Reverse Mortgages

http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/38566642.html

Here is an interview that one of Landmark Mortgage’s owners gave on AM Northwest about Reverse Mortgages.   Curt Lawrence and Bill Tucker have been doing reverse mortgages since 1996.  They are extremely well versed in all aspects of this loan product and are happy to answer all questions.

A Reverse Mortgage is a great option for our senior citizens that are on a fixed income if they own their home.  Please call 503-585-1105 or email if you have any questions.  karen@landmarkmortgage.com

Yes, There is Money to Lend!

This morning my alarm went off and as I am lying there trying to decide if I really want to wake up, the morning show crew begins a dialog. Guess what that dialog is about?  You guessed it, one of them is refinancing his house! 

Well immediately I am up, (the quickest I have got up out of bed in a very long time) he starts by saying that he doesn’t think that lenders are lending money because it is taking so long to get his easy refinance of his first and second that is under 80% completed. 

I want to say- THERE IS MONEY AVAILABLE TO LEND.  There are many reasons why loans are taking longer right now.  Appraisers, and lenders have quickly been hit with a surge of loans with the blessing of lower rates so with that surge comes growing pains.  Many lenders had laid off so much of their staff that they were running on skeletal offices. There wasn’t a fore-warning that these low rates were coming so they couldn’t beef up their staffs and hope it would be here.  A typical refinance is taking 30-45 days to close currently.

So what did I do? I actually call in and talk to the morning show host and educate him on these challenges that lenders are facing and also share with him my opinion that I do think rates will come down in the next few weeks after lenders are through with this little surge of business.  I do let him know that there is money to lend, plenty of money.  Rates are great so now is the time to buy or refinance a home.  The opportunities are endless!!

karen@landmarkmortgage.com

Changes

“The only constant is change.”  Who said that?  In my search, I found several people have said similiar quotes. The theme is that change will always happen.

Whomever we give credit to,  is absolutely correct, especially in the world of lending.  The last 18 months have seen constant change. Most of it good.  There are some continually tightening rules that seem to be too far in the spectrum though.  I will highlight a few of those here.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are imposing pricing adjustments for certain loan to values, types of loans, credit scores and if a borrower is refinancing to pull cash out. Each of these categories have a different risk associated with it based on statistics of current loans and how they are currently performing. 

 Borrowers with a 740 score are now almost guaranteed at least a minor adjustment unless their loan to value is 60% or less and they are just refinancing.  Borrowers with less than a 740 score can have a multitude of adjustments. 

There are additional pricing adjustments for investment properties now too. You must put 25% down to get the lowest adjustments for an investment property.  These pricing adjustments are on top of your credit score adjustments.

Condos now have a pricing adjustment, much like manufactured homes.

I am not saying that all of these adjustments are negative, however, in the rate environment that we are in that could actually help people lower their interest rates and be able to stay in their homes, some of these adjustments are pricing those people out of the ability to refinance and take advantage of the lower rates. It doesn’t seem right.

One theory on these pricing adjustments are that rates are going to have such a low starting point and that after adjustments we will be in the 4.5-5% range for most borrowers.  I hope that is the case so we can truly help clients save the most they can on their mortgage payments.

This may sound like I am saying that you can’t get a loan these days, that is not the case. Lenders are extremely busy and the loan volume is high. I am saying that there is now much more to a phone call that asks “what are the rates today?”  Everyone’s situation is entirely different so you and your co-worker could both be refinancing your houses and end up with entirely different rates. It is all truly dependent on you situation! 

Make sure that your loan officer knows all the adjustments and asks enough questions to be able to quote you the correct interest rate. Be wary of phone solicitors that tell you a “too good to be true” rate when all they know is your name and phone number.  (more on this later)

karen@landmarkmortgage.com

Is the New Year here?

Wow! What an interesting time in the lending world.  The first two weeks of the year have been incredibly busy.  Rates are approaching their all time lows and yet with the economic data and the Fed’s puchasing mortgage backed securities (MBS), rates should even be lower.

 There is much discussion and theories among analysts that the reason rates are not lower are possibly two fold.  One, lenders are extremely busy and they need to slow the volume down to be able to beef up their staff to handle the volume. 

Second, the spread between what rates should be and what they are could just be good old fashioned greed and collusion.  Lenders could be holding on to the  fact that they have a lot of lost ground to make up from the losses they have taken last year.  Lenders want the existing loans that they have logged on to close so as to not lose them to other lenders or to have to renegotiate rates which costs them additional money.

Keeping in contact is important. Call or email with any questions to see if now is the right time for you to refinance.   karen@landmarkmortgage.com