Now that I am back in town I am putting up my encyclopedia. Well, to be honest it is mostly up already. I’m just formatting it and adding notes, editing, and graphics where appropriate.
So starting at the beginning here is a very basic topic: What is a mortgage! You can find this at the learning center tab above or the link directly below!
http://rateswire.com/what-is-a-mortgage/
Oh right! I can’t forget this…avoiding foreclosure…this should be a mandatory handout for mortgage applicants. I never really understood the point in making people sign a whole ton of disclosures where none of them actually get the heart or guts of mortgage affordability. I know it is legalities and all, but really, it is kind of missing the mark to have a ton of disclosures about equality, the Patriot Act, ethnicity, credit information, etc. and miss the fundamental basic of affordability.
http://rateswire.com/avoiding-foreclosure-starts-with-knowing-the-road-ahead/
I posted a link to this earlier…but I did copy the mortgage process article over to rateswire.com!
http://rateswire.com/what-mortgage-process-should-i-expect/
Steve
Here is a quick snapshot of how mortgage rates are moving brought to you from Edmonds, Washington. First, lets look at 30 Year Fixed mortgage rates. Here is the wholesale 30 year fixed mortgage rate index from Fannie Mae.
As we can see, 30 year fixed mortgage rates are headed down as of writing this!
Next is the 15 year fixed mortgage rates. These move in the same direction but with a much smaller movements. Overall, I would say that as of writing this 15 year fixed mortgage rates are stable! They appear to be going down but not by much.
Last lets look at ARM mortgage rates. Overall I would say that as of writing this ARM mortgages have gone down and seem to be headed back up.
The one thing to take away from this is that mortgage rates never want to sit still! A small 0.1% change in wholesale rates at a 4:1 buydown can make a loan cost $400 more or less per $100,000 loan amount in the blink of an eye! Until we meet, I hope you have found this little tidbit on mortgage rates from Edmonds, Washington of use.
Stephen Ching, seattle.rateswire.com author and local loan originator.
Email questions to: steve@rateswire.com
Hello everyone!
Rates remain very nice right now. On top of that, I cleaned up some of the calculator a bit to remove a bunch of clutter and made it easier to understand. I think I have the format laid down fairly simply and I am going to start working on the 15 year fixed version now!
Happy Veterans Day to all you veterans out there!
Good news everyone, rates are falling! This may just be a short term drop so get your applications in and ready to be locked when needed! Remember, it does take time to go from application to computerized approval to rate lock and having the approval ahead of time never hurts!
If you have been waiting for ARM rates to go back down, it looks like we may get a window of mortgage rates back to their October values.
For 30 year fixed mortgage rates click the arrow. For other rates feel free to call me at 425 640 9789!
Steve
Today I would like to share a little bit about the importance of an accurate loan application. A loan application is basically the recipe to bake a cake. If you follow the directions (Fannie Mae guidelines for Fannie Mae loans, VA for VA loans, FHA for FHA, etc.) you end up with something predictable and tasty. The problem that arises is that the directions for the loan application are typically 300-1500 pages per loan type.
So as a loan applicant your in the kitchen with a loan originator making your cake! How do you handle this? Well, the simplest way is to used an experienced loan originator like myself and to be completely upfront with your situation. Include all employment even self employment that may be mostly inactive or losing money. It is really hard to make a cake unless you have all the ingredients on hand.
This is especially true for time sensitive loan modifications and purchase loans. Yes, it is only thirty minutes to go to the store to pick up birthday candles for the cake and that’s just fine, but errors or omissions on a loan application can take days to document and time is precious when earnest money or your very house is on the line. On loan modifications, many lenders take 30-90 days to review your application, and another 30-90 days to review anything missing. Of course, by that time the original documents are outdated and they need everything replaced….
So, remember to bring all the ingredients with you whenever you bake a cake or fill out a loan application! Until then, here’s my favorite cake and some food for thought!
