mortgage

New FHA Home Mortgage Guidelines for April 2010

David Stevens who is the Assistant Secretary for Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner had the FHA issue new guidelines on January 21, 2010 to help reshape the government insured home mortgage agency and how it offers low down payment loans to home buyers. It is a little boring or even dry for Washington D.C., but important if you are planning to use this type of financing to purchase a home.

• Impacts loans assigned on April 5, 2010 and beyond
• Upfront mortgage insurance premium of 2.25% (yes, it still can be financed)
• FICO Scores above 580 can put 3.5% down payment
• FICO Scores below 580 must put 10% down payment
• The maximum Seller concessions shall be 3% (that’s a closing cost credit to the Buyer)
• Increase Enforcement of FHA lenders (this has been going on for the last 18 months)

That is it in a nutshell, and if you want to read the HUD Mortgagee Letter 2010-2 or the HUD.GOV gripping press release then enjoy the read!

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mortgage

McLean, VA | My Buyer Agent Snapshot of Mortgage Rates

As 2009 draws to a close, I have seen mortgage rates stay historically low and some McLean mortgage insiders forecast that they will stay low for the near term. The terrible economy has a lot to do with it… job insecurity, weak demand, and an unwillingness to enter into a 30 year relationship when rumors are easy to believe.

The truth is that if you have the job stability and some cash, then this is an amazing opportunity to buy a home.That is if you can find one that is worth buying since the supply of homes for sale is low… in Northern Virginia that is.

Today’s Home Buyers need a 5 to 10 year time horizon

So what are the rates that I see in Northern Virginia? Let’s take a look without naming names… but with 720+ FICO scores.

10% Down Payment, 30 year fixed, Sales Price up to $722,000 and the recent rate was 4.75% with 1.25 points.

5% Down Payment, 30 year fixed, Sales Price up to $438,900 and the recent rate was 4.875% with no points.

3.5% Down Payment, 30 year fixed FHA, max loan of $729,500 and the recent rate was4.875% with no points.

7-Year Conforming Jumbo ARM and the recent rate was 3.99% with no points.

15-Year Fixed had a recent rate of 4.25.

And loans up to the $1.5 million amount at rates of 5.625%!

If you currently have an adjustable rate loan tied to the LIBOR Rate, then take a look at the current 0.97% rate at BankRate.com .

I list these rates for information only and should be considered examples of mortgage rates available in Northern Virginia in December 2009. Also these are for new purchases and not for refinances which are typically slightly higher. Also, I am a licensed real estate agent and do not provide mortgages and have no affiliated business arrangements with any mortgage providers.

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mortgage

Your FICO Score will take a hit from Damage Points

Real Estate Agents have all wondered how FICO Scores are impacted when events happen to consumers, and FICO has released an informative chart that you need to see. It seems that if you have a high score and are 30 days late on your minimum payment then your penalty will actually be greater than someone who already has a lower score.

This great chart came to my attention from a post Justin McHood wrote at “The Phoenix Real Estate Guy.com” and I felt it was important to share. Consumers have a resposibility to manage their credit and can get a copy of their report either through a service like Equifax or free through AnnualCreditReport.com. Requesting a report to review will not negatively impact your score, but if you apply for a new BuyMore-Card then it can be a ding. Get it?

In a recent post of mine, I mentioned how important having a 720 or better score is when trying to get a mortgage, and how a real estate client had one error repeated three times impacting his FICO Score. Once cleared his score jumped 40 points!

So let’s be careful out there during the Holiday Season in Northern Virginia and not run our cards up to the max because that will damage your score 20+ points… even if you did it by accident. There are plenty of stories out there to keep you up at night. Keep it real because you need to keep your credit reputation as good as possible in today’s world. And remember that is important to examine your ratio of available credit to used credit… an important FICO Score variable.

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Refinancing a Virginia home has a special tax exemption…

Last week I attended a conference at George Mason University where a number of economists discussed many real estate related topics. One panelist, Dr. Frank Nothaft who is the Chief Economist of Freddie Mac, commented how mortgage rates are at almost 50 year lows and are probably going to remain low for the next 6-12 months.

So if that encouraged you to look into refinancing your home, please remember that Virginia residents who refinance with the same lender (read more) qualify for a recordation tax exemption. Compare rates but understand that this may save you some serious cash over those other lenders competing for your business.

I decided to regurgitate this post since rates have been up and down all year long, and some of you may be thinking about refinancing. There are plenty of mortgage people out there, but remember that I know some too that I am happy to refer!

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