Show me the MORTGAGE money!

WSJ ...Sellers Brace for New Mortgage Caps

October Change Is Meant to Reduce the Government Footprint in Housing, but Industry Fears It Could Lead to Lower Prices

By NICK TIMIRAOS And ALAN ZIBEL

The federal government is readying its first retreat from the mortgage market, with the size of loans eligible for government backing set to decline in October

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Realtors: Assisting the Appraiser is....

a GOOD thing. Hey you're the good guys, and they are the good guys too!

Let's face it, they have a job to do, coming up with a fair market value, and no one is getting a mortgage without an appraisal! So, let's make their job as easy as possible. Here are a few suggestions:

1) In all likelihood you as the Realtor are the contact for the appraiser to gain access to the property. Make yourself available, and make contact with the appraiser as quickly as possible. (The lender should provide the appraiser with contact info for the Realtor). The faster the appraiser can get into the property the faster the appraisal can get done. No appraisal, no approval, no mortgage.

2) Meet the appraiser at the property. Assist the appraiser with introduction to the homeowner and access to the property.

3) By all means provide the appraiser with the best comps available!!! They will verify them and check for others anyway, but this is a great assist, and the worst that can happen is the appraiser says no thanks.

Saving the appraiser time and effort will speed your transaction and at the very least create a good working relationship with a needed and respected real estate professional.

 

First Impressions Matter

Looking to convince dubious sellers that smart upgrades are worth it? This year’s Cost vs. Value Report, by Remodeling magazine, provides ample support. The annual survey uses input from REALTORS® in 80 cities to rank home remodeling projects according to those that bring the greatest cost recovered at resale. And looking at the five projects that topped the list, it’s clear that first impressions really do matter when sellers list their home.

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Despite the uptick Jumbo rates up to $1,000,000 are still below....

5% for a 30 year fixed. Below 4% for a 5 year ARM. Underwriting is a bit stricter, and credit scores are more important than ever, but there continues to be plenty of money available in the conforming and jumbo categories.

Loans over $729,000 require at least 20% down.

Survey: Americans Growing More Cautious on Housing

By Nick Timiraos

Americans’ attitudes about owning a home dipped slightly during the third quarter, according to a Fannie Mae survey.

Some 68% of those surveyed think it’s a good time to buy a home, down two percentage points from June, while the number of Americans who think it’s a bad time to buy increased by three percentage points, to 29%. The number of those surveyed who think it’s a bad time to sell also increased by two percentage points to 85%.

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Mortgage rates ease a bit....

Lower treasury yields are easing mortgage rates a bit.

Home value estimator uses 2 indicators....

Check on home value here: HOME VALUE ESTIMATOR

Putting less than 20% down? Think Single Premium MI....

Single Premium MI

With Single Premium MI, homebuyers enjoy monthly payments that are lower than they would be with traditional mortgage insurance, FHA loans or combination loans. A single premium is either paid in full at closing or financed into the loan, and provides coverage until the loan amortizes to 78% of the original value. With Refundable Single Premium MI, any unused portion of the premium can be refunded if the MI cancels within five years.

Mortgage Insurance Simple Answers

What are the Benefits of MI?

Mortgage insurance can help a homebuyer qualify for a home with a lower down payment, buy the home sooner, stop paying rent faster, and claim more. Of course, buying a home sooner accelerates building equity and longer-term benefits of homeownership. Even if the homebuyer can make a 20% or more down payment, using mortgage insurance to put less money down potentially makes money available for investments, home improvements or education.

Is it Smarter to Choose a Loan with MI over Other Alternatives?

In today’s market, a safer loan is a smarter loan, and borrowers are finding the safety and security of an MI loan much more appealing than other loan types. Mortgage insurance not only helps people get into a home sooner, it offers payment predictability throughout the life of the loan and several programs to help families maintain homeownership should a financial hardship occur. Plus, mortgage insurance keeps the window of opportunity open for a second mortgage, if desired, in the future.

Hoenig to Realtors: Wean Housing Off Government Intervention

DJ Newswires Bradley Davis reports:

The boom-and-bust nature of the housing markets in recent decades needs to be addressed by weaning the market from “governmental intervention and public subsidies that have distorted the market,” said Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Thomas Hoenig at the National Association of Realtors conference in New Orleans on Friday.

 

read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/11/05/hoenig-to-realtors-wean-housing-off-government-intervention/