[CITY] Mortgage News

Check out this article on mortgage rates and home purchase applications:

<a href="http://www.mortgageloan.com/mortgage-rates-fall-so-do-home-purchase-applications" title="Mortgage Rates Fall, But So Do Home Purchase Applications">Mortgage Rates Fall, But So Do Home Purchase Applications</a>

Here is a link showing some good signs to the banking industry and economy as a whole, yeah!!  Finally some good news.  Take a look at the link below.  If you are thinking about refinancing or buying a new home, now is the time to take advantage of the very low rates before they start climbing for this summer.  Give me a call at (402) 614-5999 to get the process started!

 http://www.omaha.com/article/20100513/AP05/309249809/-1#banks-cut-emergency-borrowing-from-fed

After finishing this I was able to take the National and State S.A.F.E. (Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act) written exams.  To obtain the license I had to get at least a 75% on both test.  The results for the National test were 93% (100 question test) and the results for the State test were 94% (60 question test)!

I also had to get fingerprints taken for the FBI, and authorize the state to pull my credit report for the licensing requirements.

Nebraska requires all of this to be finished no later than June 1st, 2010.  I'm glad I am finally done with all the steps.

Just to give you an idea on how strict these requirements are, 1 out of every 4 fail the state test and 3 out of every 10 fail the national test.  The proctor at the third party test site told me that the 94% for the state exam is the best she had seen.

I hope this helps you in your decision when choosing which mortgage profesional to work with getting financing for your home.

Here is a status update of market conditions.  We are still cranking out loans in 2 weeks, so if you are experiencing problems with delayed closings, I can help solve that problem. Keep an eye on the Fed’s next move, it could certainly drive rates higher if the markets get flooded with additional Mortgage Backed Securities. As always, work “smart”, not hard.

Here is the article showing that they are NOT going to extend the tax credit to FTHB any further.  The deadline is to have a contract on a house by the end of this month!!  If you are thinking about buying a house, please call me to get pre-approved in order to write a contract by the end of the month.  Do not lose out on this huge offer that will expire.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100414/MONEY/704149941#no-extension-for-homebuyer-credit

The best way to do that is through the APR, correct?  That actually may not be the correct way.  Take a look at this link and read the 5 short answers to what lenders do to try to get their loan to stand out the best.  I've always told my customers to figure out which mortgage professional they are comfortable using and go that route.  The last thing a client will remember is how smoothly the closing went as well as how smooth the entire process was for them.  This article will really get you thinking:

  http://banking.about.com/od/mortgages/ss/compare_apr.htm

Here is another article explaining the APR in more detail and the pitfalls with comparing them depending on your specific scenario. 

http://www.mtgprofessor.com/tutorial_on_annual_percentage_rate_%28apr%29.htm

Wondering if you should lock your rate or float it for better rates and terms in the future?  This is the question most people face when determining if they should refinance or not.  The problem is that when they do decide to refinance (meaning the timing of when they want their lender to lock the rate), they may have already missed out on the lowest rates. 

Think about it, isn't this how people you know start the process.  They call up their mortgage professional and say they want to lock the rate when they haven't even been approved yet.  The poor person on the phone just got their loan application when they just NOW called.  We live our lives in such a "now" society that we don't think of how those types of decisions affect our finances.  This makes the entire loan process for the customer and mortgage professional so stressful when it doesn't need to be that way.

What this person should have done is figure out if refinancing would be beneficial in the future and have their mortgage professional have all their information ahead of time and watch the rates for them.  That way when the rates get down to the acceptable range, they can lock the loan for them.  That means the mortgage profession would already have the verifications of their income and assets, and already pre-qualified them.  Therefore, they would just need to pull their credit and run the loan scenario through the either DU or LP (underwriting decision software programs for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) depending on the loan program (this is called pre-approving the borrower), which takes a total of 5 minutes and lock the rate.  This take sstress out of the whole equation for not only the mortgage professional, but most importantly, you the customer.

Just for your information, here is another article on the current climate of interest rates from another expert, so you can determine if refinancing is the right option for you down the road.

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/144323.aspx

Compare what you do with your tax return with everyone else from these stats:

http://rismedia.com/2010-04-05/only-seven-percent-of-americans-to-use-tax-refunds-on-fun-activities/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Rismedia+%28RISMedia+Real+Estate+News%29

Here is a great article of what has been going on and how it will affect you, the consumer, specifically with rates.  Here is the link:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100404/MONEY/704049969#mortgage-industry-holds-it-breath