A large percentage of the potential home-buyers I speak to have a basic knowledge of how credit scores influence the interest rate received when they finance their home purchase. Most understand the basic principal: The higher their credit scores, the lower their interest rate. I read a CNBC article today entitled, “How poor credit costs […]
The Many Ways Poor Credit Scores Cost You Read More »
I wrote recently about Fannie Mae’s announcement regarding the extension of the waiting period for those Buyers hoping to become Homeowners once again after having experienced a Short Sales (Pre-Foreclosures). The waiting period is now extended out to 4 years … regardless of Loan-to-Value considerations (or Down Payment percentages). Naturally, there’s been a wide range
Waiting Periods After Short Sale, Foreclosure, Bankruptcy Read More »
Definition of Debt-to-Income Ratio: The figure that represents how much of your income is spent repaying your recurring monthly debts. The HIGHER your Debt-to-Income Ratio is, the more of your monthly income is being devoted to paying back your debts. Formula Used to Find Your Debt-to-Income Ratio: Monthly debts owed divided by monthly income. This
The ABCs of DTIs – Debt-to-Income Ratios Read More »
Because the current interest rate environment remains conducive to refinancing, a concern that some have about taking action stems from confusion related to how their property taxes are determined, and specifically the question, “Will refinancing cause my property taxes to go up?” It goes without saying that nobody wants to save money via refinance, only to
Will Refinancing Cause my Property Taxes to Go Up? Read More »
Recently, I’ve been asked by many Realtors and Attorneys to help finance a client looking to buy another property after or during their divorce … Because of the frequency of this scenario, I’ve been reminded that there’s a large amount of misunderstanding and erroneous information surrounding this delicate topic. Below are some examples of the
How do Divorces Affect Marital Property? Read More »
Veterans of the Mortgage Industry can remember a time when clients suffering errors or inaccuracies within their Credit Report, were typically advised to “dispute” those errors … But because of recent changes that have taken place in the Mortgage Industry’s Automated Underwriting Systems (commonly referred to as AUS), the advice given to current mortgage clients
How to Dispute Credit Report Errors During Mortgage Process Read More »
If you’re presently in a house hunt, or even just dabbling with the idea of buying a home, you’ve probably done some research and run across multiple articles regarding the current Mortgage Process … and its challenges … You’ve probably also heard that you’ll be asked to submit plenty of documentation regarding your finances (savings,
Looking to Buy a Condominium? What You Need to Know Read More »
The final decision to Refinance your existing Mortgage (or not), should be based on one simple thing. It must make good financial sense …That decision is often times determined by the length of time you, as a Homeowner, “guesstimates” you’ll own your loan (i.e., stay in your present home). A good rule-of-thumb is that the monthly payment savings
Is Now the Time for You to Sell Your Home and Buy the Next? Read More »
It happens fairly frequently … While reading through a potential Mortgage Applicant’s Credit Report, I’ll discover that many of their reported debts and Credit Cards were first established while they were in college. And now years later, they’re still trying to pay off those debts. Yes, it’s true. The Credit Card Act (signed
Heading to College? Protect Your Finances For The Future Read More »
From a Mortgage Lender’s perspective, the most complicated Mortgage Applicant is often the Applicant that is Self-Employed. Why? Full Documentation Loan Files are demanded in today’s Mortgage lending. IRS transcripts are requested (and received) on the vast majority of Mortgage Loan Applications. With Self-Employed Borrowers, the only way to verify income
Are You Self-Employed and Hoping to Get a Mortgage? Read More »