Does Fannie Mae own my loan? Does Freddie Mac owns my loan? These are two important questions to know prior to applying for a mortgage refinance. A mortgage has a servicer who collects payments and issues statements and an owner. Loans owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac may be eligible for higher loan to values, lower credit requirements, and lower risk related fees such associated with investment properties, multiple units, and poor credit, among others.
I have added existing Freddie Mac loan refinances to my mortgage rate and cost calculator. The calculator already did Fannie Mae loan refinances.
Multiunit investment properties and poor credit borrowers benefit hugely if their loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
If you do not know the ownership of your loan follow these links to find out if Fannie Mae owns my loan or Freddie Mac owns my loan.
Happy Holloween everyone!
If you come knocking on my door this weekend in Lynnwood I will be giving out Reeses and Butterfingers while eating my favorite Halloween candy: Chocolate Candy Corn!
Normally, holidays cause a small to large increase in mortgage rates. In an unforseen turn of events though, Mortgage rates seem afraid! It must be the pumpkins. Here’s one I found foryou all at www.freedigitalphotos.net!
Steve
This short snippet on mortgage rates goes out to all of you in Everett, Washington. Mortgage rates remain relatively flat for the last few days on thirty year fixed loans. A history of wholesale mortgage rates on 30 year fixed loans is below for your convenience.
ARM mortgage rates climbed a small amount last Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday but have declined today back to where they were a week ago. So if you have been looking for an ARM now is the time to get it locked! This months history of wholesale mortgage rates on a 7 year arm is below for your convenience. This index is formally known as Mandatory Delivery (to Fannie Mae) Commitment – 7 Year Balloon A/A.
15 year fixed mortgage rates continue to remain stable! A one month history of wholesale mortgage rates on a 15 year is below for your convenience. This index is formally known as Mandatory Delivery (to Fannie Mae) Commitment – 15 Year Fixed Rate A/A and this month is below for your convenience!
Please note that these are wholesale rates and do not include any costs or lender operational expenses/profit. To see how these rates translate into options for you contact me at 425 344 2191 or for thirty year fixed loans my calculator is here.
To all my friends in Everett, Washington I hope you found this helpfull!
Stephen Ching, 510 LO 35993
Mortgage Loan Center, LLC
Office 425 640 9789 or Cell 425 344 2191
The mortgage process has always been one of the key important factors both to borrowers and to me here in Edmonds Washington. To that end, I have created a breakdown of the rough mortgage process, so that you can understand timelines and what to expect along the mortgage process. This is a larger document then I wanted to post here and I haven’t been able to set up a WordPress Table (emailed tips appreciated) of contents for my parent site rateswire.com so I am posting it here until I do so.
Best wishes!
Stephen Ching
Tougher guidelines and the Federal Reserve buying mortgage backed securities appear to have stabilized mortgage prices. Historical modeling supports a strong correspondence between the 10 Year Treasury yield and mortgage rates. Investors pick between the two and so yields on both must compete. A year ago, mortgage rates and yields were several percent higher then Treasury bonds which indicated an overall lack of faith and risk associated with mortgages and mortgage backed securities.
The Federal Reserve’s contribution was to stabilize plummeting mortgage backed securities markets by stepping in as a buyer. Details of this program were released on December 30, 2008.
Lenders, FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae have also contributed by tightening underwriting guidelines and implementing much higher risk-based loan fees and credit score requirements. While I won’t go into detail on those tightened guidelines and increased fees in this article, it does appear that the effects did indeed stabilize mortgage rates and tie them much closer to safe investments such as Treasury Bonds.
To see this effect I am overlaying the 10 Year Treasury yield and the Fannie Mae Required Net Yield 30 Year / 30 day Delivery. We see the yields shrink to a standardized gap as the mortgage market stabilizes.
So what does this mean to you? Well, it looks like mortgages have stabilized to the point where they are again tied closely to safer money markets. This is good news as it signals that guidelines will stop tightening. The bad news in that mortgage rates now appear to be subject much more directly to any effect acting on money markets.
