Archive for the ‘Mortgage Costs’ Category
Monday, August 11th, 2008
A few weeks ago, I posted some information about the then-pending bailout bills which have now been signed into law. The bill, I noted, was a divisive one both in Congress and among Americans. I also noted that a number of people who I talked to felt that bailing out ...
Posted in Foreclosure, Mortgage Costs, Mortgage Laws | No Comments »
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
"You looked hard to find the right house. You negotiated the right price and shopped around for the best mortgage rate. But you're not done shopping yet."
So begins the article by Washington Post reporter Renae Merle, recently republished in the Chicago Tribune. Noting that a study conducted by HUD early ...
Posted in HUD, Housing Options, Mortgage Costs, RateWindow, Transparency | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
After all these years in the mortgage industry, you'd think that I'd get tired of reading stories about our business and all of the changes in it. But I have to admit that the advent of the internet and all of its easily-accessible information made my mortgage news addiction even ...
Posted in Housing Options, Mortgage Costs, RateWindow, Transparency | 5 Comments »
Friday, July 18th, 2008
There are some times when I just have to shake my head. One of those days was last Friday, when the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) issued its press release regarding the closure of IndyMac Bank and its transfer to the FDIC.
In that release, OTS Director John Reich was quoted ...
Posted in Foreclosure, Mortgage Costs, Real Estate | 2 Comments »
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Don't you think it's fascinating that some members of Congress are doing their darndest to drag down the mortgage industry-when in fact, they may have benefited from some of the "wrongdoing"?
Senator Dodd (D-Connecticut) is the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and has been at the forefront of those calling ...
Posted in FHA, HUD, Housing Options, Mortgage Costs, Real Estate | 2 Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Just last week in my blog I suggested that now might be the best time to take advantage of low interest rates. While the Fed hasn't made any adjustments in the federal funds rate, and is unlikely to do so until early next year according to market experts, interest rates ...
Posted in Foreclosure, Housing Options, Mortgage Costs, Real Estate | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
What would you do if today, while you were out driving around town, you saw a station open for business and advertising its gas for $1.99 a gallon? There's an open pump, and you're running low on gas. Would you drive by thinking that you'd find a better price on ...
Posted in Housing Options, Mortgage Costs | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
In a previous blog, I talked about FHA's change to a credit-score based MIP (mortgage insurance premium). This is good news for folks who need the benefits that come with FHA loans (i.e. lower down payments and higher debt-to-income ratios) but who have exercised good sense when it comes to ...
Posted in ARM, FHA, Housing Options, Mortgage Costs, Mortgage Laws, RateWindow | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
From the time that mortgage companies started using FICO scores in the mid-1990s to gauge a borrower's so-called "credit worthiness", there has been a common belief that the higher a person's income, the higher his credit score would be. According to a recent article by Kenneth Harney, that appears to ...
Posted in FHA, Housing Options, Mortgage Costs | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
My friend Julie always had the worst luck when it came to real estate. If there was a wrong time to buy or sell a home, she would find it. After some friends bought a condominium, they encouraged her to buy one in the same complex. She paid a little ...
Posted in Housing Options, Mortgage Costs, Real Estate | No Comments »
