About Government Refinance and Home Purchase Programs

With the global economy struggling the Fed decided to delay raising its baseline interest rates in September. As a result of that decision and the continuing gloomy news on the economy, mortgage interest rates have been slowly drifting lower again. The Fed seems anxious to raise rates again before the end of 2015 so there is a decent chance that mortgage interest rates will move higher in the next few months. If you have considered a refinance to a better rate, or a cash out refinance, or a refinance to remove or reduce PMI, contact us in the form in the sidebar. Mortgage interest rates are still near historical lows and odds are they won’t stay this low for long.

After hitting a trough in late January of 2015, mortgage interest rates have been slowly trending higher over the last 7 months. But recent economic troubles in Greece and China have begun spooking investors of the last few weeks. When investors get spooked they tend to look for safer investments, like U.S. treasury bonds. When more people buy U.S. bonds, the yields on this bonds decreases, and mortgage interest rates tend to follow suit. The net result has been a small improvement in mortgage interest rates over the last couple of weeks.

Rates remain very low by historical standards so this summer is still an excellent time to look into buying a home, refinancing to a lower rate, or looking in to a cash out refinance. Contact us in the sidebar for more information on refinances or contact us in the form on our home purchase page for info on getting qualified to buy a home.

Most people have heard of reverse mortgages. A reverse mortgage refinance is an FHA mortgage available to people who are at least 62 years old. The program allows folks with enough equity in their homes to stop making mortgage payments and remain in the home until they die. In many cases a reverse mortgage refinance can be an excellent option.

But did you know that there is such a thing as a reverse purchase mortgage? The same basic concept and rules apply. The borrower must be at least 62 year old and in the case of a reverse purchase, the borrower normally needs a down payment of at at least 40-50%. The appeal of a reverse purchase it allows borrowers to buy a home and then have no mortgage payment going forward for the rest of their lives.

If you are interested in learning more about reverse mortgages, contact us in the form in the sidebar for refinance information, or in the form on our home purchase page for info on reverse purchases.

According to recent reports, average home values across America rose 6% in March compared to March of 2014. This is in line with the general trends we have been seeing with home values steadily rising. Increasing home values is good news for most current homeowners for several reasons:

1. Homeowners with mortgage insurance (PMI) will have an easier time refinancing to remove that PMI
2. Homeowners will have an easier time getting cash out refinances
3. Homeowners looking to sell will benefit from higher sales prices

Rising home prices are not a bad thing for folks looking to buy homes either. While home prices might have risen in the last few years, the fact that homes are again slowly, steadily increasing in value means that homes that are purchased in 2015 would increase in value over time if the trend continues. A slow, steady increase in home values is good both for home sellers and for home buyers in the long run.

With mortgage interest rates still extremely low, now in an excellent time to look into refinancing a mortgage or buying a home. Contact us today to get more information on the available government-backed mortgage programs.

The combination of oil prices tanking and a less than stellar jobs reports this week has sent stock market investors rushing into safer investments like U.S. Treasuries. As we have discussed in the past, the more popular treasury bonds get, the lower they yields on those bonds drops. And mortgage interest rates tend to move in tandem with the yield on the 10 year treasury note. This week the yield on the 10 year T-Note has dipped pretty significantly as investors are fleeing stocks.

What does all of this mean to consumers like you? Mostly that interest rates are extraordinarily low again right now. If you are interested in refinancing to a lower interest rate with a government-backed refinance program, contact us in the form in the sidebar. If you are interested in getting qualified for a home purchase loan contact us on the home purchase page.

The Fed meetings in March were good for mortgage interest rates. The markets have been anticipating a Fed interest rate hike some time later this year but Fed chairman Janet Yellen indicated that the economy was still more sluggish than she would like, which led observers to believe that a Fed rate hike might be later than expected. The immediate market response to Yellen’s comments was a drop in bond yields, which led to a correlating drop in mortgage interest rates.

There is no telling how long these low interest rates will last so if you have considered looking into refinancing to a lower mortgage rate contact us in the form in the sidebar. If you are looking into purchasing a home, fill in the contact form here. There are several government mortgage programs that are worth investigating.

