Articles in Category: Fixed Rate Mortgage

July 1, 2021

5 Things To Know About Home Loans

What do you need to know about home loans? There are certainly more than five things you’ll want to remember, but this is a great way to begin the planning stages of your new home loan. Home Loan Tip #5: One Application At A Time When you are in the planning stages of a new home loan, it might not occur to you (at first) to think of all your finances as a single entity. This is important because your lender will certainly do so, and if you have applied for any other credit in the meantime it can make it harder for your loan officer to justify approving your home loan. Plan on applying for ONE line of credit in the year you commit to the loan–your mortgage. Home | more...

HUD Advice For Saving Your Home During The Coronavirus

June 28, 2021

Start Getting Ready For Your FHA Home Loan

By Joe Wallace

FHA home loan resources abound–you should know about using online mortgage calculators, pre-qualification for a home loan, and the availability of free credit reports to help you in the research and planning stages of your new home loan or refinance loan. Let’s start with those free credit reports–the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), reminds home loan applicants that they are entitled to “a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three major consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion)” according to the CFPB official site. Getting your credit report from all three agencies is an excellent way to begin your planning stage of the loan. Get your credit reports a year in advance of your loan application and remember to keep monitoring your credit afterward. This gives | more...

Is Your Credit Report Hurting Your Chances At Loan Approval?

June 24, 2021

What Are The Benefits Of An FHA Loan?

By Bruce Reichstein

FHA home loans are for any financially qualified borrower. You don’t have to be a first-time homebuyer, and you don’t have to worry about income caps or household income limits when applying for an FHA mortgage. And there are plenty of other FHA loan benefits, too. Consumer Protections With AN FHA Loan One important benefit and protection for the FHA borrower is an FHA requirement for a home to be approved for an FHA mortgage, it must have a remaining economic life for the full duration of the loan term. That is important–what good is owning a home you cannot sell? The home’s condition at closing time must be such that it is suitable to re-sell at any point during the mortgage. If the home’s basic condition would not support | more...

June 23, 2021

FHA Loan Rates: Three Tips

By Joe Wallace

What do you need to know about FHA loan rates? The interest rate on your mortgage is an important variable you’ll want to think about early in your planning stages. If you don’t run the numbers on how much your mortgage will cost over the lifetime of the loan, you’re at a serious disadvantage when it comes to planning. Calculating the cost of the loan itself is not the same as calculating your monthly mortgage payment. You’ll want to know the fees and expenses you need to pay up front, but you’ll also want to know how much your loan costs you when the interest rate is applied. How much does your loan cost you each year? Each decade? What is the total cost of the loan once it has | more...

Should I Buy A Condo With An FHA Home Loan?

June 21, 2021

FHA Mortgage Or USDA Home Loan: Which Is Best For You?

By Joe Wallace

What makes FHA mortgages different than USDA home loans for the same kind of property? Both FHA and USDA mortgages are offered for single-family homes and you can apply for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage under both programs with lower interest rates and more flexible credit requirements than some conventional loans. What makes FHA and USDA mortgages so different? One important factor is who qualifies for each kind of loan. USDA mortgages are intended specifically for low to moderate income borrowers who are looking for affordable housing. USDA mortgages feature price limits and household income limits that will affect the borrower’s overall loan eligibility. FHA mortgages do not feature such restrictions and are for any financially qualified borrower regardless of the upper limit of their household income. USDA loans feature | more...

June 15, 2021

FHA Mortgage Loan Facts

By Joe Wallace

What do you need to know about FHA home loans? Aside from dispelling the common myth that FHA mortgages are only for first-time home buyers or economically disadvantaged house hunters, there are many things you should know about the FHA loan program before you apply. FHA loans differ from other mortgages with their lower credit score requirements, low down payments, and zero penalty for early payoff of the loan. FHA home loans are for any borrower who can financially qualify and you do not need to worry about income limits or other need-based restrictions. There are some things you should know about FHA loans that are universal to all home buying experiences in America. One of those? No matter what your lender, real estate agent, or anyone else says or | more...

Conventional Loan Interest Rates Make History, FHA Loan Rates Still Incredibly Low

June 14, 2021

More FHA Mobile Home Loan Advice

By Joe Wallace

Did you know that you do not have to own the lot your new mobile home will be placed on in order to be approved for an FHA home loan? FHA mortgage loans for mobile and manufactured homes permit you to purchase a mobile home, modular home, or manufactured home that will act as your primary residence and that will be attached permanently to an approved foundation. There is more than one type of mobile home loan you can get from a participating FHA lender who offers them. You can apply for an FHA mortgage to buy the mobile home alone, or you can apply to purchase land in conjunction with the mobile home purchase. Your lender may even allow you to apply for a home loan to purchase the | more...

June 3, 2021

Choosing The Right Home Loan

By Bruce Reichstein

Are you considering the purchase of a home? Among the options, you need to consider? The right kind of home loan for the right type of borrower. There are many loan programs out there with a variety of government-backed mortgages to choose from including USDA, FHA, and VA. There are also Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. When exploring those home loan options, some borrowers want the lowest upfront costs possible, which makes sense when a borrower has other goals for that money, and making a down payment would hurt those plans. Some borrowers may need that money at another point, and seek out down payment assistance in the form of grants, loans, etc. One type of home loan that features a low down payment of 3% and allows down | more...

FHA Mortgage Loan Issues: "Identity Of Interest"

May 26, 2021

FHA Home Loan Mortgage Rates

By Bruce Reichstein

First-time borrowers sometimes ask, what is an FHA home loan mortgage rate? The FHA loan rate is the interest rate you’ll negotiate with the lender on a 15-year or 30-year FHA mortgage. There are some facts you should know about FHA loan rates that will make understanding them much easier. FHA Loan Rates: They Vary By Lender Technically speaking, the mortgage loan interest rate on your loan is something determined by the loan officer, based on current market rates and other factors. Who gets the most competitive FHA loan rates? Those who meet FICO score standards and the lender’s other financial qualifications. But rates, being negotiable, can be bought down using discount points–an option you and the participating FHA lender should discuss as early as possible. Buying discount points makes | more...

May 6, 2021

Home Loans: When To Get Pre-Approved

By Joe Wallace

When should a house hunter choose to get pre-approved for a home loan? It’s a common question many borrowers ask. But there can be some confusion over this question because some use the term “prequalify” interchangeably with “pre-approval”. But these two terms actually mean different things. Getting prequalified for a home loan is something you do early in the house hunting stages. You are not ready to make any offers yet but you want to let sellers know you are not window shopping. Prequalification means the borrower has filled out some basic paperwork with a lender while in the house-hunting process. It is not loan approval and borrowers still, at this stage, have a ways to go before loan approval happens including filling out basic loan application paperwork (not pre-qualification | more...