Purchasing a home or refinancing a mortgage? Now is a fantastic time to consider taking out a home loan. Mortgage rates are still at ridiculous lows and home affordability has never been more attractive. The question everybody asks when getting a mortgage is “what interest rate am I going to get or what is your…
If you live in or own real estate in Sonoma County and need to refinance, the Harp 2.0 Refinance Program could be just the ticket to successfully reducing your interest rate and monthly mortgage payment. The Making Homes Affordable Program lifted their maximum loan-to-value requirements on March 18, 2012 for loans owned by Fannie Mae…
Purchasing a house is one thing, successfully closing escrow on a purchase mortgage loan is something else entirely. The top three mistakes home buyers and real estate agents make has nothing to do with mortgage loan financing and everything to do with the real estate purchase contract. “Anything specified, spelled out or added to a…
Any home buyer putting less than 20% down today has probably been offered or researched the possibility of using a government loan to buy a home. Government loans offer flexible financing alternatives to the standard 20% down conventional loan. Although government loans do contain monthly mortgage insurance, these options allow for a more complete story…
In 2011, Fannie Mae introduced to the mortgage market, the Delayed Financing Rule, effectively allowing a home buyer to pay cash for a property and then immediately re-mortgage that money back post closing on a new refinance transaction. Since 2011, Fannie Mae has been offering this product, but hasn’t had much effect in Sonoma County…
“FHA ANNOUNCES PRICE CUTS TO ENCOURAGE STREAMLINE REFINANCING Millions of FHA borrowers could save average of $3,000 a year WASHINGTON – Today, Acting Federal Housing (FHA) Commissioner Carol Galante announced significant price cuts to FHA’s Streamline Refinance Program that could benefit millions of borrowers whose mortgages are currently insured by FHA. Beginning June 11, 2012,…
Not a week goes by when we are not asked “how soon can you buy a home or refinance a mortgage with a previous foreclosure, short sale or bankruptcy”. As the market continues to improve, many people are still seeking mortgage loans. Home buying opportunities have never been more affordable coupled with the low interest…
Buying a house is certainly a smart financial move given low mortgage rates and the most affordable home prices, ever. Each market is different so for our purposes we will be looking at the Sonoma County California housing market. Following is what you can expect if you plan to purchase a house in Sonoma County…