Your Mortgage Matters

I mentioned in my update two weeks ago that I had a special gift for you. Hopefully by now you will have received a copy of "Your Mortgage Matters." I’m not much of a writer, and this is my first attempt at putting this type of instruction together in book form. But I think there is some really good information in there that applies to all homeowners, and especially those getting in position to buy their first home.

I’d love your feedback and I'm happy to provide additional copies if you know of friends/family/clients that might benefit from the information. And please let me know if you did not receive a copy.

Couple of quick industry notes:

• FHA is NOT Extending the Flipping Waiver. The flipping waiver was issued in Feb 2010, and allowed an FHA loan to be closed without the seller owning theproperty for 90 days  BEFORE a contract is written. They are Not extending this.  For contracts written Jan 1 and later,  seller must have owned/had title (recording date) for 90 days before a contract is written on Day 91.
• Fannie is rolling out the 97% loan. I’ll provide more information on this in a later update, but wanted you to be aware of new offering. It will be available for first-time homebuyers with good credit starting this week. My guess is the rate will be a little higher as will the cost of the mortgage insurance. As I mentioned in an update a couple of weeks ago, I wish Fannie would look at loosening the guidelines for income/asset documentation for customers putting 20% or more down with excellent credit. But I guess we’ll consider this progress and move on.  Ultimately, we will need to compare each customer’s individual scenario to see how the 97% conventional loan stacks up against FHA to determine which is better. But that is something I love to do for clients, so no worries there.
• Great article from Quentin Fottrell at MarketWatch on why home buying is now much more beneficial than renting. According to Zillow, US renters spent nearly 30% of their monthly income on rent in the third quarter of 2014 (versus 15% towards their mortgage payment not counting taxes and insurance). Here is the link to the article: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/buying-a-home-is-now-twice-as-affordable-as-renting-2014-12-11