Last week was fairly uneventful in the mortgage markets, with rates slightly edging lower across the board and without much data to influence trading. Even Thursday morning's hotly-anticipated jobs report was met with lukewarm interest; many traders had already left for the weekend. Mortgage rates just drifted — a little up and little down, but mostly unchanged. Mortgage insiders may [...]...

In the summer of 2005, sub-prime mortgage lending was at its peak.  Rates were relatively low and lending guidelines were relatively loose. At the time, the "standard" sub-prime mortgage product was the 3/27 ARM. The 3/27 had a few basic traits: A fixed, 3-year "starter rate" Every six months thereafter, the mortgage rate changed The formula by which it changed [...]...

Mortgage rates improved last week, marking the first time since mid-May that has happened.  The rate drop is the result of how mortgage markets interpreted the Federal Reserve's Wednesday press release. In it, the Fed said: Inflation pressures should lessen soon Growth should remain steady this year The credit market is currently fragile Separately, none of this was news to the [...]...

A Home Equity Line of Credit is bank product that grants homeowners access to the equity in their home at anytime, usually using checks. Often called a HELOC, these equity-based credit lines function very much like credit cards: The rate is adjustable, tied to Prime Rate There is a minimum monthly payment There is a pre-set spending/credit limit But different from [...]...

MORTGAGE ALERT! Please note that effective with all new FHA loans (defined as new Case number assignments) on/after July 14th, HUD is implementing new "risk based premiums" on both the up-front and monthly mortgage insurance. The chart is based upon FICO scores and Loan-to-Value (LTV). In some cases the up-front premium is actually lower and in most [...]...