SOURCE Getting a mortgage is no simple task: It’s a complex and time-consuming process, and perhaps one of the most significant events of our lives, at least in financial terms. Here are ten potential pitfalls to avoid: 1. Not checking your credit: Long before you begin searching for a mortgage, you should know where you [...]
SOURCE Getting a mortgage loan has become challenging in recent years. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon. Lending standards will remain tight in 2012, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to snag a mortgage with an attractive rate. Savvy borrowers who understand the rules and prepare will improve their chances of success. [...]
If your New Year’s resolutions include buying a house or refinancing, the Federal Reserve has you covered. It has committed to keep long-term interest rates low through next year, so a 30-year mortgage will be pegged about where it is now — 4.32 percent in New York — at least through spring, said Frank E. [...]
WITH interest rates at historic lows, the expansion of a federal refinancing program could help more homeowners who owe more than their property is worth move out of higher-rate or adjustable loans into something more affordable and stable. The biggest change to the plan, called the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, raises the debt [...]
Like millions of other homeowners, William D. Compton would like to refinance his mortgage so that he pays less each month for his three-bedroom house in Gulf Breeze, Fla. With the savings, he figures he could afford a few extra movies and restaurant dinners or he could buy a new stove and brakes for his [...]
SOURCE WASHINGTON — Two big questions loom over the Obama administration’s latest bid to help troubled homeowners: Will it work? And who would benefit? By easing eligibility rules, the administration hopes 1 million more homeowners will qualify for its refinancing program and lower their mortgage payments — twice the number who have already. The program [...]
SOURCE IN recent years, lenders have stepped up fraud-prevention investigations and checks on mortgage applications. For borrowers, this may mean facing questions on actions like accepting cash gifts from relatives for the down payment or signing up for new credit cards during the application process. The research firm CoreLogic estimates that fraudulent residential mortgage originations [...]
Source MANY whose homes have fallen in value feel stranded with underwater mortgages. ***** “A lot of people have been sitting and not doing anything,” said Cari Sweet-Kostoplis, a senior mortgage banker at Atlantic Home Loans in Lincoln Park, N.J. But they may qualify to refinance their loans through a variety of programs aimed at [...]
Buying a home can be wonderful, but for those with past credit problems, the process is also very intimidating. The good news is that many lenders have adapted to the idea that many hopeful homeowners simply need a second chance. When life unexpectedly takes a turn for the worst, it’s not always possible to come out without a [...]
The Stimulus First Time Home Buyer Plan Can Now Be Used as a Down Payment! The Federal Housing Administration issued guidelines that will allow first-time homebuyers to apply the federal tax credit of up to $8,000 toward the purchase of a home with an FHA-backed mortgage. Are you thinking about buying a home? Are you [...]
