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The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) last week announced that the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages originated in 2010 will remain unchanged from the list provided in 2009.
The maximum loan limits for Tallahassee and all other areas in the United States can by found in a download-able format in the right sidebar of the [...]
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A recent Wall Street Journal article about the first-time homebuyer tax credit cautions buyers under contract to wait until after closing before purchasing appliances, furniture or similar items on credit. The article notes that some mortgage lenders are running credit reports on closing day, and even an additional credit inquiry (let alone a purchase) may [...]
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Do you ever wonder how much lending practices really affected the Tallahassee housing market? We read so many stories about “predatory lending” and abused government loan programs, that I got a little curious and decided to check out the history of mortgage loans in Tallahassee.
I decided to limit my sales information to “arms length home [...]
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When it comes to comparing interest rates for a mortgage loan, home buyers often have the option of choosing a loan with a lower interest rate by paying discount points.
Simply put, discount points are fees charged by the lender to reduce (discount) the interest rate charged to the borrower. A point is equal to 1 [...]
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The shadow inventory is the growing number of homes that were once on the market and failed to sell, or are the homes that we know are currently distressed properties but are yet to hit the market as short sales or foreclosures. One way that we can monitor the shadow inventory is to track home mortgage loan defaults and delinquencies in the Tallahassee real estate market.
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Seller financing is a topic about which many people could benefit from learning. Most real estate agents will never do a transaction involving seller financing, and most homebuyers would never even think about asking for this type of assistance. And finally, most home sellers would never even realize the benefit to themselves to offer some level of owner financing.
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A demonstration of the impact changing interest rates have on the affordability of a home. It is easy to think that a change of interest rates of 1% is not that big, but when you consider a move from 5.25% to 6.25% (one percent), that is really an increase in the cost of borrowed money of 29%! What do you think would happen if labor costs rose 29% or land costs rose 29%?
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In a lot of business situations, an old customer has a reputation with a business and there is no need for a formal inquiry on credit. This is not the case when people are borrowing money from a mortgage lender. Even if the customer has purchased several homes and financed them with the same lender, the borrower will have to undergo a formal review for the new loan.
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One of the disappointing side-affects of the boom market, where loan products were created so that everybody could buy a home, was the loss of the skilled buyers’ agent. Back in the day, we had to know all kinds of creative financing options so that “marginal” buyers could still make it to the closing table.
The [...]
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