Whether you are a seller or a buyer in the real estate transactions, you must always thing in the long term of the real estate market. There are several factors that can influence tomorrow’s market and you must be prepared for both ups and downs. To sell your home for a profitable price, you must ensure that your house in good condition. This is because, buyers usually look for homes in to which they can move in immediately without having to get many things repaired. However, if you are relocating, then you must decide whether you wish to sell your current home and buy a new home in the new lo... Read more

For Mortgages, 620 is The New Magic Number

Near historic low mortgage rates, favorable home prices, and the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers have contributed to home purchases in the past year. However, the onset of the credit crisis, new regulations for home appraisals, and more stringent guidelines for purchases and refinances have resulted in confusion for some potential home buyers.


While using a mortgage broker to find the best loan may work for some buyers, it may not always be the best route. In the past, mortgage brokers could “shop” a loan to multi... Read more

Real Estate - A Great Long Term Investment

GreatWest GMAC Real Estate professionals know real estate is a good long-term investment. Although home values have stalled or experienced decline in recent years, longer snapshots in time have proved real estate to be a fantastic investment.

Let’s consider one scenario provided by a real estate professional. If someone were fortunate enough to buy a home even in 2002 and paid $500,000. If they put 20% down, there mortgage was $400,000. That home went all the way up to $800,000 in 2005 and is now only worth $560,000. They likely ref... Read more

Find The Best Deal On Home Refinancing

http://www.kcra.com/family/19402420/detail.html


(ARA) - Like so many Americans, you may have a balloon mortgage that is coming due or you’ve had an unexpected financial hit such as a large hospital bill or a job loss that has made your current mortgage payments unreasonable. If so, refinancing your mortgage can be a great way to save money every month.

Refinancing your mortgage also lets you consolidate other debt, such as credit card balances, into one low-interest loan. You may also want to consider converting some ... Read more

July 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. home prices had the smallest annual drop in 10 months, signaling the free fall of property values is abating in the three-year housing slump at the center of a global recession.

Prices declined 5.6 percent in May from a year earlier and rose 0.9 from April, the Federal Housing Finance Agency in Washington said today. Economists expected a 0.2 percent drop for the month, according to the median of 16 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

“We saw a rebound of home prices in some parts of the country in part because the share of distressed sales dipped,”... Read more

Home Affordable refi program expanded

Loan-to-value ceiling raised from 105% to 125%
By Inman News, Wednesday, July 1, 2009.

http://www.inman.com/news/2009/07/1/home-affordable-refi-program-expanded

Inman News

Homeowners who are up to 125 percent underwater will be allowed to refinance under the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Refinance Program if they are current on their payments and their loan is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

The federal regulator overseeing Fannie and Freddie has boosted the program’s ... Read more

Home Front: Despite programs meant to help, many homeowners still frustrated

By Jim Wasserman
jwasserman@sacbee.com

http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1978579.html


Day in and day out since 2007, callers who struggle with mortgages throughout the Sacramento region, those who can’t sleep for worrying, who want to stay with houses that have lost $150,000 in value, have phoned Home Front to fret and express a common sentiment.

"My lender," they say, is "difficult." Callers complain about long waits, bureaucratic snafus and a sense of not bei... Read more

Home Front: Lenders’ phones silent as rates rise

By Jim Wasserman
jwasserman@sacbee.com

http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1940229.html


Mortgage rates, rising quickly from near-historic lows earlier this year, are already having negative consequences in the capital region.

"All of a sudden the phones just stopped ringing," said Michael McGee, president of Rancho Cordova’s Winchester McGee Real Estate & Loans.

"At least right now, the refinance window has somewhat shut," added Brent Wilson, senior loan consultant at Sacrament... Read more

Rate-rise threatens economic relapse

http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/loubarnes/rate-rise-threatens-economic-relapse



The economic optimists are still in charge of markets, rates and stocks still rising. However, the divergence is widening between them and those worried about credit and latent weakness. It may take a month or two to figure whose stubbornness has merit.

Markets first, then new economic data.

The 10-year T-note has jumped to 3.85 percent this morning, the highest since last fall, and even two-year Treasurys rose in yield... Read more

Waiting game on low mortgage rates backfires

By Mark Glover
mglover@sacbee.com


http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/1903523.html


Sacramento-area homeowners and prospective first-time homebuyers might be wondering: Did we miss the boat on mortgage rates?

The short answer from experts is: Probably, but rates are still very attractive.

For 10 weeks, mortgage rates were riding well below 5 percent on 30-year loans, but housing and industry analysts speculated that many first-time homebuyers and homeowners looking to refinance existing mo... Read more

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s new rules are raising appraisal costs, critics say

http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-fi-harney17-2009may17,0,5903005.story

The rules, intended to improve the accuracy of home valuations, push most large lenders to use third-party appraisal management companies.


Reporting from Washington -- How about this scenario the next time you refinance or apply for a mortgage: The real estate appraisal that used to cost you $325 now costs $450, even though the appraiser doing the work is getting only $175 or $200.
Read more

Information on the Home Loan Program

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IN THE NEWS:

Effective immediately, Certificates of Eligibility will no longer display a veteran’s date of birth. This change was made to limit the amount of personal data being displayed on Certificates of Eligibility. Please note, however, that veterans will still need to provide their date of birth when submitting an application for a determination of eligibility in order to process their request.
<... Read more

The other morning a GreatWest GMAC Real Estate professional was brainstorming with another Realtor. Both agreed that in addition to helping buyers purchase property, and sellers to sell their homes, they had voluntarily taken up the shield, for helping past clients, friends and family, to stay in their economically challenged homes during these difficult times.

Currently, they were averaging one or two calls a day, running the gamut consisting of the following:

(1) A friend, who bought a house in the 1990s, built up equity, then put on a second mortgage to finance an improve... Read more

Co-signing FHA loan has strings attached

REThink Real Estate
By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Friday, May 15, 2009.

Inman News

http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/tara-nicholle-nelson/co-signing-fha-loan-has-strings-attached


Flickr photo by ethorson.Q: We have income that we are unable to document on our FHA loan application. We need to qualify for just $50,000 more than we are approved for. We have elected to have a co-signer, but we would like to have a co-signer release after 12 months of on-time payments built into the loan. We do not want o... Read more

A Record Low for Mortgage Rates, Again

Just one week after 30-year mortgage rates fell to a record low of 4.85 percent, the average dropped even further to 4.78 percent this week, Freddie Mac reported.

Refinancing activity has picked up because of the low rates, and the Mortgage Bankers Association says approximately 80 percent of mortgage applications came from borrowers seeking to refinance.

Source: Boston Globe (04/03/09)... Read more