What exactly is a “Reverse Mortgage” A “reverse” mortgage is a loan against your home that you do not have to pay back for as long as you live there. With a reverse mortgage, you can turn the value of your home into cash without having to move or to repay the loan each month. …
Mortgage & Home Loans
FHA loans
What does FHA stand for anyway? The Federal Housing Administration is an agency of the federal government. The FHA insures private loans issued for new and existing housing, and for approved programs for home repairs. The FHA was created by Congress in 1934, and in 1965 became part of the Department of Housing and Urban …
Fannie & Freddie Takeover
Over the weekend, the government announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed in conservatorship. This means that the two companies will temporarily be run by their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The Fannie and Freddie Boards and Executive Officers were replaced, but employees were encouraged to stay. The stated objectives of this …
Federal Reserve Update 7/22/2008
Fed Pauses — You Shouldn’t The Federal Reserve, taking a break from its aggressive rate-cutting policy, chose not to alter key interest rates Wednesday, leaving the Fed Funds rate at 2.00% and everyone wondering where interest rates are headed next. Since last September, the Fed has cut rates seven times for a total of 3.25%. …
Mortgage Market News Ending July 18/08
Last week, the stock market declined and mortgage rates fell, as investors worried about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and oil prices reached record highs. In a pivotal reversal, the opposite took place this week. With increased confidence in the financial sector and lower oil prices, the Dow gained over 400 points. As investors returned …
Credit Score, What Really Matters?
There seems to be a lot of confusion about what does and doesn’t hurt your credit score out there being tossed around and much of it is by mortgage pro’s. Let me begin by saying that I’ve worked with many top notch loan officers who really knew their stuff and kept up to date, not …