Category: Mortgage
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The Big Tease: Look Out for Rising Interest on a Home Equity Line of Credit
Once you get a deed to your own home, you have special wealth-building powers. Pay off the mortgage faithfully month by month, and you own increasing home equity. This is how your home turns into value you can tap when you need or want it. A home equity line of credit (HELOC) gives you an account…
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Fall of Florida’s Champlain Towers South Prompts Changes in Condo Loan Rules
Conventional mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have solidified updated policies for loans to condo buyers. There are a few new requirements now going into effect, to be part of these loan-backing giants’ permanent rules. They’d only been temporary provisions until now. Here’s a Q&A to answer some basic questions on the new rules.
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Our Mortgage Loans: How They Became What They Are Today
Those were the days? Before the New Deal in the 1930s, a well-paid working person had to put somewhere around 40% down to buy a home. It would be up to a building and loan association (B&L) to say yes to the loan. The borrower made large loan payments twice a year. The lender would…
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Mortgage Forbearance, Continued: Is Pandemic Assistance Still Available?
In 2020, a federal law called the CARES Act offered support for homeowners and renters coping with the impacts of a pandemic. Millions of homeowners requested and received mortgage forbearance. Most recently, in March 2023, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac renewed and enhanced their plans that let hard-hit homeowners defer up to six months of…
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Small Mortgages for Modest Homes: Where Are They?
Many renters, facing rising housing costs, feel stuck. They would love to buy a modest home. They’d love a modest loan to go with it. But… Try finding a mortgage to buy a home under $150,000 these days. Where small mortgages are available, the people who want them get turned down more often than people…
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Did Biden Raise Mortgage Fees for Borrowers With Good Credit to Help People With Bad Credit?
In May 2023, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rolled out a new upfront fee structure for mortgages. Some critics have claimed President Joe Biden is helping people with bad credit at the expense of people with good credit. Some call it the Biden Rule — a green light for risky borrowers, and a sign that…
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Light at the End of the Tunnel? New Credit Score Models Are Coming
For every 15 people banks approve for mortgage loans, one applicant gets turned away. That one person is likely to be a member of a minority group. And the barrier could be a credit score. But at least some good news is on the horizon: a credit scoring system designed to recognize the real-life financial…
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Will the Cost of Borrowing a 30-Year Mortgage Ever Come Back Down? Are There Better Alternatives?
The red-hot real estate market might have cooled somewhat. But with housing in relatively short supply, affordability is hard to come by. The major hurdles for buyers right now? Down payments, mortgage payments, and interest. There are no simple hacks to work around these hurdles. But there are a few indicators worth watching closely.
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What’s a Green Mortgage? Energy-Efficient Mortgage Lets a Borrower Ask for More
Are you thinking of buying a home that could use some energy upgrades? Maybe the HVAC, water heater, or windows are old and inefficient. A “green mortgage” — known to lenders as an energy-efficient mortgage, or EEM, — allows buyers to finance energy upgrades through a mortgage that allows a little extra borrowing to cover…
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Thinking About an FHA Mortgage in 2023? Here’s What You Need to Know
Let’s start with the good news. This month, the government cut the amount of private mortgage insurance needed by people with FHA-backed home loans. This will benefit hundreds of thousands of people. Most will be modest-income mortgage applicants, primarily first-time home buyers. Here’s the scoop on this — plus a few other things relevant to…
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Maine Legalized Remote Online Notaries. Are We One Step Closer to Fully Digital Mortgages?
This year, Maine will become the 40th state to allow remote online notarization (RON). The new state standards take effect in July 2023. The American Land Title Association (ALTA) supports this move. ALTA is backing remote online notary legislation at the national level, too. It’s pressing for the SECURE Notarization Act, which would establish an…
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What Jerome Powell’s Up To (And Why Home Buyers Care)
The chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, calls the shots for U.S. monetary policies. And yes, we could say the recent change in the real estate market has a lot to do with the Fed. Chair Powell, concerned about a sudden rise in inflation, announced a series of interest rate hikes in 2022.…