for sharing this cool link with me: One of the best Rent vs. Buy calculators I’ve seen, especially for the visually-oriented and “what if” type of people:
Rent vs. Buy Calculator
Check out the “Advanced Settings,” especially on Buying, where you can enter such things as condo fees (count on at least $250-300) [...]
FAQ: What is PMI?
April 15, 2007 by Katie Wethman · Leave a Comment
Private Morgage Insurance (PMI) is required by a lender when a buyer has less than 20% or the purchase price as a downpayment (this is where the “I need 20% down” myth originated.) The buyer pays the premium but the lender is actually the one insured. Once the equity in the property reaches [...]
