Michigan Mortgage Pulse

end is near 0

Will Fannie Mae’s New Collateral Underwriter™ Crush the Appraisal Process?

If you have been anywhere near lending or real estate social media lately, you have seen a great deal of news about what FNMA will be doing with appraisals. Much of the chatter would lead one to believe that we are facing a world of chronic low appraisals, delays in closings, & increased costs for consumers. Not to mention an almost Armageddon-like stifling of property values. Much of this remains to be seen, & like all new things, it can be difficult to separate fact from “distortion”. My personal expectation on all of this is that we will see “evolution”,...

shell game 1

What is a “PMI Advantage”?

An agent partner of mine asked about a loan program that he heard advertised on the radio. One of our competitors (to remain nameless) is advertising a mortgage program billed as “PMI Advantage”. The advertisement states “PMI can cost you thousands. Let us pay the PMI so you don’t have to“. Who would pass up an offer like that? Heck, if an airline tells me “let us pay your baggage fee so you don’t have to”, that would be music to my ears! That is, until I discovered that the airline ticket itself will cost me substantially more. Here is the inside...

411a 0

Change Coming For FHA Mortgage Insurance

HUD is making some long awaited changes to the cost of FHA mortgage insurance. These changes are definitely for the better, & will bring reductions to the monthly mortgage payment for folks that obtain an FHA mortgage after this change is made. When a homebuyer obtains an FHA mortgage, they pay mortgage insurance to HUD to protect the lender against default. This is similar to PMI on a conventional loan. The FHA mortgage insurance is paid in two fashions: first an “up front” lump sum payment is made, & this amount is typically rolled into the mortgage. For a standard FHA...

mortgage a condo 0

What Does it Take to Finance a Condo? Part 2

As discussed in part 1 of this topic, obtaining a mortgage on a condominium presents additional hurdles that do not exist when financing a standard home. This previous post delved into the “nuts & bolts” aspects of a condominium, & why it is different than financing a free standing home. In this post, we’ll get down to the nitty-gritty, & talk about what can make a condo approve-able, or “warrantable” in mortgage speak. We will also explore some things that can simply make a condo project ineligible for most types of financing. The items below are relevant to “conventional” mortgage financing of...

mortgage a condo 0

What Does It Take To Finance A Condo? Part 1 of 2

So did your last condo transaction feel more like a hobbit adventure into Mordor than a standard real estate deal? If so, that is definitely understandable. Financing a condominium can have an unpredictable outcome, which nobody ever wants in a transaction. What is it about condominium financing that adds such a layer of complexity? Over the next few posts, we will explore this topic.  We will identify unique condo financing criteria, as well as tips to hopefully smooth out this process to ensure a successful closing. Let’s start by looking at the factors that make financing a condominium different than...

rates up 0

Mortgage Rate Update, March 7th, 2013. Rates Up on Strong Employment Data

Today, the Department of Labor reported that 175,000 jobs were added last month. This is higher than analysts were expecting. Consensus called for about 100,000 jobs to be added. This positive news for the economy will undoubtedly cause mortgage rates to rise somewhat. We will find 30 year fixed rate conventional mortgages in the high 4% range, & 15 year  fixed rate conventional loans will struggle to remain below 4%. In an unusual inversion, government loans (FHA & VA) along with jumbo mortgages (loans greater than $417,000) are running somewhat lower than conventional loans, by about 1/4%. These loans are...

arm loan2 0

Are Homebuyers “Breaking Bad” By Embracing ARM Loans Again?

OK, a confession here. The title of this blog post was meant to grab attention. Certainly there is no intent to imply that homebuyers that choose an adjustable rate mortgage fall into the same category as our wayward friend, Walter White. That said, during the financial collapse of 2008, ARM loans were cast into the fire and vilified as one of the elements that contributed to the collapse. Truthfully during that time, the fact that a mortgage was an ARM wasn’t typically the primary problem. Subprime loans, & loans that did not verify income were often written as ARM loans,...

rates steady 0

Mortgage Rate Update, February 25th, 2014

Mortgage interest rates continue to remain favorable, & over the past few months, there has been very little “trending”, either up or down. The U.S. 10 year treasury note has bounced between a yield of 2.60% & 3.0% over the last three months, which is a fairly tame range. The 10 year note is often viewed as a market bellwether, & mortgage rates tend to follow the direction of this treasury security. Thirty year fixed rate mortgage loans remain in the 4.5-4.75% range, & fifteen year fixed rate mortgaged remain below 4.0%. These rates assume that no points are being paid, and will...

frasier-running-with-scissors_2624622_GIFSoup.com 0

5 Things That Buyers Must Not Do When Applying For A Mortgage

Texting while driving. Not looking both ways when crossing the street. And Frasier Crane running with scissors. The dangerous things that we shouldn’t do in life are endless. In a similar way, there are things that homebuyers simply cannot do when applying for a mortgage. Many years ago, I sat in on a training session for new real estate agents, & the trainer was doing a great job talking about farming, networking, marketing, and all the things that an agent must do to build their business. She then went into great detail on the mechanics of putting together a good...

rates steady 0

Interest Rate Update, January 31st, 2014

Interest rates have remained flat to slightly lower over the course of the last week. The Federal Reserve ended their most recent FOMC meeting this past Wednesday. This was the last FOMC meeting to be chaired by Ben Bernanke, & the new Fed chairperson, Janet Yellen takes the wheel from here. The meeting was anti-climatic, lending credence to the lack of movement of interest rates. The Fed is continuing down its path to taper it’s purchase of government bonds. As expected, they reduced their “quantitative easing” purchase by another $10 billion, which was widely anticipated. Mortgage interest rates on a 30 year...