Despite some volatility in markets over the last several weeks, mortgage interest rates are still hovering near 18 month lows. Rates have inched slightly higher since bottoming out in late January, but remain extremely low by any historical measure. It is likely that rates will continue to bounce around into the spring of this year so if you have been considering a refinance or purchasing a home, contact us today to get more information. There is widespread speculation that the Fed will raise its rates this summer so now is am excellent time to look into a government-backed mortgage.

The new, lower FHA mortgage insurance rates kicked in just last week. The new FHA policy reduces the previous FHA mortgage insurance rate by more than half of a percent. For many homeowners that represents a savings of thousands per year on FHA mortgage insurance alone.

If you have an FHA loan now, the way to reduce your FHA mortgage insurance costs is through the FHA streamline program. An FHA streamline is a refinance from on FHA loan to another. It is called a streamline because the process is much simpler than a traditional refinance in that an FHA streamline does requires no appraisal and no income verification.

Contact us in the form in the sidebar today if you have and FHA loan now. With mortgage interest rates approaching all time lows, now is a perfect time to look into streamlining your FHA loan to a better rate with lower mortgage insurance.

(Note: VA loan have a similar streamline program so contact us if you have a VA loan as well.)

The FHA released the details of the new, lower cost FHA mortgage insurance program (MIP) that President Obama announced last week. The new program will begin Jan. 26, 2015 and will reduce cost of the monthly FHA mortgage insurance payments significantly.

Currently, FHA mortgage insurance on most 30 year fixed FHA loans is at a rate of 1.35% per year. With the new guidelines, the mortgage insurance rate will be 0.85% per year. On a $200,000 FHA loan, that is a savings of $84 per month, or about $1000 per year.

If you are looking to buy a home, you should be able to start the pre-qualification process now. As long as the FHA case number is pulled on January 26th or later you’ll get the new, lower MIP rate. Contact us on our home purchase page for that.

If you have an FHA loan now, this is a good time to look into streamlining your FHA loan to a lower interest rate and take advantage of the lower MIP. The FHA streamline refinance program is extremely user friendly and can result in tremendous savings. If you have a non-FHA loan now, a cash out FHA refinance can make sense as well in some cases. Contact us in the sidebar for more info on FHA refinance programs.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Julian Castro, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that President Obama plans to announce a reduction in the monthly mortgage insurance fees for FHA loans. The FHA currently charges 1.35% per year in mortgage insurance fees. The new rate will reportedly be 0.85% per year, a full 0.5% reduction. This will be the equivalent of a 0.5% reduction in interest rates for FHA mortgage holders and could mean savings of up to thousands of dollars per year.

The announcement is expected to come from the President in a speech in Phoenix on Thursday. Many of the details of the pending change are still unknown, like if current FHA loan holders will need to refinance through the FHA streamline program to get the new lower mortgage insurance rate. But there is no doubt that this will be a boon to FHA loan holders and to potential home buyers.

We’ll keep you updated with more information as it comes out.

To learn more or to get started on a government-backed mortgage, contact us today.

The downward trend in mortgage interest rates that we saw at the end of 2014 has continued in 2015. Rates continue to creep lower and lower. Global market factors like the drop in oil prices have, in a roundabout way, helped add downward pressure on mortgage interest rates. As a result, we are currently seeing the lowest mortgage rates in nearly two years. If this downward trend continues we could soon match the lows we saw in late 2012 and early 2013.

Of course there is no telling how long these low rates will persist. Contact us in the sidebar today to get an estimate on a government-backed refinance. Reducing your mortgage interest rate could lead to significant savings. Or if you are looking into purchasing a home, contact us on our home purchase page right away.

Until this week, borrowers needed at least a 5% down payment to purchase a home through a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac conventional loan program. As of this week a new 3% down program is rolling out. The new program will only apply to single family, primary residences, and as with all Fannie/Freddie loans, qualifying will require solid credit and income. Borrowers with credit troubles will probably still be best served by the FHA or VA purchase programs.

As with any new mortgage program, there will probably be some growing pains in the initial weeks of the launch. But the good news for home buyers is qualifying for a Fannie/Freddie loan will now require less money up front.

If you are interested in purchasing a home, contact us today on our home purchase page.