RECENT BLOG POSTS
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March Madness Contest Round 2 - Sweet 16 The results are in and are posted in here or in .pdf format here. I want to thank Jon Kolsky for double-checking my numbers. There were a couple of close match-ups this round. The closest of which was Nina Hollander and Dick Greenberg. After counting an...
03/11/2015
Condo Unit Financing Almost Killed Due to Reserve Contribution Last week a loan officer friend of mine contacted me regarding a loan he had in process. At the 11th hour, the lender was rejecting the conventional (Fannie Mae) loan based on the association’s contribution to the reserve account. ...
03/10/2015
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March Blogging Madness Contest - Round 1 Thank you all for submitting your articles. Because we had 33 participants we created a 32-person bracket which you can view here or if you prefer the .pdf version you can use this. Round 1 looks like this… West Jon Kolsky vs Chris Webb Christine Donovan ...
03/06/2015
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March Madness Contest Hello all! March is upon us and for those who live in snow regions know that spring is around the corner. Those of us in the Northeast wish that it would come very quickly this year! But for much of the country, it’s March Madness time and even those who don’t watch or fol...
03/02/2015
Importance of 10% Reserve Contribution to Condo Unit Financing If you know anything about FHA condominium project approvals, you know that it requires that associations annually contribute 10% of its budget to a reserve fund. This account must be held separately from the operating account. But ...
02/19/2015
Fannie Mae Reintroduces 97% Financing for Condominium Units Last week Fannie Mae announced the reintroduction of 97% financing for single-family homes, PUD units and condominium units. This program would compete directly with FHA 96.5% financing...or will it? From our experience, when Fannie Mae...
02/18/2015
97% Financing - Fannie Mae Releases Selling Guide 1.27.15 Fannie Mae released its updated version of the Selling Guide on January 27, 2015. The majority of the changes stem from its earlier announcement to reintroduce 97% financing for single-family homes. It had previously capped the loan-to-v...
01/28/2015
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What Does Undivided Ownership Interest Mean? Probably one of the most distinct features of condominium ownership lies in the concept of “undivided ownership interest” of the common elements. All unit owners as members of the condominium’s association share ownership of the common elements. First...
01/22/2015
FHA Announces Reduction in Monthly Mortgage Insurance On Friday, December 9, 2015, HUD released Mortgagee Letter 15-01 which announced a 0.50% (50 bps) reduction of the FHA monthly mortgage insurance on most forward mortgages with terms greater than 15 years. This comes on the heels of months of...
01/13/2015
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Why Do I Keep Hearing About 24CFR203.41? After working with FHA Condominium Project Approvals even for a short time, you will run into a condominium’s legal documents that violate 24CFR203.41. This section of the Code of Federal Regulations relate to the exemptions of what is called “free assuma...
12/11/2014