One night last week, I got home bright and early at 8:00 PM after a busy day of networking and loan applications. I opened my mail, and near about flipped. There on my credit card statement it said: “11/xx Late Fee: $39.00” People who know me well will tell you that I’m not a person who gets terr
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12/15/2008
Today's buzzword in buying a reasonably priced home is "foreclosure". Foreclosed homes sell anywhere from 20%-60% lower than non-foreclosed homes, making their pricing much more attractive, but there are hurdles to overcome, especially when it comes to property condition. Even though the home i
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12/08/2008
In spite of an unprecedented move by the Federal Reserve on November 25th to purchase $600 billion in mortgage-related assets, the spread between mortgage and treasury rates remained at its highest level on record for the week ending December 4th, closing at 2.96%. Investors sought the safety of
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12/05/2008
Phew, what a busy couple of days! I’m sure at this point you’ve been inundated with emails from loan officers since yesterday morning, so I probably don’t need to tell you that many buyers are qualifying for 5.5% with no points today. We saw a huge drop yesterday in rates, so, rather than harping
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11/26/2008
I only have a minute to post right now, but I wanted to make sure you're aware that there has been a dramatic shift in mortgage pricing this morning. This morning the Fed announced it was going to buy $600 Billion in mortgage assets. This has had a huge impact on rates, with most mortgage rates
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11/25/2008
Earlier this year, we learned that the Jumbo mortgage was going to be a bit bigger for a time. For a year, the limit for mortgages purchasable by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was temporarily increased from $417,000 to as high as $729,750 through the beginning of 2009 as a component of the Economic
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11/24/2008
Many of you who work in Connecticut are familiar with a very effective First-Time Homebuyer mortgage program offered by the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority. The CHFA Homebuyer Mortgage Program follows most FHA guidelines, but is restricted in regards to the buyers' income, and offers subsi
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11/17/2008
Last week, we looked at some of the most significant factors that are considered in condominium approval. Let’s examine the 5 methods allowed for approval of a specific condo. Fannie Mae / FHA Approval Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Administration used to approve condominiums following an exh
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11/03/2008
I’m going to open this up this article with a shocking revelation: Condominiums are not the same as single-family homes. Lenders do not view condominiums in the same way as single-family homes. There are additional risks that are considered, additional documentation that must be obtained, the re
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10/31/2008
Last Wednesday, I gave a brief presentation on the state of the financial market. I thought it would be of value to share it here, too. I hope this helps to make the current situation a bit more understandable. Capital Markets are based on the assumption that low-cost short-term (overnight) cre
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10/14/2008
